Faculty of Health and Life
Sciences
Department of Sport, Health Science and Social Work
Three years, full time PhD Research Studentship in Centre for Movement, Occupational and Rehabilitation Sciences
Project Title:
EPIC: Exercise, Physiology, Imaging and Cardiometabolism
Eligibility:
UK/EU
Bursary:
£14,777 (2018/2019)
Fees:
Tuition fees will be paid for by the University
Closing Date:
09 December 2018, 5pm
Start date:
08 April 2019
How to apply:
Completed
application forms
should be emailed to hlsapplications@brookes.ac.uk together with a CV.
Requirements:Applicant must hold a UK/EU passport and a degree in a discipline related to the expectations of the role. For full details of entry requirements please visit the
Postgraduate Courses Entry Requirements.
Project description:For this studentship, the successful candidate will join a multidisciplinary research team at the Centre for Movement, Occupational and Rehabilitation Sciences (MOReS) working on a pioneering new University of Oxford study, “OxSOCRATES”, that
addresses the origins of cardiovascular disease in the young and, in particular, how sedentary behaviour and obesity contribute to early disease development.
The study is the first of its kind to be funded by the British Heart Foundation and is under the overall leadership of the Principal Investigator, Dr. Alexander Jones (Paediatric Cardiologist and Senior Clinical Scientist, Department of
Paediatrics, University of Oxford), who brings expertise in the early cardiometabolic abnormalities of childhood that precede established adult cardiovascular disease, and works in close collaboration with Professor Helen Dawes (Director of MOReS,
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Oxford Brookes University), who brings a wealth of expertise from her studies of children’s exercise physiology in the Oxfordshire region.
The successful candidate will be expected to:
- engage with and visit participating schools
- provide an exercise intervention and ongoing support to participating schools
- participate fully in relevant research activities
- present at relevant scientific meetings and to publish their work
Appropriate training relevant to undertaking a PhD will be provided as well as an honorary contract with Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Any successful candidate will be subject to a DBS search once they enrol. In view of checking procedures they will be required to exhibit specified documents:
https://www.gov.uk/criminal-record-check-documents
For further information on the project please e-mail Professor Helen Dawes
hdawes@brookes.ac.uk
or Dr Alexander Jones
alexander.jones@paediatrics.ox.ac.uk.
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences,
Department of
Biological and Medical Sciences
3 Year Full-time Funded
Studentship
Eligibility: Home UK/EU applicants who must be
permanently resident in UK/EU
Closing date: 3 January 2019 (midnight UK
time)
Start Date: September 2019
Value p.a.: Bursary equivalent to RCUK
national minimum stipend plus fees (2018/19 bursary rate is
£14,777)
Project Title:
Butterfly evo-devo in a conservation context: how embryos respond to pesticides
and immune challenges
Over
the course of their life cycle butterflies are exposed to a range of
environmental factors, which act as both inducers of phenotypic variation as
well as selective agents. These factors can become stressful; extreme weather
events and general climatic conditions, pesticide use, habitat fragmentation
and the exposure to novel pathogens. There is a need to understand how
butterflies respond these (interacting) environmental challenges, particularly
during their most vulnerable and least understood life stage, the egg stage.
Our previous work has shown that butterfly maternal effect genes are likely to
play a key role in the embryonic response, and that these genes often show
sequence variability as well as unique duplications with subsequent functional
diversification. In this project we will primarily focus on the innate immune
response to pathogens, and test the interaction with pesticide exposure. We
will conduct experiments across the entirety of embryogenesis, and examine up-
and down-regulation of genes in response to interacting stressors and explore
their mode of action on embryonic development. We predict that in the earliest
stages of development embryos rely on maternally provided protection, rapidly
followed by protection provided by the extra-embryonic serosa, which is capable
of mounting an immune response. As embryonic development progresses, an embryo
will likely play a more active role in the immune response. To test for micro-
and macro-evolutionary shifts in immune response during embryonic development,
we will use a comparative approach using a range of techniques (e.g. RNAseq);
different populations from a single species (Pararge aegeria), and different
species from divergent habitats.
Name of Director of Studies: Dr Casper J. Breuker
Contact: email: cbreuker@brookes.ac.uk
As part of their Studentship, any successful
applicant will be required to undertake up to 6 hours undergraduate
teaching/demonstrating a week during semesters on undergraduate practicals
without further remuneration. Training will be given.
Requirements: Applicants should be
of the highest quality and capable of submitting a PhD thesis within 3 years.
Applicants should have a first class or upper second class (minimum 2.1)
honours degree from a Higher Education Institution in the UK or an acceptable
equivalent qualification. EU Applicants must have an IELTS Academic test
certificate with an overall minimum score of 7.0 and no score below 6.0 issued within
the last 2 years from an approved test centre. We will consider alternative
acceptable evidence of English Language ability.
Application procedure:
Applications only to hlsapplications@brookes.ac.uk
Download application
form:
(http://www.hls.brookes.ac.uk/images/research/phd-studentship-application-form-jan-14.doc)
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences
Department of
Biological and Medical Sciences
3 Year, Full-time Funded
Studentship
Eligibility: Home UK/EU applicants who
must be permanently resident in UK/EU
Closing date: 3 January 2019 (midnight UK
time)
Start Date: September
2019
Bursary Value p.a.: Bursary equivalent to RCUK national
minimum stipend (2018/19
bursary rate is £14,777)
Fees: paid by the University
Project Title:
The interaction between butterfly wing size, shape and patterning
Neurodevelopmental disorders, such as Autistic
Spectrum Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Intellectual
Disability and Developmental Language Disorder are all known to have
substantial and overlapping genetic risk contributions that, presumably, affect
early brain development (Newbury, Monaco, Paracchini, 2014). Recent genomic and
animal studies have generated converging evidence that implicates shared
pathways in synaptic function across all of these disorders (Ali Rodriguez,
Joya & Hines 2018).
In this project, you will apply cutting-edge
transcriptomic methods to identify gene expression networks that underlie these
disorders. You will explore temporal and spatial gene expression patterns
within the developing brain and combine these with high-throughput sequencing
and genotype data to generate a multi-dimensional picture of early brain
development. This work will provide an essential link between gene function and
sequence and will help us to understand the synaptic processes that underlie
brain development and neurodevelopmental disorders.
This is a joint project supervised by Prof.
Isabel Bermudez-Diaz and Dr Dianne Newbury. Both groups have an established
track record in studying synaptic receptors and gene function with a
collaborative and multi-disciplinary approach. You will receive training in
electrophysiological, cellular and molecular lab work as well as bioinformatic
and statistical analysis methods.
Director of Studies (DoS): Dr
Dianne Newbury
Contact
email: diannenewbury@brookes.ac.uk
Second Supervisor: Professor Isabel Bermudez-Diaz
As part of their Studentship, any successful
applicant will be required to undertake up to 6 hours undergraduate
teaching/demonstrating a week during semesters on undergraduate practicals
without further remuneration. Training will be given.
Requirements: Applicants should be of the highest quality and capable of submitting
a PhD thesis within 3 years. Applicants should have a first class or upper
second class (minimum 2.1) honours degree from a Higher Education Institution
in the UK or an acceptable equivalent qualification. EU Applicants must have an
IELTS Academic test certificate with an overall minimum score of 7.0 and no score
below 6.0 issued within the last two years from an approved test centre. We
will consider alternative acceptable evidence of English Language ability.
Application procedure:
Applications only to hlsapplications@brookes.ac.uk
Download application
form:
(http://www.hls.brookes.ac.uk/images/research/phd-studentship-application-form-jan-14.doc)
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences
Department of
Biological and Medical Sciences
3 Year, Full-time, Funded
Studentship
Eligibility: Home UK/EU applicants who must be permanently
resident in UK/EU
Closing date: 3 January 2019 (midnight UK time)
Start Date: September
2019
Value p.a.: Bursary equivalent
to RCUK national minimum stipend plus fees (2018/19
bursary rate is £14,777)
Project Title:
From genes to species: Investigating the contribution of evolutionary change in
tartan to mating behaviour and reproductive isolation
The genetic
basis underlying the vast diversity observed in animal male genitalia has
eluded evolutionary research for decades. Recently we uncovered a gene, tartan,
that explains a large difference in organ size between two Drosophila species. This
project aims to understand the evolution of tartan (trn)
in the context of male genital evolution. Specifically, in this project
you will take a multidisciplinary approach, bridging behavioural genetics,
high-resolution microscopy, machine-learning, neuroscience and evolutionary
genomics, comprising of the following approaches:
1) How
the evolved genetic changes in trn affect mating behaviour and genital coupling
in these species. This will include setting up and video recording
high-throughput behavioural experiments and manual and automated measurements
of standard behavioural parameters.
2) The
mechanisms through which these effects affect reproductive fitness. This
will include the study of the neural circuitry regulating the female response
to mating and how this is modified in flies mated to males carrying
heterospecific alleles of trn.
3) The
role of selection in the evolution of this gene. This will include analysis
of genomic data from populations of D. simulans and D.
mauritiana, as well as direct tests of selection on the
species-specific tartan alleles.
The
results of this Project will provide fundamental insight into the mechanisms
through which morphological changes affect behavioural phenotypes and the
evolution of reproductive isolation between species and speciation more
generally.
An ideal
candidate would have either a background or interest in one or more of the
following: speciation, evolutionary genetics or genomics, behavioural
genetics, Drosophila genetics, machine-learning.
Director of Studies: Dr Maria
Daniela Santos Nunes
Contact email : Dr Maria Daniela Santos Nunes: email: msantos-nunes@brookes.ac.uk
Second Supervisor: Dr Saad Arif
As part of their Studentship, any successful
applicant will be required to undertake up to 6 hours undergraduate
teaching/demonstrating a week during semesters on undergraduate practicals
without further remuneration. Training will be given.
Requirements: Applicants should be of the highest quality and capable of submitting
a PhD thesis within 3 years. Applicants should have a first class or upper
second class (minimum 2.1) honours degree from a Higher Education Institution
in the UK or an acceptable equivalent qualification. EU Applicants must have an
IELTS Academic test certificate with an overall minimum score of 7.0 and no
score below 6.0 issued within the last two years from an approved test centre.
We will consider alternative acceptable evidence of English Language ability.
Application procedure:
Applications only to hlsapplications@brookes.ac.uk
Download application form:
(http://www.hls.brookes.ac.uk/images/research/phd-studentship-application-form-jan-14.doc)
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences
Department of
Biological and Medical Sciences
3 Year, Full Time,
funded PhD Studentship
Eligibility: Home UK/EU applicants who must be
permanently resident in UK/EU
Closing date: 3 January 2019 (midnight UK
time)
Start Date: September 2019
Value p.a.: Bursary equivalent to RCUK
national minimum stipend plus fees (2018/19
bursary rate is £14,777)
Project Title:
Building a nervous system: Analysis of transport and assembly mechanisms in
synapse formation.
In order for animals to react to an internal
or external stimulus with the appropriate behaviour, the input signals need to
be received, processes and transmitted correctly to the effector cells. This
process is facilitated by neurons, connected by synapses to each other and e.g.
muscle cells. The synapses contain vesicles filled with chemical
neurotransmitters that can be released into the synaptic cleft, bind to
receptors on the target cell and pass on the information. The fusion of these
vesicles is highly regulated in time and space in the active zone of the
synapse, an elaborate protein scaffold that forms electron dense projections of
different shapes and sizes. It is thought that these dense projections provide
a scaffold for the fusion machinery and physically recruit the synaptic
vesicles to the active zone and guide them towards the membrane. However,
despite such an important function in the regulation of neurotransmission, it
is still not well understood how these dense projections are assembled, what
their components are and how their shape reflects their specific function. My
lab uses the well characterised nervous system of the nematode Caenorhabditis
elegans to tackle those questions. The aim of the PhD project is to take so far
uncharacterized mutants with defects in active zone formation and synaptic
protein transport and characterise them by functional assays and electrophysiology
as well as confocal and electron microscopy. Additionally, mass spec and RNAi
screens will be used to identify new components to further understand how these
specific connections between neurons are formed to build a functional nervous
system.
Director of Studies (DoS): Dr Maike Kittelmann Contact email: maike.kittelmann@brookes.ac.uk
Second Supervisor: Professor. Isabel Bermudez-Diaz
Additional Supervisor : Professor.
Alistair McGregor
As part of their Studentship, any successful
applicant will be required to undertake up to 6 hours undergraduate
teaching/demonstrating a week during semesters on undergraduate practicals
without further remuneration. Training will be given.
Requirements: Applicants should be of the highest quality and capable of submitting
a PhD thesis within 3 years. Applicants should have a first class or upper
second class (minimum 2.1) honours degree from a Higher Education Institution
in the UK or an acceptable equivalent qualification. EU Applicants must have an
IELTS Academic test certificate with an overall minimum score of 7.0 and no
score below 6.0 issued within the last two years from by an approved test
centre. We will consider alternative acceptable evidence of English Language
ability.
Application procedure:
Applications only to hlsapplications@brookes.ac.uk
Download application
form:
(http://www.hls.brookes.ac.uk/images/research/phd-studentship-application-form-jan-14.doc)