Cell Biology
Queen Mary University of London
About the Project Inflammatory arthritis substantially increases cardiovascular risk, including heart dysfunction, yet the molecular links between chronic joint inflammation and the failing heart remain poorly understood. Cardiac macrophages, fibroblasts and endothelial cells are central regulators of tissue homeostasis, metabolic adaptation and repair.
- Location
- London, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 1 October 2026
- Funding
- Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Cell Biology
Queen Mary University of London
About the Project Rheumatoid arthritis is associated with excess cardiovascular morbidity that is not adequately addressed by current anti-inflammatory treatment. Resomelagon is a clinical-stage melanocortin receptor agonist with potential to promote resolution without broad immunosuppression.
- Location
- London, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 1 October 2026
- Funding
- Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Cell Biology
University of Bristol
About the Project This PhD project will investigate how glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), a hormone central to metabolism, interacts with astrocytes – supportive “star-shaped” brain cells – to influence brain–heart communication. The project will employ cutting-edge techniques, including genetic targeting of specific brain cells, experimental models of heart attack, and advanced imaging, to explore how these pathways protect the heart.
- Location
- Bristol, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 21 October 2026
- Funding
- Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Cell Biology
Cardiff University
About the Project This project investigates how mutations in the KCNA1 gene cause Episodic Ataxia Type 1 (EA1), a rare neurological disorder characterised by impaired motor coordination. Using patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), you will generate three-dimensional human cerebellar organoids to model early brain development and disease mechanisms.
- Location
- Cardiff, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 21 October 2026
- Funding
- Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Cell Biology
Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG)
About the Project We study the origin and evolution of cell type programs and associated genome regulation mechanisms: transcription factors, 3D chromatin architecture, histone modifications, and more. To this end, we combine single-cell genomics, chromatin profiling, and phylogenetic comparative methods in diverse animals and unicellular eukaryotes. Who are we looking for?
- Location
- Barcelona, Spain, Spain
- Deadline
- 22 November 2026
- Funding
- Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Cell Biology
Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG)
About the Project How do the two meters of DNA in our genome fold inside a micron-sized nucleus? How does improper folding contribute to disease? Who are we looking for? If you have a keen interest in experimental and computational biology and want to answer questions like these, come and join us! About us The Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) is an international biomedical research institute of excellence, created in July 2000.
- Location
- Barcelona, Spain, Spain
- Deadline
- 22 November 2026
- Funding
- Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Cell Biology
Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG)
About the Project Our research is centered around cell type-specific transcriptomes. Using computational and experimental approaches, we investigate how these transcriptomes are generated (e.g. through microexon alternative splicing or fine transcriptional regulation) and how they contribute to human health, disease and evolution. Who are we looking for? We look for a computational biologist interested in genomics and the evolution of cell types and development processes.
- Location
- Barcelona, Spain, Spain
- Deadline
- 22 November 2026
- Funding
- Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Cell Biology
University of Oxford
About the Project Antibodies are secreted by plasma cells (PC) that differentiate from activated B cells. Most PCs are short live; they will die soon after the vaccine or infection are cleared. However, a subset of these cells becomes long-lived and persist for months and even years. These cells provide critical immunity from infections by continuously secreting antibodies at very high rates, up to thousands of antibodies per second per cell.
- Location
- Oxford, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 1 December 2026
- Funding
- Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Cell Biology
Newcastle University
About the Project Gene variants that impair the development or function of T cells cause combined immunodeficiency, leaving infants and young children vulnerable to life-threatening infection. Whereas some of the affected genes do jobs confined to the immune system (e.g. in immune cell signalling), others have broader roles in cell biology, yet immune problems predominate in the associated deficiency state.
- Location
- Newcastle, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 1 December 2026
- Funding
- Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Cell Biology
University of Oxford
About the Project T cells are central to adaptive immunity, recognising antigenic peptides presented by highly polymorphic human leukocyte antigen (HLA) molecules through diverse T-cell receptors (TCRs).
- Location
- Oxford, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 1 December 2026
- Funding
- Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Cell Biology
University of Oxford
About the Project RNA editing is a natural and widespread post-transcriptional modification in mammalian cells, primarily involving adenosine to inosine (A-to-I) conversions mediated by ADAR enzymes, and cytosine to uridine (C-to-U) conversions facilitated by APOBECs. These modifications are crucial for regulating gene expression, splicing, and other cellular processes.
- Location
- Oxford, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 1 December 2026
- Funding
- Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Cell Biology
University of Oxford
About the Project Inflammatory cell death is an essential defence against infection, but when uncontrolled it becomes a major driver of tissue injury in diseases including sepsis, acute liver failure, ischaemia-reperfusion injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome. Although these diseases arise through very different mechanisms, they all share a common endpoint: catastrophic plasma membrane rupture, which releases inflammatory mediators that amplify tissue damage.
- Location
- Oxford, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 1 December 2026
- Funding
- Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Cell Biology
University of Oxford
About the Project Neutrophils are the most abundant circulating leukocytes and form a first line of defence against infection. They rapidly migrate to sites of tissue injury, kill microbes through phagocytosis, degranulation, reactive oxygen species, and neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation, and help orchestrate the inflammatory response [1].
- Location
- Oxford, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 1 December 2026
- Funding
- Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Cell Biology
University of Oxford
About the Project Immune-mediated inflammatory arthropathies, including Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA), Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA), and therapy-induced inflammatory arthritis, are chronic disabling conditions whose initiating triggers remain poorly understood.
- Location
- Oxford, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 1 December 2026
- Funding
- Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Cell Biology
University of Oxford
About the Project This project focuses on how (+)RNA viruses, particularly Dengue and Zika viruses assemble, spread, and evade host immune responses. Current understanding on how small (+)RNA viruses assemble and spread from cell to cell while evading innate and cellular immune responses is limited. This research aims to uncover the complex interplay between virus-induced cellular changes and host defence mechanisms.
- Location
- Oxford, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 1 December 2026
- Funding
- Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Cell Biology
University of Oxford
About the Project Inherited diseases are often caused by mutations within genes, but an increasing number arise from variants in the regulatory elements that control when and where genes are switched on. Understanding these regulatory mechanisms remains a major challenge in human genetics. This DPhil project aims to uncover new mechanisms underlying inherited disease by systematically mapping regulatory elements across haematological and neurological tissues.
- Location
- Oxford, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 1 December 2026
- Funding
- Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Cell Biology
University of Oxford
About the Project Global estimates of the prevalence of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) are between 0.3 and 1%. PsA causes pain, disability and systemic inflammation. There is a striking and profound association between systemic metabolic dysfunction and developing PsA, confirmed by mendelian randomisation studies.
- Location
- Oxford, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 1 December 2026
- Funding
- Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Cell Biology
University of Oxford
About the Project The human gut microbiome is a complex ecosystem, made up of all domains of life (bacteria, archaea, eukarya), and containing approximately the same number of cells as are encountered in the adult human body [1]. It is also highly diverse, influenced by our environment, and known to vary substantially both between individuals and between human populations [2].
- Location
- Oxford, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 1 December 2026
- Funding
- Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Cell Biology
University of Oxford
About the Project Subglottic stenosis (SGS) is a progressive fibrotic disease that causes narrowing of the subglottic trachea. Causes are autoimmune (granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) or ANCA-negative vasculitis), iatrogenic (after intubation or trauma) or idiopathic, with an incidence of 1 in 400 000 patients per year[1] . Idiopathic subglottic stenosis (iSGS), affects premenopausal women, presenting during pregnancy or perimenopause[2] .
- Location
- Oxford, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 1 December 2026
- Funding
- Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Cell Biology
University of Oxford
About the Project Targeted delivery remains the principal bottleneck for therapeutic genome editing, particularly in the central nervous system where efficient delivery to defined neuronal populations remains challenging.
- Location
- Oxford, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 1 December 2026
- Funding
- Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Cell Biology
University of Oxford
About the Project Fibrosis is one of the greatest unmet healthcare challenges of our time. It affects virtually every organ and is characterised by the progressive replacement of functional tissue with dense, stiff connective tissue, ultimately compromising organ function. Effective therapies remain limited, quality of life is poor, mortality is high, and the associated economic burden on healthcare systems is substantial.
- Location
- Oxford, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 1 December 2026
- Funding
- Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Cell Biology
University of Cambridge
About the Project Group Leader: Professor Sanjay Sinha ( Sinha Group ) Research Summary Blood vessel diseases cause heart attacks, strokes and aortic aneurysms (a ballooning then tearing of the main artery in the body). The Sinha Group uses human stem cells to generate smooth muscle cells, one of the main cell types that make up the blood vessel wall.
- Location
- Cambridge, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 8 December 2026
- Funding
- Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Cell Biology
University of Cambridge
About the Project Group Leader: Professor Bertie Göttgens ( Göttgens Group ) Research Summary Blood stem cells maintain the lifelong production of all blood cell types. This depends on finely tuned control systems which can fail as we age or go wrong and lead to disease (leukaemia). The Göttgens Group uses experimental and computational approaches to discover how these control systems work and how their disruption leads to disease.
- Location
- Cambridge, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 8 December 2026
- Funding
- Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Cell Biology
Medical Research Council (Cambridge)
About the Project Many commonly used drugs would benefit from considering daily biological timing but mechanistic understanding of circadian medicine is limited (Cederroth et al). Traditional in vitro models do not recapitulate diurnal rhythms in human physiology because they lack the daily systemic cues encountered in vivo (Crosby et al., Edmondson et al), whereas lab mice are problematic due to their nocturnal physiology (Beale et al., Science, 2026).
- Location
- Cambridge, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 8 December 2026
- Funding
- Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Cell Biology
University of Cambridge
About the Project Group Leader: Dr Richard Tyser ( Tyser Group ) Keywords: Heart Development, Physiology Research Summary The heart is the first organ to form and function during embryogenesis, essential in providing the developing embryo with sufficient oxygen and nutrients. Congenital heart defects are the most common type of birth defect affecting almost 1 in 100 babies born in the UK.
- Location
- Cambridge, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 8 December 2026
- Funding
- Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Cell Biology
University of Cambridge
About the Project Group Leader: Dr Chiara Herzog ( Herzog Group ) Research Summary Throughout life, our cells accumulate memories of their experiences, recorded on the “epigenome” - a layer of chemical tags on our DNA that switches genes on or off without changing the underlying genetic code itself.
- Location
- Cambridge, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 8 December 2026
- Funding
- Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Cell Biology
Medical Research Council (Cambridge)
About the Project Mycobacterium tuberculosis infects macrophages and can commandeer their machinery to survive intracellularly. Infected macrophages aggregate into granulomas, hallmark immunopathological structures of TB. Often, granuloma macrophages clear infection; however, mycobacteria can exploit granulomas for disease progression.
- Location
- Cambridge, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 8 December 2026
- Funding
- Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Cell Biology
Medical Research Council (Cambridge)
About the Project The McDole lab seeks to understand how complex 3D structures in the embryo are sculpted from initially homogenous cell populations. For example, how does an intricate, functional organ such as a beating heart arise from a uniform ball of cells? How do tubes involute and tissues fold, and what are the physical forces that drive these shape changes?
- Location
- Cambridge, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 8 December 2026
- Funding
- Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Cell Biology
University of Cambridge
About the Project Group Leader: Professor Elisa Laurenti ( Laurenti Group ) Research Summary Every day a trillion blood cells are produced in our body. This amazing turnover is achieved thanks to blood stem cells. These cells have the unique capacity to produce all blood cells in healthy individuals but also after injury or infection. Their function is vital, because if impaired, either blood production fails or cancer arises.
- Location
- Cambridge, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 8 December 2026
- Funding
- Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Cell Biology
University of Cambridge
About the Project Group Leader: Professor Cédric Ghevaert ( Ghevaert Group ) Research Summary Hospitals are currently entirely reliant on blood donors for the red cells and platelets transfusion administered to patients who are very anaemic or at high risk of bleeding. Producing these blood cells in the laboratory would take the pressure of the supply chain and would make finding compatible blood for patients with rare blood groups easier.
- Location
- Cambridge, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 8 December 2026
- Funding
- Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Cell Biology
Medical Research Council (Cambridge)
About the Project Mutations in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) are the most common cause of inherited mitochondrial disease and are increasingly implicated in common age-related conditions including neurodegeneration. The pathogenic mechanisms of mtDNA mutations are poorly understood partly due to the striking phenotypic heterogeneity and complications of dynamic mutation heteroplasmy, rendering these conditions very difficult to treat.
- Location
- Cambridge, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 8 December 2026
- Funding
- Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)
Cell Biology
Medical Research Council (Cambridge)
About the Project Our group studies mechanisms of brain health, ageing and disease focusing on the lysosomal protein transmembrane protein 106B (TMEM106B) which forms amyloids in the brain in an age-dependent manner. TMEM106B genetic variants have also been found to modulate healthy ageing and disease risk in frontotemporal lobal degeneration and Alzheimer’s disease.
- Location
- Cambridge, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 8 December 2026
- Funding
- Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Cell Biology
University of Cambridge
About the Project Group Leader: Professor Ragnhildur Thóra Káradóttir ( Káradóttir Group ) Keywords: CNS, myelin, Oligodendrocyte, neuroscience, stem cells, brain, Multiple Sclerosis Research Summary For our brain to work, fast electrical communication between nerve cells is essential. This is achieved by insulating the nerves with a fatty substance called myelin.
- Location
- Cambridge, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 8 December 2026
- Funding
- Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Cell Biology
University of Cambridge
About the Project Group Leader: Dr Thorsten Boroviak ( Boroviak Group ) Keywords: human embryo implantation, primate embryogenesis, implantation platforms, endometrium Research Summary The Boroviak lab focuses on how embryonic cells organise themselves to form the most complex lifeforms, such as human and non-human primates. They follow primate embryonic cells through parts of their journey to provide insights into human development.
- Location
- Cambridge, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 8 December 2026
- Funding
- Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Cell Biology
Medical Research Council (Cambridge)
About the Project Cells are amazingly organized entities. Their resident proteins, nucleic acids, and small molecules are assembled into functional modules and segregated among numerous membrane-bound cellular compartments. A major goal of modern cell biology is to understand how protein biogenesis and cellular organization is achieved with high fidelity, and how errors in these processes are recognized and rectified by the cell.
- Location
- Cambridge, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 8 December 2026
- Funding
- Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Cell Biology
University of Cambridge
About the Project Group Leader: Dr Mekayla Storer ( Storer Group ) Research Summary The life of a salamander is an enviable thing. If this animal loses a limb, it can just grow another one. Imagine if humans could do that. It’s not all bad news however. Mice and humans have retained a sliver of regenerative ability. If you damage the end of your finger, as long as there is a bit of nail left over and the wound is not stitched up, it will grow back.
- Location
- Cambridge, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 8 December 2026
- Funding
- Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Cell Biology
University of Cambridge
About the Project Group Leader: Dr Konstantinos Tzelepis ( Tzelepis Group) Keywords: RNA biology, Epitranscriptomics, stem cells Research Summary Epitranscriptomics, the modulation of RNA function via its chemical modification, has emerged as a pervasive new mechanism of gene regulation. The role of the epitranscriptome on stem cell fate, maintenance and ageing remains largely unexplored.
- Location
- Cambridge, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 8 December 2026
- Funding
- Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Cell Biology
Medical Research Council (Cambridge)
About the Project Transport of organelles, RNAs and proteins is essential for the development, health and function of neurons.Defects in the microtubule motors that drive the transport is linked to neurodegenerative and developmental diseases and the transport process is frequently hijacked by viruses. My lab is interested in how motors are linked to cargos and how they are coordinated to ensure delivery to the correct destination.
- Location
- Cambridge, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 8 December 2026
- Funding
- Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Cell Biology
University of Cambridge
About the Project Group Leader: Professor Sarah Teichmann ( Teichmann Group ) Keywords: Spatial transcriptomics of the heart Research Summary The Teichmann lab strives to understand how humans are built from our most basic building blocks: our cells. They study how cells are different based on the genes they switch on, their physical location within our organs, how they communicate and how these things influence what they do.
- Location
- Cambridge, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 8 December 2026
- Funding
- Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Cell Biology
Medical Research Council (Cambridge)
About the Project The first two weeks of human development transform a single-cell into a complex, bilaminar embryo. During this critical period, cells acquire distinct identies and organise into increasingly complex tissue architectures. By day 14, the human embryo contains the embryonic disc, which will generate the fetus, and a diverse set of extra-embryonic tissues that support the pregnancy.
- Location
- Cambridge, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 8 December 2026
- Funding
- Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Cell Biology
University of Leeds
About the Project The School of Biomedical Sciences invites applications from prospective postgraduate researchers who wish to commence study for a PhD in the academic year 2026/27. We especially welcome applications that connect to the School's core research areas, which include the mechanisms underlying diseases causing health problems in an ageing population.
- Location
- Leeds, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Cell Biology
University of Leicester
About the Project The addition of the monospecific chimeric CD20 antibody rituximab to chemotherapy transformed outcomes for patients with DLBCL without additional significant toxicities (1). Furthermore, bispecific CD20xCD3 antibodies show markedly enhanced activity alone and in combination with chemotherapy (2). However, up to 30% of patients either fail to respond or relapse despite most expressing abundant CD20 at the cell surface, indicating inherent resistance.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Cell Biology
The University of Manchester
About the Project This laboratory-based project focuses on the regenerative potential of dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) for craniofacial tissue engineering. We will isolate, characterize, and culture DPSCs to optimize proliferation, stemness, and lineage-specific differentiation under defined conditions.
- Location
- Manchester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Cell Biology
The University of Manchester
About the Project Air pollution is a major public health emergency, responsible for more than 7 million deaths each year and contributing significantly to health inequalities. Yet particulate matter is still regulated primarily by mass, implicitly assuming that every microgram is equally harmful, regardless of its source.
- Location
- Manchester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Cell Biology
University of Birmingham
About the Project Project Overview Osteoarthritis (OA) is a leading cause of pain and disability worldwide. Current treatments such as intra-articular steroid injections provide only short-term relief and often require repeated administration, increasing the risk of joint damage and systemic side effects (1). This PhD project will develop injectable fluid gel-based hydrogels designed to deliver sustained drug release within the joint.
- Location
- Birmingham, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Cell Biology
University of Sheffield
About the Project G protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) remain one of the key therapeutic targets for the treatment of disease, and while much is known about their pharmacology, it is increasingly clear that the signaling mechanisms used by a specific receptor to modulate cell functions is context specific.
- Location
- Sheffield, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Cell Biology
University of Liverpool
About the Project Gastrulation is a pivotal stage in development where an initially uniform mass of cells transforms into an organised structure with distinct cell types arranged along the three body axes. This process depends on a small, evolutionarily conserved set of signalling pathways that guide cell fate decisions. Among these, Wnt and Notch signalling play crucial but often opposing roles.
- Location
- Liverpool, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Cell Biology
University of Sheffield
About the Project The study of regenerative biology aims to elucidate the innate ability of organisms to replace tissues or organs after they have been removed or damaged. During vertebrate regeneration, tissue damage causes the immediate release of signals that initiate wound closure and inflammation. Following this, regenerative cells proliferate and migrate to the damaged area. These cells then grow to replace the missing organ or tissue.
- Location
- Sheffield, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Cell Biology
University of Reading
About the Project Obesity is the major health crisis of this generation. Thus, research into the mechanistic basis behind obesity is of paramount importance. In recent years it has become apparent that obesity may have its origins in prenatal and early postnatal life. For instance, maternal obesity has been shown to enhance obesity susceptibility in offspring. Very little is known about how offspring obesity susceptibility might be programmed by maternal obesity.
- Location
- Reading, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Cell Biology
University of Leicester
About the Project In addition to ~20,000 protein coding genes, human genome contains ~30,000 genes that encode for functional RNAs. Apart from the rRNAs and tRNAs that are involved in translation, the famous example is the Xist RNA involved in silencing of one X chromosome in females. The functions of other non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are less understood and require more investigation.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Cell Biology
University of Dundee
About the Project Meiosis is a specialised type of cell division that produces haploid daughter cells known as gametes that are important for sexual reproduction. Dynamic protein phosphorylation plays crucial roles during meiosis, but the mechanisms underlying the function of each kinase are not entirely clear. Cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) are a family of key kinases with different roles during the cell cycle. CDKs are the active kinase component of CDK/cyclin complexes.
- Location
- Dundee, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Cell Biology
University of Dundee
About the Project The Notch signalling pathway is one of the key pathways required for the developing embryo. It is especially important for the process of somitogenesis, the formation of body segments that develop into e.g. the bones and muscle of the skeleton.
- Location
- Dundee, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Cell Biology
University of Dundee
About the Project Fungal pathogens represent a significant clinical problem for which treatment options remain limited. While in healthy individuals localised fungal infections areusually cleared by the immune system, systemic or blood stream fungal infections are a serious clinical issue, with mortality rates of 40-50% even with modern treatments. This is being compounded by the emergence of resistance to the limited number of anti-fungal infections.
- Location
- Dundee, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Cell Biology
University of Dundee
About the Project The tremendous diversity of cell shapes and sizes found in living organisms is fascinating. For instance, cell size differs enormously in the human body with myocytes being about a million-fold larger than red blood cells. This raises the fundamental question whether cell size is linked to cell function. The physiological roles and hence function the diverse cell types perform in our bodies are intricately linked to the fate they adopt.
- Location
- Dundee, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Cell Biology
University of Dundee
About the Project During early embryogenesis, segments (somites) are formed during a process called somitogenesis. These somites will go on to form the bones and muscles of the skeleton. The timing of the segmentation process is regulated by a molecular oscillator, the segmentation clock, that drives cyclic gene expression with a periodicity that matches somite formation.
- Location
- Dundee, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Cell Biology
University of Dundee
About the Project Accurate partition of the duplicated genome during cell division is crucial for cellular viability and organismal development. Chromosome mis-segregation is a major source of aneuploidy and it is a hallmark of cancer, while in oocytes represents the major source of miscarriages and genetic disease. As cells enter mitosis, chromosomes undergo compaction and establish specialized connections with spindle microtubules.
- Location
- Dundee, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Cell Biology
University of Reading
About the Project Blood represents a complex mixture of blood cells, plasma proteins, hormones, lipids, salts and water. Blood is good indicator of health, and clinically, blood samples are taken frequently to monitor health, risk of disease or success of treatments. Almost all blood samples will be examined for cellular composition - which is often referred to as a full blood count.
- Location
- Reading, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Cell Biology
University of Reading
About the Project Project Overview: Microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs) are ubiquitous environmental pollutants raising concerns due to their potential adverse effects on human health. MPs/NPs accumulate in various tissues of both animals and humans and are neurotoxic.
- Location
- Reading, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Cell Biology
University of Leicester
About the Project In eukaryotes, chromosomes recombine during meiosis to create novel combinations of alleles that may be selected for in the next generation. Bringing together the best traits is central to plant breeding, but recombination is limited both in number and position in the majority of crops (Desjardins et al. 2022, Nature Comms. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-31438-6).
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Cell Biology
University of Birmingham
About the Project The aim is to discover and test candidate molecular mechanisms underlying how the central nervous system (CNS) (ie spinal cord and brain) responds to life challenges, for example life experience or injury, driving plasticity, regeneration or degeneration. We aim to understand why distinct experiences result in adaptation through learning, whilst others can lead to unsurmountable stress, psychiatric and behavioural disorders.
- Location
- Birmingham, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Cell Biology
The University of Manchester
About the Project Atopic dermatitis (AD, also known as eczema) and psoriasis are very common chronic inflammatory skin diseases marked by abnormalities in the functioning of the outer layer of the skin, the epidermis. In these diseases, the balance between the self-renewal of epidermal stem cells and their differentiation into mature skin cells is disrupted.
- Location
- Manchester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Cell Biology
University of Sheffield
About the Project The ability of skeletal muscles to regenerate in response to injury, exercise, growth or disease depends on a population of adult skeletal muscle stem cells called satellite cells. With aging, the number and regenerative capacity of the stem cells declines; this contributes to the aging process and ultimately to the loss of muscle mass in elderly people.
- Location
- Sheffield, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Cell Biology
University of Sheffield
About the Project The regenerative capacity of skeletal muscle stem cells, also called satellite cells, is essential for muscle homeostasis and to maintain healthy muscles throughout the lifespan. The micro-environment of satellite cells plays a critical role in ensuring that the stem cells remain quiescent when not needed and in controlling the balance between differentiation and self-renewal when satellite cells are activated.
- Location
- Sheffield, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Cell Biology
University of Bradford
About the Project Chronic wounds, particularly diabetic foot ulcers, affect millions of patients worldwide and remain one of the most difficult clinical challenges in healthcare. Current wound dressings mainly protect the wound but do little to actively stimulate tissue repair. This PhD project will develop next-generation smart hydrogels capable of generating therapeutic electrical signals from natural body movement.
- Location
- Bradford, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Cell Biology
University of Birmingham
About the Project We are looking for a driven applicant, enthusiastic about joining our interdisciplinary team, to help unravel key sperm functions and how they underpin natural and assisted conception. At least 1 in 6 couples worldwide struggle to get pregnant without assistance.
- Location
- Birmingham, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Cell Biology
University of Birmingham
About the Project Despite the great successes that dental implants have achieved, stability of titanium based implants is now under scrutiny. Corrosion and titanium particle release might play a role in dental implant complications. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are particles released from cells that play a role in cellular communication in physiological processes and pathological events.
- Location
- Birmingham, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Cell Biology
University of Reading
About the Project Project Overview Plastics naturally degrade into microscopic particles over time. While the environmental consequences of micro- and nanoplastic (MNP) pollution are well-documented, these particles are increasingly making their way into the food chain. MNPs have been detected in various human tissues, including the cardiovascular system, with several studies confirming their presence in human blood.
- Location
- Reading, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Cell Biology
The University of Manchester
About the Project Motor nerves connect the spinal cord and brain with muscles in our face, arms, legs and internal organs. The motor nerves send signals which tell these muscles to contract. When motor nerves go wrong, people experience unpleasant and crippling symptoms, often lasting many years. Curative treatments for such diseases are urgently needed but are currently almost nonexistent.
- Location
- Manchester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Cell Biology
University of York
About the Project Lead supervisor: Dr Ines Hahn Co-supervisors: Prof Will Brackenbury and Dr G Evans The student will be registered with the Department of Biology Background: Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is the most common monogenetic disorder which affect 1/5000 and shows a high prevalence for Autism and ADHD and is caused by loss of neurofibromin, a highly conserved multidomain protein.
- Location
- York, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Cell Biology
The University of Manchester
About the Project In this exciting research project, you will investigate SHANK3, a key protein that facilitates communication and adaptation in brain cells. SHANK3 acts as a molecular 'organiser', bringing together receptors, signalling molecules and the cell's internal skeleton to promote healthy brain development and learning. If SHANK3 does not function properly, the consequences can be severe.
- Location
- Manchester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Cell Biology
University of Liverpool
About the Project This project uses cutting-edge 3D gastruloid models to reveal how the integration of Wnt and Notch (Wntch) signalling pathways drives cell fate decisions in the early mammalian embryo. The student will uncover how Wntch controls cell fate and axial development by combining live quantitative imaging, engineered reporter lines, and precise pathway perturbations.
- Location
- Liverpool, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Cell Biology
University of Birmingham
About the Project Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia, affecting millions worldwide and placing an increasing burden on patients, families and healthcare systems. While emerging therapeutics targeting amyloid pathology show promise, treatment options remain limited and do not address all aspects of disease progression.
- Location
- Birmingham, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only