It started as an idea at the Lund Stem Cell Center to train a new generation of experts in regenerative medicine and advanced therapy medicinal products with the potential to revolutionise healthcare. After two years of effort and a 240-page application document, Lund University has received funding from Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, part of the EU's Horizon Europe research and innovation programme. In autumn 2026, the new international doctoral programme, RAMP-UP, will start. ATMPs (advanced therapy medicinal products) are a new type of medicine based on cells, genes or tissue. It has the potential to cure serious genetic diseases, cancers, degenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and many more where traditional medicines are not sufficient today.
Collaboration with Leiden, Hannover and DTU
“The programme offers an international environment in which 55 doctoral students, 25 of them at Lund University, have the opportunity to work across disciplines between academia, healthcare and industry. This means we are training the next generation of researchers and experts in this rapidly growing field,” says Mattias Magnusson, director of RAMP-UP at the Lund Research School in Stem Cell Biology and group leader at the Stem Cell Center, Lund University.
In addition to Lund University, the collaboration also includes Leiden University in the Netherlands, Hannover Medical School in Germany and the Technical University of Denmark. In addition, a network of 27 industry partners, regulatory authorities, Region Skåne and Skåne University Hospital are involved.
“There are lots of exciting things happening in the ATMP field at the moment, and there is a strong commitment to establishing new collaborations and bridging boundaries between different fields, universities and countries. So, despite the long process, there has been a positive spirit among all our partners in this initiative,” says Marie Jönsson, Grant Manager at the Stem Cell Center, Lund University.
Programme open to PhD students from different disciplinary backgrounds
As the programme is multidisciplinary, it is open not only to doctoral students in medicine, but also engineers, health economists, lawyers and others. As with the ATMP field as a whole, it should be natural to work across faculty boundaries, from idea and basic research to commercial product, thus shortening processes and minimising detours. Today, the world's most expensive drug costs 2 million euros for a single injection. The aim is therefore to streamline and bring down prices so that advanced therapies can be introduced in hospitals.
“Following the success of the Lund University National ATMP Research School, the dream of creating a European research school in advanced therapies was born. Making it a reality required the strategic resources of the Stem Cell Center and the extraordinary commitment of Mattias Magnusson and Marie Jönsson with their complementary expertise. This shows that successful EU funding at the highest level requires the university to make conscious efforts to free up resources for competent implementers,” says Johan Flygare, director of the National ATMP Research School and scientific advisor for RAMP-UP, at the Lund University Stem Cell Center.