Be A Scholar

Annual award cycle

  • October/November: Scholar and Mentor applications open
  • December: Scholar applications close
  • January: Scholar interviews
  • February: Mentor applications close
  • Spring: Scholar cohort announced
  • Spring: Mentors matched with Scholars

Eligibility of Scholars

To be eligible for the BNA Scholars Programme, applicants must:

  1. intend to pursue a future career in neuroscience and/or the wider neuroscience sector; and
  2. be ordinarily resident in the UK (i.e. your residence in the UK is *not* wholly or mainly for the purpose of receiving full-time education – you didn't move to the UK for educational purposes at the start of your course); and
  3. be currently a final year Undergraduate student, Masters (including integrated Masters) student, PhD student, or an early career research technician/assistant at a UK or Irish university; and
  4. meet at least two of the following criteria:
    1. you are of Black or Mixed Black, Bangladeshi or Mixed Bangladeshi, Pakistani or Mixed Pakistani ethnicity, or a member of the Gypsy, Roma, Traveller, Showman or Boater communities; or
    2. you are from a low-income background, i.e. your combined parent/guardian household income is less than £40,000 a year; or
    3. you are in the first generation of your family to go to university (i.e. none of your parents, stepparents or guardians have attended university, or completed higher education qualifications); or
    4. you are care experienced (for a period of more than 3 months); or
    5. you have had caring responsibilities for 3 months or more occupying more than 10 hours per week; or
    6. you are estranged from your parents/guardians; or
    7. you have been considered as statutorily homeless and qualified for assistance under your local authority’s ‘main homelessness duty’; or
    8. you are a refugee, stateless person, or asylum seeker, or been otherwise forcibly displaced within or outside your country of origin; or
    9. you were in receipt of Free School Meals (FSM) during your primary and/or secondary education; or
    10. if a final year undergraduate, you are/were in receipt of more than the minimum levels of support detailed from your regional funding body in the most recent year during which you received finance for your current degree (see this webpage to find out how to check whether you meet this financial criterion); or
    11. your main household earner's primary occupation is in one of the Social Mobility Commission categories below:
      1. Technical and craft occupations such as: motor mechanic, plumber, printer, electrician, gardener, train driver
      2. Routine, semi-routine manual and service occupations such as: postal worker, machine operative, security guard, caretaker, farm worker, catering assistant, sales assistant, HGV driver, cleaner, porter, packer, labourer, waiter/waitress, bar staff
      3. Long-term unemployed (claimed Jobseeker's Allowance or earlier unemployment benefit for more than a year)

To ensure fairness in the selecting process, all application form data will be anonymised. The BNA Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Working Group, chaired by the BNA EDI Representative, assists in the initial Scholar shortlisting process, the interview process, and the mentor matching process.

Shortlisting

In addition to the eligibility criteria listed above, the below factors will also be considered when shortlisting applicants:

  • Balanced geographical spread of the shortlisted applicants across the UK
  • Applicants' ethnic groups, according to degree of lack of representation in UK neuroscience careers
  • Applicants' socioeconomic background
  • The potential degree of impact on an applicant's neuroscience career success, by them joining the Scholars Programme
  • Applicants' need for and commitment to consistently engaging with the Programme's activities (mentor meetings, career development opportunities provided by the Programme's Supporter Organisations, and internal BNA meetings and activities such as the biennial Festival of Neuroscience)
  • Applicants' commitment to the neuroscence community and working to strengthen it, e.g. by taking part in BNA Local Group activities and by mentoring members of future Scholar cohorts
  • Applicants' likelihood of and commitment to pursuing a career in or related to neuroscience
  • Overall balanced representation of the shortlisted applicants

Interviews

Shortlisted applicants will be invited to interview in January online via MS Teams. Interviews will last approximately 20 minutes, will be conducted by members of the BNA EDI Working Group, and will assess:

  • The potential degree of impact on the applicant's neuroscience career success, by them joining the Scholars Programme
  • The applicant's need for and commitment to consistently engaging with the Programme's activities (mentor meetings, career development opportunities provided by the Programme's Supporter Organisations, and internal BNA meetings and activities such as the biennial Festival of Neuroscience)
  • The applicant's commitment to the neuroscence community and working to strengthen it, e.g. by taking part in BNA Local Group activities and by mentoring members of future Scholar cohorts
  • The applicant's likelihood of and commitment to pursuing a career in or related to neuroscience

Expectations of BNA Scholars

Expectations of BNA Scholars are as follows:

  • To arrange and attend regular meetings with your Mentor (at least 4–6 per year) – these can be in-person, online, or by telephone
  • To consistently attend and engage with the bespoke career development opportunities provided by the Programme's Supporter Organisations (this is a condition of the Programme's continuation)
  • To engage with the BNA by e.g. contributing items for BNA publications, attending/presenting a poster at the biennial Festival of Neuroscience, participating in BNA Local Group activities
  • To provide feedback on the Programme and on your developing feelings regarding your career, by completing an evaluation form every 6 months

How to apply

Please ensure you fill in the correct application form for either the BNA Scholar or Mentor position. 

BNA Scholar application form: You will be asked to provide general applicant details and information regarding your current degree programme/course. You will also be asked to provide 200 words on your research interests and plans for the future, as well as 200 words on why you want to be part of the Programme and how you think it might benefit you.