PhD Projects

Our students are studying diverse areas of mechanistic biology in the following BBSRC strategic themes:

Advancing the frontiers of bioscience discovery:

1) Understanding the rules of life (formerly World Class Underpinning Bioscience)

2) Transformative technologies (formerly Exploiting New Ways of Working)

Tackling strategic challenges:

3) Bioscience for sustainable agriculture and food (formerly Agriculture and Food Security)

4) Bioscience for renewable resources and clean growth (formerly Industrial Biotechnology and Bioenergy)

These are the new BBSRC priority areas, taken from strategic document, “Forward look for UK Bioscience”, available on the BBSRC website:

https://bbsrc.ukri.org/documents/forward-look-for-uk-bioscience-pdf/

	Name	Project title
	Alex Ascham University of York 2022	Engineering ATP-Grasp Enzymes for the Preparation of Pharmaceutical Amides
	Tom Cozens University of Sheffield	Form and function: adapting dendritic morphology and synaptic location to optimise neural activity
	Gemma Banister University of York 2021	Molecular assembly of the non-canonical inflammasome
	Matthew Marsden University of Leeds 2021	Understanding the molecular basis of gravitropism and growth angle control
	Andrew Cowan University of Leeds 2021	Targeting enzymes for plastic degradation
	Jacob Webb University of Leeds 2021	Revealing the targets and mode of action of plant fungicides using chemical proteomic tools (i-CASE)
	Isobel Jackson Hirst University of Leeds 2021	Developing new approaches and improved technologies for the study of membrane protein structure and mechanism (i-CASE)
	Sebastian Ross University of Sheffield 2021	Next generation sustainable dsRNA biopesticides (i-CASE)
	Nikita Soni University of Sheffield 2021	Exploring a novel biological role of the master energy homeostasis regulator PGC-1alpha as a potential modifier of mitochondrial function and senescence (i-CASE)
	Gabriele Gelezauskaite University of Sheffield 2021	Investigating the cell-type-specific effects of aneuploidy using human pluripotent stem cells as a model (iCASE)
	Maud De Kinderen University of York 2021	Exploiting an Amaranth MAGIC population for improvement of leafy vegetable traits (i-CASE)
	Avril Strachan University of York 2021	Enhancing motor protein performance for nanopore DNA sequencing via directed and Darwinian evolutionary approaches (i-CASE)
	Foteini Bifsa University of Leeds 2021	Unraveling the mechanism of a peroxisomal ABC transporter
	Helena Roy Boada University of Leeds 2021	Investigating how dysregulation of ncRNA networks enhance virus replication
	Isabelle Boon University of Leeds 2021	Unravelling the rules of outer membrane protein folding: Opportunities for the design of new antibacterial strategies
	Katie Buttriss University of Leeds 2021	Structural studies of DNA repair required for human immune diversity using cryoEM
	Sabina Musial University of York 2021	Assembly principles of the CO2 -fixing liquid-liquid phase separated organelle, the Pyrenoid
	Jack Stenning University of York 2021	Defining Estrogen Receptor Binding and Response Determinants at Single-Cell Resolution
	Monika Gonka University of York 2021	Understanding haematopoietic stem cell fate choices by comparing distinct cellular states
	Isaac Reynolds University of York 2021	Future-proofing our food: Priming plants to tolerate climate change
	Abigail Walklett University of York 2021	A 'sweet' new strategy for tackling superbugs: uniting synthetic and biochemical glycoscience for the inhibition of novel carbohydrate processing enzymes in multi-drug resistant bacteria
	Charles Cranston University of Sheffield 2021	Understanding the mechanisms leading to age-related hearing loss
	Rebbekah Menday University of Sheffield 2021	Structures and Mechanisms in killing C. difficile by Bacteriophages
	William Mulcrone University of Sheffield 2021	Enzymatic repair of covalently crosslinked DNA
	Vincent Chan University of Sheffield 2021	Investigating ribosome specialization during cellular differentiation
	Emily Magkourilou University of Sheffield 2021	The role of mycorrhizal fungal networks in modulating plant symbioses with plant-parasitic nematodes
	Jodie Armand University of Sheffield 2021	Swinging Stomata: 4D capture of plant cell morphodynamics to inform on wall mechanics
	Peter Chong University of York 2020	CryoEM and biochemistry-led discovery of protein nanopores for biotechnology (CASE)
	Patrick Hunter University of York 2020	Developing next generation bioimaging/biophotonics tools to dissect the immunological synapse in single cells, one molecule at a time
	Rory Elston University of York 2020	Understanding and exploiting bacterial sugar transporters for increased production of prebiotics (CASE)
	Lydia Barber University of York 2020	Understanding receptor clustering via multivalent ligand display (CASE)
	Miles Deans University of Leeds 2020	Using machine learning to identify aggregation resistant biopharmaceuticals (CASE)
	Bertie Blandy University of Leeds 2020	Dissecting mechanisms of mRNA translational control by specialised ribosomes
	Blythe Wright University of York 2020	Mechanistic dissection of interplay between membrane traffic and apoptosis by mutations in the endosomal sorting regulatory protein Vps45
	Ethan Redmond University of York 2020	The Circadian Clock in the Ageing Plant
	Jodie Malcolm University of York 2020	The selective control of tRNA gene transcription by steroid receptors in breast cancer
	Barbara Radzikowska University of York 2020	Daphniphyllum alkaloid (bio)synthesis
	Timothy Johnston University of York 2020	Role of Sulfiredoxin-1 in maintaining neuronal function and redox homeostasis
	Nathan Innard University of York 2020	Tracking anaerobic microbial community responses using a synthetic biology approach
	Lewis Byrom University of York 2020	Structure and function of CIZ1/RNA complexes
	Eleanor Briggs University of Sheffield 2020	Fungal ß-glucan cell wall biosynthesis (CASE)
	Emma White University of Sheffield 2020	Improving water-use efficiency in wheat by modulating leaf structure (CASE)
	Jessica Hurcum University of Sheffield 2020	Novel approaches for the identification of allosteric inhibitors of high value therapeutic targets (CASE)
	Pollyanna Rouse University of Sheffield 2020	Elucidating the cellular targets of BoNT/X a potentially novel biopharmaceutical (CASE)
	Derek Bell University of Sheffield 2020	Activators of microbial enzymes for enhanced C capture and decreased pathogen populations in arable soils.
	Victoria Hill University of Sheffield 2020	The Conformational Dynamics of Two-Way DNA Junctions: A common first step in aberrant DNA recognition?
	Karolina Pyrzanowska University of Sheffield 2020	Biochemical and structural basis of bacteriophage tail-associated hydrolases of Diabetic Foot Ulcer AMR pathogens
	Katy Boswell University of Sheffield 2020	Characterizing the key enhancers during the initiation of Neuroblastoma using Human Pluripotent Stem Cells
	Julian Adams University of Sheffield 2020	How increases in night-time temperature reduce seed yields
	Jack Riley University of Sheffield 2020	Regulatory potential of 3’UTR introns in stem cell differentiation