A few weeks a go I was lucky enough to attend the launch event to celebrate the first cohort of students for an EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) funded Centre for Doctoral Training in Next Generation Organ-on-a-chip Technologies at the Queen Mary Centre for Predictive in vitro Models.

I appreciate that sentence has a lot of long-winded names, so I am going to take a moment to break this down and explain why this is such a great initiative and how we got involved.

Queen Mary Centre for Predictive In Vitro Models

The term ‘in vitro model’ refers to the creation of an artificial, laboratory-based system to model an aspect of the body, so that scientists can study physiology, specific processes, or investigate a disease or drug response. In vitro literally comes from the Latin term meaning ‘in glass’. The majority of in vitro models use cells, grown in the lab from previously established cell lines, or tissue taken from patients. These cell-based models can vary in complexity from a 2D cell monolayer to 3D spheres with multiple cell types to model organs, to miniature micro-engineered devices with numerous cell types,  channels and chambers to try and replicate the flow of substances in the body between tissue or organs.

The Queen Mary Centre for Predictive in vitro models was established in 2020 to unite the University’s various research into in vitro models. The Centre brings together expertise from the University Faculty of Science and Engineering and the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry. They have also built up a network of key stakeholder partners and industry affiliates to help lead the way in interdisciplinary research to accelerate discovery science and the development of medicines.

Supporting the next generation of researchers

The Centre has grown to become one of Europe’s leading organ-on-a-chip facilities. To grow hubs such as this takes a lot of funding, and as the Centre grew, it looked to support more post-graduate researchers and more PhD students. This, in turn, meant they needed more industry partners and more funding.

Research Councils such as EPSRC offer fully-funded PhD studentships which covers tuition fees and living costs.  As an example, UKRI UK Research and Innovation, the national funding agency that funds research councils such as EPSRC, suggest a minimum stipend of £20,780 a year and a minimum fee cost of £5,006 a year is provided.

Over 4 years, this adds up to a minimum of £103,144 to support one PhD student working on one research project.

In 2023, we supported a bid by the Centre for EPSRC funding for a cohort of PhD students to work on organ-on-a-chip models. This supports our mission as cutting-edge in vitro science with the potential to model more complex interactions found in the body and therefore helping to develop models that can replace animal use. In addition to our letter of support, we also offer training and internship placements for students, to understand the wider social context in which their research can have impact and gain useful transferable skills.

In 2024, it was announced that they had been awarded £7 million to set up an EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Next Generation Organ-on-a-chip Technologies to support 60 PhD students; the first 15 have just started in October 2025.

What’s next?

It is fantastic that students have the option to pursue a research career focusing on cutting-edge science that does not use animals.

We need to ensure these PhD students not only have the knowledge and skills to conduct research using this state-of-the-art organ-on-chip technology, but also an understanding of the barriers that still exist to advance it further. We also need to ensure they have the skills to communicate their science and collaborate with others so that new knowledge is shared across disciplines. It is fantastic that the Centre is continuing to engage with academics, industry and charity partners such as Replacing Animal Research to give their students those opportunities and experiences during their PhD. We are very proud to be an ‘Affiliate’ for the Centre and will continue to support them in any way we can to help equip future researchers with the skills and knowledge to investigate disease and advance drug development without using animals.

If you are involved with running or teaching a Centre for Doctoral Training or a Doctoral Training Partnership which would benefit from our Thinking Differently or Replacement Checklist Training, we can help. If the focus is on in vitro work, we can provide an overview of replacement, opportunities and barriers faced in replacing animals, and highlight the importance of in vitro science in achieving this.