New opportunities supporting interdisciplinary science - The Hilary Marsden Institute for Life Sciences Scholarships
The Institute for Life Sciences is pleased to announce two additional studentship opportunities which have been made possible through the establishment of the new Hilary Marsden IfLS Scholarships.
Theses scholarships are the result of a generous gift from Chris Marsden in honour of his late wife, Hilary. Chris' gift of nearly £70k will provide part-funding for two postgraduate researcher positions in the Institute for Life Sciences, starting in 2014
The IfLS actively supports opportunities in science through the annual allocation of funds for high quality interdisciplinary PhD projects. As with all applications, the Hilary Marsden IfLS scholarships will be peer reviewed and awarded to two excellent PhD candidates. These additional scholarships mean that the IfLS can provide support and funding for nine new post graduate research projects running from 2014 until 2016, joining existing students to create a group of 32 PhD students working on interdisciplinary research projects.
Mr Marsden has long been a supporter of the University, and in particular the IfLS. As well as being a member of the Hartley Circle, a group of supporters who give £1,000 or more to the University each year, Mr Marsden is a highly-valued donor to the University who has supported the development of the new Life Sciences Building on the University’s Highfield Campus.
Chris and Hilary have had a long-term personal interest in healthcare and this has been reinforced by Mr Marsden’s support of the IfLS and the interdisciplinary, high impact research at the University of Southampton. Mr Marsden’s vision for the Hilary Marsden IfLS scholarships is that they will support two PhD students in their interdisciplinary research into healthcare and the highly emotive issue of patient care.
On the scholarships, Chris comments ‘I am pleased to continue my support of the University of Southampton in this way. Healthcare research is of immense importance and I know that the brilliant research students at Southampton will achieve much with the opportunity being provided through these scholarships’
Peter Smith, Director of the IfLS, adds ‘The importance of training a new generation of researchers to approach science from an interdisciplinary perspective cannot be overstated and we are delighted to receive this invaluable donation towards realising this goal.’
A call inviting applications for the IfLS scholarships has been announced as of September 30th 2013 and details of the application process will be circulated to IfLS members and will also feature on the IfLS website from this date.
Notes for editors
Mr Chris Marsden is also a Director of Omega Elifar Limited, a subsidiary of Omega (After Alpha) Limited. Omega Elifar Limited is a group of residential care homes for adults with severe learning and physical disabilities.
The Institute for Life Sciences (IfLS) at the University of Southampton represents a University-wide collaboration which acts as a catalyst for interdisciplinary research and training. The Institute’s mission is to facilitate fusions of expertise in education and research from a range of disciplines in order to broaden scientific opportunities and address key issues in health, society and enterprise. The aim is to train scientists and policy makers to address their world from a cross-disciplinary perspective.
For further information on previous studentships please visit: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/ifls/about/our_students.page
The Hartley Circle is a group of donors who are recognised for making a gift to the University of £1,000 or more each year. Further details can be found at www.southampton.ac.uk/hartleycircle