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Governance

How membership and progression work.

Every grade at the Centre is reached in the same way: by completing the training, by carrying research through to an output, and, where the rule requires it, by an application decided on a written record. This page sets out the grades, the workshops behind them, the councils, and how a decision is taken.

The ladder

Eight grades, from registration to the Supreme Advisory Council.

Everyone begins as a Registered Member. From the first research grade onward a member is also styled an Affiliated Member, alongside the designation of the grade itself. The grades are not honorary: each one names what a member has completed. The first three research grades follow from the training and the work itself; the advisory grades and the two council grades are never granted automatically, and each one is decided on a written record.

  1. PL0REG

    Registered Member

    Holds an account and a registration with the Centre.

  2. PL1RA

    Research Associate

    Foundational Training W1a and W1b completed, or a waiver granted. The first Affiliated Member grade.

    Affiliated Member

  3. PL2SR

    Senior Researcher

    Research Associate plus one further workshop and a supervised project taken to publication-ready material.

    Affiliated Member

  4. PL3PR

    Principal Researcher

    Three programmes, where W1a and W1b together count as one, or two programmes plus a demonstrated third skill.

    Affiliated Member

  5. PL4SA

    Scientific Advisor

    The entry grade for advisors. Always reached by application, never automatically.

    Affiliated MemberGranted by decision

  6. PL5DSA

    Distinguished Scientific Advisor

    The top half of advisors by member score, assigned annually on admin approval.

    Affiliated MemberGranted by decision

  7. PL6HSC

    High Scientific Council

    One of the seven seats on the High Scientific Council, refreshed annually.

    Affiliated MemberGranted by decisionCouncil seat

  8. PL7SAC

    Supreme Advisory Council

    One of the five permanent seats on the Supreme Advisory Council, held by member numbers 0 to 4.

    Affiliated MemberGranted by decisionCouncil seat

Training

The workshops, and what each one unlocks.

Research Integrity and Publication Ethics is required of every Affiliated Member and counts toward no tier of its own. The two foundational trainings are taught one to one and count together as a single programme. Every other workshop is passed by completing its supervised project and taking it to publication-ready material, which is why no project-bearing workshop can be waived.

Required of every Affiliated Member

W0Mandatory

Research Integrity and Publication Ethics

Mandatory for everyone becoming an Affiliated Member. It is a prerequisite to be passed and counts toward no tier.

What it unlocks
Required of every Affiliated Member, and counts toward no tier of its own.
Skill recorded
Research integrity and publication ethics
How it is passed
By completing the workshop itself.
Waiver
May be waived by the Supreme Advisory Council on a written record of the evidence.

Programmes that carry a member up the ladder

W1aOne to one

Foundational Training: Narrative Review Synthesis

One-to-one foundational training. With W1b it counts as one programme.

What it unlocks
Counts toward a programme tier, together with W1b as one programme.
Skill recorded
Narrative review synthesis
How it is passed
By completing its supervised project and taking it to publication-ready material.
Waiver
May be waived by the Supreme Advisory Council on a written record of the evidence.

W1bOne to one

Foundational Training: Grant Writing

One-to-one foundational training. With W1a it counts as one programme.

What it unlocks
Counts toward a programme tier, together with W1a as one programme.
Skill recorded
Grant writing
How it is passed
By completing its supervised project and taking it to publication-ready material.
Waiver
May be waived by the Supreme Advisory Council on a written record of the evidence.

W2

Systematic Review, Meta-analysis and Statistical Analyses

What it unlocks
Counts as one completed programme toward the next grade.
Skill recorded
Systematic review, meta-analysis and statistics
How it is passed
By completing its supervised project and taking it to publication-ready material.
Waiver
Cannot be waived: it is passed by completing its project.

W3

Immunological Training

What it unlocks
Counts as one completed programme toward the next grade.
Skill recorded
Immunology
How it is passed
By completing its supervised project and taking it to publication-ready material.
Waiver
Cannot be waived: it is passed by completing its project.

W4

Genetics Training

What it unlocks
Counts as one completed programme toward the next grade.
Skill recorded
Genetics
How it is passed
By completing its supervised project and taking it to publication-ready material.
Waiver
Cannot be waived: it is passed by completing its project.

W5

Foundational Structural Biology

What it unlocks
Counts as one completed programme toward the next grade.
Skill recorded
Foundational structural biology
How it is passed
By completing its supervised project and taking it to publication-ready material.
Waiver
Cannot be waived: it is passed by completing its project.

W6

Computational Structural Biology

What it unlocks
Counts as one completed programme toward the next grade.
Skill recorded
Computational structural biology
How it is passed
By completing its supervised project and taking it to publication-ready material.
Waiver
Cannot be waived: it is passed by completing its project.

W7

Machine Learning

What it unlocks
Counts as one completed programme toward the next grade.
Skill recorded
Machine learning
How it is passed
By completing its supervised project and taking it to publication-ready material.
Waiver
Cannot be waived: it is passed by completing its project.
Decisions

Who decides, and when a decision takes effect.

  1. 01

    The Supreme Advisory Council decides.

    Every application that changes a member’s grade, designation or council seat is approved by the Supreme Advisory Council. No single administrator can grant one.

  2. 02

    An administrator may refer a question to the High Scientific Council.

    Where a decision turns on scientific judgement, an administrator may put the application to a vote of the seated members of the High Scientific Council, and then enforce the result the vote produced.

  3. 03

    A resolution takes effect at once; an order takes effect in a month.

    A resolution carried by the High Scientific Council applies immediately. An ordered change made in any other way takes effect one month after the decision, and the date is shown plainly on the member’s record.

  4. 04

    An override is written down.

    The founding member may override a decision. The override is recorded together with the written justification for it, and that record stays with the application.

Councils

Two councils, with different jobs.

The Supreme Advisory Council holds five permanent seats and carries the final decision on membership, grades, designations and seats. Those seats are reserved for the Centre's first five member numbers, and the founding member alone decides who holds them.

The High Scientific Council holds seven seats for an annual term. The three highest-ranked advisors by research score take their seats automatically, and those three elect the remaining four from the fifteen highest-ranked. It is the body an administrator turns to when a decision needs scientific judgement rather than an administrative one.

See the current seats →

Applying

How to apply, in four steps.

  1. 01

    Create your account

    Registration is free. Your account gives you a member portal from the first day, before any grade is granted.

  2. 02

    Read what you are eligible for

    Your standing page shows your grade, the workshops you hold and what you may apply for next. Where you are not yet eligible, it says which requirement is outstanding.

  3. 03

    Submit the application

    Each application asks for a short statement and whatever evidence the rule requires: a publication record, an appointment, a supervised project or a completed workshop.

  4. 04

    Receive the decision

    The decision arrives in your member messages with its reasons, and, where a change was ordered, the date on which it takes effect.