Chartered Scientist

The Science Council, an independent body seeking to unite all the Professional Institutions and Learned Societies in the scientific and mathematical fields in the UK, has awarded the Institute with a licence to grant the designation Chartered Scientist (CSci) to members who meet the necessary criteria.

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Benefits of Chartered Scientist

In addition to the use of the designatory letters CSci, the designation of Chartered Scientist will benefit all those concerned with science as a profession, and its application. It will be of value to:

Society, which will be more confident in the competence of an individual scientist and need no longer be confused by a platform of letters and descriptions.
Individual practitioners by identification as a professional scientist that sets them at the forefront of their profession and offers a passport to mobility.
Employers, with confirmation, through the designation, of the quality of a job applicant's application.
Government departments seeking to appoint advisors or consultants will have an assurance about the level of an individual's expertise and competence.
Professional bodies, with provision through the new designation of additional opportunities to benchmark their qualifications.
Higher education, which will be better able to set and monitor benchmarks for their science courses, and to promote programmes of study to meet the high standards required of a Chartered Scientist.
Regulatory Authorities, who could be confident in specifying the designation in Acts of Parliament and regulations.
Legal credibility, enabling expert witness participation at a defined standard.
Professional standing, recognising equality of excellence across the science professions.

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Criteria

Applicants for this designation must be Members or Fellows of the Institute and should normally be registered as Chartered Mathematicians. Applicants must also meet the requirements in the following four components:

Education
Postgraduate training and experience
Professional standing
Continuing Professional Development

Applicants should provide suitable documentary evidence to demonstrate that they have met these requirements, which are detailed below.

Education

The educational requirements can be met by one of the following.

i. An approved MMath honours degree.
ii. An approved BSc honours degree in mathematics followed by a higher level taught or research degree in mathematics or a cognate subject.
iii. An approved BSc honours degree in mathematics followed by subsequent training and experience in employment to obtain equivalent competences to those specified by the QAA for taught masters degrees.
iv. A BSc or Masters undergraduate pass degree in mathematics followed by subsequent acquisition in education or employment of mathematical competences equivalent to those in i, ii, or iii above.
v. A BSc or Masters undergraduate degree in mathematics which is taken in combination with one or more other subjects, or in a discipline with a high mathematics content such as engineering or a physical science, followed by subsequent acquisition in education or employment of mathematical competences equivalent to those in i, ii, or iii above.

Degrees in mathematics are approved by the IMA's Higher Education Service Area on the basis of consideration of the specification, correspondence and visits as appropriate. Mathematical topics must constitute at least two-thirds of the total content at each stage of the course.

The QAA competences for taught masters degrees are detailed in Chartered designations:Chartered designations: Appendix A.

Postgraduate Experience

Applicants are required to have at least five years postgraduate training and experience, including employment for a minimum of two years, requiring the application of mathematical knowledge.

Applicants will be required to demonstrate that they have developed a series of mathematical, generic and specific competences as described in Chartered designations: Chartered designations: Appendix B.

Applicants who can demonstrate that they have successfully completed an approved Graduate Training Scheme, or followed the Initial Professional Development Scheme, will have met the postgraduate training and experience requirements for obtaining the Chartered Scientist designation. Compliance over several years with the requirements of the Continuing Professional Development Scheme will provide strong supporting evidence that applicants have met the employment requirements.

Professional Standing

An applicant must have been employed at an appropriate level of professional standing for a minimum period of two years in which the professional skills of a Chartered Scientist pertinent to the execution of the duties of the post. A summary of expectations for posts in education, science, technology, commerce, engineering and finance is contained in Chartered designations: Chartered designations: Appendix C.

Continuing Professional Development

Applicants are required to participate in the Institute's Continuing Professional Development Scheme. See also Further Information below.

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How to apply

Applications must be made using an Institute application form and must be signed. The signature constitutes a contract to abide by the requirements of the designation. A properly completed application will not be processed until the appropriate fees are received.

The application must include a detailed statement outlining current and previous professional activities. This statement is the most important part of the application and should make the case for acceptance by the Membership Committee. The statement should be written in the appropriate part of the application form or on a clearly labelled separate sheet. Additional information, for example a summary publications list, may be enclosed but should not normally exceed four sides of A4 paper.

Applicants for the designation should show the application form to one supporter who must read and sign it. A signature is taken to mean that in the supporter’s opinion the applicant meets the requirements for the designation.

The supporter should have a detailed knowledge of the applicant's work, should be more senior than the applicant, or of equal seniority but working for a different organisation and should ideally be a Chartered Scientist or Chartered Mathematician, or failing that a senior member of the Institute or another relevant professional body.

Applications are considered by the Membership Committee. Applications usually take two to three months to process from receipt at Catherine Richards House.

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Designatory Letters

Chartered Scientists may use the letters CSci as a postfix to CMath and membership grade (i.e. CMath MIMA CSci CMath FIMA CSci).

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Further Information

Applicants may apply for the Chartered Mathematician designation and the Chartered Scientist designation simultaneously. Such applicants for Chartered Scientist are exempt from completing Part 1 and Part 3 of the application form.

Applicants who apply within six months of being awarded the Chartered Mathematician designation may be exempt from completing Part 1 and Part 3 of the application form, and should seek advice from the Institute’s Membership department.

An applicant who qualifies for the Chartered Mathematician designation is not permitted to become a Chartered Scientist without also becoming a Chartered Mathematician.

Applicants who meet all of the requirements above with the exception of an advanced qualification in mathematics may be accepted for the Chartered Scientist designation, without the Chartered Mathematician designation, at the discretion of the Membership Committee. The committee must be satisfied that the applicant’s qualifications in science (as opposed to engineering or other similar area) are such that, had the qualification been in mathematics, the committee would be able to award the applicant the Chartered Mathematician designation.

Continued use of the Chartered Scientist designation is subject to re-validation every year by the Institute. Applicants are required to participate in a Continuing Professional Development Scheme in accordance with the requirements of Science Council and may be required to submit evidence of maintenance of their professional competence at the time of revalidation.

If an applicant is registered as a Chartered Scientist between January and September the annual subscription is valid until the end of the same calendar year, otherwise it is valid until the end of the following calendar year.

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