Prospective Occasional Postgraduate Research Students
If you are a PhD or MPhil student and are interested in becoming an Occasional Postgraduate Research Student at the University, you should contact the Academic Unit in which you would like to undertake your visit to discuss opportunities to visit. Contact information for Faculties and Academic Units is available here.
If you're not sure who might best host your visit and support your research, click on the Get in Touch or Contact Us button on the Academic Unit webpages, providing brief details of your intended visit and they will direct your query to the relevant Postgraduate Research Admissions Selector.
You may wish to look at our PGR Belong webpage which gives an insight into the output of a visit by an Occasional Research Student.
If your chosen academic agrees your proposal and supports your visit, the Academic Nominator will need to complete an Approval in Principle Form. You will need to provide a CV and research proposal to enable them to do this. This should be completed at least 2 months before your proposed visit. Please be as specific as possible about your visit start and end date as it may be difficult to change these. There are no longer Occasional Postgraduate Research Student fees, however, a bench fee may be charged depending on the activities undertaken during your visit. This will be discussed with you and information will be included in the Approval in Principle form completed by the proposed Academic Supervisor.
Following completion and submission of this form, the Academic Nominator (or their Nominee) will contact you to advise you are now able to make a formal application via the PG Admissions Portal using the applicant portal online. You should not apply without being advised to do so by the Academic Unit.
In the section on Programme of Study, you should ensure that you are applying for the relevant Postgraduate Occasional Student programme, see the PG Admissions Guidance for OCR students (96.6 kB). You will not receive an award or credit from Newcastle University for your studies and will not be classed as a regular student for external bodies such as local councils.
You must also be able to satisfy the student visa requirements.
If you have agreed to support the visit of a prospective PGR Occasional Student, you need to complete an Approval in Principle Form. Please look at the Flowchart for PGR OCR Approval Process which sets out the application and approval process before you begin this.
This should be completed at least 2 months before the proposed visit and a start and end date must be agreed with the student in advance. Please be as specific as possible about the arrival and departure dates as it may not be possible to change these. If this is an international student who requires a VISA/ CAS more time may be required for the student to meet any conditions of their offer letter. Changes to arrival and departure date will necessitate a revised offer letter to support visa applications (if required) and accommodation and resources arranged may no longer be available. The prospective Postgraduate Research Occasional Student is directed to contact the relevant Academic Supervisor if known, or the Academic Postgraduate Research Selector in the first instance.
Extensions to the duration of the visit are not usually permissible.
There are no longer Occasional Research Student fees, however, a bench fee may be charged depending on the activities undertaken during the visit. This should be agreed with the prospective student during initial discussions and the relevant information recorded on the form.
You will need to attach the prospective students CV and research proposal to the form along with written agreement that the visit is supported from the Head of Academic Unit (or nominee). This is usually by email but you can also use the HOAU OCR Approval Form (67.3 kB).
It is important to consider the needs of the student in regard to space to study, equipment, laboratory access etc. You should also ensure that accommodation needs during the student's visit has been considered and may find the information on the accommodation webpage useful.
Guidance for academic colleagues on the prospective PGR Occasional Students process can be found here.
The completed form is received and reviewed by the Doctoral College who will then forward it on to the Postgraduate Research Admissions Team for their information.
A copy of the completed form will also be sent to the Academic Unit in which the Occasional PGR Student will be based, so that they can contact the student to invite them to formally apply via the Postgraduate Research Admissions portal. The PGR Student Occasional will also be copied into this email so that they know they can start the application process.
Any specific queries about the progress of an application by a PGR Occasional Student needs to be sent to pgadmissions@newcastle.ac.uk.
If you have any other queries, please contact us at doctoralcollege@newcastle.ac.uk