UCL and partners win £5.4 million for PhD studentships

UCL has led a successful multi-institutional bid for £5.4 million to fund new PhD studentships in a competition run by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). The Minister for Universities and Science, David Willetts, announced the funding today as part of a UK-wide investment of £67 million in postgraduate training and development in the biosciences. The new BBSRC London Interdisciplinary PhD Programme also involves King's College London, Birkbeck, University of London, the Royal Veterinary College and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. The award is for 18 four-year studentships a year for three years. Professor John Carroll (Director, UCL Division of Biosciences) who co-ordinated the bid, said: " We are very excited at the prospect of this cross-disciplinary PhD programme, which will help train a new generation of scientists confident in combining the best biosciences research with mathematical and computational approaches. "We're confident that the innovative cross-institutional nature of the award will drive collaboration across UCL and between all our partners" Across the UK, 14 Doctoral Training Partnerships (DTPs) will support 660 four-year PhD students. The programme will provide highly skilled scientists for academia, policy and industry and support the BBSRC mission to further scientific knowledge for economic growth, wealth and job creation - improving the quality of life in the UK and beyond.