Imperial News

Institute of Chemical Biology Centre for Doctoral Training

by Maria Tortelli

Celebrates a decade of success

The Institute of Chemical Biology Centre for Doctoral Training (ICB CDT)was established in 2003 and has established itself as a world leading centre for research and training in Chemical Biology. The CDT mission is to produce a new generation of multidisciplinary researchers who have skills that span traditional subject divides thereby enabling them to work at the interface of the Life and Physical Sciences. Sponsored by the EPSRC and BBSRC, the programme has taken in over 120 PhD students and generated over £60M in funding to support CDT led breakthroughs.

The CDT students take a 4-year programme starting with a Masters in Research degree and following on with a PhD. From the outset, the CDT recognised the need to develop 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 in Teamwork Training, Entrepreneurship, Science Communication and Decision Making. Many of these courses have since been franchised across the UK.

The network of research teams in the ICB CDT extends across all faculties of Imperial College and includes ~90 independent research groups active in co-supervising students.  These students are in great demand with >80% of ICB CDT PhD graduates being recruited into the science sector.

To celebrate this decade long track of success, a series of documentaries have been made charting the history of the centre and showcasing the impact it has made in training and research. Links to these films can be found via the ICB CDT website (http://www.icb-cdt.co.uk/) or by clicking on the links below:

Film 1: ICB CDT History          http://vimeo.com/66838146

Film 2: ICB CDT Training        http://vimeo.com/68853936

Film 3: ICB CDT Research       http://vimeo.com/70482251