Student Opportunities

The John Innes Centre and the Sainsbury Laboratory have excellent research facilities and an international reputation for basic and applied research in Plant Science and Microbiology. It is recognised as a centre of excellence for postgraduate training and a European Marie Curie training site for early stage researchers. Students are registered for their PhDs with the adjoining University of East Anglia (UEA) which has a lively academic, social and sporting student life.

The John Innes Centre and the Sainsbury Laboratory greatly values the input students have to its research environment. Student training is supported by:

A friendly and active student community.
Excellent research facilities.
A stimulating research networking environment.
Supervisors at the forefront of their research both nationally and internationally.
Close links with the University of East Anglia.
Dedicated Graduate Studies Committee and Office, ensuring the quality of the educational environment.
Ensuring student access to relevant support services.

Latest student news

Chocks away as entrepreneurial students launch business

01 Dec 2011
PhD students Stuart King and Simon Lloyd, who won the UEA Eureka Business Plan competition, have returned from an internship at Hotel Chocolat’s base in St Lucia with a greater perspective on the world of business. They are now developing their business idea, based around protecting crops from disease. The prize also included start-up support, [...] Read full story

JIC success at Biotechnology YES

03 Nov 2011
A team of students from the John Innes Centre are through to the final of a national business plan competition, having won through from their regional heat. The Biotechnology Young Entrepreneurs Scheme (YES) is an annual business plan competition for PhD students and early career postdocs. Now in its 16th year, the highly successful programme [...] Read full story

Poster prize for student at international conference

02 Nov 2011
PhD student Ruth Bryant was awarded third prize in a poster competition at the 2011 CropWorld Global Congress. The conference is an international platform to debate and discuss the critical issues surrounding crop production industry. It brings together colleagues from government, the farming community, scientists, the private sector and strategists from the public sector [...] Read full story

JIC student brings home new expertise to answer question in antibiotic resistance

10 Aug 2011
Working out the structure of a complex formed when a protein binds to DNA has proved to be key in understanding how an antibiotic-producing organism controls resistance to its own antibiotic, and may be an example of how other antibiotic producers regulate export to prevent self-toxicity. The natural production of antibiotics by certain microorganisms is [...] Read full story

John Innes Foundation Prizes for Excellence in Scientific Research and Excellence in Science Communication

15 Jul 2011
Four postgraduate research students from the John Innes Centre and The Sainsbury Laboratory have received awards from the John Innes Foundation for the excellence of their research and how well they communicate it. Lucy Foulston’s research on identifying and characterising the genes needed by a rare soil bacterium to make a potent antibiotic resulted in [...] Read full story

Transatlantic award for microbiology student

06 Jul 2011
PhD student Daniel Tromans has received the Heatley-Payne Award from the Society of General Microbiology, which has allowed him to travel to the US to carry out a short research visit and present his work at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Microbiology (ASM). Daniel is a second year Norwich Research Park PhD [...] Read full story

Bridging the gap – JIC hosts South African biotechnology students

01 Jun 2011
Three research students from the University of Pretoria are currently undertaking five-month internships at the John Innes Centre, studying biotechnology and learning the skills needed to work in this field. These visits are sponsored by an award from the British Council through its Education Partnerships in Africa (EPA) programme. The objective has been to develop [...] Read full story

Parliamentary experience for student

07 Apr 2011
Freddy Cook recently spent three months in the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) after being awarded a BBSRC policy placement. At the time, Freddy was in the final year of his PhD, studying the genetic and biochemical control of grain development in cereal. As part of the placement, Freddy produced a briefing for [...] Read full story

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