PhD Studentship - Turning Off Transcription Factors to Understand what Happens First in Neurodevelopmental Disorders

The GW4 BioMed3 Doctoral Landscape Programme is offering up to 18 MRC funded studentships across a range of biomedical disciplines, with a start date of October 2027.

These four-year studentships provide funding for fees and stipend at the rate set by the UKRI, as well as other research training and support costs, and are available to UK and International students.

This project is in competition for place with the projects across the MRC GW4 BioMed3 Doctoral Landscape Award studentships. There are a total of 18 studentships available across the partnership.  

What are the first things that go wrong in neurodevelopmental disorders? This project will use human stem cells to grow early brain cells, then rapidly switch off selected disease-linked transcription factors. By measuring the immediate effects on chromatin accessibility and gene activity, using advanced genomics approaches such as CUT&Tag and RNA-seq, we can uncover how disrupted gene control leads to neurodevelopmental disorders including intellectual disability, autism, epilepsy and speech impairment. The student will learn cutting-edge stem cell, genome editing and genomics methods while helping answer a fundamental question about how human brain development goes wrong.

These studentships are funded through GW4 BioMed3 MRC Doctoral Landscape Programme and consist of UK tuition fees, as well as a Doctoral Stipend matching UK Research Council National Minimum (£21,805 p.a. for 2026/27, updated each year).

Additional research training and support funding of up to £5,000 per annum is also available.

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