Archive post - We are advertising PhD projects for 2019 entry, on different aspects of how fungi dynamically reorganize their RNA and protein to adapt to environmental change. They will all provide training in experimental and computational biology. They differ in their emphasis on gene expression in response to environmental signals, on RNA-protein interactions, (newly posted) on massively parallel interrogation of RNA regulatory sequences, or on fungal pathogenesis. Each with a different and fantastic 2nd supervisor.
Projects for students from anywhere in the world, including the UK
These projects are based in Edinburgh:
Projects for UK/EU students
This project is collaborative with Dr. Vicent Pelechano at the at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, and would involve substantial time in Stockholm. It’s part of the Precision Medicine Doctoral Training Program, funded bythe Medical Research Council, University of Edinburgh and University of Glasgow. Please note that both fees and stipend would be covered for EU as well as UK students.
The next project is collaborative with Prof. Alistair Brown at the MRC Centre for Medical Mycology at the University of Aberdeen, as part of the BBSRC/EASTBIO doctoral training program, and would be primarily based in Aberdeen:
How to apply
To apply, first email Edward Wallace for more information! Describe your interest in the project in specific terms. The ideal email would say why you are interested in the subject matter (i.e. some combination of fungi, pathogens, stress adaptation, RNA, and sequencing/synthetic biology/computational biology methods), and also briefly describe your experimental and computational skills.
Application deadlines for funding are due in December 2018 (or 7 January 2019 for the precision medicine project), for October 2019 entry, see individual links for each project.
Further opportunities
We would be very happy to get enquiries, on these or related projects, from students with their own funding or who are applying to independent funding from foundations or governments.
There’s related scope for bioinformatics/computational projects relating to gene expression and translation regulation in fungi, and methods devlopment, possibly working with our collaborators. Now there are 1000 sequenced fungal genomes that need analyzing, so plenty of biology to discover!
More context on PhD applications and the UK system
For more on how the PhD and post-PhD system works here, see the very useful guide to the UK academic system by Geoff Barton.