About the course

The DPhil in Advanced Bioscience of Viral Products is a four year programme, led by gene and cell therapy company Oxford Biomedica and run in collaboration with University College London. The programme aims to deliver the next generation of bioscience leaders to advance research on the underpinning bioscience of viral products for future gene therapies and vaccines.

This DPhil course will take a holistic approach to the science underpinning the successful development of new viral vector products including an understanding of the fundamental cell biology, bioprocessing considerations, improving our knowledge of the process/product, understand how these aspects can be translated and advanced in an industrial setting and identify how these fit into the wider regulatory context.

A core component of this training programme is to immerse students in an environment where they are able to apply their fundamental scientific knowledge and research expertise to addressing the current capacity and capability issues in viral vector development.

Throughout your training, you will work in interdisciplinary teams across the cohort, integrate your activities, share your knowledge and disseminate your research findings within the academic/industrial/clinical communities and to the public. All students on this course will undertake a placement with an industrial partner as part of their studies. An example of working across interdisciplinary teams will be ensuring student projects are designed to enable effective leveraging of data, tools and processes across research activities. Experimental and biological data generated from one project will feed into a project focused on employing advanced computational methods, which can then be used to feedback into the original project and inform future experimental design to inform our biological understanding.

Assessment

All students will be initially admitted to the status of Probationer Research Student (PRS). Within a maximum of six terms as a PRS student you will be expected to apply for transfer of status from Probationer Research Student to DPhil status.

A successful transfer of status from PRS to DPhil status will require the submission of a report on progress to date on research and future plans. Students who are successful at transfer will also be expected to apply for and gain confirmation of DPhil status within ten terms of admission, to show that your work continues to be on track.

Graduate destinations

The DPhil in Advanced Bioscience of Viral Products is a new course for first entry in 2022. The programme aims to equip graduates to advance their careers and to take up leadership roles in fields such as Immunology, Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing, Microbiology, Pharmaceuticals, and Synthetic Biology.