Core/Standard Studentships

Applications for Core (or ‘Standard’) studentships for entry in October 2024 are now closed.

Successful applicants have been notified.

Note that not all projects listed will be funded; studentships will be competitively allocated to the best students, with 7 projects receiving funding at each institution (Leeds, Sheffield and York), so 21 studentships in total.

How to apply for Core studentships

Students may apply for up to three projects anywhere in the Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP). Applications will be to the DTP centrally, using an online ‘Expression of Interest’ (EoI). The EoI will include:

• CV information; not submitted separately
• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) data
• Names of two referees

Deadline for Expressions of Interest is midnight Sunday 7^th January 2024.

Click here to go to the Expression of Interest on-line form

What happens next?

After candidates have applied, they will receive confirmation of receipt of their application from the DTP. Candidates will be informed as soon as possible if they have been shortlisted for interview.

Interviews will be held either Friday 2^nd and Monday 5^th to Friday 9^th February, or Monday 19^th to Friday 23^rd and Monday 26^th February 2024.  Interviews will be held at Leeds, Sheffield, York.  The panel will consist of representatives from all 3 Universities.  Shortlisted candidates will be notified of a specific time/date to attend.  Interviews will be held in person.

Paperwork – Please note that, prior to interview, shortlisted candidates must make formal applications to the Graduate School at each institution, supplying the necessary paperwork not already submitted as part of the EoI. Candidates will be advised of the process for this.

The projects on offer are listed below:

University	Lead Supervisor	Project Details
Sheffield	Dr Dan Bose	CryoEM and structural mapping of gene-regulatory non-coding RNAs
Sheffield	Dr Stuart Campbell	Making Sense of Floral Scents: Investigating the mechanisms of tissue specific scent production in plants
Sheffield	Dr Luke Dunning	Unraveling the mechanics of lateral gene transfer between grasses
Sheffield	Dr Iwan Evans	You are what you eat: mining macrophage diversity to enhance phagocytosis
Sheffield	Dr Matt Johnson	Exploring the structure and dynamics of Complex I and ATP synthase in photosynthetic organisms
Sheffield	Dr Stuart Johnson	Understanding the primary role of myosin VI in the function of auditory hair cells
Sheffield	Prof Mikko Juusolo	Could direct synaptic feedback from the Drosophila brain to its compound eye mediate the pop-out selective attention phenomenon in flies?
Sheffield	Dr Ian Lidbury	Microbial warfare or recycling? Identifying the molecular mechanisms underpinning cell envelope hydrolysis in plant bacteria
Sheffield	Dr Nicola Nadeau	The genetic and developmental control of complex nanostructure formation in butterfly wing scales
Sheffield	Dr Anton Nikolaev	Understanding the physiological and molecular changes in mouse retinal cells during development and ageing
Sheffield	Dr Emily Noel	Extracellular matrix dynamics in making and shaping the heart
Sheffield	Dr Andrew Parnell	Imaging bacterial death on nanostructured antibacterial surfaces
Sheffield	Dr Henry Roehl	The regulation of epithelial cell dynamics during zebrafish tail regeneration
Sheffield	Dr Tatyna Shelkovnikova	Post-translational protein modifications (PTMs) in the regulation of stress-responsive biomolecular condensates
Sheffield	Dr Lisa Smith	Cell wall changes during plant reproduction
Sheffield	Prof David Strutt	Using cross-linking mass-spectrometry and Alphafold to explore planar polarity protein conformations and complex organisation
Sheffield	Dr Ian Sudbery	How can we identify variants in untranslated RNA that affect stem-cells
Sheffield	Prof Stuart Wilson	Understanding the structure of mRNA in vivo.
Leeds	Dr Graham Askew	Muscle function during running
Leeds	Dr Julie Aspden	Mechanisms of protein synthesis in neural development
Leeds	Dr Tom Bennett	Inside-out: defining a novel nucleus-plasma membrane hormonal signalling mechanism in plants
Leeds	Prof Amanda Bretman	Bee fertility in a warming world – how climate change affects reproduction
Leeds	Associate Professor Elizabeth Duncan	Sensing the environment: How do environmental cues affect reproduction in insects?
Leeds	Dr Glyn Hemsworth	Investigating the molecular function of the AAL cassette in gram negative bacteria
Leeds	Dr Jonathan Lippiatt	The structural and mechanistic basis of neuronal sodium-activated potassium channel function and pharmacology.
Leeds	Dr Viktor Lukacs	Genome engineering to identify molecular targets of analgesic natural compounds
Leeds	Prof Andrew Macdonald	Using a novel anal epithelial cell culture model to understand the mechanisms of human papillomavirus transcriptional re-programming
Leeds	Dr Stephen Muench	Unravelling the mechanisms behind inherited heart disease through time-resolved electron microscopy
Leeds	Prof Neil Ranson	How does removal of stalled outer membrane proteins at the BAM complex contribute to outer membrane integrity?
Leeds	Prof Lee Roberts	How does skeletal muscle communicate across organs, tissues and cell types to induce the beneficial metabolic effects of exercise?
Leeds	Prof Bruce Turnbull	Molecular Snail Trails: mapping the movement of protein toxins and virus particles through the glycocalyx for cell entry
Leeds	Dr Simon Walker	Killer flies: sensory physiology and flight control of an aerial predatory insect
Leeds	Prof Michael Webb	Structural basis for phosphohistidine-dependent regulation of C4 photosynthesis
York	Prof Luke Alphey	Understanding the role of piRNAs in mosquito immunity
York	Prof Fred Antson	Revealing Virus Assembly Mechanisms through Cutting-Edge Cryo Electron Microscopy
York	Dr Dave Boucher	Novel functions of RNA-binding proteins in inflammasome signaling
York	Dr Will Brackenbury	Bioelectrical control of epithelial cell behaviour
York	Dr Katherine Bridge	Development of a site-directed chromatin interactome technology to map transcriptional drivers of hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) ex vivo expansion
York	Prof Dawn Coverley	Structure and function of CIZ1-histone complexes
York	Prof Seth Davis	Mechanistic perception of evening coolness in Arabidopsis
York	Prof Katherine Denby	Engineering Gene Regulatory Networks To Enhance Crop Disease Resistance
York	Dr Daphne Ezer	How seeds detect the season
York	Dr Martin Fascione	ChemGlycoPectin: Chemical glycobiology tools for the mechanistic exploration and inhibition of pathogenic plant pectin degrading enzymes
York	Prof Gideon Grogan	Shining a Light on Enzymes: Photochemistry of Iminases
York	Dr Andrea Harper	Chemical warfare in the rhizosphere: unlocking the defensive roles of plant root exudates against the bacterial pathogen Ralstonia solanacearum
York	Dr Michelle Hawkins	How do helicases prevent replication and transcription machinery collisions?
York	Dr Chris Hill	Defining the mechanism of enteroviral cis-replicative elements using structural, biophysical and virological approaches
York	Dr Sean Meaden	Understanding the drivers of viral lifestyles in the soil microbiome
York	Dr Liz Rylott	Engineering nickel hyperaccumulation in biomass crop plants
York	Dr Federico Sabbadin	New secreted virulence factors from Phytophthora infestans
York	Prof Dani Ungar	Mechanistic dissection of intra-Golgi vesicle targeting
York	Dr Pegine Walrad	Investigating the impact of PRMT-catalysed methylation on RBP:RNA interactions, mRNP granule formation (LLPS), structural dynamics and gene regulation