East of Scotland Bioscience Doctoral Training Partnership

The East of Scotland Bioscience Doctoral Training Partnership will fund and train the next generation of bioscience researchers across a consortium of universities. This matters because the UK’s bioscience sector—spanning agriculture, medicine, biotechnology, and environmental science—depends on a steady pipeline of skilled PhD graduates. Without coordinated training programmes, early-career researchers may lack the breadth of expertise, industry connections, or interdisciplinary skills needed to tackle complex problems such as food security, antimicrobial resistance, or sustainable manufacturing. If the partnership succeeds, it will produce cohorts of doctoral graduates equipped with both deep specialist knowledge and transferable skills in data analysis, communication, and entrepreneurship. These researchers will go on to work in universities, startups, pharmaceutical companies, and regulatory bodies. The impact is not immediate or tangible—no single discovery or product emerges from a training grant—but the programme underpins the entire research ecosystem. Past investments in doctoral training have fed into breakthroughs in crop genetics, vaccine development, and industrial biotechnology. This partnership aims to replicate that long-term effect by ensuring the UK retains a competitive, well-connected bioscience workforce.