PhD Studentship in Medicinal Chemistry - Lysine-targeted Warheads to Expand Covalent Drug Discovery

Award summary

100% fees covered (Home), and a minimum tax-free annual living allowance of £20,780 (2025/26 UKRI rate).

Overview

The project aims to design and optimise new warheads for the modification of lysine. Targeted covalent inhibitors (TCIs) have vast potential to open new therapeutic avenues for undruggable targets but are currently limited by a lack of warheads for the modification of non-cysteine residues. Through an iterative design-make-test cycle, this project will design, synthesise and test (LCMS, NMR) new covalent warheads with suitable reactivity and stability for application to lysine-TCI development in drug discovery. These optimised warheads will be incorporated into known inhibitors and tested against the relevant protein as a proof of concept.

This is an opportunity to join a vibrant medicinal chemistry research group focussed on developing new technologies for drug discovery. It is ideally suited for a chemistry graduate looking for a career in organic or medicinal chemistry research.

The project will provide multidisciplinary training in experimental techniques across chemistry and biology, providing a highly desirable skill set enabling research at the chemistry-biology interface.

Number of awards: 1

Start date: September 2026

Award duration: 4 Years

Sponsor: Newcastle University

Supervisors: Dr Hannah Stewart

Eligibility criteria

You must have, or expect to gain, a minimum 2:1 Master’s level (or outstanding Bachelor’s) Honours degree or international equivalent in a subject relevant to the proposed PhD project (Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry)

Applicants whose first language is not English require an IELTS score of 6.5 overall with a minimum of 5.5 in all sub-skills.

The studentship covers fees at the Home rate (UK and EU applicants with pre-settled/settled status and meet the residency criteria). International applicants are welcome to apply but will be required to cover the difference between Home and International fees.

International applicants may require an ATAS (Academic Technology Approval Scheme) clearance certificate prior to obtaining their visa and to study on this programme.

How to apply

You must apply through the University’s Apply to Newcastle Portal 

Once registered select ‘Create a Postgraduate Application’.

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

• Search for the ‘Course Title’ using the programme code: 8100F
• Research Area: Chemistry
• Select ‘PhD in Chemistry (full time) as the   programme of study

You will then need to provide the following information in the ‘Further Details’ section:  

• A ‘Personal Statement’ (this is a mandatory field) - upload a document or write a statement directly in to the application form
• The studentship code  SNES303 in the ‘Studentship/Partnership Reference’ field
• When prompted regarding your research proposal - select ‘Write Proposal’. You should then type in the title of the research project from this advert. You do not need to upload a research proposal.

In the ‘Supporting Documentation’ section please upload:

• Your CV

You must submit one application per studentship, you cannot apply for multiple studentships on one application.

Contact details: Dr. Hannah Stewart, hannah.stewart@newcastle.ac.uk

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