The Oxford Interdisciplinary Bioscience Doctoral Training Partnership
The Oxford
Interdisciplinary Bioscience Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) programme is a 4-year DPhil*/PhD programme
that aims to equip a new generation of researchers with the skills and
knowledge needed to tackle the most important challenges in bioscience
research.
We
provide an innovative, individually-tailored training programme that includes
taught courses in interdisciplinary skills and the opportunity for students to
undertake two exploratory research projects with prospective supervisors in
their first year before choosing their main 3-year research project. Students
also undertake a 12-week professional internship to gain direct experience of
the areas of work into which they can apply their skills.
Oxford
Brookes University are
offering a place on the BBSRC funded DTP within the Department of Biological
& Medical Sciences in the areas of plant cell biology, virology, insect and
spider development, mammalian cell biology, molecular biology, metabolic
modelling/systems biology, parasitology and bioimaging. The successful
candidate will enjoy access to our state of the art facilities, including newly
refurbished laboratories and bioimaging suite.
In
addition to their choice of PhD project at Oxford Brookes University, the
student will be able to undertake their exploratory research projects at any of
the seven world-class research institutions that make up the DTP:
- University
of Oxford,
coordinators of the DTP
- Oxford
Brookes University, a
partner with the University of Oxford in developing regional excellence in
bioscience research
- Pirbright
Institute, the
UK’s national centre of research into viral diseases of livestock and viruses
that spread from animals to humans
- Diamond
Light Source, the
UK’s national synchrotron science facility
- ISIS, which provides national
capabilities for neutron science
- STFC Central
Laser Facility, which
provides state-of-the-art laser technology for experiments in physics,
chemistry and biology
- The
Research Complex at Harwell (RCaH), is a multidisciplinary laboratory specialising in
research using Diamond, ISIS and the Central Laser Facility at Harwell
- The Rosalind Franklin Institute is a new national
institute dedicated to bringing about transformative changes in life science
through interdisciplinary research and technology development.
The
programme is supported by the Biotechnology
and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) with additional support from
within the Partnership.
Please see
below for potential supervisors and instructions on how to apply.
If you wish
to apply to the DTP via Oxford Brookes University please complete the Faculty
of Health and Life Sciences PhD Research Studentship Application Form.
Application
and CV must be emailed to the address shown on the application form and CC’d to
dcarter@brookes.ac.uk
We have
many projects available which can be taken as a short term (3-month) rotation
or a full PhD project. The following supervisors are offering exciting
projects; for further information click on the link to visit their lab website.
Alison
Forhead Endocrine regulation
during fetal growth
Alistair
McGregor Evolution of animal
development and morphology
Andy
Jones Functional studies of insect nicotinic acetylcholine
receptors.
Barbara
Jennings Investigating the
mechanism of Groucho-mediated repression
Casper
Breuker Butterfly Ecological
Evolutionary Developmental Biology
Dave
Carter Extracellular Vesicle biology
David
Meredith Membrane Transporter
function
Dianne
Newbury The Genetics of Language Disorders
Hee-Jeon
Hong Microbial genetics and
antibiotic resistance
Isabel
Bermudez Molecular
Neuropharmacology
Jack
Sunter Understanding cell morphogenesis in Leishmania
Jon
Lees Deep Learning for protein function prediction
Jordi
Solana The use of single-cell RNA-seq to identify stem cells
Katja
Graumann Nuclear envelope in
plants
Korneel
Hens Next generation
technologies for gene regulatory network mapping
Linda
King Molecular Virology
Maike
Kittelmann Synapse formation in
neurons
Maria
Santos-Nunes Phenotypic evolution
and adaptation
Mark
Poolman Cell systems modelling
Michael
Gerth Evolution
of inherited microbial symbionts in insects
Paul
Potter Analysing critical factors in mitochondrial complex I
assembly
Ravinder
Kanda The Role of Endogenous
Retroviruses in Immunity
Ryan
Pink Cell signalling
Saad
Arif Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics
Sue
Vaughan Cell Biology of Trypanosomes
Verena
Kriechbaumer Endoplasmic reticulum
structure and function
Deadline
for receipt of applications is 12 noon on 22nd
January 2021
Eligibility
criteria: The
studentship covers bench fees, stipend, and ‘Home’ tuition fees only.
Start
date September/October 2021
Bursary
is approximately £15,609 for academic year 2021/22
Applicants
require a good Honours degree level equivalent to a UK degree BSc (minimum 2.1
or higher).
Any
queries please contact: Professor David Carter:dcarter@brookes.ac.uk
Faculty
of Health and Life Sciences,
Department of Psychology, Health and Professional Development
Alcohol Consumption
and Mental Health Literacy in Young People
3 Year Full Time PhD
Studentship
Eligibility: Home UK/EU applicants who must be
permanently resident in UK/EU
Closing date: 22 January 2021
Interviews:
w/c 8 February 2021
Start Date: June 2021
Bursary: equivalent to UKRI national minimum
stipend plus fees (2020/21 bursary rate is £15,285)
University fees and bench fees at the current Home
rate will be met by the University for the 3 years of the Studentship.
Supervisors: Dr Emma Davies, Professor
David Foxcroft
Mental Health
Literacy (MHL) includes understanding how to obtain and maintain positive
mental health, knowledge of help-seeking options, and decreasing stigma. Higher
levels of MHL may be linked to lower levels of mental ill health, and may serve
to encourage more healthy coping strategies. However, the field of MHL is
currently characterised by “conceptual
confusion and methodological inconsistency” (Mansfield et al, 2020, p11) and
many interventions to improve MHL lack a theoretical basis, and focus on mental
‘disorder’ rather than mental ‘health’.
This studentship will
involve initial scoping research to inform the development of an intervention,
which focuses on the potential of improving MHL. This work could start by
exploring the relationship between MHL, alcohol consumption and coping
strategies. Our research group values co-production and employs systematic
frameworks in intervention development.
As part of their Studentship, any successful applicant
will be required to undertake up to 6 hours undergraduate teaching a week
during semesters without further remuneration. Training will be given.
For
further information contact Dr. Emma Davies edavies@brookes.ac.uk
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. A masters degree would be an advantage, as would previous
research and/or professional experience of working with parents, children
and/or young people. EU Applicants with Settled Status in the UK 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.
https://www.gov.uk/student-visa/knowledge-of-english
Application procedure:
Applicants
should request an application form from hlsapplications@brookes.ac.uk. Complete
applications should include a proposed project proposal (max 1000 words)
including background, aims and an outline of how those aims will be
addressed.
Completion
of a DBS check is required on enrolment the cost of this will be covered by the
University.
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences,
Department of Psychology, Health and Professional Development
Literacy difficulties in the children and
families of Armed Forces Personnel
3 Year Full Time PhD Studentship
Eligibility: Home UK/EU
applicants who must be permanently resident in UK/EU
Closing date: 22 January
2021
Interviews:
w/c 8 February 2021
Start Date: June 2021
Bursary: equivalent to UKRI national minimum
stipend plus fees (2020/21 bursary rate is £15, 285)
University fees/bench fees at the current Home
rate will be met by the University for the 3 years of the Studentship.
Main supervisors: Professor Vince Connelly (Psychology) (vconnelly@brookes.ac.uk) &
Dr Dianne Newbury (Biological and Medical Sciences)
Various
explanations have been put forward to explain why children in military families
in the UK are at greater risk of lower educational attainment, for example, more
frequent changes in schooling. However, Armed Forces families, it is claimed, in
certain workforce segments, seem to have an over representation of dyslexia and
other specific educational needs. This project will investigate the incidence
of dyslexia in armed forces families and the many reasons this may or may not
be borne out in the population.
This
PhD would be a cross disciplinary project investigating the incidence of
dyslexia and poor educational attainment in the children of armed forces
personnel investigating the reasons for any increased level of incidence. This
research may involve some testing and identification of dyslexia in children but
would also need to consider population wide factors and analysis of attainment
data from schools and education providers. There would likely be the
requirement to develop close external links with organisation such as the Armed
Forces Family Federations, the Ministry of Defence as well as the Armed Forces
Schools network.
As part of their
Studentship, any successful applicant will be required to undertake up to 6
hours undergraduate teaching a week during semesters without further
remuneration. Training will be given.
For further
information contact Prof Vince Connelly vconnelly@brookes.ac.uk
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. A masters degree
would be an advantage, as would previous research and/or professional
experience of working with parents, children and/or young people especially in
the Armed Forces community. EU Applicants with Settled Status in the UK 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.
https://www.gov.uk/student-visa/knowledge-of-english
Application procedure:
Applicants
should request an application form from hlsapplications@brookes.ac.uk. Complete
applications should include a proposed project proposal (max 1000 words)
including background, aims and an outline of how those aims will be
addressed.
Completion
of a DBS check is required on enrolment the cost of this will be covered by the
University.