Collaborative research grows

Twelve new 'EPSRC-Pharma Synthesis' PhD studentships, based in eight university UK chemistry departments, were announced in March. These studentships are part of an industry-research council collaboration launched two years ago to fund areas of research that are vital to the UK economy. 

The Synthesis Programme is co-funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the pharmaceutical giants Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca, and is a reflection of EPSRC's growing interest in a funding model that emphasises industrial-academic collaboration. The main objective of the programme is to maintain and strengthen support for synthetic organic chemistry research, which underpins R&D in the pharmaceutical industry.