A further £4.1m (from Oct 2008) from the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) will be used to train 39 PhD and 10 MRes students, in annual intakes until 2012.

The additional funding will support a shift in DTC research focus towards the understanding of protein-protein and lipid-protein interaction, particularly those which are targets for biological intervention, a shift which has evolv ed naturally from the original DTC theme of ''biological research of protein and lipids at or near the membrane". Our particular focus on protein-protein and lipid-protein interactions was chosen following consultation with senior research strategist s fro m the pharmace utical sector, who recognise that learning how to interfere with these interactions will form the basis for new pharmaceutical approaches to disease. However, they also recognise that such approaches will need to grow within academia and will require multidisciplinary researchers to carry these ideas with them and into industry.