Boots-funded studentships driving skincare innovation

Boots No7 Beauty Company have a long-standing partnership with The University of Manchester. The collaboration was set up to investigate the intrinsic characteristics and environmental impacts behind skin ageing, and is still going strong 20 years later.

Part of this partnership involves supporting PhD studentships that bridge academic research and commercial product development. This collaboration has led to significant advancements in skincare science, particularly in peptide-based technologies, alongside successful career progression for academic scientists. 

Meet Dr Ellie Bradley

Dr Ellie Bradley completed her PhD through one of these fully funded studentships under the supervision of Professor Rachel Watson, Dr Michael Sherrat and Professor Christopher Griffiths.

Today, Ellie is Scientific Credentialing Manager in No7's Research and Innovation Team - a role she's held for 11 years.

What was the focus of your PhD?

I was part of a team investigating the active ingredients in a Boots skincare product called No7 Protect and Perfect Advance Serum. The research aimed to identify which ingredient or combination of ingredients delivered the product's proven efficacy, moving beyond 'does it work?' to 'why does it work?'.

How was the experience?

I enjoyed that the research was translational with an immediate impact for the company. The delivery of the PhD was varied, as it involved working with volunteers and included visits to Salford Royal Hospital. This provided me with a broad experience beyond laboratory work, including clinical and translational aspects.

What were the research outcomes of your PhD?

We discovered that the critical active technology in the product was collagen peptides. These peptides improved skin elasticity by influencing structural proteins such as fibrillin.

This research instigated further product development within the No7 Beauty skincare range with the launch of another peptide product called Future Renew in 2023. This became the biggest ever beauty launch in the UK, with Future Renew Serum becoming a global bestseller. In the UK, there were more than 500,000 transactions in the first four weeks and, a year later, one product was still sold every seven seconds.

The development and subsequent success of this range simply would not have happened without the partnership with The University of Manchester, so it's incredible to be part of that.

How did the PhD prepare you for your role within industry?

During my PhD, we had regular meetings with No7 to update them on the progress of the research. This ensured that the research remained relevant to commercial objectives, which was a crucial skill required when transitioning to an industry role, alongside the hard deadlines and faster pace of work.

It also enabled me to network with colleagues at the company, so they were aware of my expertise when I applied for a role with them. I could be a useful bridge between academia and industry, because I had been in both worlds.

Since I completed my PhD, we have gained a greater understanding of the importance of exposing students to industry activity to enrich their experience and provide them with crucial insight into working in a commercial environment.

For example, students were invited to an advisor conference that No7 ran with about 1,500 of their beauty advisors. The students got to hear about how their research has been commercialised and subsequently helped customers.

Now, every year, we invite students from Manchester to come to this conference with a stand, and talk about their research and how it translates into our products.

What does the future hold for this strong partnership?

A couple of years ago, we started a new five-year collaboration with The University of Manchester, allowing us to work on new areas of science and keep innovating in the skincare space.

All I'm able to say is watch this space, but there are lots of exciting opportunities arising.