Welcome
The University and its partners has been awarded one of 14 Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) Grants from BBSRC. The DTP Programme will start in October 2012 and will provide 4-year fully funded studentships (subject to eligibility). The DTP programme aims to provide excellent post-graduate training, and at the same time to address the need for trained scientists in strategically-important research areas and skills. The programme will train students in four separate themes:
Basic Bioscience underpinning health
Basic bioscience is vital to reveal the biological mechanisms underlying normal physiology and homeostatic control during early development and through life. The BBSRC Doctoral Training Programme at the University of Cambridge aims to achieve a deep, integrated understanding of the healthy system at multiple levels and the factors maintaining health under stress and biological or environmental challenge. Projects available include basic bioscience research topics where the goal is to help sustain lifelong health and wellbeing - through prevention strategies or new treatments - in the modern environment. These include fundamental and comparative studies of human, animal and microbial biology, which may lead to improvements in both human and animal health. Research projects are offered in areas that will help to improve our understanding of, for example: regulatory networks underlying biological rhythms; metabolic medicine and mechanisms of dietary choice; the ageing process.
Bioenergy and Industrial Biotechnology
Bioenergy will play an important role in helping the UK to maintain its energy security in the context of diminishing worldwide stocks of fossil fuels, as well as providing the opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, to produce liquid biofuels commercially at scale will require integration of both biological and engineering solutions. At Cambridge the Bioenergy Initiative is encompasses research groups across the physical sciences, engineering and mathematics, and is also part of a larger Energy@Cam strategic initiative. Projects include those addressing the study of plant cell walls for lignocellulosic ethanol production, algae for bioenergy and remediation of waste-water and CO2 emissions, as well as artificial photosynthesis.
Similarly, industrial biotechnology (IB) applies cross-disciplinary approaches to the use of biological resources for non-food applications, such as producing and processing materials and chemicals as replacements for petrochemical feedstocks, thus helping the UK to become a low carbon economy. Thus projects may address production of chemicals by metabolic engineering and synthetic biology approaches, or optimize enzymes for biocatalysis, as well as developing new IB hosts, such as algae.
Food Security
Research in this area aims to support the sustainable production of sufficient, safe, nutritious and affordable food to supply the world's growing population. It encompasses crop science, animal health and livestock production, as well as understanding of the links between diet and health, and food safety. At the University of Cambridge and its collaborating institutions, research programmes range from the fundamental - for example understanding the molecular mechanisms of how RNA initiates epigenetic effects on the plant genome - to much more applied projects, such as establishing strategies to deal with plant pathogens. Similarly, research into animal disease, welfare and productivity is complemented by studies of the molecular basis of the immune response, as well as genomics of pathogens and viruses.
World Class Underpinning Bioscience
This theme seeks to promote strength in core, underpinning disciplines such as molecular, chemical, cellular and structural biology as a high priority. Major breakthroughs in recent years, including those recognised by Nobel Prizes awarded to Cambridge scientists, have depended on basic cellular and molecular research.
BBSRC-funded research and training at the University of Cambridge will emphasise research aimed improved understanding of basic biological mechanisms, from the study of biological molecules, to cellular and physiological processes, including genetic and genomic approaches. By this means the work will drive innovative discoveries, for example new leads for drugs or prevention strategies, or underlying principles of cellular function, as well as interfacing with physical sciences and mathematics through improved understanding of biological mechanisms underlying normal growth and development. Our bioscience research projects offered will help sustain the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries in the UK, where the flow of ideas, skills and key capabilities provides mutual benefit.