PhD Studentship: Evolutionary and Ecological Impact of the Western Lifestyle on the Gut Microbiome

The human gut microbiome is a complex ecosystem shaped by diet, the host and microbial transmission between people. While gut bacterial populations were once thought to be genetically stable, we now know that they can evolve within their hosts over remarkably short timescales. Our research shows that Westernised and less-industrialised populations differ substantially in gut bacterial composition, diversity, microbial sharing and evolutionary patterns, with potential consequences for microbiome resilience and human health.

This PhD will explore how Western lifestyles affect the ecology and evolution of gut bacteria. Using more than 6,000 gut metagenomes and state-of-the-art strain-resolved metagenomics, you will:

• Identify ecological and evolutionary signatures associated with industrialisation
• Determine how bacterial populations adapt over time, hosts and environments
• Reconstruct bacterial metabolic niches and investigate how these vary globally

You will gain advanced training in evolutionary theory, microbial ecology, high-resolution metagenomics, sequencing technologies, statistics and computational analysis. Previous exposure to statistics or programming is useful, but specialist methods will be taught through mentorship and collaboration.

During this 4-year DTP programme, you will join an interdisciplinary research environment spanning microbial ecology, evolutionary genomics and bioinformatics. Opportunities include a research visit with collaborators in Poland, international conferences and training courses, and a 3-month industrial placement. The project offers strong publication opportunities and substantial scope to develop your own research questions and scientific direction.

The project is supervised by Prof Falk Hildebrand (https://www.falk.science), Dr Wilfried Haerty (https://www.earlham.ac.uk/profile/wilfried-haerty) based at the Quadram and Earlham Institutes at Norwich Research Park. The team provides complementary expertise in microbial ecology, evolutionary genomics, computational biology and microbial physiology.

Norwich is a compact historic city with a vibrant research and student community, an active independent food, pub and coffee scene, and easy access to the Norfolk countryside and coast.

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 £5,000pa for each year of the studentship.

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