A key aim of the South-East Biosciences Network is to develop strong and reciprocal relationships with external partners. This can be achieved at a strategic level (e.g. sponsorship of the network) or through our particular schemes:
- Access to Advanced Training Courses
- Engagement with our internship programme (PIPS)
- Collaborative Studentships
Advanced Training Courses
The network is developing a portfolio of advanced training workshops, which it is seeking to offer to external organisations on the following topics:
- Techniques for chemical biology (e.g. click chemistry; imaging metal ions, molecular modeling methods for the controlled delivery and release of chemicals in vivo).
- Crystallographic and spectroscopic analyses of proteins and protein complexes (e.g. NMR, CD spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography, EPR/ENDOR and neutron scattering.
- Biophysical characterisation: surface plasmon resonance (SPR), analytical ultracentrifugation (AUC), microcalorimetry (ITC and DSC) and laser light scattering.
- Enzymology and fast reaction kinetics
- Recombinant DNA technology/cell biology techniques (e.g. DNA quantification, purification of DNA/RNA, PCR, Western blotting, (immunocytochemistry)
- Use of prokaryotic and eukaryotic systems for expression of recombinant proteins (including cell culture/fermentation and protein purification)
- Stem cell manipulation (growth of stem cells, induced pluripotent cells, stem cell imaging)
- Genomics and Next Generation Sequencing (e.g. application of Next Generation Sequencing platforms, genome assembly and re-sequencing methods, sequence alignment)
- Transcriptomics (e.g. ChIP-seq, Q-RT-PCR, RNA-seq, in-situ hybridization, microRNA detection, microarray analysis)
- Proteomics (e.g. mass spectrometry in proteomics, data analysis)
- Imaging techniques (e.g. electron microscopy, fluorescence microscopy, live cell imaging, calcium imaging, confocal microscopy, MRI, microdissection, AFM and image analysis).
- Model systems (selected methods using animal models (mouse, chick, Xenopus, zebrafish, Drosophila C. elegans))
- Systematics and taxonomy (including molecular evolution and computational phylogenetics)
For more information or to register an interest in advanced training courses, please contact: Paul Roberts: p.e.roberts@sussex.ac.uk
Professional Internship Programme
The South-east Biosciences network hosts a Professional Internship Programme for PhD Students (PIPS). It is intended to provide BBSRC funded PhD students with an opportunity to experience work in an area that is not directly related to their PhD project.
Internships are taken by all PhD students funded by the network and can be carried out at any time during their PhD, including between submission of the thesis and the viva if appropriate. Each internship is 3 months in duration, taken either in one block or spread across smaller blocks. Internships may be with any relevant employer and should not be directly related to the student's research project.
The benefits of the programme are set out below:
For more information or to register an interest in hosting an internship, please contact: Paul Roberts: p.e.roberts@sussex.ac.uk
Collaborative Studentships
The member institutions of the South-East Biosciences network are very keen to engage in collaborative studentship projects. The BBSRC currently supports a specific scheme known as "CASE".
CASE awards provide PhD students with a challenging research training experience within the context of a mutually beneficial research collaboration between academic and partner organisations, e.g. industry and policy making organisations.
Benefits to the student - CASE provides outstanding students access to training, facilities and expertise not available in an academic setting alone. Students benefit from a diversity of experimental approaches with an applied/translational dimension. Students have an opportunity to develop a range of valuable skills and significantly enhance their future employability; many will become research leaders of the future.
Benefits to the academic / partner organisations - CASE studentships encourage productive engagement between partners who benefit from a motivated, high-quality PhD student undertaking cutting-edge research relevant to the organisations' priorities and objectives. CASE provides opportunities to explore novel research collaborations and strengthen current partnerships.
Partner Eligibility Criteria for CASE Studentships
UK-based organisations can be considered as the non-academic partner if they can provide students with distinctive research training and experience not available in an academic setting. Organisations eligible for Research Council funding1 cannot act as a non-academic partner. Where the non-academic partner is a company, it must have an established UK-based research and/or commercial production capability. In exceptional cases, organisations based overseas may be eligible, but only where they can provide the student with an opportunity to gain skills not currently available in the UK.
If you have any queries or wish to receive further information, please contact Paul Roberts: p.e.roberts@sussex.ac.uk
