The UK government had confirmed it will fund over 4,700 post-graduate places with more than £500 million.
The post-graduate students will be funded to study biological, engineering and environmental sciences at 45 universities across the country.
The Doctoral Landscape and Doctoral Focal Awards, delivered via UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) will allow students to study projects in biological, engineering and physical, and natural and environmental sciences, the government said. The awards replace the nine different schemes through which UKRI currently supports doctoral training.
UKRI said the skills students develop will prepare them for a range of careers, both in research and innovation and across the public and private sectors and said at least 25% of studentships will be delivered in collaboration with non-academic partners.
The funding has been made available to universities and prospective students will apply in the coming months ahead of beginning their studies next year, the government said. More than £564 million of funding announced will be allocated through three of UKRI’s research councils.
The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Doctoral Landscape Awards will invest £293 million across more than 2,300 studentships.
Research topics include artificial intelligence for bioscience, ecology and environment, food biosystems, health and exascale computing for Earth, environmental and sustainability solutions. The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council will use £279 million for doctoral landscape awards across 2,400 students at 40 universities. The funding is allocated to UK universities with significant research activity in this area, by means of an algorithm.
“Through curiosity-driven research, these doctoral students will advance knowledge in industries such as renewable energy, manufacturing and materials science to foster economic growth and provide a skilled workforce,” UKRI said.
The NERC will use £11.4 million to support around 90 studentships through four focal awards, with each awards will support around 24 students across three annual intakes. These include Ecosolutions, led by the University of Sheffield, which aims to apply systems-thinking to facilitate the delivery of a non-toxic UK environment and sustainable chemicals products sector.
The funding will also support the Interdisciplinary Life and Environmental Science Landscape Award, a doctoral training programme which seeks researchers capable of developing innovative solutions to challenges in and at the intersection of biological and environmental sciences – from climate change and food security to infectious diseases, biodiversity declines, and sustainability. Funded by the BBSRC and the NERC it is based at the University of Oxford’s Doctoral Training Centre.
The new awards follow the launch of the UKRI Doctoral Investment Framework in 2023, which aimed to simplify funding by basing doctoral support around doctoral landscape awards and doctoral focal awards.
UKRI noted that similar funding packages in the past have supported work which lead to the foundation of Wild Bio by former University of Oxford student Ross Hendron – a spinout launched with £12 million of seed capital, the largest ever seed fundraise in plant science in Europe.
The Russel Group of research universities welcomed the move but also noted the number of new researchers starting a postgraduate qualification has decreased by 12% between 2018/19 and 2022/23. It said the decrease in new postgraduate researchers is being driven by a 53% fall in postgrads coming from the EU.
“In order to deliver the Industrial Strategy successfully, it will be important to continue considering ways to address growing gaps in the research workforce, who will be central to harnessing emerging technologies and solving complex challenges such as climate change,” the group said.
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