b'The NBIC Doctoral Training CentreBRINGING TOGETHER RESEARCH, TRAINING, AND ENTREPRENEURSHIPAREAS OF SPECIALISMSUniversity of Edinburgh Soft and Active Matter Biological Physics; Complex Fluids and Rheology; HPC Modelling; Biofilms Architecture; Synthetic and Systems Biology.University of Liverpool Functional Surfaces; Materials; Smart Nanotechnology; Plasma Engineering; Imaging; The NBIC Doctoral Training Centre in BiofilmsOmics and Bioinformatics; Microbiorefinery; Infection Innovation, Technology and Engineering (BITE) wasControl; Modelling for Healthcare.established in early 2019. It is a world-class integratedUniversity of Nottingham Quorum Sensing and pipeline of interdisciplinary training, involving aSignalling; Molecular Recognition; Drug Discovery; partnership between the universities of Edinburgh,Polymer Discovery; Biomedical Engineering; AMR; Liverpool, Nottingham and Southampton, alongsideModelling; Synthetic Biology; Advanced Microscopy. international institutes and industry partners. It is theUniversity of Southampton Microbial Ecology and UKs first graduate training centre to address the skillsEvolution; AMR; Hybrid Biodevices; Nanoelectronic and and knowledge gaps in the biofilm field. The first cohortPhotonic Devices; Bioenergy.of 12 students started in October 2019. A further cohort of 8 BITE students joined in 2020-2021. SubsequentlyNBIC-CTP EQUALITY, DIVERSITY AND NBIC awarded its first round of CTP2 studentships,INCLUSION STRATEGYresulting in an additional 8 PhD candidates in 2022.The NBIC-CTP Equality, Diversity and Inclusion action plan We are excited to add 12 PhD students to our centre inwas highly praised by the BBSRC review panel as excellent 2023 and an additional 10 in 2024.and should be showcased as an example of best practice. The Doctoral Training Centre draws on over 70 academicNBIC intends to share the action plan with partnering supervisors from physical, mathematical, engineering,research organisations, especially the BITE programme life and clinical sciences within the partner researchpartners, to promote accessibility of PhD candidates and institutions to provide a unique, multidisciplinary andprotect their physical and mental wellbeing.inter-sectorial training experience to the next generation of research leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs,QUOTES FROM BITE PHD STUDENTSto deliver breakthrough science and technologies in this field. Graduates are supported to develop broad innovation horizons and seamlessly transitionBeing a part of the NBIC cohort was fantastic, it from research into technology and impact arenas.was a great way to meet other microbiology PhD Entrepreneurship Bootcamps are also offered, withstudents at a similar stage. It also provided many the most promising commercial projects progressed toopportunities to attend summits and training the ICURe accelerator programme, part of SETsquared, events across the UK, which were both fun and which is currently rated as the worlds best universityeducational, meeting people from different areas business incubator. We also partner with Alderley Parkand angles of biofilm research.and their Accelerator Programme, to provide bespokeentrepreneurial training to our students. The NBIC BITE Doctoral Training Centre has The Doctoral Training Centre provides a unique andprovided me with access to some excellent diverse environment to students, with opportunitiesinterdisciplinary training which has helped to to network with experts in other disciplines, engage inbroaden my understanding of biofilm research. peer-to-peer learning and participate in collaborative Helping on the NBIC stand at New Scientist Live problem solving, as well as partake in student exchangesin London was also a really fun and memorable with international centres of excellence, attend summerexperience for me during my time in the BITE schools, joint-nature conferences, and secondments andDTC which allowed me to improve my science masterclasses showcasing frontier thinking. communication and outreach skills. By combining the expertise of four core universities, the Doctoral Training Centre provides the synergy, critical mass, and the breadth and depth required to deliver an ambitious training programme in biofilm science, engineering and technology.41'