NBIC Collaborative Training Partnership Project Proposals: Call Now Open

The NBIC Industrial Advisory Board Collaborative Training Partnership (CTP) PhD programme is a doctoral training programme directed at industrial research challenges and delivered by NBIC industry partners in collaboration with NBIC member research organisations.

The proposed PhD projects will be assessed against criteria related to how well they address:

NBIC’s interventional themes of biofilm Prevention, Detection, Management and Engineering (PDME) and leading-edge frontier and applied bioscience challenges relevant to BBSRCs remit and strategy as well as relevance to the industry challenges and needs.
Provision of the support and challenge to develop multidisciplinary skills and capabilities demanded by industry in executing the project.
Provision of rich and rewarding placements which develop both the soft and hard skills to prepare the graduate student for the setting of working with/in industry.

NBIC Collaborative Training Partnerships

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Eligibility and Gateway Criteria

To be eligible for the NBIC CTP funding, applicants must comply with the following requirements:

NBIC Membership

Research organisation is an acceded NBIC member.
Lead industrial partner is a member of NBIC by the start of the studentship and must remain so for the duration of the project. Further information on NBIC industry membership cost and benefit can be provided on request, please contact nbic@biofilms.ac.uk.

Paired PhD

Research organisation and/or industrial partner will offer/fund an additional, paired PhD, aligned to the NBIC’s PDME themes. The aim of the paired PhD is to build a larger cohort of PhD students and to increase biofilm training capacity across the UK.
The paired PhD can be funded from any sources including industry but not from UKRI-funded PhD training programs such as CTP, DTP, CDT, etc. It can be with or without an industry partner and can have a different supervisory team. The two projects can be on a complementary subject, the projects can have the same supervisor, different supervisors, but must be on biofilms research etc.

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion

At NBIC, we believe that diverse perspectives contribute to more comprehensive and robust research and innovation outcomes. We are committed to fostering an inclusive environment through an effective Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) framework that benefits our employees, research and industry partners. At the application stage, you will be asked to complete an EDI survey. We ask diversity monitoring questions to understand the diversity profile of our funded CTP awardees. NBIC will share this data with BBSRC as part of our requirements for post-award reporting. The data collected will also be used to help NBIC identify areas for improvement as well as understand the effectiveness of our procedures in eliminating discrimination. Data collection will be carried out in line with relevant Data Protection laws and the University of Southampton Data Protection Policy.

EDI Policies in Place

The research organisation and the industry partner must be committed to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and have adequate policies in place. They will be also expected to adhere to the NBIC CTP EDI strategy. (See Annex I in our guidance for applicants).

Funding and Costs

The cost of the NBIC CTP funded Studentship will be awarded to the research organisation directly by the BBSRC, in line with the published UKRI funding levels, which are currently as follow:

	Per Year (£)	Per Studentship; 4 years (£)
Stipend	19,237	76,948
Fees	4,786	19,144
Research Training Support Grant	5 000	20 000
Conferences / Fieldwork	230	920

Industry collaborator cost

Industrial partners are responsible for contributing the following amounts to the NBIC training programme for the duration of the studentship.

	Per Year (£)	Per Studentship; 4 years (£)
Large and Multinational Companies	10 000	40 000
SMEs	5 000	20 000
Micro Companies	1 000	4 000

Placement Associated costs: £15,000~, this is an estimate of the cost to the industry collaborator based on a 3-month placement, including travel, accommodation, lab costs and consumables, as well as insurances during placement etc. Subject to change for duration and placement activities.
The BBSRC also require that industrial partners employing more than 50 people contribute £1,400 per annum per doctoral candidate to the hosting research organisation.

It is expected that around 20 % of the funding (cash and in-kind) will be provided by industry partner(s) and/or other sources (excluding other Research Council sources) or the research organisation. Those proposed projects that have significant industrial investment, in particular cash / cash equivalent contributions, may be ranked higher in the funding assessment process, where the difference between scoring of projects is marginal.

NBIC will provide an elite training programme and cohort activities such as a retreat and annual summit.

Additional Information

Project duration

NBIC CTP studentships will be awarded for 4 years full-time. Part-time studentships are welcome, with a minimum of 50% of full time equivalent required.
Due to the cohort building nature of our programme, studentships are expected to commence on 1 October 2025, but please contact NBIC if this start date is not feasible as there is some flexibility built into the CTP scheme.

Placements

The placements are a compulsory and integral part of CTP training programme:

All placements should be developed in collaboration between the partners with input from the student.
Placements can be in the form of research placements (3-18 months duration) or used more flexibly for the development of professional skills for business and/or entrepreneurship. Placements will be for the minimum of 3 months, mandated during the 4-year period of the studentship. Projects that demonstrate extension of the placement(s) (up to 18 months in total) to the benefit of the student, will receive higher scores during the project evaluation.
Placements will be expected to demonstrably help early career researchers understand the context of their research and also transferability of their PhD training to different environments. Placements should aid the development of new professional skills and business competencies.
Placements should account for EDI. Flexibility to any specific needs of doctoral candidates e.g. with disabilities and/or caring responsibilities should be considered.
For the paired PhD studentship, NBIC will be able to assist with matching the PhD student to a placement opportunity, if the student would benefit from a placement. For clarity, placements during paired PhD studentships are not mandatory.

The NBIC CTP Programme Manager will be monitoring interactions between supervisors, industrial partners and the students to ensure that enriching placements for students are provided.

Student recruitment

Once funding is agreed by NBIC and BBSRC, PhD students should be recruited through open competition using the model accepted by individual faculty or academic unit. The NBIC CTP EDI Plan is included here for reference. (See Annex I in our guidance for applicants).
While international students will be welcome to apply, it should be noted that the NBIC CTP will be able to offer not more than 1 or 2 studentships per year to international students. This is in accordance to the 30% cap imposed by the UKRI.
NBIC will monitor and support the recruitment process and the NBIC CTP Programme Manager must be invited to attend student recruitment interviews.
Above recruitment requirements do not apply to the paired PhDs.

Supervisory Team

The students are expected to be allocated a supervisory team consisting of at least two academic members, one of whom will be the main supervisor. A third co-supervisor should be drawn from industry organisation.
The supervisory team should provide adequate expertise and training. Supervisory teams will be expected to submit their curriculum vitae and PhD track record at the time of the application.
Where a CTP project requires further expertise, an additional co-supervisor should appointed to provide the required specialist advice. This additional supervisor may be external to the project partners.
An introductory meeting (in-person or online) between the research organisation, the student and the Industrial Partner must be undertaken within the first two months of commencing the project.

Cohort and Training Programme

All studentships awarded as part of this competition will be considered to be a member of the NBIC CTP and will be required to comply with the following requirements:
CTP students will be registered at the Primary Supervisor’s institution at the outset and will complete a personal training needs analysis, allowing an informed choice of local technical and broader training programmes, aligned with NBIC Doctoral Training Centre in Biofilms Innovation, Technology and Engineering (BITE) training programme. (See Annex II in our guidance for applicants).
The students will be expected to maintain a training passport documenting evidence of their progress.
The student must be released for an average of 10 days per year to be able to participate cohort building activities, training in specific biofilm-related matters, provided by NBIC.
It is expected that students will be also released for an average of 5 days, to participate in public engagement activities to promote biofilm awareness to the public. Training and guidance will be provided when required during the studentship.
The paired studentship, submitted as part of the application, will be expected to meet the above training requirements, and join the above training and public engagement where applicable. While training itself will be provided by NBIC as part of the NBIC BITE programme (see Annex II in our guidance for applicants), any cost incurred as travel and subsistence is expected to be covered by the hosting research organisation or the industry partner.

Contractual requirements

Host research organisations will be required to enter a Partnership Agreement with NBIC.
A Collaboration Agreement between the research organisation and industry partner is required to maximise the benefits for all parties concerned. This agreement will include any arrangements in place regarding management of the student’s work and agreements concerning any Intellectual Property that may arise as a result.

Template Agreements will be provided by NBIC and must be signed prior to the start of the PhD Studentship.

Reporting

The recipient of the funding will provide NBIC with a six monthly report in line with NBIC reporting requirements. This will include a summary of progress and achievements including scientific, financial and training.
An annual update via Researchfish is expected as per BBSRC requirement.
The paired studentship submitted as part of the application will be expected to meet the above reporting requirement.

NBIC will aim to align its reporting needs and timelines with that of the host research organisation to minimise the reporting burden / duplication on the student.

Selection Criteria

The studentships will be allocated by the NBIC CTP through a competitive process. Each project proposed by an industry-university partnership, as well as the proposed paired projects, will undergo evaluation by the NBIC’s Industrial Advisory Board (for projects involving industry) and Executive Management Team. Projects will be assessed against specific selection criteria:

For the CTP PhD proposal

Host research organisation involvement and engagement with NBIC (since accession to NBIC).
Description of the project and its fit with NBIC interventional themes (PDME: preventing, detecting, managing or engineering biofilms) and BBSRC strategy and research areas
Industry need and relevance to the industry need
Scientific quality
Evidence of the expertise and experience of the supervisory team
How do applicants intend to manage the graduate student placement and interdisciplinary training
Adoption of Responsible Innovation principles
Provision of support and challenge to develop multidisciplinary skills (soft and hard) and capabilities.
Industry investment and other funding support for the studentship
Consideration and delivery of EDI

For Paired PhD (with or without an industry partner)

Host research organisation/industry partner involvement and engagement with NBIC (since accession to NBIC).
Description of the project and its fit with NBIC interventional themes (PDME: Prevention, Detection, Management and Engineering of biofilms)
Consideration and delivery of EDI