Uncategorised

The Swiss government offers fellowships for British researchers to undertake a research project in Switzerland.

Switzerland has some of the world’s top universities and research institutes © Switzerland Tourism / Lorenz Richard The Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships give early-stage British researchers (Master’s degree or recent PhD) the opportunity to pursue a research project at postgraduate, doctoral or postdoctoral level at any of Switzerland’s universities or national research institutes. Applicants need to propose a research project that is supported by an academic supervisor at their institution of choice. Maximum duration is 12 months for research projects and 36 months for pursuing a PhD. The application deadline for Scholarships commencing in September 2026 is 5 December 2025.

Details and application guidelines.

For further information please contact Dr Lutz-Peter Berg (lutz-peter.berg@eda.admin.ch) at the Embassy of Switzerland in London.

A new project led by UCL seeks to develop the plants and food of the future, supported by UK government funding from the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA).

Professor Saul Purton (UCL Structural & Molecular Biology) and Dr Scott Lenaghan (University of Tennessee) are co-leading a project, supported by an £8.9 million grant, that aims to harness the power of organisms that capture energy from sunlight (photosynthesis) – both land plants and algae – for the sustainable, affordable, and accessible production of valuable compounds for healthcare and manufacturing.

Read the full article here.

TwinsUK is the UK’s largest study of adult twins who have contributed their health data over up to 30 years. Claire Steves, together with twins involved in the studies – Yvonne Haines and Sandra Coles, will talk about how this collaboration between scientists and participants has contributed to understanding of how we can stay healthy as we age.

Happy to announce that Prof. Franca Fraternali as a Keynote speaker this year at 3DSIG/ISMB in Liverpool! Prof. Fraternali will present cutting-edge AI and structure-based strategies for antibody design, from chain pairing prediction to beyond-CDR engineering.

You can still register to attend the conference and stay updated about the latest developments in Structural Bioinformatics and Computational Biophysics!

Find more information on the conference: https://www.iscb.org/ismbeccb2025/home

Congratulations to Professor Frances Brodsky on being elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in the Cellular and Developmental Biology Section of Biological Sciences, in recognition of her outstanding scientific and leadership achievements.

We are proud to see Frances join the ranks of such distinguished individuals whose, in the words of Academy President L.L. Patton, “accomplishments speak volumes about the human capacity for discovery, creativity, leadership, and persistence. They are a stellar testament to the power of knowledge to broaden our horizons and deepen our understanding.”

Frances’s research focuses on membrane traffic in cells, and on the structure and function of clathrin and adaptor proteins that regulate these processes in health and disease.

Find out more about the Brodsky lab: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/biosciences/structural-and-molecular-biology/brodsky-lab/ 

Welcome to the ISMB Symposium 2024! The Institute of Structural and Molecular Biology (ISMB) will hold this year’s biennial ISMB Symposium at UCL’s Bloomsbury campus on Tuesday 25th and Wednesday 26th June.

Traditionally, the Symposium gathers eminent guest speakers and our own ISMB scientists to present talks on the core research themes of the Institute in a two-day event. This year’s programme offers an excellent line-up of speakers, introduced by our postdoctoral fellows and phd students. There will be poster and networking sessions.

The Symposium will close with the ISMB Summer Party in Bentham House on 26th June, 17:30-19:30. Please join us in this opportunity to connect with peers, share thoughts about emerging bioscience research, and be a part of the discussions on our scientific future.

We look forward to seeing you all there!

It is free to attend this event however registration is essential. Please click here to register. Deadline for registration is Monday, 17th June.

ISMB Symposium 2024 Programme and Abstracts

The UCL Faculties of Engineering, Mathematical & Physical Sciences and Life Sciences will lead seven new government-funded Centres for Doctoral Training and be a partner in a further two.

EPSRC has agreed to provide funding for a new Centre for Doctoral Training in Accelerated Medicines Design & Development (AMD&D) (~£7M) with the first student intake scheduled for autumn 2025.

Our CDT will recruit over 50 PhD students to develop the advanced laboratory and computational skills needed to accelerate medicines design and overcome the major obstacles in medicines development. The CDT is a partnership between UCL, the University of Nottingham, and a network of industrial and clinical partners from across the UK pharmaceutical, healthcare and medical technologies sector.

Prof Gareth Williams is the UCL CDT Director and will run the CDT together with UCL Co-Directors Prof Simon Gaisford, Prof Helen Hailes, Professor Rio Torii, Professor Jonathan Knowles and colleagues from Nottingham who are CoIs on the grant.

Read the article on UCL website here.

The Engineering Biology Mission Hubs aim to harness cutting-edge engineering biology research from across the UK to address global challenges from health to the environment. The six hubs will receive up to £12 million each from the UKRI Technology Missions Fund and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).

The P3EB Mission Hub (funded with £12.3M) aims to tackle the urgent environmental challenge of plastic pollution and create new ways for the sustainable deconstruction of synthetic plastics as the UK transitions towards a circular plastics economy. The hub will be led by Professor Andrew Pickford (University of Portsmouth), with support from scientists from seven leading UK institutions, including UCL co-investigators: Professor Helen Hailes (UCL Chemistry), Dr Jack Jeffries (UCL Biochemical Engineering), Professor Mark Miodownik (UCL Mechanical Engineering), Professor Paola Lettieri (UCL Chemical Engineering), Dr Andrea Paulillo (UCL Chemical Engineering), Dr Brooks Paige (UCL Centre for Artificial Intelligence), Professor Christine Orengo (UCL Biosciences).

Read the story here.