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PhD opportunities: Bioinformatics

Compare 74 doctoral research opportunities connected with Bioinformatics, including project summaries, funding and application deadlines.

Bioinformatics

Defining the Impact of GLP-1/GIP Dual Agonism on Gut Homeostasis Across the Gastrointestinal Tract.

Edith Cowan University

About the Project Project overview: GLP-1/GIP dual agonists such as tirzepatide (Mounjaro) have transformed the treatment of obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiometabolic disease. However, gastrointestinal side effects remain a leading cause of treatment discontinuation, and we still know remarkably little about what these therapies do to the gut itself.

Location
Joondalup, Australia, Australia
Deadline
29 September 2026
Funding
Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)

Bioinformatics

Characterising the role of the spliceosome in dominant forms of monogenic male infertility

University of Edinburgh

About the Project The problem Infertility affects roughly 1 in 7 couples, and in approximately half of these cases the cause lies with the male partner. Despite this, research into the genetic underpinnings of male infertility lags behind other fields, with only a small number of genes linked to male infertility having been identified. Severe male infertility, by definition, cannot be passed from father to son.

Location
Edinburgh, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
30 September 2026
Funding
Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)

Bioinformatics

DECODES

University of Santiago de Compostela

About the Project EUROPE: 15 PhD positions in the MSCA Doctoral Network DECODES: Deciphering the Splicing Code in Human Disease Grant Agreement No. 101312753 Alternative splicing (AS) is a fundamental post-transcriptional mechanism that enables a single gene to generate multiple protein isoforms, dramatically expanding proteomic diversity.

Location
Santiago de Compostela, Spain, Spain
Deadline
30 September 2026
Funding
Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)

Bioinformatics

FULLY FUNDED - Project DC12: Virome dynamics in wastewater across urban, rural, and high-risk settings: molecular detection, mutational impact and host risk

University of Glasgow

About the Project To apply, please click institution website. Background Emerging and re-emerging viruses continue to pose major threats to global health. Wastewater surveillance offers a unique opportunity to monitor viral circulation at the population level, providing early warning of outbreaks and the emergence of novel pathogens or variants.

Location
Glasgow, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
8 October 2026
Funding
Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)

Bioinformatics

FULLY FUNDED - Project DC13: AI-driven surveillance for respiratory infections

University of Glasgow

About the Project Background The threat of a high-impact respiratory pandemic is growing, underscoring the urgent need for advanced surveillance systems. This project proposes the development of a pathogen-agnostic, AI-driven approach to respiratory syndromic surveillance by integrating clinical, laboratory (including genomic), and radiological data.

Location
Glasgow, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
8 October 2026
Funding
Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)

Bioinformatics

PhD Studentship: Discovery of rational therapeutic biomarkers in breast cancer by systems pathology and deep learning

University of Cambridge

About the Project Fully-funded PhD studentship: Single-cell spatial multi-omics for cancer biology Reference: SW51030 Supervisor: Dr Guiping Wang Department/location : Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute Deadline for application : 16 th October 2026 Course start date: 1 st October 2027 Overview Dr Guiping Wang wishes to recruit a student to work on the project entitled: “Single-cell spatial multi-omics for cancer biology”.

Location
Cambridge, United Kingdom
Deadline
16 October 2026
Funding
UK Students, EU Students, International Students; Not Specified

Bioinformatics

PhD Studentship: Unmasking mechanisms of resistance to KRAS inhibition across pancreatic cancer genetic profiles

University of Cambridge

About the Project Fully-funded PhD studentship: Understanding the identity and function of tumour-initiating states Reference: SW51026 Supervisor: ProfMasashi Narita Department/location : Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute Deadline for application : 16 th October 2026 Course start date: 1 st October 2027 Overview Prof Masashi Narita wishes to recruit a student to work on the project entitled: “Understanding the identity and function of tumour-initiating states”.

Location
Cambridge, United Kingdom
Deadline
16 October 2026
Funding
UK Students, EU Students, International Students; Not Specified

Bioinformatics

Defining CD200 Function and the Therapeutic Potential of Targeting the CD200 immune checkpoint in Prostate Cancer

Cardiff University

About the Project Prostate cancer remains a leading cause of cancer mortality, particularly in metastatic disease where treatment options are limited. This project seeks to investigate the role of CD200, an immune checkpoint protein enriched in prostate cancer stem cells, in promoting tumour growth and immune evasion.

Location
Cardiff, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
21 October 2026
Funding
Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)

Bioinformatics

From Multi-OMICs to mechanism: understanding the links between protein turnover and therapy resistance in glioblastoma stem cells

Cardiff University

About the Project How do glioblastoma stem cells evade therapy and drive tumour recurrence? This project will address this question by investigating how FGF2-FGFR1 signalling regulates protein homeostasis in these highly aggressive cells. Using patient-derived models, multi-OMICs datasets, proteomics and functional laboratory assays, you will identify novel molecular mechanisms underlying stemness and treatment resistance.

Location
Cardiff, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
21 October 2026
Funding
Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)

Bioinformatics

Funded project GW4 BioMed3 MRC DTP - Timing is Everything: Aligning Mealtime and Drug Treatment with the Body Clock to Fight Obesity

University of Bristol

About the Project Life on Earth is subordinate to periodic alterations in the environment, with most notable changes seen from day to night. To adapt to these cyclic changes, living organisms evolved endogenous 24h timekeeping mechanisms named circadian clocks.

Location
Bristol, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
21 October 2026
Funding
Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)

Bioinformatics

GW4 BioMed3 MRC DLP PhD project: Combining epigenetics and neuroimaging to predict mental health traits across child development

University of Bath

About the Project This project is one of several in competition for funding from the GW4 BioMed3 MRC Doctoral Landscape Programme (DLP), which is offering up to 17 studentships for entry in September 2026. The partnership brings together the Universities of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter to develop the next generation of biomedical researchers.

Location
Bath, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
21 October 2026
Funding
Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)

Bioinformatics

GW4 BioMed3 MRC DLP PhD project: Understanding the impact of olfactory genetics, diet and gut microbiota on cardiometabolic health

University of Bath

About the Project This project is one of several in competition for funding from the GW4 BioMed3 MRC Doctoral Landscape Programme (DLP), which is offering up to 17 studentships for entry in September 2026. The partnership brings together the Universities of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter to develop the next generation of biomedical researchers.

Location
Bath, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
21 October 2026
Funding
Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)

Bioinformatics

Peatlands, plants, and pollinators - An informatics approach to protecting natural capital.

The James Hutton Institute

About the Project Background To effectively protect natural habitats and biodiversity, accurate and up-to-date information is required on species and ecosystems to allow data driven evidence-based strategies for managing habitats and conserving species. Peatlands are a globally scarce yet highly valuable habitat in terms of carbon storage and biodiversity. Scotland consists of more than 20% peatland and stores approximately 1620 Mt of carbon.

Location
Dundee, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
23 October 2026
Funding
Competition Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)

Bioinformatics

Decoding and designing the genetics of chemical sensing

Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG)

About the Project Our group aims to 'decode' the molecular rules by which sensor proteins can monitor highly diverse and specific environmental chemicals. To this end, we combine: Large-scale mutagenesis and functional data generation AI-enhanced evolutionary modeling Engineering of chemically inducible protein folds Who are we looking for?

Location
Barcelona, Spain, Spain
Deadline
21 November 2026
Funding
Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)

Bioinformatics

Investigating the spatial organisation of pathogenic cell niches in chronic inflammatory diseases

University of Oxford

About the Project Are you interested in understanding how the spatial arrangement of cells shapes tissue inflammation? The immune system functions within highly organised tissue environments, where interactions between immune, stromal and structural cells are essential for maintaining health.

Location
Oxford, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
1 December 2026
Funding
Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)

Bioinformatics

Mechanism evaluation of lethality dependencies in cancers of mesenchyme.

University of Oxford

About the Project A major challenge in cancer is how to selectively and permanently disrupt the cancer cell yet leave normal functioning cells intact. The two main approaches are either to exploit the cancer specific genomic nucleotide and structural variants for lethality dependencies or to modify the immune system to destroy cancer cells via cell surface antigens and MHC presentation of ‘non-self’ antigens.

Location
Oxford, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
1 December 2026
Funding
Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)

Bioinformatics

Mechanisms shaping and protecting the genome in eggs and sperm

University of Oxford

About the Project Every human egg and sperm carries a unique genetic sequence. This diversity is essential for evolution, but it arises through DNA damage and repair processes that also threaten genome integrity. Our research seeks to understand how the genomes of eggs and sperm are generated, and how the molecular processes that shape them create genetic variation while preserving genome stability.

Location
Oxford, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
1 December 2026
Funding
Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)

Bioinformatics

Defining neuro-immune circuits in viral infection

Medical Research Council (Cambridge)

About the Project The nervous system provides a wide range of signals to immune cells residing in peripheral tissues such as the lung, the salivary glands, the gut or the female reproductive tract. These neuronal cues are critical for immune homeostasis and modulation, and for boosting or curbing immune responses against viruses and other pathogens.

Location
Cambridge, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
8 December 2026
Funding
Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)

Bioinformatics

Exploiting activation of senescence tumour suppressor mechanisms by Salmonella enterica for the treatment of cancer

University of Sheffield

About the Project Background Typhoid toxin is a DNase-like virulence factor of the human pathogen Salmonella Javiana, which intoxicates cells throughout the microenvironment. We discovered that the toxin induces DNA damage responses in cultured cells that activates a senescence tumour suppressor mechanism ( https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-12064-1 ).

Location
Sheffield, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
31 December 2026
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

A structural biology approach to understand IMPDH2 rod-ring structures in Embryonic Stem Cells

University of Liverpool

About the Project IMPDH2 is a critical enzyme responsible for the rate limiting step of purine nucleotide biosynthesis. In naïve pluripotent stem cells, it forms large rod-ring structures (RRs) which are hypothesised to control the enzyme’s output when the pool of guanine nucleotides is in high demand. However, whether IMPDH2 interacts with other proteins in these structures is not well defined, and neither is their function during early embryogenesis.

Location
Liverpool, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

Advancing Photonic Quantum Technologies with Next Generation Single Photon Sources

University of Salford

About the Project Join us at the University of Salford to help shape the future of quantum technologies. Quantum Technologies (QTs) underpin many of the innovations that define modern life. The first generation of QTs gave us lasers, transistors, and the foundations of modern electronics. Today, the field is undergoing a revolution, seeking to harness more complex quantum effects including superposition, entanglement and quantum correlations.

Location
Manchester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

Age-related disease: Fidelity mechanisms that protect against epigenetic decay

University of York

About the Project Lead supervisor: Prof Dawn Coverley Co-supervisors: Dr Andrew Mason The student will be registered with the Department of Biology Inside the mammalian cell nucleus DNA and associated proteins are spatially organised and differentially compacted, so that some genes are accessible and some are not.

Location
York, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

Automating the Discovery of Optimal Conditions for Stem Cell Differentiation into Neurons

University of Sheffield

About the Project Pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) are defined by their capacity for self-renewal and differentiation, making them an attractive platform for modelling human tissue formation in vitro. However, generating scalable, uniform differentiated cell types from PSCs remains challenging because of the limited control we have over the cellular environment.

Location
Sheffield, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

Big data analytics and visualization for personalized Type 2 Diabetes treatment and management support

Kingston University

About the Project Type II (T2DM) is a chronic, multifactorial disease resulting in severe complications that lead to increased morbidity and even death. Due to the multifactorial pathology of the disease the interventions to treat T2DM and prevent complications may include lifestyle interventions, oral pharmacotherapy and self-injection with insulin.

Location
London, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

Biologically-informed machine learning to identify clinically actionable subgroups in bladder cancer

University of York

About the Project Lead supervisor: Dr Andrew Mason Co-supervisors: Dr Simon Baker The student will be registered with the Department of Biology Project Overview Muscle-invasive bladder cancer is a diverse disease where machine learning methods have so far failed to deliver clinically actionable subgroups.

Location
York, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

Case-specific prediction of BH3-mimetic responses in cancer patients using an integrated experimental and computational quantitative systems pharmacology approach

University of Portsmouth

About the Project Applications are invited for a self-funded, 3 year full-time or 6 year part-time PhD project. The PhD will be based in the School of Medicine, Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences and will be supervised by Dr Gavin Fullstone .

Location
Portsmouth, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

Characterising the virome diversity of malaria vectors and its potential role in blocking transmission

University of Salford

About the Project Malaria is the most devastating vector borne disease worldwide. The World Health Organisation estimates around ~500,000 people are killed each year, with ~250 million infected. The disease is caused by infection with Plasmodium parasites spread through the bites of infected Anopheles mosquitoes.

Location
Manchester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

Combatting multi-drug resistant bacteria

University of Birmingham

About the Project Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major crisis for human medicine. Globally, untreatable bacterial infections are increasing, leaving limited treatment options. Gram-negative Enterobacteriaceae e.g. Klebsiella pneumoniae with carbapenem resistance are classified as critical priorities by the WHO. An important characteristic of bacteria is their ability to share genetic information, including AMR genes, via mobile-genetic elements such as plasmids.

Location
Birmingham, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

Conservation and Population Genomics of Sinistral Snails on São Tomé and Príncipe

University of Nottingham

About the Project (scientific summary; context of wider project; lab environment; research consortium involvement; research centres; training opportunities; techniques) Left–right asymmetry (chirality) in land snails has long served as a model for understanding developmental evolution, but on São Tomé and Príncipe it intersects with an urgent conservation challenge.

Location
Nottingham, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

Deciphering Pan-Cancer Tumour Microenvironment Ecosystems Using Single-Cell Atlases and Patient-Derived Explant Models

University of Leicester

About the Project Background/project proposal: Cancer is characterized by multi-cellular communities with complex interactions that shape disease progression, treatment responses, and patient survival [1]. Previous studies have revealed broad tumour microenvironment (TME) phenotypes across cancer types, such as T cell inflamed (“hot”) and T cell depleted (“cold”) subtypes [2].

Location
Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

Developing algorithms for single-cell long-read nanopore sequencing

Garvan Institute of Medical Research

About the Project Project Description Alternative splicing (AS) is one of the most powerful mechanisms generating protein diversity in the human brain. Dysregulation of splicing is increasingly recognised as a major driver of neurodegenerative disorders such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP).

Location
Sydney, Australia, Australia
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)

Bioinformatics

Developing an optimized pgSIT system to control important agricultural insect pests

Imperial College London

About the Project This is a co-funded industry PhD studentship embedded in a collaborative partnership between Imperial College London and Agragene Inc., the company holding the pgSIT patent and leading its commercial development. Agricultural insect pests cause major crop losses worldwide and place pressure on food security.

Location
London, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)

Bioinformatics

Developing heat-inducible CRISPR-based genetic control tools for the Mexican fruit fly (Anastrepha ludens)

Imperial College London

About the Project The Mexican fruit fly, Anastrepha ludens (Mexfly), is an important invasive agricultural pest and a priority target for the development of precise, species-specific and environmentally responsible control strategies in the United States.

Location
London, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)

Bioinformatics

Developing synthetic microbial communities for the control of pea downy mildew

University of Worcester

About the Project Demand for food production is increasing due to growing global population, reduced land availability for agriculture, concern over the effects of the environment on agriculture, and decreasing yield reliability because of climate change. We need to rise to this challenge and provide solutions to grow enough food in a sustainable way.

Location
Worcester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

Discerning the role of metabolic proteins in nucleus

The University of Manchester

About the Project Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (PDAC), which develops from cells lining pancreas ducts, represents 95% of all pancreatic cancer cases. In the UK alone, PDAC is the 11th most common cancer with ~10,000 new cases diagnosed every year. It has abysmal life-expectancy with only 7% surviving the first five years[1]. PDAC death rates are constantly on the rise and it is projected to become the second most lethal cancer by 2030[2].

Location
Manchester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

Divergence, development and speciation in vertebrates.

University of Nottingham

About the Project How do the environment and ecology interact with genetics and development to produce reproductive isolation between populations, ecotypes and species? Thanks to advances in gene sequencing and editing technologies, we are in a remarkable period of discovery about the genomic and developmental basis of adaptation and speciation and how this depends on the intricacies of ecology and environment.

Location
Nottingham, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

Elucidating the mechanisms of pathology in neurodevelopmental white matter diseases

University of York

About the Project Lead supervisor: Dr Noemie Hamilton The student will be registered with the Department of Biology Our research interests are to dissect the mechanism of auto-inflammatory neurological disorders using zebrafish as an animal model. Leukodystrophies are devastating rare monogenic neurological diseases with patients presenting loss of white matter and severe developmental delays.

Location
York, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

Environmentally induced DNA methylation – a passive biomarker or driver of genetic mutation?

University of Leicester

About the Project Project: DNA methylation is a core epigenetic mechanism involved in regulating gene expression, mediating environmental responses, and potentially influencing genome evolution. However, the function of gene-body DNA methylation is debated. One hypothesis posits that gene-body methylation stabilizes gene expression by maintaining open chromatin structure.

Location
Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

Epitranscriptomic mechanisms underlying human neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases

University of Nottingham

About the Project Project Overview: This study aims to use high throughput sequencing technologies and molecular approaches to understand how RNA epitranscriptomic processes, i.e. the modification of RNA, contribute to susceptibility to human disorders of the brain.

Location
Nottingham, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

Feasibility and Performance of 3D Printed Cobalt-Chromium Dentures

University of Portsmouth

About the Project Applications are invited for a self-funded, 3 year full-time or 6 year part-time PhD project. The PhD will be based in the School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering and will be supervised by Dr Roxane Bonithon and Professor Chris Louca .

Location
Portsmouth, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

Functional Mechanisms of Genetic Risk Factors for Immune-Related Disease

King’s College London

About the Project Who are we? We are a vibrant, outward-looking, multi-disciplinary research group interested in understanding how genetic risk factors can impact on both susceptibility to infection and to autoimmune disease. We have a strong interest in comparing how genetic risk factors from different ancestries impact on risk of infection and in developing autoimmune disease.

Location
London, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

Genome dynamics of tandem repeat expansions in lung disease

University of Leicester

About the Project Project Summary Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive and fatal lung disease affecting approximately 50 per 100,000 individuals in the UK. Despite recent therapeutic advances, prognosis remains poor, with a median survival of three years and limited treatment options. Genetic studies have revealed several risk loci, yet common genetic variants explain only about 19% of disease heritability.

Location
Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

Host Advantage: Uncovering Protective Factors Against HPV‑Driven Cervical Cancers

University of Nottingham

About the Project Who we are looking for We are seeking a PhD student who is motivated by the process of scientific discovery and the opportunity to identify novel targets for anti-cancer therapies. A successful candidate will have good background knowledge of molecular and cell biology and will be comfortable with computational analyses.

Location
Nottingham, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

How do transcriptional kinases regulate cell cycle progression?

University of Leicester

About the Project Project: Cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) are protein kinases performing essential functions by regulating cell cycle and RNA polymerase II transcription of protein-coding and non-coding genes. Each CDK requires an interaction with a specific cyclin partner for switching on their kinase activity. Mutations and dysregulation of different CDKs and associated cyclins have been linked to multiple cancers.

Location
Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

Human tissue models of bladder cancer initiation to guide new prevention strategies

University of York

About the Project Lead supervisor: Dr Simon Baker Co-supervisors: Prof Will Brackenbury The student will be registered with the Department of Biology Background BK polyomavirus is a ubiquitous infection that nearly everyone acquires during childhood. Once we have been infected with BK virus, it establishes a persistent infection of the kidney, where it is largely kept under control by the immune system.

Location
York, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

Identifying climate-proof mechanisms of plant acclimation to freezing temperatures

Durham University

About the Project Climate change brings many challenges for the planet’s plants and one of these is the vulnerability caused by erratic temperatures. Many plants, including major crops, prepare for winter through a process called cold acclimation . In this process, plants respond to the cooler temperatures that prevail in the autumn, by making changes that equip them with resilience against subsequent freezing conditions in winter.

Location
Durham, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

Identifying novel genes and pathways regulating human telomere length

University of Leicester

About the Project Telomeres are protein bound stretches of repetitive DNA at the end of linear chromosomes that prevent the end of the DNA being incorrectly recognised as a DNA break. The telomere cannot be fully replicated during cell division leading to a loss in length with each cycle. When a critically short length is reached the cell enters replicative senescence.

Location
Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

Integration of large-scale genetic and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) data to understand fibrosis across different organs

University of Leicester

About the Project Second Supervisor: Professor Sue Francis, Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre, University of Nottingham Additional Supervisors: Dr Richard Allen, University of Leicester / Dr Eleanor Cox, University of Nottingham Fibrosis (scarring) is the natural process of wound-healing, the body’s response to insult and injury.

Location
Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

Investigating molecular mechanism of medium chain fats in muscle health and cardiovascular disease treatment

Royal Holloway, University of London

About the Project Ketogenic diets, involving restricted carbohydrate and high fat consumption, have been proposed to increase skeletal muscle strength, with likely impacts on professional sports performance. In addition, these diets may provide a potential avenue for the treatment of skeletal muscle loss in old age (sarcopenia).

Location
Egham, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

Leveraging Precision Medicine to Predict an Adverse Drug Reaction

University of Birmingham

About the Project The tragedy of adverse drug reaction (ADRs) is synonymous with thalidomide yet in the context of mental health (MH) patients, intolerable side effects of psychiatric medication, leading to poor concordance, with the likelihood of further deterioration and possible involuntary treatment, is emerging as a very serious health issue.

Location
Birmingham, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

Linking Retinal Structure and Visual Function Using OCT and Virtual Reality

University of Leicester

About the Project The human visual system depends on the precise interplay between retinal structure and neural processing to support high-acuity vision. Understanding this structure–function relationship is central to neuroscience and vision science, yet remains poorly characterised in humans at a population level.

Location
Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

Liquid biopsy for early detection and disease monitoring of aggressive T-cell lymphomas

University of Leicester

About the Project Background T-cell lymphomas are rare but highly aggressive blood cancers. Despite advances in cancer research, outcomes for patients with these diseases have seen little improvement in the past 30 years. New treatment strategies are urgently needed but to realise precision medicine strategies, we first need precision diagnostics and tools that can track disease risk and treatment response in real time.

Location
Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

MSc by Research: DNA Replication Coupled Mechanisms that control cell fate transitions

University of Dundee

About the Project DNA replication is required for successful cell fate transitions across diverse physiological, experimental, and pathological contexts, involving factors often deregulated in human cancer and intellectual disabilities. The underlying mechanisms are fundamental for our understanding of organ homeostasis but are poorly understood.

Location
Dundee, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

MSc by Research: Investigating Glycogen-Dependent Regulation of Microglia Inflammatory Responses

University of Dundee

About the Project Microglia are the resident immune cells of the central nervous system, responsible for responding to infection and damage in a protective manner. In Alzheimer’s Disease, microglia responses are dysregulated, leading to chronic inflammation and failure to protect the brain from neurodegeneration.

Location
Dundee, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

MSc by Research: Regulation of microglial phenotypes by adenosine and in contribution to ageing in the brain.

University of Dundee

About the Project Microglia are the major innate immune cells in the central nervous system and are required for the response to invading pathogens, removal of damaged or apoptotic cells and also contributing to neuronal development via synaptic pruning. To achieve these diverse functions, microglia must be able to adopt a spectrum of pro- and anti-inflammatory phenotypes.

Location
Dundee, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

Modulation of Smooth Muscle Cell Function by Neutrophil Microvesicles

University of Sheffield

About the Project The leading cause of death globally is cardiovascular disease (CVD), according to the World Health Organisation. Atherosclerosis is the underlying cause of most of these deaths. It is a long-term disease of the blood vessels, where fat and inflammation builds up in the walls of arteries to form a plaque that can lead to heart attack and stroke. Smooth muscle cells (SMCs) play a key role in preventing rupture of these plaques.

Location
Sheffield, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

Molecular Mechanisms of Transcriptional Regulation in Response to Hormones and the Cellular Microenvironment

University of York

About the Project Lead supervisor: Dr Andrew Holding The student will be registered with the Department of Biology The Holding Lab at the University of York develops and applies cutting-edge genomics, proteomics, and chemical biology technologies to explore how transcription factors and chromatin regulators control gene expression in response to cellular signals.

Location
York, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

Multi-omics discovery analysis of response to advanced therapies in psoriatic arthritis

The University of Manchester

About the Project Background : Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is an inflammatory arthritis which causes joint inflammation, pain and resultant disability. PsA affects up to 30% of those with psoriasis (PSc). It is a genetically complex disease, characterised by environmental and genetic risk factors. Biologic drugs, such as TNF inhibitor (TNFi) drugs are prescribed to treat the disease.

Location
Manchester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

Multilevel selection on transposition rates in cancer

University of Reading

About the Project Cancer is an evolutionary process. Cells in a tumour vary due to mutation, and so over many generations they adapt in response to both intrinsic selective pressures (such as anoxia) and extrinsic selective pressures (such as chemotherapy).

Location
Reading, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

Next Generation AI-driven Tools for Genetic Variant Extraction, Visualisation and Classification

The University of Manchester

About the Project Accurate genomic variant reporting is essential for rare disease diagnosis, yet scientific papers, clinical reports, and database submissions routinely contain erroneous variant descriptions and omit crucial clinical evidence such as ACMG scores and pathogenicity classifications. These gaps limit the findability of supporting evidence, reduce diagnostic yield, and add to the genomic medicine diagnostic odyssey.

Location
Manchester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

Next generation wearable healthcare sensors

University of Reading

About the Project The aim of this project is to research and develop the next generation of Internet of Things (IoT) connected wearable sensor technologies for applications in healthcare and physiotherapy. The project will investigate methods of sensing data from the body using wearable sensors fused with pervasive sensors in mobility aids and our homes. The sensor data can then be used to create new insights into healthcare, human motion and emotional states.

Location
Reading, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

Prebiotics and synbiotics for human health - converting biomass into functional food ingredients

University of Reading

About the Project Prof. Rastall is interested in research in the area of prebiotic oligosaccharides, synbiotic combinations with probiotics and the impact of structure on the gut fermentation of carbohydrates. An opportunity is available for a self-funded PhD student to work on the potential of converting waste biomass into functional food ingredients. He is looking for a PhD student with skills in enzyme biotechnology, microbiology and/or carbohydrate analysis.

Location
Reading, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

RNA stress and neurodegeneration: how UPF1 protects cells from harmful RNA accumulation

University of Birmingham

About the Project RNA biology is emerging as a central theme in neurodegenerative disease. In ALS, FTD and related disorders, disruption of RNA processing, RNA-binding proteins and RNA-protein assemblies can lead to harmful aggregates and loss of cellular resilience. This PhD project will investigate how the conserved RNA helicase UPF1 helps cells process, release and protect messenger RNAs, and how failure of this system may contribute to stress and neurodegeneration.

Location
Birmingham, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

Studying microRNA landscape during spinal cord regeneration

The University of Manchester

About the Project The human spinal cord (SC) has limited regenerative capacity, and no effective therapies exist to restore function after spinal cord injury (SCI), resulting in severe disability and low quality of life and life-expectancy. In non-regenerative species, damaged axons fail to regrow, and neural stem/progenitor cell (NSPC) proliferation primarily contributes to scar formation.

Location
Manchester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

The genetics of disease progression; Are we using the right definition?

University of Leicester

About the Project Genetic studies of disease primarily look at risk by comparing cases (with the disease) to controls. There is now great interest in investigating the potential role of genomic data on progression and prognosis for those living with disease. A recent paper has highlighted the limited overlap between genetic signals between studies on risk and mortality 1 .

Location
Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

The impact of somatic and epigenetic DNA variation on tree adaptation and evolution

University of Birmingham

About the Project In virtually all living organisms, mutations of genomic DNA allow the generation of new traits that, if positively selected, drive adaptation to changing environments and contribute to evolution. In most multicellular organisms, these DNA mutations are propagated only if passed to next generations by creating a mutated progeny. In addition, intra-organism DNA changes also occur and are known as somatic mutations.

Location
Birmingham, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

The long and the short of human non-crossover recombination

University of Leicester

About the Project Meiotic recombination plays a central role in generating DNA diversity, which in turn provides the capacity for a species to evolve. In humans, most attention has been paid to characterising meiotic crossover (CO) as this is essential for the correct segregation of homologous chromosomes and therefore avoidance of aneuploidy; it is also readily detectable.

Location
Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

Understanding How Blood Vessel Cells Communicate in Cardiovascular Disease

University of Sheffield

About the Project Cardiovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis and aortic aneurysms develop when communication between cells in the blood vessel wall becomes disrupted. This PhD project will investigate how endothelial cells, which line the inside of blood vessels and sense blood flow, communicate with vascular smooth muscle cells, which provide strength and structure to the vessel wall. A key focus of the project is polycystin-1, encoded by the PKD1 gene.

Location
Sheffield, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

Using Brain Computer Interface to Improve Cognitive Performance

University of Sheffield

About the Project Electroencephalogram (EEG) is a non-invasive technique commonly used to measure brain activity. In this project, we aim at using EEG Biofeedback (brain-computer interface (BCI)) for improving cognitive performance (e.g. attention, memory, error awareness) in different groups of people including healthy young adults, elderly and patients with cognitive disabilities.

Location
Sheffield, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

Using extracellular vesicles to develop a management decision aid for Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome and Pulmonary Fibrosis

University of Birmingham

About the Project We are seeking talented, motivated students with a passion for research in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome to join Dr Rahul Mahida’s team in the Institute of Inflammation and Ageing at the University of Birmingham ( https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/staff/profiles/inflammation-ageing/mahida-rahul.aspx ).

Location
Birmingham, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

Using genetic risk scores to improve diagnosis and outcomes in seronegative inflammatory arthritis

The University of Manchester

About the Project Diagnosing inflammatory arthritis promptly and accurately can be challenging when antibody blood tests are normal (“seronegative”) and clinical features overlap. Seronegative rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, axial spondyloarthritis and polymyalgia rheumatica can present with similar symptoms but require different treatment strategies. Misclassification can lead to delayed effective treatment, prolonged glucocorticoid exposure and poorer outcomes.

Location
Manchester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

Using population data and bioinformatics to explore glomerular endothelial disease with a mechanistic focus on the glycocalyx

University of Bristol

About the Project The glycocalyx is a protective gel-like layer that lines the endothelial cells of all blood vessels. Glomeruli are the microvessels in the kidney that filter blood (retaining larger proteins, such as albumin) and are lined with glycocalyx. 1 Glomerular glycocalyx damage is associated with low-level albuminuria (progressing to more severe albuminuria) found in individuals with type 1 & 2 diabetes who are also known to have reduced systemic glycocalyx volume.

Location
Bristol, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Bioinformatics

Why do some people escape genetic risk? Multi-biobank study of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases

The University of Manchester

About the Project Most people at high genetic risk of immune-mediated inflammatory disease never develop disease, while some develop disease despite apparently low inherited risk. These “genetically discordant” individuals may reveal mechanisms of disease protection, resilience and susceptibility that are missed by conventional genetic risk prediction.

Location
Manchester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only