Biochemistry PhD Projects, Programmes & Scholarships in Dundee

Leveraging novel automated diagnostic pathways with augmented precision medicine approaches for the early detection and risk stratification of liver disease

Supervisors: Dr P Brennan, Prof J F Dillon, Dr M Al-Khairalla

Liver disease represents one of the fastest-growing causes of morbidity and mortality in the world. The principle aetiological variants are contained within the new nomenclature of steatotic liver disease (SLD). Read more

30 June 2024 PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

MSc by Research: Signaling pathways controlling epidermal development in cereals

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Plants living on land face brutal threats from pests, dehydration and temperature. To survive and thrive, land plants evolved a waxy ‘cuticle’ and distinctive epidermal cells such as gas pores and defensive barbs. Read more

Supervisor: Dr S McKim

MSc by Research: Bacillus subtilis intraspecies interactions

Supervisors: Prof N Stanley-Wall, Dr S Coulthurst

Bacillus subtilis is a Gram-positive, spore-forming bacterium that resides in intestinal tracts, soil, and on plant surfaces. B. subtilis, alongside other Bacillus species, presents a promising plant growth–promoting rhizobacteria. Read more

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

MSc by Research: Targeted protein degradation in plants – developing “Green PROTACs” for functional analysis of lethal genes

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Climate change is one of the biggest threats to global food production, leading to unpredictable weather patterns and geographical migration of pathogens. Read more

Supervisor: Dr P Hemsley

MSc by Research: Feel the tension – how does S-acylation of OSCA ion channels regulate responses to environmental change in plants?

Supervisors: Dr P Hemsley, Prof U Zachariae, Prof M Knight

Plants, being sessile organisms, must sense and respond to environmental change, such as temperature or drought, without being able to move. Read more

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

MSc by Research: Deciphering the ubiquitin codes that regulate protein degradation

Supervisor: Prof Y Kulathu

Ubiquitin signalling, which involves the posttranslational modification (PTM) of proteins with ubiquitin, regulates almost every aspect of eukaryotic biology. Read more

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

MSc by Research: Genetic interactions and novel genes that regulate lignin biosynthesis and straw quality in barley

Supervisor: Prof C Halpin

Lignin is a major component of plant cell walls, and has a significant influence on the digestibility and uses of plant biomass. The lignin biosynthesis pathway has been one of the most intensively studied. Read more

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

MSc by Research: Unravelling the molecular mechanism underpinning Ubiquitin-like fusion protein proteolysis

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

The biological complexity observed in living organisms greatly exceeds the number of different forms of proteins (the proteome) that the encoding genomes would predict. Read more

Supervisor: Dr C Maniaci

MSc by Research: Molecular mechanisms underlying aphid effector virulence activity

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Pests and diseases are a major threat to food security with losses ranging between 20-40%. Aphids are one of the most devastating insect pests, globally. Read more

Supervisor: Dr J Bos

MSc by Research: Protein secretion landscapes in human immune cells

Supervisors: Dr L Miller, Dr A Howden

Roughly one third of the human genome encodes secretory and membrane proteins. Following synthesis in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), these proteins are captured into transport vesicles for delivery within the cell. Read more

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

MSc by Research: Glueing proteins together with small molecules

Supervisor: Prof A Ciulli

Recent advances from the Ciulli Lab and others have contributed to the establishment of a game-changing new modality of chemical intervention into biological system – one that moves beyond the state-of-the-art. Read more

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Funded PhD Programme (Students Worldwide) PhD Opportunities

School of Life Sciences Black Scholars Programme

University of Dundee

The School of Life Sciences and the University of Dundee are committed to addressing under-representation in postgraduate research and we are pleased to offer our first Masters by Research Scholarships for UK students from Black or Black-Mixed Backgrounds. Read more

The effect of early-life stress on cardiac function in later life

Supervisors: Dr N Fraser, Dr C Murdoch, Prof T Hales

Stressful experiences in early childhood can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in later life. How early-life stress (ELS) influences susceptibility to CVD onset remains largely unknown. Read more

30 June 2024 PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

The James Hutton Institute PhD Opportunities

BARIToNE: Improving barley climate resilience using a candidate gene approach (Project code 24H)

Supervisors. Lead supervisor - Dr Martin Balcerowicz, University of Dundee. Second supervisor - Dr Craig Simpson, James Hutton Institute. Read more

Supervisors: Dr M Balcerowicz, Dr C Simpson, Ms G MacDonald

31 May 2024 PhD Research Project Competition Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)

BARIToNE: Improving barley climate resilience using a candidate gene approach (Project code 24H)

Supervisors: Dr M Balcerowicz, Dr C Simpson, Ms G MacDonald

Supervisors. Lead supervisor - Dr Martin Balcerowicz, University of Dundee. Second supervisor - Dr Craig Simpson, James Hutton Institute. Read more

31 May 2024 PhD Research Project Competition Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)

Targeting the extracellular matrix remodelling for the treatment of obesity-associated cardio-renal dysfunction

Supervisors: Dr L Kang, Dr C Murdoch

Obesity is a risk factor for many chronic metabolic diseases including heart failure and chronic kidney disease. Our lab demonstrated a tight association between increased deposition of extracellular matrix components (e.g. Read more

30 June 2024 PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Targeting Ras palmitoylation for the treatment of cancer

30 June 2024 PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Lay summary. Proteins can be thought of as molecular machines that carry out work within cells. Protein activity can be regulated through the reversible attachment of certain chemical groups to specific amino acids within proteins. Read more

Supervisor: Dr N Fraser

Expanding the ligandable E3 ubiquitin ligases for targeted protein degradation

Supervisors: Prof G Sapkota, Dr S Virdee

Out of more than 600 E3 ubiquitin ligases in cells, currently only a handful have small molecule binders that can be used for PROteolysis Targeting Chimeras (PROTACs) and harnessed for targeted protein degradation. Read more

30 June 2024 PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Regulation and mechanics in polarity

Supervisor: Dr D H Murray

Membranes and their protein organization are a frontier in our understanding of cell biology. We focus on polarized trafficking as a model to uncover fundamental mechanisms in the organization of structures at membranes. Read more

30 June 2024 PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

University of Dundee Dental School

Is there a Role for Activated Akt in Palatogenesis?

Main Aim. The project will use a medial edge epithelial (MEE) cell line as an in vitro model. These cells will be used to investigate the effects of exogenous TGFβ-3 and activation of Akt on cell migration, epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) and apoptosis. Read more

Supervisors: Dr S. J. Jones, Dr M Islam

30 June 2024 PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

MSc by Research: The Generation Gap – understanding tissue communication during grain development

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Cereal grain provides more calories than any other source to our diet, making grain production vital to food security. We study grain development in barley, a globally important cereal, and a powerful genetic model system. Read more

Supervisor: Dr S McKim

MSc by Research: Bacillus subtilis biofilm formation and environmental stress

Supervisors: Prof N Stanley-Wall, Dr S Coulthurst

Bacillus subtilis is a Gram-positive, spore-forming bacterium that is widely used as a model organism to increase our understanding of biofilm formation. Read more

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

MSc by Research: m6A modification of segmentation clock mRNAs and its role in somitogenesis

Supervisors: Prof J K Dale, Dr P Murray

During early embryogenesis, segments (somites) are formed during a process called somitogenesis. These somites will go on to form the bones and muscles of the skeleton. Read more

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

MSc by Research: Degrade or die: Understanding proteasome regulation upon stress

Supervisor: Dr A Rousseau

The Rousseau lab is interested in decoding how protein degradation by the proteasome is regulated in cells so that accumulation of unfolded, misfolded, or damaged proteins can be cleared before they become deleterious. Read more

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

MSc by Research: Molecular Analysis of Nuclear Bodies and RNP Trafficking Pathways in the Cell Nucleus

Supervisor: Prof A I Lamond

Many important processes within mammalian cells are compartmentalised within specific subcellular structures. In the cell nucleus, Nuclear Bodies (NBs), such as nucleoli, provide specialised compartments that are not surrounded by membranes, but still concentrate specific proteins and RNAs. Read more

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

MSc by Research: Molecular characterisation of the factors driving lung fibrosis

Supervisors: Prof S Arthur, Dr H McSorley

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive disease that results in an irreversible decline in lung function. At present IPF is normally fatal and the median survival is between 2 and 5 years after diagnosis. Read more

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

MSc by Research: Mapping the host response to fungal pathogens

Supervisor: Prof S Arthur

Fungal pathogens represent a significant clinical problem for which treatment options remain limited. Read more

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

MSc by Research: Non-canonical functions of SRSF protein kinase (SRPK) in pluripotent stem cells

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

The overarching goal of our research is to identify and characterise the protein kinase signalling pathways that control stem cell pluripotency and differentiation and determine how protein kinase signalling is disrupted to cause human developmental disorders. Read more

Supervisor: Dr G Findlay

MSc by Research: ADP-ribosylation in dementia and motor neuron disease

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

ADP-ribosylation is a fundamental posttranslational modification where ADP-ribose is linked on to target proteins by ADP-ribose transferases and removed by the ADP-ribose hydrolases. Read more

Supervisor: Dr L McGurk