Published: 14 Nov 2024 | Last Updated: 14 Nov 2024 11:43:39

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has announced new funding for the next five years to support collaborative PhD training via the London Interdisciplinary Doctoral Programme (LIDo), in the form of a new Doctoral Landscape Award. As a prominent partner of the LIDo, this funding means the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) will be able to continue to provide world-class PhD training to graduate students, including bioscience and veterinary graduates, continuing this successful collaborative partnership, spanning 13 years to date.

In total, the UKRI has awarded 21 partnerships £500 million to continue championing doctoral-level research training. The LIDo’s new Doctoral Landscape Award will form part of this and support 26 studentships each year, funding PhDs that combine bioscience with artificial intelligence and advanced computation, equipping the next generation of bioscientists for a digitally augmented future.

This investment allows the RVC and other LIDo partners to train over 200 students (with the funding from UKRI, supplemented by LIDo institutions and their non-academic partners) to tackle important, complex problems in bioscience and biotechnology by integrating experimental techniques with advanced computational methods including artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science, and modelling.

LIDo is now accepting applications for the PhD studentships starting in Autumn 2025. To ensure that all talented and qualified students can access such opportunities regardless of socio-economic or demographic background, LIDo has initiated new collaborations with widening participation organisations including Leading Routes, In2ScienceUK, The Cowrie Scholarship Foundation, and Martingale Foundation.

Alongside the RVC, LIDo comprises seven other London universities including University College London (the lead institution for the programme); King’s College London; Queen Mary University of London; Birkbeck, University of London; the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; Royal Holloway, University of London; and University of Greenwich's Natural Resources Institute.

LIDo also works closely with external collaborators across multiple sectors, including Unilever, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, the Natural History Museum, Animal and Plant Health Agency, Food Standards Agency, Discovery Park, and the Alan Turing Institute.

Since 2012, LIDo has graduated over 370 alumni who are employed across diverse sectors including industry, academia, government, and charities.

Jonathan Elliott, Professor of Veterinary Clinical Pharmacology at the RVC, said:

“The RVC is delighted to continue its highly successful collaboration with other London-based institutions in providing world-class training for PhD students to equip them for future careers in biological and veterinary sciences.

“The focus of the training in computational methods and the use of artificial intelligence in analysing complex data sets is an important feature of this next phase of the London Interdisciplinary Doctoral programme and is of great importance to the future of veterinary and public health research.”

Ken Smith, Head of the Graduate School and Professor of Companion Animal Pathology at the RVC, said:

“The continued role of the RVC as a university partner in LIDo is key to building a vibrant and supportive community of postgraduate research students who are able to tackle the challenges of the future through novel interdisciplinary approaches, as well as consolidating professional networks between academics at the partnered universities across London and beyond.”

Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser, UKRI Chief Executive, said:

“UKRI’s investments in doctoral training are pivotal for the UK’s research and innovation endeavour. The awards provide funding for universities across the UK to nurture a cadre of creative, talented people to develop their skills and knowledge, to build partnerships and networks, and to pursue the discoveries that will transform tomorrow, with diverse benefits for society and economic growth.”

Notes to Editors

For more about the Doctoral Landscape Awards, please visit: https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/industrial-doctoral-landscape-award-2024-25/

Media contacts

• Jasmin De Vivo – devivo@plmr.co.uk or rvc@plmr.co.uk
• Press Line: 0800 368 9520

About the RVC

• The Royal Veterinary College (RVC) is the UK's largest and longest established independent veterinary school and is a Member Institution of the University of London. 
• It is one of the few veterinary schools in the world that hold accreditations from the RCVS in the UK (with reciprocal recognition from the AVBC for Australasia, the VCI for Ireland and the SAVC for South Africa), the EAEVE in the EU, and the AVMA in the USA and Canada. 
• The RVC is ranked as the top veterinary school in the world in the QS World University Rankings by subject, 2024. 
• The RVC offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in veterinary medicine, veterinary nursing and biological sciences. 
• The RVC is a research-led institution, with 88% of its research rated as internationally excellent or world class in the Research Excellence Framework 2021. 
• The RVC provides animal owners and the veterinary profession with access to expert veterinary care and advice through its teaching hospitals and first opinion practices in London and Hertfordshire.