PhD Studentship: How to Design a Protein Factory? Proteins Shaping the Plant Endoplasmic Reticulum

3 Year, full-time PhD studentship

Eligibility: Home UK/EU and International applicants

Bursary p.a: Bursary equivalent to UKRI national minimum stipend plus fees (current 2022/23 bursary rate is £17,668)

University fees and bench fees: University fees and bench fees will be met by the University for the 3 years of the funded Studentship. Visa and associated costs are not funded. International applicants can visit https://www.brookes.ac.uk/students/isat/ for further information.

Interviews:  Provisionally 13,14 March 2023

Start date: September 2023 

Director of Studies: Dr Verena Kriechbaumer

Other Supervisors: Dr Charlotte Pain

Requirements:

Applicants should have a first or upper second-class honours degree from a Higher Education Institution in the UK or acceptable equivalent qualification. Non-UK Applicants must have a valid IELTS Academic test certificate (or equivalent) with an overall minimum score of 7.0 and no score below 6.0 issued in the last 2 years by an approved test centre. 

There is an additional requirement to undertake up to 6 hours undergraduate teaching/week during semesters and to participate in a teaching skills course without further remuneration.

Project Description:

Background: A great proportion of the planet’s food supply for proteins and carbohydrates is produced, processed and transported through the plant endoplasmic reticulum (ER). ER structure varies between cells and species which has been suggested to influence underlying cellular processes but a convincing link between structure and function of the ER has not been established.

Work plan: High-resolution confocal microscopy as well as electron microscopy will be used to capture both ER structures and dynamics in presence and absence of ER shaping proteins. Changes to structure and dynamics will be quantified using our specialist software AnalyzER. To link ER structure and dynamics with ER function a variety of protein production and secretion assays will be applied to investigate the production of high-value products such as antibodies, enzymes for human replacement therapy and venom peptides for crop protection. We will also expand this work to tomato as a crop plant.

Contact:
For informal inquiries contact Dr Verena Kriechbaumer: vkriechbaumer@brookes.ac.uk

Advertised competitively alongside our current PhD studentship advertisements for Biological and Medical Sciences.

How to apply:  Applicants should visit https://www.brookes.ac.uk/courses/research/how-to-design-a-protein-factory to download instructions on how to submit an online application.

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