The Universities of Leeds, Sheffield and York have, through the White Rose University Consortium (WRUC), extensive experience of delivering collaborative post-graduate research training.
The DTP Management Board has overall responsibility for the effective governance of the Training Partnership and its funding from BBSRC. The current Management Board is comprised:
- Prof Alan Berry (Director and Chair of Management Board, based in Leeds)
- Catherine Liddle (DTP Co-ordinator, based in Leeds)
- Prof Andrew Fleming (Deputy Director, Sheffield)
- Dr Betsy Powell (Deputy Director, York)
- Prof Adrian Whitehouse (Pro-Dean for Research and Innovation, Leeds)
- Dr Tom Bennett (Senior Academic, Leeds)
- Prof Stuart Wilson (Senior Academic, Sheffield)
- Prof Gavin Thomas (Senior Academic, York)
- Prof Gideon Grogan (Senior Academic, York)
- Dr Craig Walker (Director, White Rose University Consortium, WRUC)
- Molly Patterson and Roz Latham (Student Reps, Leeds)
- Alex Scott and Evie Farnham (Student Reps, York)
- Karolina Pyranowska and Victoria Hill (Student Reps, Sheffield)
The Management Board reports on progress to the White Rose University Consortium Executive Board, ensuring that the Partnership has clear visibility to Vice Chancellors and Pro Vice Chancellors.
Our External Advisory Board (EAB) acts as a ‘critical friend’ to the Management Board to provide both national and international perspectives to guide the strategic direction and future plans of the Partnership. Our EAB members are:
- Prof Jim Naismith – The Rosalind Franklin Institute
- Dr Paul Varley – Kymab
- Prof Katherine Denby – University of York / N8 AgriFood Resilience Programme
- Ray O’Donnell – Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies
- Alice Sin – Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB)
A representative from BBSRC and the members of the EAB attend the winter Management Board meeting and Annual DTP Research Symposium.
Each partner has an effective monitoring system for student progression and reports to the Management Board via the relevant administrative offices, so that financial and strategic consequences can be monitored. All student projects have an academic supervisory team, comprising a principal supervisor and co-supervisors, and also receive input from others (technicians, post-doctoral fellows etc.).
The consortium operates formal progression monitoring, where the student and project are assessed by a committee comprising the supervisory team and independent assessors. Partner mechanisms for monitoring student progression check that the student is well engaged with the project within the first few weeks of arrival, which is followed by an assessment occurring between 9 and 15 months of study associated with transfer to full PhD status. There are regular checks on progress thereafter.