EPSRC and BBSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Engineering Biology: EngBio CDT

Synthetic Biology is a growing field of science that combines Biosciences, Chemistry, Physics, Information Technology and Engineering, and involves the redesigning end engineering of organisms for functional purposes, for example to produce valuable substances (e.g. medicines) or gain new functions (e.g. sensing and responding to something in the environment). Synthetic Biology aspires to tackle grand challenges surpassing what is possible through traditional technologies: it has wide-ranging applications in healthcare, environmental protection, energy, agriculture, computing, advanced chemicals and materials. Synthetic Biology has grown significantly in the UK over the past decade, thanks to a >£400M investment via the Synthetic Biology for Growth Programme. One of the key investments has been the SynBioCDT: the first UK CDT in Synthetic Biology funded in 2014 by the EPSRC and BBSRC and run by the Universities of Oxford, Bristol and Warwick. The SynBioCDT trained 79 excellent PhD students selected from >650 applicants, and attracted support from industrial, academic and public-facing partners. Our graduate students have gone on to work within the bioeconomy and have established disruptive start-ups. The term "Engineering Biology" has been recently adopted to highlight the essential transition of Synthetic Biology into a mature Engineering discipline. The recent UKRI National Engineering Biology Programme (NEBP) sets the UK ambition for the field and encompasses the capabilities that can support the exploitation of Engineering Biology for economic and public benefit. The Universities of Bristol and Oxford aim to establish a new CDT in Engineering Biology, the EngBioCDT, to train the academic and industrial Engineering Biology leaders of tomorrow, and to equip them with skills needed to contribute toward scalable, robust, and transformative engineering of biomimetic and biological systems. The EngBioCDT builds on our experience with the SynBioCDT and will address the NEBP requirement for a new generation of biological engineers able to translate cutting-edge science into real-world impact; it will support the EPSRC focus area 'Frontiers in Engineering and Technology'. The EngBioCDT will enable cohesive cohorts of students to gain expertise in the design, modelling and engineering of biological components and systems; to understand broad concepts ranging from biomolecular interactions to cell function; and to augment the Engineering Biology approach with robotics, automation and AI. Students will obtain advanced skills in programming and engineering; implement biological design across scales; place research in the context of both basic and applied science; and become cognisant of challenges such as process development and scale-up in biotechnology. Students will undertake both group and individual projects before starting their doctoral project. The EngBioCDT will take advantage of the expertise provided by the two Universities and our industrial partners, which will all be catalysts for inter-University and inter-sector training and research. Students will also have superb opportunities to engage with leading international academics, for example through an annual Summer School, and by participating in international conferences and workshops. The environment is exceptional. Bristol hosted BrisSynBio, one of six UKRI-funded Synthetic Biology Research Centres, and now hosts the Bristol BioDesign Institute and the Bristol Centre for Engineering Biology; the CDT Director is a EPSRC Fellow. Oxford, which led the SynBioCDT, received three fellowships and a programme grant in Engineering Biology, and offers vibrant translational opportunities. The applicants provide expertise in graduate training and many of them have previously worked together effectively. Our pool of >70 supervisors reflects the truly multidisciplinary nature of Engineering Biology, and includes internationally renowned researchers.