In the EPSRC CDT in Chemical Biology: Empowering UK BioTech Innovation students apply for specific research projects rather than for generic positions within the CDT.
The EPSRC CDT studentship awards 4 years of a fully-funded stipend. This covers a one-year Masters of Research (MRes) in Chemical Biology & Bioentrepreneurship, followed by a 3-year PhD.
Potential students are interviewed by the project supervisors and members of the CDT Management.
Find studentships and apply
Studentship structure
The EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Chemical Biology: Empowering UK BioTech Innovation offers a unique and innovative 1+3+1 training programme, comprising a 1-year MRes in Chemical Biology and Bioentrepreneurship, followed by a 3-year PhD in Chemical Biology, and culminating in the opportunity for our graduates to undertake a visionary 1-year ELEVATE fellowship.
Our studentships are fully-funded, covering all tuition fees and stipend for a total of 4 years. In addition, each studentship scholarship provides a consumable allowance, a conference and travel fund and additional funding for the EVOLVE programme.
From October 2026 entry, the EPSRC CDT in Chemical Biology: Empowering UK BioTech Innovation was selected to be part of a government led TechFirst pilot.
TechFirst is the government’s flagship tech skills programme, helping open pathways into the UK’s fast-growing tech sector.
The doctoral support strand of TechFirst is a pilot funding an enhanced stipend for ~500 doctoral students with home fee status in priority technology areas over four years, beginning with the 2026 cohort. It has now been extended to another cohort for 2027.
TechFirst doctoral support students receive an enhanced stipend above the UKRI minimum, receiving a £30,000 stipend per year for the 2027 cohort. Students are expected to take part in up to 10 days of TechFirst doctoral support activity each year, including commercialisation and national security training, cohort networking, and engagement with the wider TechFirst programme.
The pilot is delivered by EPSRC through participating CDTs and DFAs. It aims to strengthen the UK’s domestic research pipeline and build a more inclusive, resilient and high-impact research ecosystem.
The TechFirst doctoral support is only open to applicants with Home fee status; everyone is welcome to apply, if you are passionate about chemical biology and looking to develop your research and innovation skills at doctoral level.
Applicants with Overseas fee status are still able to apply to our CDT studentships, as we have a limited number of CDT international student scholarships.
Please check our website for updates regarding our October 2027 entry studentships, and follow us on Bluesky @icbcdt.bsky.social, Instagram @ICB_CDT and on LinkedIn.
MRes and PhD
One-year MRes
Students will join the first year for a multidisciplinary MRes in Chemical Biology & Bioentrepreneurship, where exciting professional and transferable skills courses are crafted and delivered in partnership with industry, and fused with world class research andhacking and entrepreneurship training in Imperial College’s Advanced Hackspace.
Our MRes course involves taught elements from October to January in:
- Basic chemical biology fundamentals
- Hackspace education, where our FutureLab Programme introdues students to technologies spanning the Physical/Mathmatical-Life Sciences interface with industry 4.0 approaches
- Bioentrepreneurship, via our Biz-Catalyst programme and Industry Innovation Workshops
PhD training
Building on the research project from the MRes, students then embark on a three year PhD. During the PhD students benefit from additional transferable skills training including Science Communication with the BBC, Responsible Research and Innovation, a Human Centred Design Course, Policy workshops, Lab of the Future Hackathon, student-tailored career boosting placements via our EVOLVE Programme.
In addition, through the InnovaLAB tech accelerator programme students will have the opportunity to create their own start-ups. Over the years many of our students have filed their own patents and created their own successful spin-out companies, e.g. FA Bio (formerly Fungi-Alert), FreshCheck, anywhereHPLC.
Find out more about our students and their projects
Date last reviewed: 2 November 2026
Date last updated: 2 November 2026
