UK Research and Innovation, UKRI, has announced a major investment of more than £40 million in next generation doctoral training, aimed at strengthening the United Kingdom’s skills base, boosting productivity and supporting long term economic growth.
The funding will support over 320 new PhD studentships across three annual intakes beginning in 2026, focused on bioscience, biotechnology, artificial intelligence, data science and engineering biology.
The investment will be delivered through two flagship initiatives, the Industrial Doctoral Landscape Awards, IDLAs, and Doctoral Focal Awards, DFAs.
Together, the programmes form a coordinated national effort to build world class research talent in areas central to the UK’s economic ambitions and its leadership in critical technologies. They directly support UKRI’s mission to advance knowledge, improve lives and drive growth across the country.
Industry led training for key sectors
Ten Industrial Doctoral Landscape Awards will embed doctoral researchers directly within industrial environments, ensuring that training is closely aligned with real world needs. Businesses ranging from multinational firms to specialist research institutes will co design and co deliver programmes alongside leading universities.
More than 50 research organisations and over 100 project partners beyond academia will take part. The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, BBSRC, is investing more than £24 million, with a further £15 million provided through direct and in kind contributions from industry partners.
The IDLAs will train over 170 doctoral students and give industry a decisive role in shaping future skills, helping address long term workforce needs in strategically important sectors. These include pharmaceutical science, supporting data driven drug discovery and advanced biomanufacturing with partners such as GSK and AstraZeneca, food and drink innovation through a consortium involving Nestlé, and sustainable agriculture and crop science to strengthen food security, working with partners including the Scotch Whisky Research Institute and GB Potatoes.
Further programmes focus on industrial biotechnology and clean growth, developing scalable bioprocesses and circular bioeconomy solutions with organisations such as UK Water Industry Research, Babraham Research Campus and BASF, as well as consumer health and products through partnerships with Haleon, Procter and Gamble and Unilever.
Each programme is designed to accelerate innovation, support high value UK industries and create skilled jobs across the nation.
Building national capability in critical technologies
Alongside the IDLAs, UKRI is investing more than £17 million in eight Doctoral Focal Awards, supporting over 150 students. Three DFAs focus on artificial intelligence and data in the biosciences, while five concentrate on engineering biology.
The DFAs are funded by BBSRC with co investment from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the Medical Research Council and the Natural Environment Research Council. Together, they will train researchers with advanced computational, quantitative and engineering skills that are essential to the UK’s long term leadership in emerging technologies.
Key areas include AI enabled bioscience and data driven innovation, applying machine learning and multi modal data to transform spatial biology, enzyme engineering and discovery science. Programmes in engineering biology will support a sustainable and competitive economy through bioinspired design, programmable biological systems, scalable biomanufacturing and clean growth. Plant and environmental engineering biology programmes will develop engineered plant systems, environmental monitoring technologies and green production pathways aligned with the National Engineering Biology Programme.
The DFAs span more than 25 research institutions across the UK, strengthening regional innovation clusters and ensuring nationwide coverage. With over 100 project partners, the awards will support innovation well beyond academia and give students direct experience of real world applications.
Driving growth and productivity
By placing doctoral researchers at the interface of academia and industry, UKRI aims to strengthen the skills, capability and innovation capacity needed for a globally competitive British economy.
Professor Anne Ferguson Smith, Executive Chair of BBSRC, said the investments would reinforce the UK’s position in critical technologies while delivering tangible benefits across regions and industries.
She said the IDLAs and DFAs would equip a new generation of researchers with the skills needed to drive innovation, support high growth sectors and improve lives across the country.
The funded programmes involve leading universities and trusted industry partners, reflecting a clear commitment to ensuring that British science, engineering and enterprise continue to deliver prosperity, resilience and national capability in the decades ahead.
Source: UKRI
Further information
IDLA funded programmes
Advancing Translational Oral Health Research: Doctoral Training Programme (ATOHR-DTP)
Lead research organisation: Glasgow Caledonian University
Lead project partner: Haleon
BIO-BOOST: Harnessing Wastewater Treatments Biotechnological Potential
Lead research organisation: University of York
Lead project partner: UK Water Industry Research
Biocatalysis and Protein Engineering Centre for Sustainable Synthesis: BioProcess
Lead research organisation: The University of Manchester
Lead project partner: AstraZeneca
Bioconvergence for Sustainable Consumer Innovations (BiSCI)
Lead research organisation: Durham University
Lead project partner: Procter & Gamble
Bioscience South Cambridge Doctoral Training Partnership (BioSCaPe)
Lead research organisation: Babraham Institute
Lead project partner: Babraham Research Campus Ltd
Crop Innovation Centre: Skills, Technology and Research Training (CIC-START)
Lead research organisation: University of Dundee
Lead project partner: Scotch Whiskey Research Institute and GB Potatoes
Food Consortium IDLA
Lead research organisation: University of Reading
Lead project partner: Nestlé
The BBSRC Industrial Landscape Award in Transformative Technologies for Pharmaceutical Science
Lead research organisation: University of Oxford
Lead project partner: GlaxoSmithKline
The Sustainable Centre for AI-Leveraged Efficiency in Industrial Biotechnology (SCALE-IB)
Lead research organisation: Imperial College London
Lead project partner: BASF
Unilever IDLA (UnIDLA)
Lead research organisation: King’s College London
Lead project partner: Unilever
DFA in AI and data for the biosciences funded programmes
Advanced AI for Multi-modal Spatial Biology
Lead research organisation: Queen Mary University of London
BioAID: AI-Driven Enzyme Design for Industry Biocatalysis
Lead research organisation: Queen’s University Belfast
Enabling Next-generation AI for a Bioscience Led Economy (ENAIBLE)
Lead research organisation: University of Oxford
DFA in engineering biology funded programmes
CODE-M: Control and Design of Bioengineered Microbial Cells and Systems
Lead research organisation: The University of Manchester
Funders: EPSRC and NERC
DFA in Engineering Biology for Biomedicine
Lead research organisation: King’s College London
Funders: BBSRC and MRC
Engineering Biology for Environmental Applications (EngBio4Env)
Lead research organisation: Cranfield University
Funders: NERC
Plant BioDesign: Designing Plant Systems for a Green Economy
Lead research organisation: University of York
Funders: BBSRC
Training the next generation of Engineering Biologists to deliver green bio-based production (EngBio4GBP)
Lead research organisation: Royal Holloway University of London
Funders: BBSRC
