The prize

The winner of the Sanger Institute Prize will be offered a three-month internship with a research group at the Wellcome Sanger Institute. Travel, living and research expenses are all covered by the award.

Eligibility

To be eligible to apply for the Sanger Prize applicants must meet all of the criteria below:

• Be from a low or middle income country – a full list of eligible countries is available from https://wellcome.org/grant-funding/guidance/prepare-to-apply/low-and-middle-income-countries
• Be studying an undergraduate degree that includes a genomics element or course at a University/Institute in a low or middle income country at the time of the first stage application. This could include (but is not limited too) any biological science degree, bioinformatics, medicine or veterinary science. (please note that if you have completed your course but are awaiting graduation then you are eligible to apply).
• Demonstrate an active interest in research in the genomics field (this can be through your undergraduate course and through extra curricular activities such as seminar attendance and reading materials).
• Have a good command of English (demonstrated by the clear writing within the application form, no certificate of English is required).
• Be over 18 at the time of applying.
• Two academic references must also have been submitted by the deadline (further details are available below).

Applicants who do not meet all of the above criteria will not be considered for the second stage of the competition and no exceptions will be made.

Application process

The application form for the 2025 competition is now open.

Please ensure you read all the information given below before clicking on the link and completing the form. 

Stage 1a - Application Form 

Dates for Submission:

Applications for the Sanger Prize Competition 2025 will open in mid November.

The closing date for applications is 5pm on Friday 10th January 2025 (this is UK time so please check the time difference in your own country and submit in plenty of time) The application form must be completed and submitted by this date, there are no exceptions and no late applications will be accepted.

The Sanger Institute is not responsible for applications which are not received in time due to last minute technical issues. There will be no email support available on the 10th January 2025 and so you are advised to submit your application well before this date in case of any problems.

Completing the form:

Please read the following before accessing the application form, please note that all application forms must be completed in English.

The application form is in four parts:

• personal details
• expression of interest
• referees details
• your curriculum vitae (CV)

You must complete each part before moving on to the next part, mandatory sections are marked and you wont be allowed to proceed to the next part of the form until you have completed these sections.

The Expression of Interest:

The expression of interest (EoI) should include the following:

• Information about your scientific interests (this should not be a copy of what is in the CV)
• A demonstration of their interest and knowledge in genomics
• Details of why you want to come to the Sanger Institute

The maximum word count for the EoI is 500 words and you should write close to this amount in order to fully demonstrate your interest and suitability in the prize. Any EoI with less than 400 words or more than 500 words will not be reviewed. The application form does not count the words for you and so it is important that you do not go over 500 words as the EoI will cut of in the middle of a sentence.

You are advised to type your EoI in a word document to ensure that it is an appropriate number of words and then copy and paste it into the application form.

Your CV:

Your CV should be no longer than two pages long and detail genomics related courses and work experience as well as university education. PDF format is preferred but word would be accepted.

The details of two academic referees are also required at this stage within the application form (further details about the referees is available below).

After you have completed the form as detailed above, and added your CV a page confirming all the details you have inputted will appear. Please check this page carefully as this is your last chance to go back and make any changes before submitting the form.

Submitting the form:

Once you have checked all the details click the button next to the data protection statement, this will turn the confirm button green and allow you to submit the form. You will then receive an email from the Sanger Prize confirming your submission.

The Sanger Prize Administrator is unable to release a form back to the applicant for amendment once it has been submitted so it is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure the details are correct before they submit. If you need to make any changes to the form after submission you will need to complete it again. 

You are advised to save a copy of your final Expression of Interest in a word  document, along with the other details you have inputted into the form in case of problems with submission or a need to resubmit the form for any reason.

The Outcome:

Successful applicants will be informed of the results of this stage during March 2025 and be invited to take part in the second stage of the competition.

If you have not received an email by end of March 2025 please assume that your application has been unsuccessful this time.

Due to the high number of applications received we do not contact unsuccessful applicants to inform them of the decision.

Stage 1b - Academic References

Academic references will ideally be from the University or Institute where you are currently studying and at least one of them would ideally be the university tutor or supervisor from your genomics course. If they are not available to supply the reference within the time-frame then you can choose another academic lecturer or supervisor who knows you well. Please note that friends and relatives are not accepted a referees.

Applications will not be valid without two complete references so you should chose referees who are available to supply a reference and check with them before submission that they are happy to write the reference for you. It is your responsibility to ensure that the reference is submitted on time.

Contact details for the referees will be required when completing the form and they will then be emailed directly with a form for them to complete which will then be emailed directly to the Sanger Prize Committee once they have submitted it.

It is your responsibility to ensure that they have received the email. If the email has not been received then please ask the referee to check their junk mail inbox. If they still cant find it then the referee should email sangerprize@sanger.ac.uk directly to receive a form to complete.

The deadline by which the referee must submit the reference is Friday 17th January 2025 at 5pm UK time. There will be no support available from the Sanger Prize Administrator on the 17th January and so it is recommended that the references are submitted well before this date. 

Only applications which have two references submitted by the deadline will be accepted and reviewed.

Stage 2 - Essay

A number of shortlisted candidates will then be asked to take part in stage two of the process, which is to write an essay with a given title. Details of this stage will be emailed to the successful candidates during March 2025 and they will be given approximately one month to complete the essay.

The judges’ decision will be communicated by the end of May 2025 (this date may be subject to change), the decision is final and no further correspondence will be entered into.

Stage two participants who have not won will be informed by email and offered a Certificate of Participation. No further feedback on applications will be available.

Information about the internship

All essential expenses will be paid for by the prize fund including travel costs, visa costs, accommodation and reasonable food costs during the three month internship.

The Sanger Institute will fully support the winner with visa applications, booking travel and finding accommodation for their stay. They will be allocated a mentor within the lab they are working in and will be supported during their work and given opportunities to network with other staff during the internship.

The winner will be able to choose the lab and faculty host they work with, subject to the availability of the host. A list of faculty hosts is available on the Sanger website (https://www.sanger.ac.uk/people/faculty/).

The winner will be able to choose the timing of their internship which should be taken within a year of being awarded (travel restrictions due to Covid -19 or other unexpected events will be taken into consideration and exceptions made).

Queries

If you have any queries which are not answered within the information supplied on this page please contact: sangerprize@sanger.ac.uk

We will endeavour to give a response to email queries within five working days (between 5pm on the 19th December 2024 and 8am on the 2nd January 2025 there will be no one available to answer queries, please send any queries after the 2nd January and they will be answered as soon as possible.)

Help with CV’s and Expressions of Interests cannot be given by the Sanger Prize Committee, please seek this help from your University tutors or mentors.

Only applications submitted via the form linked above will be accepted. Please do not email CVs and reference letters directly to the Sanger Prize Committee unless you have been requested to do so by the Sanger Prize Administrator as they will not be accepted.

Frequently Asked Questions

If you have a query about the application process or the Sanger Prize in general please check to see if it has been answered below.

My referees haven’t received the email request, what should I do?

Please ask them to check their junk or spam email accounts and if they still cant find the email then they should contact the Sanger Prize administrator directly at sangerprize@sanger.ac.uk for a form to complete. This form wont be sent to the applicant, only the referee.

I have made an error on my application form, can I amend it?

No, the form can not be amended once you have submitted it, you can either email the Sanger Prize administrator to inform them of the error, or submit another form with the correct information on it.

I submitted my application, received a confirmation email and have not heard anything else from the Sanger Prize Committee, have i been selected?

If it is between January and March 2025 you may still be contacted to write an essay, if it is after the end of March 2025 then unfortunately you have not been selected as all second stage entrants will have been contacted by this time. We do not send emails to the first stage applicants who have not been selected due to the high number of applications.

What can I do to maximise my chances of being selected this year?

Before entering the competition you must ensure that you meet all of the criteria listed above. Then please ensure that you read all of the information supplied very carefully and submit your application well in advance of the closing date to allow for any technical issues which may occur and to allow your referees time to submit their references.

Please allow plenty of time to write the expression of interest which is very important. There is guidance for writing it which is supplied above and you should read this carefully.

I am interested in applying but I am not sure my degree course is relevant, can I still apply?

This would depend on the course and whether you have studied genomics as part of it. The Sanger Institute is a genomics Institute and the winner will be working in a genomics lab so they will be expected to have studied genomics at an undergraduate level and be able to carry out some research, with supervision.

Can I apply as a post graduate?

No, the application criteria is very strictly undergraduates only and no exceptions to that rule are made.  If you are a graduate and are looking for an opportunity to  study at the Sanger Institute please visit the ‘Study at Sanger’ pages of this website: https://www.sanger.ac.uk/about/study/