I was sponsored by the 2021 China Scholarship Council (CSC) to do my visiting research programme at the Drug Utilisation and Pharmacy Practice Research Group, Division of Pharmacy and Optometry, the University of Manchester (UoM) from January 2022.  

Thpplication process lasted nearly two years, from preparing for the application until I arrived in Manchester. I firstly took half a year to attend an overseas students’ English training programme to improve my English proficiency. There will be an exam at the end of the programme. Then, I started to contact potential supervisors to check the opportunities or vacancies in their research group. I sent my CV and personal statement to Dr Li-Chia Chen and received a positive reply. She kindly advised me to summarise my previous research experience and then arranged an interview for me. 

During the interview, Dr. Chen introduced the University of Manchester and her current research directions. I was interested in her research and decided to submit a research proposal that fits her research scope. She provided me with a lot of guidance on protocol writing and I was successfully offered a position in her research group at the end. With the official offer issued from UoM, I started my application for the CSC funding and the visa. 

There is some experience that I would like to share: 

1. It is crucial to manage your time properly. I advise you to start the preparation 1-2 years in advance. Before the formal application, you should negotiate with your line manager and your future supervisor about your schedule plan (e.g. when you plan to go abroad). Once you succeed in the application, you must strictly execute your research as planned. Otherwise, your funding will be waived, and you will not be allowed to apply again within two years. 
2. It is competitive to obtain a foreign language proficiency certificate before your application, as interviewers will consider the candidates who have passed the foreign language test. 
3. A definite research direction is key to a successful application. I advise you to have a discussion with your future supervisor in terms of the research objectives and your scholarly output plans. A six to nine-month visit is preferable. 
4. It is necessary to understand the research direction of you supervisor so you can specifically prepare a feasible and innovative research plan. 
5. Work experience and publications at influential journals will increase the possibility of successful application for the CSC funding. 
6. Once you succeed in the application, you need to issue the visa as early as possible. Supporting documents can be found on the website. Confirm with the University about the type of your visa and the ATAS statement. The application for the ATAS statement takes time (~2 months). Supporting documents for the AV visa and T5 visa are quite different. Relatively easy for the former, but the waiting time is longer (3-4 weeks), and the rejection rate is high, so you need a strong research foundation. The issue for the latter is more complicated, but the waiting time is short (1 week), and the success rate is higher.  
7. After your visa is issued, you need to confirm with the University and the supervisor to start the preparation for the programme. 

I hope these experiences will be helpful for future international pharmacists who want to pursue a visiting research programme in the UK. 

Nan Shang
Visiting Research Fellow
Associate Chief Pharmacist, Department of Clinical Pharmacy, First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, People’s Republic of China

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