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
	Daniel Yee University of York 2014	Understanding cell-type specific regulation of microRNA biogenesis
	Banushan Balansethupathy University of York 2014	Evaluating the role of protein dynamics in double-stranded RNA recognition
	Thomas Hartley University of York 2013	Increasing the potassium use efficiency in crops
	Marc Cabry University of York 2013	Structural analysis of dioxygenases from opium poppy: towards the production of new biocatalytic tools for morphinan production
	Thomas Irving University of York 2013	How plants maintain a good relationship with beneficial fungi
	Elizabeth Hollwey University of Leeds 2013	Leeds - Generating epigenetic diversity in plants
	Hannah Southam University of Sheffield 2013	CO-releasing molecules as novel antimicrobial agents: mechanisms of transport and resistance
	Ian Bennet University of Sheffield 2013	Protein and DNA Dynamics in 5'-Nuclease Mechanistic Biology
	Bryony Cotterell University of Sheffield 2013	Bacterial Cell Wall Mapping at the Nanoscale
	Aidan Taylor University of Sheffield 2013	Understanding the resistance of pathogenic bacteria to host innate defences
	Elliot Jokl University of York 2013	Mechanotransduction through z-disc complexes of the skeletal muscle
	Grace Hoysted University of Leeds 2013	Plant-mediated interactions between above-and below-ground crop pests: molecular and biochemical mechanisms
	Nicole Jackson University of Leeds 2013	From inhibitor to antibacterial agent: delineating the physico-chemical properties required of small molecules to enable bacterial uptake
	Robert Thomas University of Leeds 2013	Computational modelling of growth angle control across the higher plants
	Joseph Lattimer University of Leeds 2013	Studies on the replication of the non-primate hepacivirus (NPHV)
	Adam Hyman University of Leeds 2013	Mechanism of shear stress sensing
	Alexander Evans University of Leeds 2013	The energetics of bird flight: metabolic, mechanical and aerodynamic consequences of flying in formation
	Patrick Knight University of Leeds 2013	Investigating the mechanisms of aggregation associated with neurodegenerative olyglutamine (polyQ) diseases.
	Konstantinos Drousiotis University of York 2013	Teaching bacteria to eat grass: genetic engineering of Escherichia coli for complete degradation and utilisation of Miscanthus hemicellulose
	Daniel Upton University of York 2013	A Systems biology approach to bioenergy; Metabolic investigation of the filamentous fungi Aspergillus niger
	Callum Pattrick University of Sheffield 2013	Engineering Escherichia coli to transport and efficiently metabolise ferulate
	Simon Lesbriel University of Sheffield 2013	The assembly of the human TREX mRNA export complex
	Joe Tyler University of Sheffield 2013	Analysis of a Novel Actin Nucleating Machinery regulating Membrane trafficking
	Thomas Thirkell University of York 2012	Molecular basis of the benefits of arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis for the nitrogen nutrition of crop plants
	Keir Bailey University of York 2012	Acylation of Natural Products Derived from Biorefining
	Robert Schiffrin University of Leeds 2012	Role of Molecular Chaperones and the Bam Complex in Outer Membrane Protein Folding and Assembly
	Iliyana Kaneva University of Sheffield 2012	Identification of kinase targets in the human fungal pathogen Candida albicans using immunoprecipitation and mass spectroscopy
	Sam Amsbury University of Sheffield 2012	How do stomata work?
	James Morby University of Sheffield 2012	Organisation and spectroscopic properties of native and nanofabricated arrays of photosynthetic complexes
	Nathan Garnham University of York 2012	Identifying signaling responses governing synapse growth and function in aging neurons: defining responses to different cellular sources of oxidative stress
	Tony Palmer University of Leeds 2012	Towards enhancing crop yields on acid, phosphate-poor soils through an increased understanding of memechanism in aluminium-activated anion channels
	Michael Wilson University of Leeds 2012	Extreme muscle: a biophysical approach to explore and understand muscle proteins from extreme environments
	Emma Lindsay University of York 2012	Improving Arsenic Tolerance in Rice
	Gabriele Stakaiyte University of Leeds 2012	Novel mechanisms to inhibit virus replication by targetting mRNA export pathways
	Amanda McDonnell University of Leeds 2012	Production and properties of composite quantum dots for solar energy and photonics applications.
	Ryan Hartwell University of Sheffield 2012	Modelling axial polarity in the developing zebrafish ear
	Janice Robottom University of Leeds 2012	Development of split enzyme amplification systems for electronic label-free biosensors.
	Haley Owen University of Sheffield 2012	The Development of Novel Herbicides
	John Thomas University of York 2012	Mechanisms of adaptation of soil microbiota to pesticides
	Nicola Oates University of York 2012	Mining composting communities for new lignocellulose mobilising enzymes
	Richard Louden University of Sheffield 2012	How does the colonisation of roots by mycorrhizal fungi suppress infection by root parasitic weeds - a role for strigolactones
	Gina Allison University of York 2012	Mechanisms of assembly and disassembly of the cytoskeletal protein ParF
	Claudia Maclean University of Leeds 2012	Computer and mathematical modelling of experimentally derived data of neuronal control of the autonomic nervous system
	Jessica Haigh University of Leeds 2012	Designing and shaping chemical tools to target motor neurones for experimental and therapeutic outcomes
	Christopher Rowley University of Leeds 2012	Construction, evolution, characterisation and optimisation of novel enzymes discovered through high-throughput mRNA display.
	Katie Denby University of Sheffield 2012	Systems understanding of anaerobic respiration in Escherichia coli
	Rebecca Gregory University of York 2012	The Key to a biofuel future: unravelling the mechanism of GH61