About MIBTP
MIBTP is a BBSRC funded Doctoral Training Partnership between the University of Warwick, the University of Birmingham, the University of Leicester, Aston University, Harper Adams University, and Coventry University
Our Vision
Our vision is to deliver innovative, world class research across the Life Sciences to boost the growing Bioeconomy in the Midlands and across the UK. A key aspect is a commitment to PhD training. We are research-intensive Universities with aspirations to increase the volume and excellence of our research and MIBTP is conceived as both a training partnership and an opportunity to catalyse new interdisciplinary collaborations. MIBTP recognises that success will require all trainees to be fully conversant with a wide range of technologies, with quantitative methods and with the skills needed to investigate advanced ideas across discipline boundaries. Our training will be based on face to face tuition from experts in both dry and wet experimentation and will produce research-skilled, rounded graduates primed to make an impact in their careers.
Excellence
The emphasis for all projects will be world class excellence. We expect at least 80% of projects to be interdisciplinary and represent new ways of working. Students will choose supervisors from exemplary research communities and well resourced labs at all 6 Universities, familiar through their participation in front-loaded training programmes with access to excellent facilities across all 6 partners.
Working Together
The universities are separate entities, but there is growing cooperation within and between partners because we recognise that not only does interdisciplinarity now motivate most significant research themes but critical mass is vital to ensure global impact. Analysis of our strengths reveals much complementarity which we will build on. The partnership is also built on the experiences of previous and current joint initiatives.
Areas of Research
The MIBTP brings together departments of the partner Universities with research programmes investigating biological questions that align to priorities in the BBSRC strategy. This includes departments of Life Sciences, Chemistry, Mathematics, Statistics, Medicine, Chemical Engineering, Systems Biology, Psychology and Sports Science. We support novel cross-disciplinary approaches - integration of strongly quantitative disciplines and new ways of working, combining both ‘wet’ and ‘dry’ experimentation across traditional discipline barriers to create novel systems models and tools to provide new biological insight. We have particular strengths in Sustainable Agriculture and Food, Renewable Resources and Clean Growth, Understanding the Rules of Life, and Integrated Understanding of Health.
Work With Us
We collaborate with industry with every student going on a work placement, as well as with a selection of CASE students whose entire PhD project is collaborative with an industry partner. If you would like to know more about working with us as an industry collaboration, please email us at .
For academics who are interested in sponsoring potential students through the MIBTP and want to know more about the programme, please emails us at and we will answer any questions you may have.