University of Plymouth, England invites online Application for number of Fully Funded PhD Degree at various Departments. We are providing a list of Fully Funded PhD Programs available at University of Plymouth, England.
Eligible candidate may Apply as soon as possible.
(01) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: “Nature is not a place to visit, it is home”: The value of nature on the quality of life of people with dementia
Embark on a pioneering PhD journey investigating the impact of engagement with nature on the quality of life for people with dementia. As dementia rates surge globally, you will be responding to the pressing need for innovative approaches to ensure people can live well with dementia.
While policy recognizes the importance of green and blue spaces, the precise mechanism to improve quality of life remains unclear. This PhD studentship addresses the critical gap in understanding the nuanced relationship between engagement with nature and quality of life for people with dementia. Using mixed methods (e.g., questionnaires, go-along interviews and ecological momentary analysis), you will unravel this complexity. The PhD has the following objectives:
- To understand how people with dementia engage with natural spaces.
- To explore the relationship between engagement with nature and quality of life in people with dementia.
- To explore what features of engaging with nature are most meaningful to the person with dementia, whilst in nature.
Deadline : 26 April 2024
(02) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: Identification of lung cancer patients at higher risk for brain metastasis using microfluidics
Up to 55% of the patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) develop brain metastases with a median survival of 2–3 and 4–6 months in untreated and treated patients, respectively. Due to the location of metastatic lesions, surgical resection is limited, and chemotherapy is quite ineffective due to the blood brain barrier. It is thus crucial to identify patients at higher risk for brain metastasis at an early stage. Brain metastasis has been ascribed to the presence of subsets of circulating tumour cells (CTCs) that transmigrate through the blood brain barrier and thrive in the brain. No definitive signature genes for brain metastasis have been identified in CTCs from NSCLC due to the lack of validated markers or strategies to isolate these cells. In this project we will deploy a microfluidics-based cell sorting platform to isolate CTCs from a cohort of NSCLC patients with brain metastasis. Isolated CTCs will be subjected to comprehensive gene expression profiling to identify the signature genes of brain metastasis. Consequently, we will develop a microfluidics-based cell profiling platform to analyse the proteins encoded by the signature genes in CTCs collected from NSCLC patients and subsequently identify patients at higher risk for brain metastasis.
Deadline : 31 May 2024.
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(03) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: Exploring immunosuppression in glioblastoma via high-throughput genomic screens
One major reason for treatment failure in glioblastoma is that tumour cells secrete several immunosuppressive factors that alter the functions of immune cells in the tumour microenvironment. Hence, a successful treatment should inhibit the secretion of these immunosuppressive factors and subsequently block the bi-directional communication between the tumour cells and their microenvironment. Identification of genes regulating cell secretion requires a combination of a genetic screening tool (e.g., CRISPR) and a high throughput secretion assay capable of sorting large number of tumour cells based on their secretion patterns. This is not feasible with existing high-throughput cell secretion approaches that typically measure target production rather than secretion. This project leverages a cutting-edge approach, referred to as SECRET (Secretion-Enabled Cell Ranking and Enrichment Technique), to enable high-throughput sorting of cells based on their secretion patterns. We will use SECRET in combination with genome-wide CRISPR-Cas9 screen to identify the druggable regulators of immunosuppression in glioblastoma. Top screen hits will be selected using bioinformatic algorithms. In addition, the therapeutic utility of lead genetic regulators will be assessed through a drug screen.
Deadline : 31 May 2024
(04) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: Biomedicines from the hidden animal world: The microbiome and immune system of micro-metazoans and the potential for antimicrobial discovery
Nematodes, rotifers and tardigrades are microscopic animals with some very unusual biological characteristics which allow some of them to survive extreme stresses, including complete desiccation (anhydrobiosis), radiations and extreme temperatures. To survive, they use several molecular mechanisms, including DNA protection and repair, antioxidants and other protective molecules. These fascinating animals have also evolved to live in environments teeming with micro-organisms, but the interaction between these two types of organism is not fully understood. This project will investigate the innate immune response of micrometazoans during bacterial infection, including an exploration of the role of antimicrobial peptides, small peptides that specifically target and inhibit bacterial growth. The project will also investigate the microbiome of micrometazoans: members of the stable microbiome may also secrete antimicrobial compounds to regulate the growth of other competing bacteria, providing a further source of antimicrobial candidates. These topics will be investigated using both lab-based and bioinformatics approaches and antimicrobial discovery pipelines.
Deadline : 22 April 2024
(05) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: Pulling the plug on antimicrobial resistance – novel antimicrobial compounds from The Roman Baths hot spring (Bath, UK)
In this exciting project, the successful applicant will use cutting edge shotgun sequencing and traditional culture-based biodiscovery techniques to isolate prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms that will be screened for antimicrobial activity against important human pathogens. Promising compounds will be identified and applied to down-stream processing and development towards pre-clinical evaluation. This will be the first in-depth study of a UK thermal hot spring focused on antimicrobial discovery. The project will be located in laboratories with excellent facilities and the candidate will join an established community of antimicrobial biodiscovery researchers.
Deadline : 26 April 2024
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(06) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: Understanding the role of the Mas receptor in demyelinating disease and injury
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a complex neurological disorder with an unknown aetiology and multifaceted pathophysiology. Whilst understanding and therapeutics within this field have been substantial and have improved the lives of many individuals living with MS, there is still an unmet need for interventions that can either protect or repair the nervous system. To develop appropriate therapies that can meet this challenge it is vital that we understand the pathological events following injury and the responses initiated during repair. Our research studies have been focused on components of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) and have provided significant supporting data to suggest that Mas receptor activation, via therapeutic application of angiotensin 1-7, can provide protection and promote repair following demyelinating injury. However, these studies do not shed light on the role of Mas following a demyelinating injury, whether Mas may have a role in repair and why Mas is expressed on oligodendrocyte lineage cells. Recent research in non-CNS fields of study have suggested that Mas expression is upregulated following injury and may serve to protect or restore damaged tissue.
Deadline : 3 May 2024
(07) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: Pancreatic beta cell glucolipotoxicity – how do dietary nutrients turn into toxins?
Type 2 diabetes is a pandemic disease that involves pancreatic dysfunction and has obesity as a major pathological risk factor. Bioenergetic failure plays an important role in the mechanism by which high sugar and fat levels compromise glucose-stimulated insulin secretion from pancreatic beta cells, but mechanistic understanding of this ‘glucolipotoxicity’ is incomplete. This PhD project will bridge various knowledge gaps by probing the energy metabolism of beta cells holistically under oxygen tensions that prevail in vivo. We expect to gain new insight in the behaviour of beta cells and their vulnerability to nutrient excess that will help improve the management of metabolic disease.
You will benefit from the support and expertise of an enthusiastic supervisory team as you develop skills in quantitative cellular bioenergetics, pancreatic islet biology and functional systems biology analysis, and you will apply an array of molecular and biochemical techniques. With laboratories on the city and hospital campuses of the University of Plymouth, and with direct input from DDRC Healthcare, the project has access to a broad range of specialised facilities. The supervisory team is diverse and offers ample scope to develop a strong professional network through collaboration and conference participation.
Deadline : 09 May 2024
(08) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: Establishing the effect of microplastic and nanoplastic exposure on inflammatory bowel disease
Microplastics (<5 mm) are contaminating our food and mineral water. They been found in human stool, gastrointestinal tissue samples and blood samples, highlighting that ingestion of plastic is resulting in uptake into internal organs. A meta-analysis has suggested that humans could ingest up to 5g of microplastics per week. Many of these microplastics are likely to weather during their transit through the gastrointestinal tract, releasing nanoplastics (<1000 nm) that have a higher bioavailability compared to the larger plastics. Despite the evidence of plastic ingestion, the effect this has on the gastrointestinal tract remains unclear.
The presence of plastics in food could be contributing to inflammatory pathophysiological conditions, a large proportion of which are commonly attributed to “unknown” environmental factors. For example, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has an environmental component, and its prevalence has increased in line with the large-scale production and use of plastics. Such conditions have an altered gut environment (e.g., luminal pH), which will alter the toxicity and accumulation of microplastic and nanoplastic exposure and enhance inflammation. The effect of microplastic and nanoplastic exposure on the gut under pathophysiological conditions in humans has not been investigated.
Deadline : 8 May 2024
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(09) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: Glaucoma detection by community optometrists – improving specificity with OCT imaging
In the UK, most patients with glaucoma are first identified by optometrists during routine eye examinations. Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is a powerful tool to identify subtle optic nerve damage which is often the first sign of the disease. Almost all optometric practices now use OCT, but there is still substantial scope to enhance clinical practice. In particular, we need to reduce over-diagnosis of glaucoma which can lead to needless anxiety for patients, and which has contributed to long waiting times for ophthalmic services in many parts of the UK.
This PhD project will investigate how OCT can most efficiently be used by optometrists to diagnose glaucoma in low-prevalence settings such as high-street optical practices, alone and in combination with other tests such as tonometry and visual fields. We will investigate the diagnostic performance (in particular, specificity) of widely used OCT systems in a representative optometric population. Our work will contribute to the evidence-base supporting the use of modern imaging technology in glaucoma-related primary eye care. It will also help to establish urgently needed criteria for diagnosis and onward referral of patients suspected of having glaucoma
Deadline : 10 May 2024
(10) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: Investigating the role of eye movement in scleral growth
Are you fascinated by how our eyes work and eager to make a difference in the fight against vision problems? Join our research team and help develop a revolutionary model to understand the impact of eye movements on eye health, with a focus on myopia (nearsightedness).
The project:
- Design and validate an innovative in-vitro model to investigate the impact of mechanical forces on eye health and structure.
- Explore the fundamental relationship between eye movements, the growth of the sclera (the white part of the eye), and myopia development.
- Collaborate on investigating existing and novel drugs with the potential to shape improved myopia treatments.
- Work with porcine and human eye tissues to advance our understanding of cellular responses.
Deadline : 31 May 2024.
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(11) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: Developing techniques to deal with large environmental data sets
There are now much larger and varied data sets about the environment from, for example: satellite images, results from the internet of things, and even social media posts. In order to monitor the environment and to develop strategies that lead to Net Zero requires that the relevant data is combined together to form big data sets that can be used in machine learning. Large data sets are stored in a variety of different databases, including traditional relational databases and more modern NoSQL databases. To organize the data, the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) principles will be used. To process large data sets requires High Performance Clusters (HPC). The University of Plymouth is installing a new HPC system in 2024 that the student will be able to use this system for machine learning with large environmental datasets.
Deadline : 26 April 2024.
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(12) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: Isles of Scilly nematode diseases of scented narcissi: interdisciplinary approaches to diagnosis, characterisation and control
Flower growing on the Isles of Scilly (IoS) is of great economic and cultural importance to the Islands. Plant pathogenetic nematodes represent a significant threat to the Isles IoS flower industry: they damage flower bulbs, including locally-grown scented narcissi, and decrease crop quality, making the flowers unsellable.
Identification of pathogens is usually performed off-site by specialised personnel, making timely identification of the pests and set up of remedial strategies difficult and potentially expensive.
Work by the supervisory team and IoS bulb growers has been carried out to develop simplified disease diagnosis, disease characterisation and development of control strategies. This ResM project will combine molecular disease diagnosis, statistical/mathematical modelling of disease distribution and social science approaches to understand cultural practices impacting disease.
Deadline : 22 April 2024
(13) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: Determining the dietary accumulation and toxicity of nanoplastics and co-contaminants (zinc oxide nanomaterials) in fish
Plastic pollution represents a global environmental challenge. The larger plastic particles can degrade to produce/release nanoplastics (NPs) that can enter the tissues of aquatic organisms. For example, up to 700,000 nanoplastics can pass across the gut of fish in four hours and once in the body, these NPs can enter the internal organs. However, linking accumulation with the effects on the gut epithelium, and the cellular storage and remobilization (i.e., excretion) following chronic exposure, remains unexplored.
Contaminants such as NPs do not occur in the environment in isolation and the presence of other particles will affect their bioavailability and toxicity. Recently, engineered nanomaterial (ENM) production has increased, including zinc oxide (ZnO) due to its advantageous properties (e.g., piezoelectricity, semiconducting, antibacterial) and these ZnO particles can interact with larger microplastics through surface sorption. However, the interaction of ZnO with smaller scale plastic pollution (i.e., NPs), and the subsequent consequence for animal exposure (e.g., uptake and toxicity) remains unclear.
Deadline : 1 May 2024
(14) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: Monitoring marine biodiversity using AI approaches
Imaging platforms are now a key tool in the assessment and monitoring of marine biodiversity. Examples include the use of aerial drones to monitor shores and sea surface populations, use of AUVs and ROVs to survey benthic populations, and the use of static cameras to record behaviours. Processing imagery to extract biologically relevant information is challenging and to date has largely relied on the use of human effort to extract information on identity, abundance, and behaviour of animals. Other key information could be extracted from imagery, for example size-based information (biomass, volume) but this is rarely undertaken due to the technological difficulty, despite biomass being considered as an Essential Ocean Variable. Artificial intelligence and 3D modelling has the potential to significantly advance our capability to monitor marine biodiversity autonomously using imaging platforms, but reliable and integrated workflows to extract information need to be developed and demonstrated.
Deadline : 26 April 2024
(15) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: Developing an integrated tool to assess soil health in agricultural settings
The health of our soil is integral to the ongoing health of our plant. When managed appropriately, soil can remove and retain large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Soils are also essential for future food security as well as underpinning well-functioning natural terrestrial ecosystems. Some agricultural practices, particularly those where soil is heavily managed through ploughing, grazing, nutrient input and compaction, can act in opposition to longer term carbon storage and productivity goals. In response, there is a strong focus on understanding and maintaining healthy soils in the UK agricultural sector.
Deadline : 26 April 2024
(16) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: Monitoring morphological variability of different gravel barrier typologies
Gravel barriers constitute a large proportion of the UK coastline. These systems represent critical natural capital as they act as a natural defence for coastal flooding and erosion (Figure 1). The most significant changes to gravel barrier morphology are likely to occur in response to large waves and high-water levels [1]. There are gravel-specific tools [2], equations (longshore sediment transport [2] and wave runup [4]), and numerical approaches [5] for predicting gravel barrier response to storms. However, these are specific to pure gravel settings, and there are at least three different gravel beach typologies with potentially three distinctive dynamic responses and resilience to environmental conditions.
Deadline : 26 April 2024
(17) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: Evaluating the role of Big Data in understanding livestock impacts on the upland landscape
In this multidisciplinary project we will explore the potential of cutting-edge sensor technology, data retrieval and computational approaches for understanding landscape-level interactions between livestock and the environment. The aim of the project is to bring the upland farm into the PLF framework by addressing the following objectives:
1) Validating and automating an array of animal-mounted and environmental sensors under controlled field conditions.
2) Ground-truthing these new methods for remotely monitoring animal-environment interactions in the heterogeneous upland landscape.
3) Determining how these data could inform current and emerging agricultural practice to better manage the complex interplay between livestock production and ecosystem services.
Deadline : 26 April 2024
(18) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: Validating portable gamma spectrometry as a tool for mapping spatial patterns in soil organic carbon
This project aims to integrate new advances in portable gamma spectrometry technology with emerging and urgent environmental land management needs regarding measurement of soil organic carbon (SOC) (Black et al., 2023). Enhancing SOC stocks is an important step toward meeting climate change adaptation and mitigation needs as well as enhancing soil productivity.
Processes behind building SOC and soil response are complex and quantifying changes in SOC patterns from field to farm scale is an essential step for developing knowledge of optimum management interventions. Convention sampling at scale, however, is expensive and time consuming. Innovation in gamma sensors (Van der Veek, 2021) offers opportunity to deliver rapid, on farm assessment of soil organic carbon (Taylor et al., 2023) but there is dearth of evidence to validate the efficacy of the sensor in range of conditions (different soil types, variability in soil moisture etc).
Deadline :26 April 2024.
(19) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: The role of the wind in dispersing and generating plastic pollution
In the past two decades, there has been much attention and research on the problem of macroplastic pollution of the environment, and the generation and dispersion of microplastics. Although the emphasis originally focussed on marine and aquatic environments (Thompson et al., 2004), the past decade has seen widening of focus to incorporate terrestrial habitats and soils (Rillig & Lehmann, 2020). The focus in terms of processes of transport, modification and deposition of plastics, however, remains primarily on the role of hydrological processes and particularly the oceans. The role of the wind, especially important in coastal and arid environments, by contrast, has seen very little attention (Zylstra, 2013). Although some recent laboratory studies have begun to explore the role of the wind in generating microplastics (Bullard et al., 2021; Bullard et al., 2022), field-based studies of the problem are scarce (Yang et al., 2022). At the same time, recent years have seen many advances in identifying and monitoring plastic pollution using remote sensing techniques, again with a predominantly marine focus (Salgado-Hernanz et al., 2021), using both satellite (e.g. Biermann et al., 2020) and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) technologies (e.g. Geraeds et al., 2019). This project seeks to address the research gap regarding the lack of field-based quantitative data relating to the wind-blown dispersal of plastic pollution and the role of aeolian processes in field-based studies in generating microplastics.
Deadline : 26 April 2024
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(20) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: Smart nutrient sensor networks using miniaturised optical and electrochemical detection
Phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) are essential elements for life but excess quantities of fixed nutrients in catchments cause eutrophication, toxicity and affect catchment ecosystem function [1]. Dissolved ammonia (NH3) is a critical chemical parameter required by UK legislation [2], whereas P is often the growth limiting element in catchments, particularly in areas of high N (Nitrate Vulnerable Zones) [3]. Recent legal standards (e.g. Nutrient Neutrality Programme and Environment Act 2021) require nutrient emissions to be determined at catchment scale and concentration limits to be legally enforced. Hence, there is a demand for better spatial and temporal data from water quality monitoring networks [4] and application of emerging technology, including off-the shelf Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and novel miniaturised chemical sensors (nanomaterials, microfluidic spectrophotometric/fluorescence, fiber-optic, microelectrodes) [5-7]. As data flow increases in size and complexity, well designed systems-based approaches are needed to improve cost, efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, minimise computing requirements and support the deployment of sensing systems. Real-time data offers the opportunity for Artificial Intelligence (AI) integration, with the potential for predictive models for phosphate [8] and ammonia [9] from other water parameters, with the final goal of developing catchment digital twins [10].
Deadline : 26 April 2024
About University of Plymouth, England, –Official Website
The University of Plymouth is a public research university based predominantly in Plymouth, England, where the main campus is located, but the university has campuses and affiliated colleges across South West England. With 18,410 students, it is the 57th largest in the United Kingdom by total number of students (including the Open University).
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