Doctoral Training Centres - Background

What is a DTC?

A DTC is a centre of excellence for training PhD students, with the emphasis on a particular subject or skill. The EPSRC has funded 44 of these DTCs in different subject areas at major UK universities. Bristol has 4 of these Centres, 2 based in Engineering, and 2 in Science. The School of Chemistry is involved in both Science Faculty DTCs.

A synthetic chemistry experimentChemical Synthesis

'A Holistic Doctoral Training Centre for Chemical Synthesis' is a £7.3M Chemistry-focused bid led by Professor Kevin Booker-Milburn and is further supported by significant (>£1M) additional industrial funding and training from leading Pharmaceutical, Fine Chemical and Petrochemical companies.

Nanoparticles of Pd black - useful as a catalystFunctional Nanomaterials

'A Doctoral Training Centre in Functional Nanomaterials' is a joint £6.4M bid between Chemistry and Physics, led by Dr Terry McMaster (Physics).

The two Centres will each be allocated ten 4-year PhD studentships (and associated support costs) per annum over a 5 year period, beginning October 2009. PhD students funded by the Centres will therefore have a different experience than students funded by the more traditional routes. First, instead of 3 or 3.5 years, these PhDs will run for 4 years, with around 6 months of this time being taught courses (lectures, workshops, etc.), and the remainder being research and associated research training. The taught courses will be specially written for each Centre providing advanced teaching on different aspects of the field (Chemical Synthesis or Functional Nanomaterials). The Bristol Chemical Synthesis DTC will be further supported by bespoke lectures and workshops from leading companies from Pharmaceutical and Fine Chemical Industries. Within Functional Nanomaterials, it is envisaged that some lectures will take place in Chemistry, and some in Physics.

These Centres will provide a first class training in both research and the technical/academic aspects of their subject. The DTC PhD studentships will be both prestigious and highly sought-after, and the research topics will be flexible and adventurous. A key feature of the DTC programme is that PhD supervisors and projects are not decided upon immediately; rather the DTC students are able to gain experience and insight into the large array of topics and supervisors available, before making that key decision in the second half of the first year.