PhD Studentship: Cracking the carbohydrate code: how carbohydrate-binding modules control starch digestion

Why this matters:

Starch is the principal source of dietary glucose, and the rate at which it is digested has major consequences for metabolic health. Food science still lacks the mechanistic understanding to rationally design starch-based foods with tailored digestion profiles. Starch digestion is initiated by amylases. How amylases and carbohydrate-binding modules (CBM) shape starch-binding affinity and hydrolysis kinetics is poorly resolved, particularly at the solid–liquid interfaces where digestion occurs.

The project:

You will have an opportunity to link CBM identity directly to their function. Working across carbohydrate hydrogel structure/mobility, digestion enzymology and advanced Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) you will uncover molecular level details of how starch structures interact with amylases at different stages of digestion and their impact on starch hydrolysis in different regions of the human gut. This will benefit rational design of foods with tailored digestive profiles.

What you will do/learn:

• Materials science: starch interfaces structure and dynamics;
• Biomedical methods: enzyme assay design, enzymology and biophysical techniques;
• Spectroscopy: cutting-edge solid- and solution-state NMR for carbohydrates;
• Data analysis; multivariate and correlative statistical analysis;
• Translation: integrate findings with rational food design.

You will be jointly supervised in the Khimyak/ Koev / Warren labs—collaborative, cross-disciplinary, and hands-on.

Who should apply:

We welcome applicants with backgrounds in structural biology, pharmacology, biophysics, materials science, or related fields. Some experience with NMR or other advanced structural tools is a plus, and you should enjoy working across disciplines.

The environment:

You will join the Norwich Research Park—one of the UK’s largest concentrations of life scientists—with outstanding facilities and training. The skill set you will build spans molecular biology, enzymology, biophysics, and advanced NMR —preparing you for career in academia or industry.

Interested?

Informal enquiries are encouraged: Prof Yaroslav Khimyak (y.khimyak@uea.ac.uk) or any member of the supervisory team.

Additional Funding Information

This project is awarded with a 4-year Norwich Research Park Biosciences Doctoral Training Partnership PhD DTP studentship. The studentship includes payment of tuition fees (directly to the University), a stipend to cover living expenses (2026/27 stipend rate: £21,805, and a Research Training Support Grant of £5,000 pa for each year of the studentship.

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