What is biosocial research and why do we need it?

The Soc-B CDT is a new and unique PhD training programme in biosocial research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) in order to build capacity in this growing area of interdisciplinary scientific endeavour. The Soc-B Centre in Doctoral Training for Biosocial Research combines the strengths of UCL and the Universities of Manchester and Essex.

Increasingly, evidence shows strong links between the social environment and health; however, the biological processes linking the two are less clear. Recent years have seen increased investments in the collection of biomarker data (e.g. neuroimaging, genomics, metabolomics and physical functioning) within a number of well-characterised longitudinal social surveys. Innovative methods are required to handle these high-dimensional datasets and study the mechanisms underlying the reciprocal relationships between the social environment and biology in ways that allow causal inference. As a graduate of the innovative Soc-B programme it is expected that you will be one of a cadre of cutting-edge researchers with the theoretical knowledge, analytic capabilities and communication skills to capitalise on these investments and make major advances in biosocial research in the future.

What current students are saying about their first module in the Soc-B CDT:

‘I particularly liked the access to leading academics in multidisciplinary roles discussing their fields in a language we could all understand…The interactivity of it was great.’

‘I am extremely grateful to be part of this first cohort that allow researchers with my interests to be able to pursue them without being limited by regulations!’

‘The discussion that took place and talks from guest speakers have sparked my interest in areas that I had not considered prior.’

‘I feel privileged to be part of the biosocial CDT. The sessions have been fascinating and really ignited certain areas of interest and gave me lots of research ideas and questions to take back and look at.’