GSK-based OpportunitiesCurrent opportunities

We are delighted to announce the continuation of our industry-based PhD programmes into 2025/26.

We have available, from October 2025, a number of PhD studentships of 3.5 years in duration in the areas of Biopharmaceuticals and Synthetic and Medicinal Chemistry.

Biopharmaceuticals

Studentships are available in:

  • Antibody selections – focused on identification of antibodies through different platform and optimisation methods.
  • Antibody protein science – focused on expression and characterisation of therapeutic protein material.
  • Antibody pharmacology – focused on characterisation of antibodies via target and ligand methods and functional assays.
  • Molecular design and engineering of antibodies to assess and determine antibody developability.

Synthetic and Medicinal Chemistry

Studentships are available in:

  • Medicinal and Process Chemistry – focused on synthetic organic chemistry as applied to medicines design and process development.
  • Biocatalysis – focused on engineering of enzymatic methodologies for novel and sustainable routes to medicines.
  • Chemical Biology – focused on novel approaches for target and ligand discovery (including reactive fragments and biorthogonal chemistry), and technologies to study target-ligand interactions (including mass spectrometry, X-ray, electron microscopy, and associated data analytics).
  • Advancing structural, biophysical, and computational approaches (e.g. cryo-EM, X-ray, and mass spectrometry) to study challenging drug targets.

The successful candidates will be based at the GSK site at Stevenage (R&D) and will have the opportunity to spend at least three months of the studentship period at the University of Strathclyde.

Students will be registered as postgraduate students with the University of Strathclyde and co-supervised by academics and senior chemists and/or biologists from GSK.

 For this outstanding training and development opportunity, you will need:

  • excellent theoretical and practical skills, together with a dedicated attitude and the ability to provide creative and innovative solutions to complex problems;
  • to be highly motivated for chemistry/biology and broader areas of science; and
  • strong communication skills.

Further, you will need or be in line to obtain:

Biophamaceuticals

  • A very good MSci or BSc degree in biological sciences such as Biology, Biochemistry, Biomedical Science.

Synthetic and Medicinal Chemistry 

  • a very good MSci or MChem degree, or equivalent, in Chemistry.

 

You must also have the right to study and work in the UK without the need for a visa.  These studentships will cover tuition fees at the UK 'home' rate only.

 

The deadline for these opportunities has now passed.