A PROGRAMME to support PhD-level students wishing to turn academic projects into business solutions for a greener economy is now open for applications.
There are 15 funded places open to students at all UK universities starting in October 2021.
Scotland’s Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC) working in conjunction with the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council is offering this opportunity to students as a Collaborative Training Partnership (CTP).
Over the four years of study and research students will be supported by its academic institution in collaboration with the IBioIC who provide bespoke technical, commercial and personal growth training and support for the students in a programme called Ready for Industry.
The CTP is not about solitary research and differs from a purely academic PhD. Martina Daute, studying at Abertay University in co-operation with the Scotch Whisky Research Institute, is part of a cohort of students from 2017 and about to complete her studies.
She said: “My project researches the influence of different yeast strains on whisky fermentation and how they affect the final flavour character of the spirit.
"Being part of a cohort of IBioIC students helps to make great contacts in other research institutions all over Scotland and the UK leading to company visits, new ideas and meeting academic and industrial researchers, lots of whom I would never have met through a purely academic PhD.”
The programme is industry-led and all applications include one industrial partner. Each PhD student will spend three months to a year working in their industrial partner’s facilities, gaining valuable experience.
The IBioIC creates a UK-wide learning community with opportunities to network with researchers, academics and companies in the growing industrial technology sector.
PhD students will be part of a cohort of students who will meet regularly and share ideas. The aim is to create a large and diverse network of early career researchers in industrial biotechnology with connections to wide range of industry partners.
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