PhD Opportunities

About the Project

Do you want to design and construct synthetic life-like cells? Is it possible to build synthetic cells that mimic the essential functions of living systems? Could these synthetic cells, equipped with programmable functionalities, perform specialized tasks in biological environments and help uncover the mechanisms underlying cellular processes?

This PhD studentship offers the chance to explore these fundamental questions and contribute to ground-breaking research in bottom-up synthetic biology.

The project focuses on the design and construction of synthetic cells that mimic life-like behaviours. Synthetic cells are minimal systems built from the bottom up using biomolecules and synthetic components and offer unprecedented potential to unravel fundamental biological principles and pave the way for novel biotechnological applications.

The project will explore advanced methodologies to assemble and characterize synthetic cells that mimic features such as motility, fusion, communication, and responsiveness to environmental stimuli. As part of this interdisciplinary research effort, you will gain expertise in advanced techniques such as vesicle fabrication, polymer chemistry, and biophysical characterization, while working in a collaborative and cutting-edge research environment. By leveraging advanced materials science, membrane biophysics, and chemical engineering approaches, the research aims to create synthetic cells with programmable behaviours, thereby advancing our understanding of cellular systems. Moreover, synthetic cells offer the opportunity of producing smart cell-like agents to tackle pressing needs in diagnostics, therapeutics, biosynthesis, and bioremediation.

Funding and Eligibility

A BSc in Biochemistry, Physical Chemistry, Biophysics or related, sciences is required at Upper Second Class level or better and candidates with a master's degree (at Merit level or better), in addition to the BSc, will be given preference. Intellectual ability, enthusiasm and self-motivation are essential.

The studentship will cover UK tuition fees and will provide an annual tax-free maintenance stipend at the standard UKRI level, currently at £21,237 (rising annually by an amount linked to inflation), in 12 monthly instalments. Studentships will be funded for a maximum of 36 months, subject to satisfactory progress. The studentship is expected to start in October 2025.

How to apply

Please direct informal enquiries and requests for further information to Dr. Claudia Contini (c.contini@imperial.ac.uk). Please email a single PDF file including a brief cover letter describing your relevant interests and research experience, your C.V. and names and contact information of three referees.

Applications will be considered as they are received, so early applications are encouraged.

Deadline for application: 27^th April 2025

In line with our commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusivity, we would be grateful if all applicants who contact supervisors would complete a confidential Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Questionnaire. This will help us to improve our future policies and processes and provides insight into who is and who isn’t applying. The questionnaire is anonymous and is not seen by potential supervisors. We strongly encourage applications from students from under-represented groups that align with the Department’s equality, diversity and inclusion priorities. These include home (British citizens or residents) students coming from non-Russell group universities and/or are from a minority ethnic group, such as those of Black, Asian or mixed heritage as well as those from white minority ethnic groups (e.g. Gypsy, Roma and Irish Traveller). Candidates must be UK nationals (EU candidates with settled status in the UK may be considered), International students are not eligible.

(fully funded)

Application Deadline 24th March 2025

PhD start date October 2025.

Supervisor: Dr Richard Gill (Reader in Evolutionary & Experimental Ecology)

Co-supervisor: Dr Peter Graystock (Lecturer in Human and Animal Health)

Address: Silwood Park Campus, Imperial College London, UK

Multiple stressors are implicated in bee declines, but whilst our understanding of climate change and pesticides as drivers is improving, we lack a good mechanistic understanding of how they interact. Climate prediction models largely agree that average temperatures will rise but also with increases in extreme weather events. Whilst the direct implications of these forecasts will impose stress on bee health, are bees in for a double blow? Alongside changing temperatures, increases in pesticide usage are likely. A pressing question, therefore, is whether the severity of pesticide impacts on bees will increase under climate change?

Our mechanistic understanding of how pesticide residues can leave colonies vulnerable to environmental challenges remains poorly understood. To address this knowledge gap, we must first link how effects on individual functions and behaviours that are vital for colony performance are temperature dependent. From this, we can develop a mechanistic framework to determine how this translates to effects on colony-level function, such as thermoregulation for brood development, under changing climatic conditions. The goal of this project is to contribute to our understanding of how pesticide exposure under simulated cold snaps and heatwaves can contribute to honeybee colony losses. This will help in forecasting when in the season and across which climatic regions are honey bee colonies most vulnerable to pesticide exposure.

This PhD studentship will incorporate lab exposure assays to different pesticide classes across a temperature gradient. It will bring together three primary work packages over a three-year period, involving experiments to 1) understand how thermally dependent processes that underpin energy metabolism and body thermoregulation are influenced by pesticides across a temperature range; 2) Quantify the pesticide thermal response relationships of behaviours that are dependent on metabolic rate and body thermoregulation; 3) Assess how collective behaviour and thermoregulation of brood under different cold and warm conditions are affected by pesticide exposure.

Informal enquiries are welcomed and should be sent to Richard Gill (r.gill@imperial.ac.uk)

How to apply & eligibility:

Please email Richard Gill (r.gill@imperial.ac.uk) with attachments including: 1) Statement of purpose (max. 2 pages A4, Arial/Calibri font size 11); 2) a CV. Please also arrange for two academic reference letters to be sent directly to Dr Gill.

The successful applicant must hold or be expected to complete a Masters (MRes or MSc) or a four-year MSci with a grade of at least 2:1 level (or equivalent experience) in a relevant subject area, e.g., biological sciences, ecology, evolution, zoology, entomology, animal science.

The PhD is only available to UK home or UK resident applicants following the standard research council eligibility criteria apply: https://www.ukri.org/what-we-offer/developing-people-and-skills/find-studentships-and-doctoral-training/get-a-studentship-to-fund-your-doctorate/

Applications are invited for a research studentship leading to the award of a PhD degree, under the supervision of Dr. Ana Eulalio, to investigate bacterial determinants of the intracellular lifestyle of the bacterial pathogen Staphylococcus aureus, and their impact on pathogenesis and antibiotic treatment.

The post is supported by a bursary and fees (at the UK student rate only) funded by the Department of Life Sciences. The studentship is for 36 months.

Staphylococcus aureus is a leading cause of human infections worldwide, causing a broad range of community- and hospital-acquired infections. Although S. aureus is historically considered an extracellular pathogen, substantial evidence demonstrates that S. aureus can be internalized by various cell types. Recently, our lab characterized the interaction of a large collection of S. aureus clinical isolates collected from patients with bone/joint infections, bacteremia, and infective endocarditis with host cells (epithelial and endothelial cells, osteoblasts and macrophages). This analysis revealed that the vast majority of the isolates are facultative intracellular and identified seven intracellular phenotypes, with various levels of replication, persistence, and host cell death. The presence of S. aureus inside host cells can contribute to its ability to evade antibiotic treatment and immune responses, explaining, at least in part, treatment failure and recurrence of disease.

Despite the relevance of the intracellular lifestyle to S. aureus pathogenicity, a comprehensive identification of host and bacterial factors relevant to this process is yet to be performed. We are addressing this question by applying functional genomics approaches, specifically: i) microscopy-based, high-throughput screenings of S. aureus mutant collections (for bacterial factors) and siRNA/CRISPR libraries (for host factors); ii) transcriptomics and proteomics to identify host and bacterial factors regulated during infection with S. aureus clinical isolates.

The PhD student will pursue a project along the above-described lines of research, particularly focused on characterization of key S. aureus factors controlling the intracellular lifestyle. The PhD student will receive training in microbiology and cell biology approaches, including bacterial and mammalian cell culture, microscopy, transcriptomics, and high-throughput screening.

Supporting publication: Microscopy-based phenotypic profiling of infection by Staphylococcus aureus clinical isolates reveals intracellular lifestyle as a prevalent feature. Rodrigues Lopes I, Alcantara LM, Silva RJ, Josse J, Pedrero Vega E, Cabrerizo AM, Bonhomme M, Lopez D, Laurent F, Vandenesch F, Mano M, Eulalio A (2022) Nature Communications 13(1):7174.

Requirements and eligibility

The studentship provides 3 years of funding (starting date according to availability). Applicants should have a BSc honours degree (at least 2.1 or equivalent) in Biology, Biochemistry, Genetics, or a related discipline. Applicants with a Masters degree (at Merit level or better) in addition to the BSc will be given preference. Intellectual ability, enthusiasm and self-motivation are essential.

Funding provides full support for tuition fees for the three-year duration of the studentship (home fees only), and an annual tax-free stipend of £21,237 per year (rising annually by an amount linked to inflation).

How to apply:

Please direct informal enquiries and requests for further information to Dr. Ana Eulalio (a.eulalio@imperial.ac.uk). Please email a single PDF file including a brief cover letter describing your relevant interests and research experience, your C.V. and names and contact information of three referees. Applications will be considered as they are received, so early applications are encouraged.

In line with our commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusivity, we would be grateful if all applicants who contact supervisors would complete a confidential Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Questionnaire. This will help us to improve our future policies and processes and provides insight into who is and who isn’t applying. The questionnaire is anonymous and is not seen by potential supervisors. We strongly encourage applications from students from under-represented groups that align with the Department’s equality, diversity and inclusion priorities. These include home (British citizens or residents) students coming from non-Russell group universities and/or are from a minority ethnic group, such as those of Black, Asian or mixed heritage as well as those from white minority ethnic groups (e.g. Gypsy, Roma and Irish Traveller). Candidates must be UK nationals (EU candidates with settled status in the UK may be considered), International students are not eligible.

Project Description

Applications are invited for a prestigious EPSRC research studentship leading to the award of a PhD degree, under the supervision of Dr. Alessia David (Dept of Life Science) and Prof Johnson (Dept of Medicine), to develop new bioinformatics approaches for the identification of new genes and genetic variants responsible for human disease. The post is supported by a bursary and fees (at the UK student rate only) are funded by the EPSRC. The studentship is for 36 months from October 2025.

The identification of genes and genetic variation responsible for human disease and the interpretation of their function within a biological network is a crucial step towards personalized medicine and the discovery of novel biomarkers. DNA sequencing projects from individual research groups and the 100K Genomes Project at Genomics England are providing an unprecedented amount of DNA sequencing data that need to be analysed to derive biologically meaningful information. This task cannot be performed manually and requires computational resources.

Recent major development in the field of 3D protein modeling with AlphaFold and the unprecedent wealth of information now available for genome variation in human and model organisms allow to expand the use of multiomics to develop new prediction algorithms to identify genes and genetic variants that can disrupt protein function/structure and biological pathways. In this project you will develop new robust bioinformatics algorithms for predicting the effect of genetic variants and identify new candidate genes for human disease. You will use the wealth of information on gene expression, protein interactions, and three-dimensional protein structure, experimentally determined and modelled by the in house Phyre2 homology modeling software and by the deep learning algorithm AlphaFold. You will apply these new bioinformatics algorithms to genomic and clinical data to interpret their biological relevance. You will have the opportunity to develop effective visualisation web tools to make these new algorithms available to the biomedical community. You will work closely with clinicians to design bespoke approaches that ensure the utilization of these new bioinformatic resources by the biomedical community. Programming experience, preferably in Python, is essential for this position.

The Department of Bioinformatics in the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial College has strong expertise in developing robust bioinformatics resources for the biomedical community, such as the Missense3D prediction algorithm suite for the interpretation of genetic variants (> 8000 users and > 400 citations since its release in 2019) and the Missense3D-DB database, a large catalog of precomputed predictions for 4 million human genetic variant which is included in DECIPHER at the European Bioinformatics Institute. The group of Prof M Johnson, in the Department of Medicine, has extensive expertise in using cell transcriptomics data in particular for the identification of new genetic mechanisms underlying neurological disorders.

You will receive training in the use of genomics, proteomics and 3D protein structures to develop new bioinformatics resources and in their application to analyze patients’ genetic data.

Requirements and eligibility

The studentship provides 3 years of funding starting October 2025.

Applicants should have a BSc honours degree (at least 2.1 or equivalent) in computing, biochemistry, biophysics, computational biology, or bioengineering with additional interest in biology. Applicants with a Master degree (at Merit level or better) in addition to the BSc will be given preference. Interdisciplinarity may be given preference. Candidates should also have demonstrably strong programming skills in a high-level programming language, preferably Python. Enthusiasm and self-motivation are essential. We encourage applications from all backgrounds and communities, and are committed to having a diverse, inclusive team.

Funding provides full support for tuition fees for the three-year duration of the studentship, and an annual tax-free stipend of approx. £21,237 per year.

How to apply:

Please direct informal enquiries and requests for further information to Dr. Alessia David (alessia.david09@imperial.ac.uk). Please email a single PDF file including: a brief cover letter describing your relevant interests, research and coding experience, your C.V. and names and contact information of three referees.

In line with our commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusivity, we would be grateful if all applicants who contact supervisors would complete a confidential Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Questionnaire. This will help us to improve our future policies and processes and provides insight into who is and who isn’t applying. The questionnaire is anonymous and is not seen by potential supervisors. We strongly encourage applications from students from under-represented groups that align with the Department’s equality, diversity and inclusion priorities. These include home (British citizens or residents) students coming from non-Russell group universities and/or are from a minority ethnic group, such as those of Black, Asian or mixed heritage as well as those from white minority ethnic groups (e.g. Gypsy, Roma and Irish Traveller).