pathogen PhD Projects, Programs & Scholarships

Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)

PhD Research Projects are advertised opportunities to examine a pre-defined topic or answer a stated research question. Some projects may also provide scope for you to propose your own ideas and approaches.

This project is in competition for funding with other projects. Usually the project which receives the best applicant will be successful. Unsuccessful projects may still go ahead as self-funded opportunities. Applications for the project are welcome from all suitably qualified candidates, but potential funding may be restricted to a limited set of nationalities. You should check the project and department details for more information.

Background. To mount an immune response, host organisms must first recognize the pathogen with which they are infected. The first line of defense against pathogen infection in animals is provided through the innate immune response.

Metals and host-pathogen interactions: the role of metal handling systems in the human gastrointestinal pathogen Campylobacter jejuni

The University of Manchester
Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health

Dr J Cavet, Dr D Linton

Applications accepted all year round

Funding Type

PhD Type

PhD Research Projects are advertised opportunities to examine a pre-defined topic or answer a stated research question. Some projects may also provide scope for you to propose your own ideas and approaches.

This project does not have funding attached. You will need to have your own means of paying fees and living costs and / or seek separate funding from student finance, charities or trusts.

Campylobacter jejuni is a globally important food-borne pathogen causing an estimated 400-500 million cases of acute human gastroenteritis each year.

Mathematical modelling of immune cell host-pathogen interactions

The University of Manchester
Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health

Dr P Paszek, Dr M Muldoon, Prof I Roberts

Applications accepted all year round

Funding Type

PhD Type

PhD Research Projects are advertised opportunities to examine a pre-defined topic or answer a stated research question. Some projects may also provide scope for you to propose your own ideas and approaches.

This project does not have funding attached. You will need to have your own means of paying fees and living costs and / or seek separate funding from student finance, charities or trusts.

Mammals have central cellular defence systems that resist infection by a range of pathogens. These involve the NF-κB and STAT signalling systems, which we have shown to use dynamics and timing to encode pathogen-associated signals.

Some like it hot: how mismatch between host and pathogen thermal ecology influences adaptation to global change

Monash University
School of Biological Sciences

Dr M Hall

Applications accepted all year round

Funding Type

PhD Type

Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)

PhD Research Projects are advertised opportunities to examine a pre-defined topic or answer a stated research question. Some projects may also provide scope for you to propose your own ideas and approaches.

This project has funding attached, subject to eligibility criteria. Applications for the project are welcome from all suitably qualified candidates, but its funding may be restricted to a limited set of nationalities. You should check the project and department details for more information.

Global change is predicted to result in both rapidly changing environments and dramatic changes in disease outbreaks. Key to predicting winners and losers under the nexus of infection and global change is any mismatch between hosts and pathogens in their thermal tolerances and adaptive potential.

Investigating the influence of polyploidy on the evolution of a major human fungal pathogen

University of Birmingham
School of Biosciences

Dr E Ballou

Applications accepted all year round

Funding Type

PhD Type

PhD Research Projects are advertised opportunities to examine a pre-defined topic or answer a stated research question. Some projects may also provide scope for you to propose your own ideas and approaches.

This project does not have funding attached. You will need to have your own means of paying fees and living costs and / or seek separate funding from student finance, charities or trusts.

The human fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans undergoes an unusual morphological transition from haploid yeast to highly polyploid Titan cells during infection of the human host.

Functional analysis of fungal effector proteins in the barley/wheat powdery mildew plant-pathogen interactions.

Royal Holloway, University of London
School of Biological Sciences

Dr L Bindschedler, Prof A Devoto

Applications accepted all year round

Funding Type

PhD Type

PhD Research Projects are advertised opportunities to examine a pre-defined topic or answer a stated research question. Some projects may also provide scope for you to propose your own ideas and approaches.

This project does not have funding attached. You will need to have your own means of paying fees and living costs and / or seek separate funding from student finance, charities or trusts.

Pathogens secrete small proteins called effectors or virulence factors which are important for the successful invasion of the host.

Transport of essential nutrients across the outer membrane of a bacterial pathogen

University of Sheffield
Infection, Immunity and Cardiovascular Disease

Dr M Thomas

Applications accepted all year round

Funding Type

PhD Type

PhD Research Projects are advertised opportunities to examine a pre-defined topic or answer a stated research question. Some projects may also provide scope for you to propose your own ideas and approaches.

This project does not have funding attached. You will need to have your own means of paying fees and living costs and / or seek separate funding from student finance, charities or trusts.

Gram-negative bacteria possess a second membrane, the outer membrane (OM), that serves as an additional line of defence against noxious agents, including antibiotics.

Characterisation of the genotype and phenotype of epithelial cells invaded by the periodontal pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis.

University of Sheffield
School of Clinical Dentistry

Dr S Whawell, Dr G Stafford

Applications accepted all year round

Funding Type

PhD Type

PhD Research Projects are advertised opportunities to examine a pre-defined topic or answer a stated research question. Some projects may also provide scope for you to propose your own ideas and approaches.

This project does not have funding attached. You will need to have your own means of paying fees and living costs and / or seek separate funding from student finance, charities or trusts.

The presence of the Gram negative anaerobe Porphyromonas gingivalis is consistently associated with the more severe forms of periodontal disease and its ability to invade host epithelial cells is thought to be important in the pathogenesis of the disease.

Molecular regulation of surface remodelling in the human pathogen Schistosoma mansoni

Kingston University
Faculty of Science, Engineering and Computing

Prof A Walker

Applications accepted all year round

Funding Type

PhD Type

PhD Research Projects are advertised opportunities to examine a pre-defined topic or answer a stated research question. Some projects may also provide scope for you to propose your own ideas and approaches.

This project does not have funding attached. You will need to have your own means of paying fees and living costs and / or seek separate funding from student finance, charities or trusts.

In this PhD project you will perform cutting edge research that aims to identify molecular signalling events that underpin the survival of schistosomes in their human host.

A state-of-the-art effector trap to identify secreted effectors of tissue invasion in the major fungal pathogen of human lungs

The University of Manchester
Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health

Prof E Bignell, Dr J Amich, Dr A Reid

Applications accepted all year round

Funding Type

PhD Type

PhD Research Projects are advertised opportunities to examine a pre-defined topic or answer a stated research question. Some projects may also provide scope for you to propose your own ideas and approaches.

This project does not have funding attached. You will need to have your own means of paying fees and living costs and / or seek separate funding from student finance, charities or trusts.

The often-fatal fungal lung disease invasive aspergillosis (IA) has claimed more than 8 million human lives since its emergence ~ 40 years ago.