The BBSRC GSK TTPS ("tee-tips") Doctoral Programme is a collaboration between world-leading researchers and supervisors at GSK and from the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and Southampton, developing novel methods in pharmaceutical sciences.

It provides four years of doctoral training leading to a DPhil at Oxford or a PhD at Cambridge (from 2026) or Southampton (from 2027). We will open shortly for applications to commence study in Autumn 2026.

TTPS will train you in the management, integration and engineering of data, understanding of biological systems and processes, and the modelling and data-analysis skills that are crucial to conducting science in this rapidly evolving field.

Disruptive new technologies are making deeper and more complex data available for drug discovery at an ever greater pace. The challenge now is to drive these new approaches to harness these data to fuel pharmaceutical research and discover new drugs. GSK are investing heavily in responding to these developments by building data-driven approaches to pharma R&D that learn from — and drive forward — our understanding of biological processes. In particular, this includes the intelligent and impactful use of AI and machine learning which demands high quality datasets to develop our understanding and fuel discoveries.

TTPS will offer computational doctoral research projects that seek to address fundamental issues in pharmaceutical science today:

• reducing drug failure rates
• shortening times to adoption
• shifting towards the early detection, prediction and prevention of disease

Solving these challenges is strategically vital to industry and government. This is reflected in the joint funding of our programme by both GSK and the BBSRC.

TTPS builds on the University of Oxford's tested interdisciplinary scientific training crafted over more than twenty years. 

The DTC runs ground-breaking 4 year inter-disciplinary training programmes preparing a new generation of scientists capable of undertaking fundamental and interdisciplinary research at the interface between the mathematical and physical and the biological and medical sciences. 

It follows on from Oxford's Systems/Sustainable Approaches to Biomedical Science (SABS R³ CDT) which awarded DPhils to almost 200 students from 2009-2024. TTPS is twinned with the Interdisciplinary Life and Environmental Science Landscape Award (BBSRC & NERC ILESLA) doctoral programme, which launched in 2025.

TTPS aligns industry and academia to provide integrated training and research delivered through a world-class partnership.

In the first six months you will receive training in the fundamentals of pharmaceutical science at the University of Oxford's Doctoral Training Centre (regardless of whether your doctorate will be from Oxford, Cambridge or Southampton). These short intensive training modules will equip you to take advantage of cutting edge in silico approaches, including machine learning/AI and new data-generating technologies using our pioneering systematic approach to life sciences and biomedical research.

In the second part of the first year, you conduct two three-month rotation projects in different areas, either of which could turn into a full DPhil/PhD. This gives you a chance to try new areas of research before you commit to a three-year doctorate. The rotation projects are supervised by an academic at the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, or Southampton, alongside a dedicated GSK co-supervisor. This gives you two opportunities to work with and learn from world-leading researchers in both academia and industry, while working on impactful research.

You will also benefit from a guaranteed three-month work placement at GSK during the course. You will be deeply embedded within an R&D team, providing invaluable experience of real-world drug discovery and improving your post-degree employability.

We aim to train the pharmaceutical leaders of the future.

Do you have a strong background in science and a passion for driving technological development in data-driven research? Does working on computational solutions to solve biomedical challenges with world-leaders in industry and academia excite you? If the answer to these questions is "yes!", then you've found the right programme.

Each year, TTPS can award up to 8 competitive, fully-funded DPhil/PhD places to candidates with strong potential to become future computational biotechnology leaders.

The first year features formal training and two substantial research projects that build a strong foundation in your understanding of today's pharmaceutical and life sciences research, potentially allowing entry from other disciplines..

Success not only means that you will be awarded a doctorate from your chosen university (Oxford, Cambridge, or Southampton), but also that you will have gained the communication, business and social skills to forge new partnerships, and a network to tackle global challenges as a future leader in pharmaceutical science.

The programme is part of the Doctoral Training Centre which has a strong record of alumni success. After completion of DTC courses, around 60% of students pursue academic careers and 20% enter into industrial research.

The DTC's alumni have created 20 start up companies and received over 30 granted or pending patents. Many students who have gone onto successful careers are invited back to talk to current students within the Research Skills sessions.

Former students on industrial DPhil programmes at the Oxford Doctoral Training Centre have progressed to careers in academia including at the Universities of Cambridge, Oxford, and Stanford.

Representative DTC graduate employers in pharma include AstraZeneca, Astex, Bayer, Chemify, Recursion and Isomorphic Labs; in research software engineering graduates now work at the University of Oxford and Swiss National Supercomputing Centre, and in research funding, UKRI.