MARS: Membership & Accredited Recognition Scheme

MARS was co-founded by Dr Alastair McIntosh and Dr Janet De Wilde and extended by the current director, Dr Paul Seldon, to include accreditation by the RSB and IOP. If you are interested in seeking accreditation with another professional body please contact Dr Paul Seldon.

The scheme is open to postgraduate students to achieve designations and membership at the following,

• Royal Society of Chemistry
• Royal Society of Biology 
• Institute of Physics

It is applicable across the College, regardless of the department you are in. The important aspect is that you can demonstrate expertise in one of these discipline areas and evidence your professional development. Attending Graduate School courses will provide the necessary evidence.

Find out more at our upcoming MARS Q&A sessions:

• Thursday 18 January 2024, 12:30-13:30, Microsoft Teams
• Tuesday 20 February 2024, 13:00-14:00, South Kensington

Book your place via Inkpath

Membership

For more information about registration for professional awards or professional membership currently available via MARS, please view the information available via the following links:

• MARS home page

• Science Council Membership

• Membership of the Royal Society of Chemistry
• RSC - Chartered status

• Membership of the Royal Society of Biology
• RSB - Chartered status

• Membership of the Institute of Physics
• IoP - Chartered status

Here are the instructions for the accreditation process:

1. You will need to sign up and register to the scheme from the webpage
2. You will also need to join the RSC, IOP or RSB
3. You will need to complete the suggested courses and apply
4. We will assign a MARS scheme mentor to support you, or your research project supervisor might be prepared to take this role – please discuss it with them

Courses

All of the Graduate School's Professional Development courses available for students to attend, can be found on the following webpages,

• Doctoral 
• Master's

Information on the mandatory, optional and recommended courses for each designation are mapped against required professional attributes:

• Professional Attributes for Membership & Chartered Status - Biology 2022-23 [Pdf]
• Professional Attributes for Membership & Chartered Status - Chemistry‌ 2022-23 [Pdf]
• Professional Attributes for Chartered Status - Physics‌ 2022-23 [Pdf]
• Course Mapping Competency Areas for RSci - Chemistry Masters Students‌ 2022-23 Pdf

Further information about provision available to all postgraduate students is available on our 'Student' webpages.

Registration

To participate in MARS, postgraduate students need to register with the scheme and record their attendance at Graduate School courses, as well as undertaking work in their discipline (master’s project or doctoral research work).

To register as a mentee please complete the SharePoint registration form, giving the following information:

• Full name
• RSC/RSM/IoP Membership number (if applicable)
• Year of Study/Type of study
• Supervisors name
• Up to date CV

Students will be assigned a mentor for the scheme.

Anyone wishing to be a mentor should complete SharePoint mentor registration form