New program in British universities to help educate 2,000 science students to PhD level

Up to 2,000 to students at 40 British universities are to be educated to PhD level in engineering and physical sciences under a 261 million U.S. dollars program announced Tuesday.

Universities Minister Jo Johnson said the program will also boost British research in quantum technologies.

A 214 million U.S. dollars investment in Doctoral Training Partnerships and 47 million U.S. dollars investment in Britain's National Quantum Technologies Program will support cutting-edge research across the country and help top students reach a PhD level education, Johnson said.

The extra funding for quantum technologies will further boost Britain's leading position in creating new technologies which use advanced physics to deliver products for anything from more accurate brain-scanning and earlier Alzheimer's diagnosis to smaller and more powerful computers, the Department for Business, Skills and Innovation announced.

The new program was unveiled by Johnson at the University of Oxford's Networked Quantum Information Technologies Hub.

Visiting the hub, Johnson said: "This new funding builds on our protection for science spending by supporting research in our world-leading universities and helping to train the science leaders of tomorrow."

Professor Louise Richardson, vice chancellor of the University of Oxford, said: "Quantum technologies promise to revolutionize the way we live our lives. It is a pleasure to welcome the minister to Oxford to announce support for this key research area, as well as sizeable funding for doctoral places in physics and engineering that will help us continue to train the leading scientists of the future."

The Doctoral Training Partnerships are being awarded to 40 universities from Southampton to Aberdeen, Cardiff and Belfast. The funding includes investing 32 million U.S. dollars in new equipment at seven university-based quantum institutions. Endit