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We have 25 Molecular Biology PhD Projects, Programmes & Scholarships PhD Projects, Programmes & Scholarships in Nottingham
Molecular Biology PhD Projects, Programmes & Scholarships PhD Projects, Programmes & Scholarships in Nottingham
We have 25 Molecular Biology PhD Projects, Programmes & Scholarships PhD Projects, Programmes & Scholarships in Nottingham
Studying a PhD in Molecular Biology would provide you with the chance to guide your own research project. With a strong link to Cell Biology, Molecular Biology projects revolve around understanding the composition, structure, and interaction of molecules within the cell that control its function. These are generally laboratory-based projects.
What’s it like to do a PhD in Molecular Biology?
As a PhD student in Molecular Biology, you’ll develop extensive laboratory skills including DNA sequencing, expression cloning, gene knockout, and DNA or protein arrays. Your understanding of the range of techniques available to you will continually improve as you’ll read the latest publications in the field.
Some typical research topics in Molecular Biology include:
- Understanding the role of a certain protein within a cell
- Investigating DNA repair mechanisms and potential faults
- Studying the difference in post-translational modifications in response to stimuli
- Development of novel therapeutics
- Investigating how proteins act differently in a disease
- Studying DNA replication
A majority of Molecular Biology projects are proposed in advance by the supervisor and are advertised on the university website. Some of these projects are fully-funded by the university or a doctoral training programme, while others require you to self-fund.
Suggesting a project for yourself is uncommon in Molecular Biology, due to the challenge of finding funding to cover PhD and bench fees, as well as having to find a supervisor with suitable equipment and research interests to support your project.
Day-to-day, you’ll be in the laboratory preparing or conducting experiments, analysing previous data, creating figures, and writing up the results, alongside quick chats with your colleagues and supervisors about your work.
In the final year of your PhD, you’ll complete an original thesis of approximately 60,000 words in length and give an oral defence of this during a viva exam.
Entry requirements
The entry requirements for most Molecular Biology PhD programmes involve a Masters in a subject directly related to Biology, with at least a Merit or Distinction. If English isn’t your first language, you’ll also need to show that you have the right level of language proficiency.
PhD in Molecular Biology funding options
The research council responsible for funding Molecular Biology PhDs in the UK is the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). They provide fully-funded studentships including a stipend for living costs, a consumables budget for bench fees and a tuition fee waiver. Students don’t apply directly to the BBSRC, you apply for advertised projects with this funding attached.
It’s uncommon for Molecular Biology PhD students to be ‘self-funded’ due to the additional bench fees. However, if you were planning to fund yourself it might be achievable (depending on your project) through the UK government’s PhD loan and part-time work.
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Harnessing the crosstalk between extracellular matrix stiffness and tissue redox chemistry to modulate the fate of macrophages
We are seeking a highly motivated candidate with strong academic background in immunology, chemistry, biology or related area for a multidisciplinary PhD project focused on development of biomaterials with immune modulatory properties with potential applications in immune therapy and vaccination. Read more
Metabolic programming: Role of micronutrient (B12) deficiency and associated epigenetic marks
The global epidemic of childhood obesity is a major public health issue. Although current adverse lifestyle (nutrition and physical inactivity) contributes to obesity, a growing body of evidence links early life nutritional adversity to the development of obesity and metabolic disorders in children. Read more
To investigate the role of molecular regulators in the control of scarring and wounding tissue
Skin morphogenesis occurs under stringent control of epithelial-mesenchymal interactions and result in a formation of the epidermis and a number of different skin appendages (including, the hair follicle, HF). Read more
Providing insights into the molecular understanding of heart development and the formation of congenital heart defects.
Our research aim is to understand how the heart develops and then how it goes wrong to give rise to congenital heart defects (CHDs). Read more
The role of calcium signalling in regulating of tumour cell behaviour
Metastasis is the major cause of mortality in human cancers, yet we know relatively little of the fundamental biology that underlies the important transition to invasive malignancy. Read more
Overcoming replication stress–defining new mechanism from archaea to human
How cells respond to DNA replication stresses (e.g., DNA replication collapse, stalling or hyper-activity) is critical for their survival, and is a hallmark of cancers. Read more
How to build and maintain a 3-dimensional polarised epithelial sheet
We are interested in how cells maintain normal cell shape within an epithelium. Correct epithelial cell shape is essential to maintain tissue integrity and when deregulated can cause diseases such as malignant cancers, diabetes, inflammation, and aging. Read more
Coronavirus antagonism of innate immune responses
When a virus infects a host, the innate immune response is activated to control the infection. Therefore, all pathogenic viruses have evolved ways to counteract that response to ensure their replication and transmission to a new host. Read more
3D modelling of the bone marrow tumour microenvironment in pre-leukaemic disorders
Project ID: SST_2_4. Idiopathic myelofibrosis (IMF) is a chronic pre-leukaemic condition characterised by fibrous scar tissue in the bone marrow which prevents normal blood stem cell function and impaired blood cell formation. Read more
Epigenomic transcriptomic mechanisms underlying human neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases
This project aims to use high throughput sequencing technologies and molecular approaches to understand how RNA epitranscriptomic processes contribute to susceptibility to human disorders of the brain. Read more
Exosome biogenesis and organelle trafficking in neurodegeneration.
Scientific summary. Intracellular transport pathways are fundamental for cell structure and function. Due to their longevity, complex morphology (long axonal and dendritic extensions) and requirement to maintain synaptic transmission, neurons are heavily dependent upon intracellular transport. Read more
Neurodegeneration-associated protein TAU: Novel regulation during the DNA damage response and links to p53.
Tau is a protein that regulates microtubule stability and dynamics and is involved in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s Disease - which is the most prevalent form of Dementia. Read more
The use of Drosophila melanogaster to identify novel therapeutic agents for Alzheimer’s disease
Since 2003, our understanding of the causes of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) have improved considerably, however, in that time only one new drug treatment has been approved. Read more
Accelerated tissue regeneration through direct stem cell re-programming
Project ID. SST9. This project hypothesises that the genetic reprogramming of human mesenchymal stromal cells will lead to enhanced tissue regeneration through the increased production of growth factors, potentially aiding the development of personalised cell therapies. Read more
Structural and copy number variation analysis using adaptive long read sequencing
Long Read Sequencing (LRS) is a critical tool for understanding disease and variation in populations of samples ranging from human to critical food crops. Read more
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