Biomedical Sciences Exchange PhD studentships

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South Africa is at the sharp end of a complex health dynamic - the collision of communicable disease with an ever-growing burden of non-communicable disease. The country has one of the world's largest human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemics and highest incidence rates of tuberculosis. South Africa also mirrors much of the developing world in facing a rapid growth in chronic, non-communicable diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, chronic lung disease and neuropsychiatric disorders. The capacity to conduct relevant health research in Africa must be increased if these problems are to be addressed, and development and expansion of international collaborative networks are vital to achieving this.This programme will strengthen and extend ongoing collaborations between the University of Oxford (UOXF) and the University of Cape Town (UCT) within the area of biomedical science. Thirteen research partnerships in health-related fields will be strategically united. The fields will include infectious diseases, vaccine development, primary care, child and adolescent health, mental health, neurosciences, musculoskeletal disorders, diabetes and cancer. These focus areas include leading causes of global disease burden and disability. These partnership groups will exchange 10 PhD students from each of UOXF and UCT to the other institution for 3-6 months to learn new research techniques and strengthen the collaborative links between the research groups.The programme will also bring all collaborating students and their supervisors together for a networking meeting to transfer knowledge and plan future collaborative activity to sustainably research critical aspects of the health of South African and global populations. It will also specifically engage with Historically Disadvantaged Institutions in South Africa with a view to developing capacity more widely within the country.We anticipate that this programme will strengthen links between the UK and South Africa, foster a cadre of networked early-career scientists who embrace diversity and the challenge to improve the status quo, contribute to the imperative to transform South Africa's higher education sector, and deliver exceptional quality biomedical science outputs that will ultimately advance medical knowledge and improve the health and development capability of South Africa and the UK.