Data protection statement for programmes of doctoral training

This statement should be read in conjunction with the University's Student Fair Processing Notice, which provides full information about the use of student personal data. This notice provides additional detail around how your personal data will be processed as part of the programmes of doctoral training. 

If you are applying for a place on a programme of doctoral training provided by the University of Bristol or in partnership with other Universities, research organisations and/or partners we will process your personal data for the purposes of administering applications/expressions of interest and for educational administration purposes when delivering the programme. 

Your personal data will always be processed in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. We set out what information we collect, why we collect it, where we collect it and whom we share it with within  the student fair processing notice. We also outline your rights in relation to the information within this.

The University of Bristol (“University”) will remain a data controller for the personal data it holds and is registered as such with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) (registration number Z6650067). 

Other Universities, research organisations and/or partners (“HEIs”) may also become joint data controllers for the relevant personal data they receive as a result of their participation in the collaborative programme of doctoral training (“Programme”)

Changes to this notice 

The University may update this notice at any time and may provide you with further notices on specific occasions where we collect and process personal data about you. You should check this notice regularly to take notice of any changes, however where any change affects your rights and interests, we will make sure we bring this to your attention and clearly explain what this means for you.

Information that we collect from you

We will collect personal data provided by you when you express an interest in applying to the programme (for example, through forms on our website or emails to the University to express an interest).

We may also collect personal data from third parties in the course of the expression of interest, application and admissions process, or during the course of your studies (for example other institutions that deliver joint programmes with the University. 

Types of personal data processed

The programmes of doctoral training are committed to furthering issues of equality, diversity and inclusion and we are keen to attract individuals from a diverse range of backgrounds. We ask all applicants to provide us with the following special categories of more sensitive data: 

  • information revealing your race or ethnicity, sex life or sexual orientation (whether or not indicated by your gender or gender identity)
  • information about your health, including any disability or medical condition

We recognise the benefits of recruiting a diverse group of students to the programmes and strive to avoid any conscious or unconscious bias in our recruitment. The monitoring of aggregated application data by our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (ED&I) committee allows us to assess the effectiveness and fairness of all stages of our recruitment procedures.

Our funding agency, the UKRI, requires us to report annually on the diversity of the group of people applying to the programmes. The UKRI gathers aggregated data of recruitment rounds/cohorts, not as individual data. This data is being collected so that UKRI has a better understanding of the students its training provision attracts and supports.

For each question there is a ‘prefer not to say’ option. The information you provide through this survey will only ever be used for the purposes above and not for recruitment, academic progression or assessment.

Sharing your personal data with third parties

How the University processes personal data and the lawful grounds for doing so can be found in the Student Fair Processing Notice. Where there are lawful grounds for doing so, the University may share your personal data; we will only share your information where this is necessary and with appropriate security measures in place (please see the University’s Information Security Policy for further information). 

The University may need to make certain disclosures of your personal data to third parties to be able to administer your expression of interest/application, carry out interviews and select candidates. These are not limited to, but may include disclosures to: 

  • the selection panel and/or management board or equivalent of the relevant Programme, 
    which is likely to include staff from one or more other HEIs;
  • administrative staff at one or more other HEIs participating in the relevant Programme.
  • Such disclosures will always be kept to the minimum amount of personal data required 
    for the specific purpose.

If your application is successful and you register on a Programme, the University may need to make further disclosures of your personal data throughout your time on the programme to ensure the effective management of your studies and comply with its obligations to funders. These disclosures may include, but are not limited to disclosures:

  • within the group of HEIs to the Programme;
  • academic supervisors based at other HEIs;
  • to other collaborative parties to the relevant Programme, e.g. industrial sponsors and/or 
    collaborators, supervisors from other HEIs, Research Councils (as funders of the Programme);
  • to external examiners.
  • Other disclosures may be made where it is necessary for the administration of your 
    studies

Accessing your personal data

If you wish to have access to any of your personal data as held by the University, or exercise any of your other rights in relation to it, please email: data-protection@bristol.ac.uk.

Questions or comments 

If you have any queries or concerns about the use of your personal data during the application process or your time as a student, please email: data-protection@bristol.ac.uk.

You can also complain to the ICO if you are unhappy with how we have used your data.
ICO’s address: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF

Helpline number: 0303 123 1113

ICO website: https://www.ico.org.uk