PhD Global Excellence and Mobility Scholarship (GEMS: 2027). Development of next-generation fluorescent peptide probes for bacterial infection imaging
Not stated
- Funding
- Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
- Application deadline
- 31 January 2027
About the project
About the Project Infectious diseases remain a major global health burden, with early and accurate diagnosis continuing to pose significant clinical challenges. Topical and wound-associated bacterial infections are particularly difficult to manage because bacterial adhesion and biofilm formation can reduce antibiotic susceptibility, delay healing, and complicate treatment decisions. This project aims to develop fluorescently labelled peptide probes for bacterial detection and infection imaging. The proposed work will optimise fluorophore–linker–peptide designs to enhance bacterial membrane interactions, support wash-free staining of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, and improve selective bacterial detection over mammalian cells or sterile inflammatory backgrounds. Fluorescent labelling will enable direct visualisation and quantitative evaluation of bacterial uptake, localisation, and biofilm association in relevant infection models. The findings will guide the development of optimised peptide-based molecular probes with translational potential for rapid infection diagnosis, image-guided sampling, and point-of-care management. For enquiries, please contact Dr Thet Thet Htar For more information about this project, please visit our GEMS website. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- How to Apply When you apply for admission into your preferred degree program you will be able to select your scholarship type. No separate application is required. By clicking on a course , you will be directed to further information, including details on ‘How to Apply’. However, before applying for a GEMS, it is recommended that you first contact the main supervisor for this GEMS research topic. Please provide details of your academic background and achievements to the supervisor so that they can assess your suitability for the GEMS research topic you are interested in. Main Supervisor (Malaysia): Dr Thet Thet Htar Associate Supervisor (Malaysia): Dr Polly Yap Associate Supervisor (Australia): Dr Amandeep Kaur , Prof. Cornelia Landersdorfer