NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – The UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) has invested £67 million ($105 million) to fund partnership programs with a number of research institutions that will support postgraduates who are developing careers in the biosciences.
Under the program, BBSRC has struck 14 Doctoral Training Partnerships with a total of 44 UK institutes that will support 660 four-year PhD students, as well as industrial Collaborative Awards in Science and Engineering that will fund 70 postgraduates.
"This £67 million investment in postgraduate training is excellent news for students, research organizations, industry and the UK as a whole. The brightest and best students will be finding solutions to some of the biggest challenges facing us all, from food security through to renewable energy," UK Minister for Universities and Science David Willetts said in a statement.
"The partnership approach means that many institutions are combining their strengths to provide students with improved training and relevant work experience. This will better equip them for future careers, be it in research, industry, or elsewhere."
Among the partners involved in the new partnerships are the University of Cambridge; The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute; The European Bioinformatics Institute; The John Innes Center; the Genome Analysis Centre; and the University of Nottingham.