AstraZeneca and the University of Cambridge have formed three new joint schemes to support more than 80 Ph.D. scholarships and eight clinical lectureships over the next five years, spanning translational science, basic and clinical research.

AstraZeneca will fund a minimum of nine scholarships annually, divided across the departments of chemistry, biochemistry and pharmacology, with each running for a four-year period. AstraZeneca also will have the possibility of enrolling up to two of its employees annually as Ph.D. students in one or more of the departments.

MedImmune, AstraZeneca's global biologics R&D arm, together with the School of Clinical Medicine and the School of the Biological Sciences at the University of Cambridge have established a collaborative Ph.D. program, which will focus on both clinical and translational research, supporting up to six scholarships annually, with students spending equal amounts of time at the University and MedImmune's laboratories in Cambridge, U.K.

AstraZeneca and MedImmune will fund one Ph.D. scholarship and two academic clinical lectureships annually for four years under the University's new Experimental Medicine Initiative. Each post will run for up to four years with the opportunity for placements within AstraZeneca or MedImmune.

All three schemes will start in the autumn. Students will be appointed by the University of Cambridge and will be supported by an academic supervisor from the University and an industrial supervisor from AstraZeneca or MedImmune to ensure that basic scientific research is closely aligned with real-world challenges of drug discovery and development. Joint Steering Committees comprising senior representatives from the University, AstraZeneca and MedImmune will oversee the schemes.