DTP 2021 The Rosalind Franklin Institute

The Franklin is a new independent research institute with charitable status, established by the UK government to bring together expertise across disciplines, from different sectors (academic, industry, facility) to revolutionise the imaging and understanding of life.
The Franklin focus is in harnessing physical science to make disruptive advances in imaging technology. Our goal is to deliver a factor of ten improvement in understanding a human cell across five dimensions; space (x,y, z), time and chemistry. Our core science road-maps have been developed by the science leadership team, with input from the wider community. We have secured major peer-reviewed funding to revolutionise electron tomography. Our new building opens Q1 2021 and we are continuing recruitment of outstanding early career investigators and additional senior posts.
We have already made important breakthroughs in biomolecule chemistry, in electron imaging and in the fight against Covid19. The Franklin has strong links to instrument manufacturers, pharma and the biotech sector. Our ambition is to establish The Franklin as the best place in the UK for aspiring and creative physical and life scientists to train. Our studentship program has been fashioned with one overriding goal: to produce a cohort of scientists who will go into industry, large facilities or academia and drive up UK productivity.
Embracing this goal has led us to devise a radically different program. We are a new Institute with the benefit of learning from successes and failures elsewhere. Our students will be Franklin students spending the vast majority of their time in the new building, each will have at least one outside academic collaborator and their degree awards will come from across the UK. We expect most of our students to have projects with Industry. The
students will form links across the whole UK to the science inside The Franklin, ensuring national benefits.
The student experience at The Franklin will be marked by excellence in science, technology, training and mentorship. Students will study interdisciplinary projects, working across the themes at The Franklin, building expertise in globally important technologies, in collaboration with senior scientists at The Franklin and an awarding collaborator based at a partner University.
This collaborative feature is distinctive and provides excellent opportunities for both students and collaborating institutes. Degrees will be awarded through the national network of Franklin members and collaborating Institutes, with the collaborating academic as a co-supervisor. The co-supervisor will sit on supervisory panels alongside the Franklin supervisors ensuring the highest quality guidance.
The Franklin training coordinator will act as a pastoral contact point, and will manage arrangements for travel, additional training, networking and contract arrangements with awarding Universities. All our students will be members of the local 'Franklin social hub' at a college of a local University. The social hub will ensure that, whether a student is registered at Aberdeen or Exeter, they can join the same sports teams, or enjoy the same social activities and networks. The Franklin social hub ensures that the nature of the Harwell campus - a largely industrial site with few full time students, does not disadvantage the students, and enables them to experience 'the best of both worlds'.
We will advertise projects through partner universities and the national press, with further dissemination through leading journals. Students will apply directly to The Franklin.
Collaborators, supervisors and co-supervisors will be chosen solely on the scientific merit, fit to the proposed joint projects and match with the student. This will be assessed by the Franklin studentship committee (with external independent expert members).
Application and partnership information will be available at www.rfi.ac.uk/franklinfutures