PhD Studentship - Understanding the Rules of Life in Microbiomes Using Stable Isotope Labelling

Application deadline: All year round

How to apply: uom.link/pgr-apply-2425

UK and overseas

This 3.5-year PhD studentship is open to Home (UK) and overseas students. The successful candidate will receive an annual tax-free stipend set at the UKRI rate (£20,780 for 2025/26; subject to annual uplift), and tuition fees will be paid. We expect the stipend to increase each year. The start date is October 2026.

We recommend that you apply early as the advert may be removed before the deadline.

Microbial communities found in geothermal springs contain organisms capable of efficient CO2-driven carbon cycling so have real potential as systems for CO2 capture and bioconversion that could outcompete current technologies. They have an added advantage of being resistant to, or even being able to utilize sulfur and nitrogen containing compounds that are a real problem for the current methods, and are also relatively low complexity making them ideal systems to study the rules of life that govern microbiomes.

It is becoming clear that the incredible adaptability and resilience of microbiomes is partly achieved through a division of labour between multiple community members. Stable isotope labelling approaches are a powerful way to study and understand this resource sharing in these complex systems, but this remains a challenging technology. This PhD will develop methods for compound-specific, multi-isotope metabolite analysis using state-of-the-art mass spectrometers available at Manchester, along with the data analysis pipelines needed to exploit this complex data. Combined with other data being generated by the multi-disciplinary team, this will extend our understanding of how microbiomes work and allow us to engineer them. This PhD is part of a £5M BBSRC sLoLa and so offers numerous opportunities for training and collaboration.

Applicants should have, or expect to achieve, at least a 2.1 honours degree or a master’s (or international equivalent) in a relevant science or engineering related discipline.

To apply, please contact the main supervisor, Prof Andrew Pitt - andrew.pitt@manchester.ac.uk. Please include details of your current level of study, academic background and any relevant experience and include a paragraph about your motivation to study this PhD project.

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