The University of Manchester has been awarded a £2.2 million grant to establish the Centre for Doctoral Training in Computer Science, the first of its type in the UK. The centre, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), will admit at least 75 students over the next five years.

Students admitted to the centre will be given the chance to become 'the complete researcher', and is a significant commitment to expenditure on studentships at a time when funds are in short supply.

Students admitted to the centre will receive training in all aspects of the research process; creativity and innovation, research problem solving in collaboration with industrial users and carrying out research with real world impact. At the same time students will complete significant research in collaboration with world-leading academic staff.

The University won the grant despite strong competition from other leading computer science departments across the UK. The awarding panel felt strongly that the proposal represented an excellent opportunity to make a real impact to doctoral training in the UK.

Professor Steve Furber, director of the new centre, said: "We are delighted to have been chosen by EPSRC for this flagship Centre for Doctoral Training in Computer Science, and look forward to rising to the challenge of using this opportunity to transform computing PhDs in the UK."

Dr Jonathan Shapiro, manager of the centre, said: "Manchester Computer Science has unsurpassed breadth of research and the highest level of government research funding in the UK, and now houses the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Computer Science.

"This makes Manchester an excellent to place to carry out a PhD in Computer Science."