BBSRC funds industry-led PhD training at King's

King’s College London and the University of Exeter have been awarded funding for 12 PhD students as part of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council’s (BBSRC) Collaborative Training Partnerships (CTP).

Led by global pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, the collaboration with King’s and Exeter will focus on developing the skills needed to understand complex biological systems from a data perspective: statistics, bioinformatics, statistics, image analysis, chemical informatics and systems biology, allied with generic and professional skills training.

Cathryn Lewis, Professor of Genetic Epidemiology and Statistics at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London, said: ‘I am delighted to be part of this partnership with Eli Lilly and the University of Exeter. The Collaborative Training Partnership will increase our capacity to train PhD students in analytical areas which have a marked shortage of skilled researchers. Our students will also receive unparalleled opportunities to work with scientists at Eli Lilly, expanding their research training.’

Overall, the BBSRC has announced £18.9M of funding to support world-class industry-led collaborative doctoral training through CTP. The investment will train and develop 189 PhD students to produce skilled people for the research base and build capability in the UK workforce.

Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy the RT Honourable Greg Clark said: ‘Furthering collaboration between government, academia and industry is a key part of the industrial strategy we’re developing. Collaborative Training Partnerships will boost the UK’s world-leading reputation for research and science while increasing the talent and expertise of our workforce in the UK and providing new opportunities for the science leaders of tomorrow.’