There are four PhD scholarships available at the University of Nottingham in Engineering and Engineering Science. Please contact the supervisors to get more information about the scholarships. Good luck!
PhD Studentship in From nature to industry: applying H2-metabolising enzymes to sustainable biocatalysis. (Engineering)
Subject area (BBSRC Doctoral Training Partnership, Researcher Academy)
UoN Supervisor names Simone Morra
Applications are invited for a fully funded PhD Studentship at the University of Nottingham in collaboration with HydRegen Ltd.
The project aims at bringing novel robust metalloenzymes into industrial applications that will improve the sustainability of chemical manufacturing. The main objectives of this PhD project are: 1) to optimise the overproduction of a novel [FeFe]-hydrogenase at high yield and large scale; 2) to apply the enzyme to biocatalytic hydrogenations for the production of high value products.
The student will work in state-of-the-art facilities at the interface between academia and industry and will be trained in fermentation (up 100 L scale), protein overexpression and purification, enzyme immobilisation, and biocatalysis.
Entry requirements: Applicants must have, or should expect to obtain, a 1st class or 2:1 honours degree or a distinction or high merit at MSc level (or international equivalents) in Biotechnology, Biochemistry, Chemistry or related disciplines. Experience in protein expression and purification or biocatalysis (e.g. a placement or a Masters-level research project) will be beneficial.
To make an informal enquiry prior to application, please contact Dr Simone Morra directly (simone.morra@nottingham.ac.uk) with a cover letter and a CV.
Award Start Date October 2024
Duration of Award 4 years
Terms and Conditions
Home and international students are welcome to apply for this opportunity. Funding is available for four years from late September 2024. The award covers tuition fee (£4,712) at the home rate plus an annual stipend which was (£18,622) for 2023. This is set by the Research Councils. Please note that successful international candidates will be put forward for a University Fees Difference Scholarship to cover the difference between the home and international fee.
Informal enquiries may be addressed to simone.morra@nottingham.ac.uk or bbdtp@nottingham.ac.uk
PhD Studentship in Engineering Biology approaches to functionalised hydrogel production (Science)
This BBSRC CASE DTP project will be of interest to doctoral candidates who have a strong interest in biomaterials research and peptide modification and bioconjugation. Hence it is a suitable project for candidates with a background in biotechnology, bioengineering, biochemistry or biological chemistry. The research will focus on the use of synthetic/engineering biology methods to develop new hydrogels as bespoke scaffolds for cell niches that are required in regenerative medicine and animal-free drug testing. The student will be trained in advanced, sustainable and low environmental impact methods for protein generation including chemoenzymatic posttranslational modification together with mammalian cell culture and a wide range of imaging and biomaterials characterisation techniques. The research will be conducted between the research groups of Neil Thomas and Cathy Merry in the Biodiscovery Institute at the University of Nottingham (https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/research-areas/biodiscovery-institute/biodiscoveryinstitute.aspx). This research complex offers state of the art facilities and a vibrant and supportive research culture, housing 850 researchers from the Schools of Chemistry, Medicine, Life Sciences, Pharmacy and Veterinary Medicine and Science. The student will have continuous close contact with the industrial partner, PeptiMatrix (https://www.PeptiMatrix.com/) who are a rapidly expanding biotechnology company that has spun out of the University and are currently co-located in the Biodiscovery Institute. The industrial supervisor, Dr John Curd graduated from the BBSRC DTP and hence has a good appreciation of the demands of the PhD studentship. The student appointed will spend a 3-6 month period working within PeptiMatrix’s laboratory, gaining firsthand experience in a broad range of activities in a fast growing biotechnology start-up.
Award Start Date October 2024
Duration of Award 4 years
Terms and Conditions
Home and international students are welcome to apply for this opportunity. Funding is available for four years from late September 2024. The award covers tuition fee (£4,712) at the home rate plus an annual stipend which was (£18,622) for 2023. This is set by the Research Councils. Please note that successful international candidates will be put forward for a University Fees Difference Scholarship to cover the difference between the home and international fee.
To apply and check your eligibility, please click go to https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/bbdtp/apply/how-to-apply.aspx and you can find further information about how to apply to our programme.
Informal enquiries may be addressed to neil.thomas@nottingham.ac.uk or bbdtp@nottingham.ac.uk
PhD Studentship inThe Fast and Non-Spurious: High-content screening without artefact in barrier tissues on a chip (Engineering)
Subject area (BBSRC Doctoral Training Partnership, Researcher Academy)
UoN Supervisor names Kevin Webb
The PhD project is aimed at improving data acquisition speed and quality in multimodal, label-free microscopy in high-throughput and high-content screening. Current methods are vulnerable to focus drift, which requires extra scanning time to correct and thus slows assays down. The meniscus formed at the culture well wall distorts and misaligns transmitted-light imaging, leading to difficulties in image analysis and segmentation. Quantitative, reproducible data must be generated that can be relied upon to consistently deliver endpoints that can be analysed and presented in a preclinical research program.
The project will draw on and combine a set of simple technologies developed within the Webb lab to monitor and correct for defocus, meniscus artefact, and which provide multimodal, label-free quantitative phase imaging for endpoint interpretation.
In partnership with UK SME Cairn Research Ltd, using a condenser-free illumination paradigm, the student will elaborate, optimise, validate, and combine these technologies into a monolithic illumination unit capable of bright field, dark field, quantitative phase imaging on any microscope, at any magnification.
A minimum three-month placement at Cairn in the final year will produce a validated full manufacturable prototype and the experience of working within a design team to deliver a novel enabling solution that will speed up biomedical research by making imaging faster, higher quality, and information rich.
The student will validate the technology using cutting-edge microphysiological models of barrier tissues (the “µSIM”) to capture high-content screening data and produce the first data to demonstrate applicability in models of the blood-retinal barrier produced within the Webb lab.
Success will enable new endpoint assays to be developed to provide barrier tissue models for preclinical toxicology, endpoint analysis, and efficacy.
The new technology developed is intended to be commercialised in partnership with UK (Cairn Research) and international (Etaluma Inc) SMEs. The novel illuminator design may also see service in the OpenFrame open-source microscope community, and eventually be evaluated for launch into space in a CubeSat or even the International Space Station (collaborators Etaluma currently have units in orbit, benefitting from their compact, light, and simple designs.“
Award Start Date October 2024
Duration of Award 4 years
Terms and Conditions
Home and international students are welcome to apply for this opportunity. Funding is available for four years from late September 2024. The award covers tuition fee (£4,712) at the home rate plus an annual stipend which was (£18,622) for 2023. This is set by the Research Councils. Please note that successful international candidates will be put forward for a University Fees Difference Scholarship to cover the difference between the home and international fee.
Informal enquiries may be addressed to kevin.webb@nottingham.ac.uk or bbdtp@nottingham.ac.uk
PhD Studentship in Native mass spectrometry for the discovery of new anticancer agents (Science)
Subject area (BBSRC Doctoral Training Partnership, Researcher Academy)
UoN Supervisor names Neil Oldham
Native mass spectrometry for the discovery of new anticancer agents
A 4-year fully funded BBSRC PhD CASE studentship is available at the University of Nottingham in collaboration with Erebagen Ltd to screen engineered bacterial natural product libraries for anti-cancer activity using native mass spectrometry. This exciting project is supervised by Prof Neil Oldham and Dr Luisa Ciano, from the School of Chemistry, and Dr Doug Roberts and Prof Greg Challis from Erebagen. It will provide training in biosynthetic engineering using state-of-the-art facilities as well as development of a mass spectrometry-based assay for detection of binding to the target protein, the human elongation factor eEF1A. This will be followed by structural characterisation of hit compounds, initially by coupled tandem mass spectrometry, and then complementary spectroscopic techniques.
If you are a motivated and passionate individual with a background in chemistry, biochemistry, or related fields, and are eager to make a significant contribution to the fields of natural products and screening of bioactives we encourage you to apply. PhD candidates joining this project will benefit from state-of-the-art research facilities, expert supervision, and the opportunity to engage with industry partners to translate their research findings into real-world impact.
BBSRC DTP students at the University of Nottingham benefit from a comprehensive training programme in research-related techniques to support their project and provide key transferable skills for a career in research.
For informal enquiries, please contact Prof Neil Oldham.
Award Start Date October 2024
Duration of Award 4 years
Terms and Conditions
Home and international students are welcome to apply for this opportunity. Funding is available for four years from late September 2024. The award covers tuition fee (£4,712) at the home rate plus an annual stipend which was (£18,622) for 2023. This is set by the Research Councils. Please note that successful international candidates will be put forward for a University Fees Difference Scholarship to cover the difference between the home and international fee.
Informal enquiries may be addressed to neil.oldham@nottingham.ac.uk or bbdtp@nottingham.ac.uk
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