The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) awarded £14 million of funding for the Nottingham Doctoral Landscape Award to support innovative PhD training from 2025 at the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University.
Alongside scientific PhD training and research the programme provides a breadth of professional development training opportunities to enhance the capabilities of doctoral candidates and develop a world-class, highly skilled workforce the UK needs for its future.
Programme overview
The Nottingham DLA Partnership provides cohort-based training in frontier science across priority areas focussed upon three overarching themes: Sustainable Agriculture and Food (SAF), Bioscience for Human Health (BHH) and Biotechnology for Sustainable Growth (BSG).
Students on the standard programme will be recruited to clusters which will change each year to ensure a wide remit of research areas are available for the duration of the award. They will have the opportunity to undertake cluster specific skills training before selecting their research project, a mandatory three month professional internship, annual conference and training week.
CASE studentships offer the opportunity to work in partnership with industry with an industry placement, as well as joining the cohort for the other events and training run by the programme.
Funding
Studentships include home tuition fees and an annual tax-free stipend at UKRI rates. Find out more at: ukri.org/skills/funding-for-research-training/. Applicants who are classed as international for fees purposes may apply.
The DTP is open to UK and international applicants (including candidates from the EU) in round 1. We are able to recruit a limited number of international postgraduate researchers to the programme in line with UKRI guidance (maximum 30% of intake). Due to this cap, we are unable to guarantee places to any/all international applicants.
Entry requirements
To apply for a place on the programme, applicants should hold or be predicted to achieve the following UK qualifications or their equivalent:
- 1st Class or 2:1 undergraduate degree in a relevant area of science or technology, or equivalent qualifications gained outside the UK
- 2:2 undergraduate degree or lower, with a Masters’ degree in a relevant area of science or technology or equivalent qualifications gained outside the UK
- Three or more years of full-time work experience that is relevant to your undergraduate degree, or to the PhD projects you are applying for