Update: these deadlines are now passed. Self-funded PhD students are still welcome to contact me following the guidelines below.

We are advertising PhD projects for 2020 entry, on different aspects of how fungi sense and respond to environmental change. They will all provide training in experimental and computational biology, in a world-class research environment. Each project is with a different fantastic collaborator, and the projects have different emphases.

RNA, RNA interference, and growth

These projects on Cryptococcus neoformans are based in Edinburgh, in collaboration with Dr. Elizabeth Bayne.

• Rest and reactivation in a major fungal pathogen: quantitative analysis of gene regulation in growth-state transitions, a quantitative project advertised through the Wellcome Four Year PhD Programme in Integrative Cell Mechanisms.
• Mechanisms and functions of RNA interference in Cryptococcus neoformans. This project would be primarily based in the Bayne laboratory.

How fungi respond to antifungal drugs (antimicrobial resistance)

This project is primarily based in the laboratory of Dr. Delma Childers at the University of Aberdeen.

• Temporal Adaptation to Antifungal Treatment in Pathogenic Fungi.

Environmental sensing at the cell surface

This project is a collaboration with Dr. Joanne Thompson and Dr. Jelena Baranovic, at the University of Edinburgh. It’s the most biochemical project we have listed, focused on function and structure cell surface receptor proteins, and would be primarily based in the Baranovic laboratory.

• Molecular basis of environmental sensing in fungi and protozoan parasites

Alternative proteins made by alternative translation

This project follows up on recent exciting work in the lab that you can read on biorXiv. It would start a new collaboration with Prof. Achim Schnaufer, at Edinburgh. The project would be particularly suitable for a self-funded / Darwin Trust / Carnegie Trust student.

• What drives protein production and localization in a major fungal pathogen?

How to apply

To apply, first email Edward Wallace for more information! Describe your interest in a specific 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 or environmental sensing, RNA, and sequencing/synthetic biology/computational biology methods), and also briefly describe your experimental and computational skills.

Application deadlines for admission and funding are due in December 2019 and January 2020, for October 2020 entry, please read the individual links for each project. Different funding opportunities are available for UK, EU and overseas students, for example through the BBSRC/EASTBIO doctoral training program or the Darwin Trust of Edinburgh. Ask us about the science first, and if the science is a good fit then we can talk about funding.

More context on PhD applications and the UK system

For more on how the PhD and post-PhD system works here, see the guide to the UK academic system by Geoff Barton.