New Oxford-led initiative launches to train future leaders in life and environmental sciences

The University of Oxford, in partnership with five leading institutions, has launched the Interdisciplinary Life and Environmental Science Landscape Award (ILESLA). 

This ambitious doctoral training programme will prepare a new generation of creative, collaborative, and entrepreneurial researchers who are equipped to meet the complex, cross-disciplinary challenges the world faces. The new programme is part of a major £500 million investment in doctoral training announced by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

The primary aim of ILESLA is to cultivate researchers capable of developing innovative solutions to challenges in and at the intersection of biological and environmental sciences – from climate change and food security to infectious diseases, biodiversity declines, and sustainability. Funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) – UKRI and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) – UKRI, ILESLA will be hosted by the University of Oxford, Oxford Brookes University, The Open University, The Pirbright Institute, Diamond Light Source, and ISIS Neutron and Muon Source.

Based at the University of Oxford’s innovative Doctoral Training Centre (DTC), students will initially undertake an in-depth programme of cohort-based, experiential learning to develop research skills including mathematics and statistics, programming, imaging, data science, and modelling biological or environmental processes. In their doctoral research students will tackle challenges across five interconnected themes:

• Climate and Earth; Advancing understanding of climate and earth systems;
• Biodiversity and Sustainability; Sustainable approaches to support food, feed and energy security, manufacturing, and biodiversity;
• Animal and Human Health; Innovative approaches to understand and support animal and human health;
• Rules of Life; Frontier science addressing fundamental questions about biological organisms and ecosystems;
• Transformative Technologies; Development of tools and technologies underpinning biological and environmental research.

ILESLA is committed to inclusivity and will host a range of initiatives aimed at recruiting and supporting students from diverse backgrounds, including mature students and those in employment. The programme is expected to admit cohorts of around sixty students each year.