www.synbio.org.uk

Research Studies

PhD Studentships in Cambridge

The Board of Graduate Studies manages admission of the University's graduate students. Prospective students should start here - for an introduction to the University of Cambridge, the courses we offer, how to apply for postgraduate study, how your application will be processed, and immigration and other important information.

Click here for more information about Cambridge

 

Synthetic Biology in Cambridge

kings100bResearch activities and studentship opportunities at the University of Cambridge. There is an index of research groups engaged in Synthetic Biology related work, with funding news and resources for people considering work in Cambridge. See a collection of web sites with extensive local information.

 
Haze

9°C

Cambridge, UK

Haze
Humidity: 66%
Wind: N at 8.05 km/h
Thursday 4°C / 11°C Showers
Friday 4°C / 12°C Light rain
Saturday 9°C / 13°C Partly cloudy
Sunday 8°C / 18°C AM Clouds/PM Sun

Geeky Cambridge

Monday, 12 September 2011 20:34

Cambridge is 'geekiest' city in the UK. A survey has placed Cambridge as the UK’s technological capital and 'geekiest' city. This puts the city ahead of London, which came only fourth behind fellow technological heavyweights Gloucester and Brighton, claims a new survey by Ebuyer.

The University is responsible for training a tech savvy Cambridge population. Oxford proved to be relative luddites as they only managed eighth place. This is the second recent defeat by Cambridge, as this year's National Student Survey found that Cambridge students were significantly happier with their university education than Oxford ones. Cambridge beat off competition from other cities with an impressive ‘Geek score’ of 24.

The total was calculated from categories including the percentage of workers who hold a certified qualification, the number of job opportunities in technology positions, and the city with the most amount of technological purchases per person. 97% of workers aged between 16-64 had a certified qualification in Cambridge, which is 11% more than second best Gloucester. In a university city such as Cambridge this perhaps comes as little surprise. And with roughly 1,500 students enrolling to study a science based subject every year at the university, Cambridge looks to hold on to its lead.

 

Biology at Cambridge

Sunday, 13 February 2011 22:22

punts2.jpgClick here for the website for the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Cambridge.

Undergraduate teaching: The Natural Sciences Tripos is the framework within which most of the science is taught in Cambridge. It is taught by sixteen Departments and includes a wide range of physical and biological sciences and the history and philosophy of science.

Postgraduate teachingThe Board of Graduate Studies is charged with the admission, registration and approval of the University's graduate students. Prospective students should start here - for an introduction to the University of Cambridge, the courses we offer, how to apply for postgraduate study, how your application will be processed, and immigration and other important information.

Graduate Union: which represents graduate interests within the University, but also provides graduate-focused services - the website links to much additional information.

An additional list of useful web links for anyone interested in visiting, or coming to live in Cambridge: http://www.biomed.cam.ac.uk/gradschool/prospective.html

 

iGEM2012 recruitment

Monday, 03 January 2011 17:25

iGEM is an undergraduate synthetic biology competition where student teams are given a kit of biological parts from the Registry of Standard Biological Parts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).  The aim is to use this kit to design and construct new biological systems and operate them in living cells. The teams will first present the projects at the iGEM Regional European Qualifiers in the autumn, and if successful, at the iGEM Championship Jamboree held in early November at MIT.

iGEM has grown as a summer competition, with 5 teams in 2004, 13 teams in 2005 - the first year that the competition grew internationally, 32 teams in 2006, 54 teams in 2007, 84 teams in 2008, 112 teams in 2009, 130 teams in 2010 and 160 teams in 2011. Projects have ranged from banana and wintergreen smelling bacteria, an arsenic biosensor, artificial blood and buoyant bacteria, to the grand-prize winning E. chromi biopigments of the Cambridge iGEM2009 team. These are student driven projects, and the iGEM competition provides a opportunity to engage in original research as a team - with control over scientific direction and budget. It is fun and challenging. 

The Wellcome Trust is offering a number of student stipends to support the participation of UK teams in the international Genetically Engineered Machine competition (iGEM). The stipend will provide promising undergraduates with hands-on experience of synthetic biology during their 2012 summer vacation, with the aim of encouraging young scientists to consider a career in interdisciplinary research. The Cambridge iGEM teams have always been highly interdisciplinary, and we actively recruit students who may have little experience with biological systems, but who have complementary skills in engineering, computing or physical sciences.

Application forms are completed by team advisers with specific sections filled out by the individual students. Only one application is made per team and a maximum of 10 stipends can be requested. (The sponsor will guarantee that space and resources will be made available for the project).

Experiences of previous iGEM participants and articles on synthetic biology are available at:
http://wellcometrust.wordpress.com/tag/igem/
http://www.synbio.org.uk/cambridge/cambridge-igem-teams.html

Stipends are available for a maximum of ten students per team, and will provide support for up to ten weeks during the summer vacation. Each student will receive a stipend of £180 per week to cover living expenses.

Each student must be at a university within the UK or the Republic of Ireland (RoI) and should be an undergraduate registered for a basic science, engineering, mathematical, physical science, social and ethical science, dentistry, medical or veterinary degree. Each student should be in the middle year/s of a first degree of study (i.e. not in their first or last year) or a medical student between the end of the second year and the end of the penultimate year. More information about the Wellcome Trust scheme can be found at: www.wellcome.ac.uk/igem.

If you are interested in applying for a Wellcome iGEM2012 studentship at the University of Cambridge, forward your details including, (i) a short description of why you would like to participate and how you might contribute, and (ii) a CV, to Jim Haseloff at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it "> This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it as soon as possible. We will be arranging short interviews, in person or by Skype, and finalising the team by mid-December 2011.

Cambridge iGEM advisors: Jim Ajioka (Department of Pathology), Gos Micklem (Department of Genetics & Department of Applied Mathematics), Jim Haseloff (Department of Plant Sciences)

 

Press coverage for the Cambridge iGEM team

Sunday, 13 February 2011 22:56

iGEMPressCoverage.jpg

 An index of published articles and interviews for iGEM teams at the University of Cambridge - with links to PDFs and audio files.

 

 

   

Page 1 of 2