ResM/PhD Studentship: Isles of Scilly Nematode Diseases of Scented Narcissi: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Diagnosis, Characterisation and Control

DoS: Dr. George Littlejohn

2^nd Supervisor: Dr. Alice Milne (Rothamsted Research)

3^rd Supervisor: Prof. Paul Harris (Rothamsted Research)

4^th Supervisor: Dr. Claire Kelly

Applications are invited for a fully funded 12-18 month (24-36 months part-time) ResM studentship. The studentship will start on 15^th September 2024. The ResM studentship may be transferred to the PhD route with the agreement of the appointed student and the supervisory team and depending on progress and available funding.

Project Description

Flower growing on the Isles of Scilly (IoS) is of great economic and cultural importance to the Islands. Plant pathogenetic nematodes represent a significant threat to the Isles IoS flower industry: they damage flower bulbs, including locally-grown scented narcissi, and decrease crop quality, making the flowers unsellable.

Identification of pathogens is usually performed off-site by specialised personnel, making timely identification of the pests and set up of remedial strategies difficult and potentially expensive.

Work by the supervisory team and IoS bulb growers has been carried out to develop simplified disease diagnosis, disease characterisation and development of control strategies. This ResM project will combine molecular disease diagnosis, statistical/mathematical modelling of disease distribution and social science approaches to understand cultural practices impacting disease.

The student will use an innovative, interdisciplinary mix of social science, statistical/mathematical modelling and molecular disease diagnostics to understand culturally and economically important disease impacting domestic flower production.

The School of Biological and Marine Sciences, at the University of Plymouth, invites applications for a fully-funded ResM. studentship. The studentship will be supervised by Dr. George Littlejohn and the supervisory team will also include Dr. Alice Milne (Rothamsted Research), Professor Paul Harris (Rothamsted Research) and Dr. Claire Kelly  (Plymouth).

The student will join a postgraduate research community of over 70 researchers at the University of Plymouth who work across a variety of disciplines recognised as world-leading in Biological Sciences, Marine Biology and Marine Sciences. The School of Biological and Marine Sciences is comprised of over 70 academics, 40 technical staff and around 1,200 students. The project will interact with a recent £5.7M Research England EEE award to establish the Centre of Research Excellence in Intelligent and Sustainable Productive Systems (CRISPS).

If you wish to discuss this project further informally, please contact Dr. George Littlejohn, george.littlejohn@plymouth.ac.uk.

For further information on Eligibility and Funding, please click on the links below: 

• Eligibility 
• Funding

To apply for this position please visit the Apply button above.  

Please clearly state the name of the DoS and the studentship project that you are applying for at the top of your personal statement. 

Please see here for a list of supporting documents to upload with your application.

For more information on the admissions process generally, please visit our How to Apply for a Research Degree webpage or contact the Doctoral College.

The closing date for applications on 22 April 2024. Shortlisted candidates will be invited for interview shortly after the deadline. We regret that we may not be able to respond to all applications.  Applicants who have not received a response within six weeks of the closing date should consider their application has been unsuccessful on this occasion.

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