The ICB Doctoral Training Centre

The Institute of Chemical Biology Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) was founded in 2003 and is now established as a world leading centre in multi-disciplinary PhD training for researchers working at the interface of the Life and Physical Sciences. The CDT mission is to produce a new generation of multidisciplinary researchers who work at the interface of the Life and Physical Sciences. 

Sponsored by the EPSRC and BBSRC, our programme will have taken on 120-140 students by 2013. These students take a 4-year programme starting with a Masters in Research degree following on with a PhD. The network of research teams in the CDT extends across all faculties of Imperial College, which is consistently ranked in the top 10 universities in the world and includes over 60 independent research groups active in co-supervising students.

The central research theme at our CDT is Chemical Biology, which is a strategically important area of research for the UK and looks at the measurement, calculation and understanding of molecular interactions in biology. This includes protein-protein and protein-lipid interactions, particularly those that are of medicinal importance. Students learn how to harness existing techniques and develop new ones for the study of these biochemically important processes.

The combination of cutting edge training and research undertaken by our students ensures that they are highly sought after by prospective employers.

Students working closely with industry 

Industry links form an important part of our CDT with about a quarter of studentships sponsored by companies including AstraZeneca, GSK and Pfizer. This helps to maximise the impact of our research in sectors such as the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. The quality of research undertaken by our students has been such that we have been able to secure ~£40M in follow-on funding to further develop and apply novel technologies that have emerged from research pioneered by our students.  This includes the early stages of translation to enable access to new end-users and collaborators. 

An enhanced PhD experience: 

During their PhD training, our students benefit from:

• a strong and innovative programme of transferable skills training that is specifically tailored for the needs of multi-disciplinary researchers in the form of courses such as Teamwork Training, Science Communication and Decision Making
   
• a pioneering entrepreneurship education programme that provides bespoke training and a £20k Dragons’ Den Style CDT Den competition which has already led to two student-driven spin-out vehicles.
   
• opportunities traditionally only available later in a researchers career. Students emerge with an established network of peers to draw upon, have full control of their research budget, the opportunity to manage and protect intellectual property they have generated and support to seek follow-on funding for their research via programme such as the Grant Writing Fellowship Scheme. 
   
• multiple supervision. This enables our students to exploit multiple sources of advice and guidance.
   
• multi-disciplinary training. Being fully embedded in at least two research groups allows our students to work across the physical life-sciences interface; they are masters of both domains. In addition to being exposed to a wide variety of cutting edge tools and technologies they are trained to develop novel platforms themselves. 
   
• working in large-scale academic and industrial multi-disciplinary initiatives. These enable our students to develop strong team working and decision making skills. 
   
• experience of knowledge transfer and technology translation. Students, armed with their outreach and communication skill set are encouraged to seek new applications for their technologies and engage with end users in research fields other than their own. The CDT network provides an ideal framework for these activities. 

Postgraduate Programmes

We offer three postgraduate programmes plus one 4-Year (1+3) CDT programme: 

1. MRes in Chemical Biology of Health & Disease and PhD (1 + 3 years) 
2. MRes in Chemical Biology of Health & Disease (1 year)
3. MRes in Chemical Biology of Crop Sustainability and Protection (1 year) 
4. MRes in Bioimaging Sciences (1 year) 
5. MRes in Drug Discovery and Development

PhD Studentships: Please visit our Studentships 2012/13 section for more details on the projects  available.

MRes places: Application for places on the MRes Chemical Biology of Health & Disease (1 year standalone course), Chemical Biology of Crop Sustainability and Protection, MRes Drug Discovery and MRes Bioimaging Sciences courses for October 2012 entry are now open.

Part and fully-funded studentships are available on the MRes in Chemical Biology of Crop Sustainability and Protection.

Management Team

Dr Oscar Ces 
Director of ICB Doctoral Training Centre

Dr Rudiger Woscholski
Deputy Director of ICB Doctoral Training Centre

Dr Laura Barter
Deputy Director of ICB Doctoral Training Centre

Dr Erika Rosivatz
Project Manager of ICB Doctoral Training Centre

Mr John Murrell
ICB Administrator and MRes Programme Coordinator