PhD Studentship in the Biosciences Institute: Neural Circuits for Auditory Social Cognition in Nonhuman Primates

Award summary

100% of home tuition fees paid and an annual stipend (living expenses) of £18,622 with additional Research Training and Support Grant (£5,000 p.a.) to cover research and travel costs.

Overview

Social cognition disorders, such as anxiety and autism spectrum disorders, can have a serious impact on an individual's quality of life. However, the brain circuits underlying these disorders are still poorly understood, which has limited the development of effective treatments. Therefore, a robust preclinical model is needed to assess social and cognitive behavioural characteristics of individual animals, and to quantitatively assess phenotypic traits associate with social cognitive disorder that will enables us to target specific brain circuits to advance treatment options in selected animals.

This studentship will provide training in the development of comprehensive assessments to identify animals who exhibit phenotypic traits associated with social cognitive disorders (e.g., autism and anxiety). The student will develop viral vector approaches for neural tracing combined with fMRI and electrophysiology in the social brain circuits of macaque and marmoset brains.

The research has the potential to advance precision medicine approaches for social cognition disorders. The information obtained from this project could not only develop targeted treatments that are more likely to be effective on identified individual animals who are at high risk, but it will also greatly advance the 3Rs and animal welfare. The student will join a synergistic partnership between Newcastle University and partners in the UK, US, and Japan.

Number of awards: 1

Start date: 8^th January 2024

Award duration: A full time PhD (36 months) or a part time PhD (72 months)

Sponsor: Newcastle University, Faculty Medical Sciences

Supervisors: Dr Yuki Kikuchi

Eligibility Criteria

• A candidate with the qualification such as an MSc in an appropriate subject, including neuroscience, biosciences, and animal welfare, with an understanding of the regulatory requirements to work with nonhuman is desirable.
• Since the project requires longitudinal data collection, a part-time PhD candidate who can work for 72 months will be welcomed.
• Applicants whose first language is not English require an IELTS score of 6.5 overall with a minimum of 5.5 in each subsection. 

How to apply

You must register and apply through the University’s Apply to Newcastle Portal and select ‘Create a Postgraduate Application’.

Use ‘Course Search’ to identify your programme of study:

• please apply for the 2023 academic year for January 2024 start
• Course Title: 8420F (full time) or 8420P (Part time)
• Programme of study: PhD Biosciences (FT) or (PT)

Provide the following information in the ‘Further Questions’ section:

• A ‘Personal Statement’ (mandatory)
• Studentship/Partnership Reference field: BI071
• Select ‘Write Proposal’ when prompted for how you are providing your research proposal, and then type in the title of the research project from this advert - you do not need to upload a research proposal.

 In addition, you will need to upload the following supporting documentation:

• CV and covering letter which states the title of the studentship, quote reference code BI071 and how your interests and experience relate to the project. 
• degree transcripts and certificates and, a copy of your English language qualification if English is not your first language.

Contact details

Dr. Yuki Kikuchi
Biosciences Institute
Email: yukiko.kikuchi@ncl.ac.uk
Phone: +44 (0) 191 208 7559

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