Projects for October 2026 entry are open for applications. For details on the application process, please visit the 'How to apply' page.
This PhD project will investigate how RNA modifications influence the activity of topoisomerase I (TOP1), a crucial enzyme that regulates DNA supercoiling during replication and transcription.
With the human population projected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050, the looming challenge of feeding the rapidly growing population is threatened by plant pathogens, which cause significant losses in crop yield each year.
Modern humans are unique as a species, having spread widely and transformed the world with technology and large-scale societies. But until relatively recently (~50,000 years ago), there were many other types of humans on earth, including Neanderthals and Denisovans.
This exciting project will engineer light-driven microreactors converting nitrate to ammonia thereby delivering proof-of-principle for a sustainable technology converting a widespread pollutant, nitrate, to a valuable fertiliser and chemical feedstock, ammonia.
This exciting PhD will examine how parental age and the social environment interact to shape offspring health in a wild mammal, by combining epigenetic sequencing, bioinformatics, fieldwork, and statistical analysis.
Mitochondria in our cells harness energy through the breakdown of nutrients to produce ATP through oxidative phosphorylation. However, they are not 100% efficient in this process largely due to proton leak pathways that occur, leading to energy lost as heat.
Many natural products (NPs) show remarkable biological activity, yet their clinical potential is often limited by poor solubility, metabolic instability, or toxicity.
I think we have all experienced feeling tired after a meal – right? This is due to the redistribution of blood to our intestines, an important physiological response to eating that is critical for effective digestion and absorption of nutrients.
Why do harmful genes persist in populations instead of being removed by natural selection? One answer lies in sexual antagonism: when a genetic variant benefits males but harms females, or vice versa.
1) How do bacterial communities in recently formed soils from Mt Etna utilise CO, and what specific metabolic pathways are involved? and 2) Does exposure to mercury influence the expression and activity of the CO-dehydrogenase enzyme in bacteria isolated from Mt. Etna soils?
Aortic compliance, the ability of the aorta to change shape in response to changes in blood pressure, is essential for health.
Engineering biology has enormous potential to address global environmental challenges like bioremediation, biosequestration, pollutant monitoring, and resource recovery.
Plants need to respond to the environment in order to adapt and grow. Plants often modify the concentration of calcium ions in their cells in response to different environmental stimuli and stresses
This project will address how PMDs influence local gene transcription, enhancer choice and epigenetic responsiveness to developmental cues.
In this new and exciting PhD project, you will apply cutting-edge single-cell multi-omic approaches (scRNA-seq & scATAC-seq) to map the enhancer landscape during early cardiovascular development in the chick embryo, a tractable and image-friendly vertebrate model.
Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a major greenhouse gas, with 300-fold greater warming potential than carbon dioxide. A major source of N2O comes from soil microbes utilising nitrogen-based fertilisers rather than oxygen to breathe in a process called denitrification.
As the global population ages, it is increasingly important to understand the biological changes that drive physiological ageing.
In this project, the PhD student will develop a microaerobic chicken intestinal organoid model to elucidate Campylobacter colonisation and translocation across the gut epithelium.
Antibiotic resistance is a threat to our future. The proliferation of multi-drug resistant bacteria as a result of our overuse of antibiotics means that, one day, even simple surgeries may go back to being prone to deadly infections.
The development of adipocyte metabolism is crucial for the overall health of a population. Small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) are a class of ncRNAs that are emerging as important regulators of developmental biology, capable of regulating the processing of RNA.
Are you fascinated by how plants build complex, bioactive molecules?
Demand for natural weight loss remedies is exceptionally high. Central Pharma Biotechnica (Biotechnica) mass produce “ALGAFILL,” a seaweed-derived potential weight loss product, rich in active sulfur components with health benefits.
Our sense of sight is one of the most important ways we interact with and understand the world around us. The growth factor Pigment Epithelium-Derived Factor (PEDF) is required for the development and maintenance of the mammalian retina, but regulation of its abundance and activity remain poorly understood.
How is a healthy nervous system is formed in the embryo? This question is fundamental for understanding evolution of human development and inborn errors that cause congenital defects and miscarriage. However, around the stage of implantation into the uterus, human embryos become inaccessible for study.