We’re supporting Queen Mary University of London to develop the next generation of biomedical researchers, whose focus will be on improving the health of East Londoners.
We’re committed to invest £4.85m over the next five years to establish the Barts Charity Doctoral Training Programme, a new non-clinical programme.
Barts Charity Doctoral Training Programme
The Barts Charity Doctoral Training Programme will fund five PhD students every year for the next five academic years.
What will be unique about this Programme is its focus on the health challenges and diseases that are experienced by our local community.
The Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry is excited to launch this Doctoral Training Programme with Barts Charity, to support the development of researchers focused on health inequalities and disease experienced by the people of East London.
– Professor Paul Chapple, Programme Co-Director
How to submit an application?
For supervisory teams within QMUL Faculty of Medicine and Density who are considering submitting a potential PhD research project for consideration by the DTP Management and Training Committee, please read the Call for Projects Guidance and complete the project submission form. Please return the submission form to [email protected] by 5pm on Friday 12 December.
“Community engagement will be a cornerstone of the programme, which, combined with a cutting-edge research training programme, will equip the next generation of researchers to deliver new treatments targeted at improving health for our local population.”
Professor Amrita Ahluwalia from Queen Mary University of London
Community involvement
Engagement with patients and other local stakeholders will also be integral to this new programme:
- The team at the Doctoral Training Programme will work closely with the local community to co-produce research themes that will inform project development and selection
- Members of the community will sit on the Doctoral Training Programme committee and selection board
- The community will be engaged in research projects as they are delivered – and researchers will be receive training in community engagement and involvement
- The students will also gain valuable insights into health challenges for the East London community through training, events and interaction with clinical facing roles
- As part of their PhDs, they will also regularly present and provide feedback on their work to the local community
This will be a cohort-based PhD programme. This means that, rather than pursue their studies separately, the students will be brought together as a group, both for training sessions and to provide a more supportive environment.
The Doctoral Training Programme will offer students a robust training programme that will provide training in many areas including:
- Research skills
- Collaborating across different disciplines – including roundtables with clinicians and patients
- Career development training, including transferable skills to prepare them for diverse career paths from academia to industry, and from policy to public engagement
The Doctoral Training Programme will also appoint an equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) champion and a student lead. These appointees will ensure that a diverse group of students are recruited, and that EDI best practice is followed.
Why are we supporting the Doctoral Training Programme?
The Doctoral Training Programme is part of our strategy to enhance healthcare research and to build research leadership in East London.
The Barts Charity Doctoral Training Programme will enhance our current investment in non-clinical PhD students by bringing them together into one cohort.
The programme will develop a host of world-class researchers, who will have a focus on the needs of East London – and will have great connections with the local community. It’s hoped that this programme will have long-term impact by motivating these researchers to continue focusing on underserved communities as their careers develop beyond their PhDs.
“This next generation of biomedical researchers will investigate and understand the complex health needs of our East London community, develop innovative solutions, and contribute new insights to their fields. We look forward to working with Queen Mary on this locally-relevant PhD programme – which will deliver real health benefits to East London.”
Fiona Miller Smith, Chief Executive of Barts Charity