Programme

From the simulation of complex systems, and the design and automation of laboratory experiments, to the analysis of small and large-scale data, computational methods are at the heart of 21st Century biomedical research. It is dependent as never before on research software.

The EPSRC CDT in Sustainable Approaches to Biomedical Science: Responsible and Reproducible Research, SABS R3, is addressing this need. We are a consortium of internationally leading, computational biomedical researchers drawn from the University of Oxford, working together with 20 industrial, non-profit, and institutional partners.

Doctoral research projects are developed together by researchers at both the University of Oxford and our industrial partners, and you as a SABS doctoral student receive joint academic and industrial supervision. SABS has three research themes:

  • computational and data-driven approaches to structural biology;
  • physiological modelling; and,
  • biomedical imaging.

As a SABS:R3 graduate, you will not only be trained to be first-rate biomedical research scientists, but will also:

  • learn the skills needed to transform their research by the creation of innovative, re-usable computational tools and solutions;
    • You will work in small groups in your first year on an open source software project in one of our main research themes;
  • be trained in best-practices in sustainable software engineering;
    • this is just one of our diverse modules you will be taught in your first two terms;
  • become fully-versed in current and emerging technologies and hardware paradigms;
  • be trained in the ethical, legal, and technical landscape of open and sustainable software; and,
  • prepare for the challenges and opportunities provided by the standards-based but non-traditional routes of academic research dissemination that are emerging.

Scientists with this combination of skills are in great demand in both academia and industry but are still hard to find.

If you're interested in cutting-edge, systems approaches to biomedical research, in learning about advanced practices in software engineering, and want to have an impact on industrially-relevant biomedical challenges, we encourage you to apply to the Sustainable Approaches to Biomedical Science: Responsible and Reproducible Research (SABS R³) Centre for Doctoral Training.

Biomedical research is a highly interdisciplinary enterprise involving collaboration and team work, with new ideas coming from the cross-fertilization of different disciplines, so we welcome applications from students from a wide range of academic backgrounds, including:

  • Biochemistry
  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Computer Science
  • Engineering
  • Mathematics
  • Pharmacology
  • Physics
  • Statistics