UEA part of multi-million-pound investment in environmental sciences and biosciences
By: Communications
The University of East Anglia and The John Innes Centre (JIC) have been awarded a share of the £293 million investment by the joint Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and Natural Environment Research Council (BBSRC-NERC) in Doctoral Landscape Awards to train the next generation of environmental and bioscience scientists.
UEA leads the NERC-funded ARIES Doctoral Landscape Award in partnership with the Universities of Essex, Kent, Plymouth and Royal Holloway University of London.
The John Innes Centre leads the BBSRC-funded Doctoral Landscape Award partnered with UEA, The Sainsbury Laboratory, Quadram Institute and Earlham Institute, all located on the Norwich Research Park.
ARIES Programme Director, Professor Kevin Hiscock, said:
“We are absolutely delighted to be able to continue to train the next generation of adaptable, innovative and analytical scientists needed to meet the environmental challenges of the mid-21st century, and to benefit from our partnerships drawn from academia, research organisations, industry and government”.
BBSRC Programme Director, Professor Anne Graham, said:
“I am delighted that BBSRC continues to support our successful PhD programme. We are proud to have a long tradition of training highly skilled researchers and scientists, and while the global challenges of the 21st century are huge, it is advances in science which offer real opportunities to make a difference. The doctoral programme at the Norwich Research Park is unique in bringing together the resources of five world-class research institutions on a single site, so doctoral candidates have the opportunity, within one programme, to pursue truly multidisciplinary research.”
The NERC programme will offer 3.5-year PhD studentships with opportunities to integrate placements with collaborative partners. The BBSRC programme will offer 4-year PhD studentships with an integrated 3-month Professional Internship placement or industrial placement to develop their skills further and to explore possible future career directions.
Science and Technology Secretary, Peter Kyle, said:
“Backing the next generation of great scientific minds to fulfil their potential is crucial to unlocking the discoveries which improve our lives and which keep our economy growing over the long term through highly skilled jobs.
“This investment will back our vitally important higher education sector while supporting more bright students to pursue their talents and in turn deliver the life-saving drugs and clean energy alternatives of the future, that benefit all of our lives.”
UKRI Chief Executive, Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser, said:
"The awards provide funding for Universities across the UK to nurture a cadre of creative, talented people to develop their skills and knowledge, to build partnerships and networks, and to pursue the discoveries that will transform tomorrow, with diverse benefits for society and economic growth.”
Professor Samuel Fountain, Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the UEA Doctoral College, said:
“Both these highly competitive awards are testament to the world-leading training environment we have to offer here. These integrative and multidisciplinary training programmes will help the University and the Norwich Research Park in delivering the next generation of highly skilled researchers”.
Key to the success of these awards are the associate partners in industry, policy bodies and research organisations who will provide training and placement opportunities. For the NERC Doctoral Landscape Award these include the British Antarctic Survey, British Geological Survey, British Trust for Ornithology, Earlham Institute, John Innes Centre, The Marine Biological Association and Plymouth Marine Laboratory. For the BBSRC Doctoral Landscape Award these include the Royal Botanic Gardens (Kew), Syngenta, Food Standards Agency, IBM, Tropic Biosciences, Norwich Research Park, to name just a few.
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