Prof A Hall
No more applications being accepted
Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
About the Project
Epigenetic modifiactions, such as DNA methylation, play an important role in regulating gene expression. DNA methylation can also act as a “soft mutation”, creating phenotypic variation and allowing rapid adaption to environments. Decoding the complex patterns of methylation is a key barrier holding us back from understanding and harnessing this adaptability – particularly in response to climate change.
This project aims to take a data-driven approach to overcome the problem. We want to bring together large amounts of open data and develop machine learning algorithms that can identify methylation sites or spot patterns that are critical for regulating gene expression in multiple plant species.
The project is a collaboration between experts in epigenetics, genomics and bioinformatics at the Earlham institute and cutting-edge practitioners in machine learning and artifical intelligence at the John Innes Centre and IBM. This is an excellent PhD opportunity for a biologist to take a step into computational biology or for a data/computational scientist/mathmatician to apply their knowledge to an important life science question.
The Norwich Research Park Biosciences Doctoral Training Partnership (NRPDTP) is open to UK and international candidates for entry October 2021 and offers postgraduates the opportunity to undertake a 4-year PhD research project whilst enhancing professional development and research skills through a comprehensive training programme. You will join a vibrant community of world-leading researchers. All NRPDTP students undertake a three-month professional internship placement (PIPS) during their study. The placement offers exciting and invaluable work experience designed to enhance professional development. Full support and advice will be provided by our Professional Internship team. Students with, or expecting to attain, at least an upper second class honours degree, or equivalent, are invited to apply.
This project has been shortlisted for funding by the NRPDTP programme. Shortlisted applicants will be interviewed on Thursday 7th January, Friday 8th January and Monday 11th January 2021.
Visit our website for further information on eligibility and how to apply: https://biodtp.norwichresearchpark.ac.uk/
Our partners value diverse and inclusive work environments that are positive and supportive. Students are selected for admission without regard to gender, marital or civil partnership status, disability, race, nationality, ethnic origin, religion or belief, sexual orientation, age or social background.
Funding Notes
This project is awarded with a 4-year Norwich Research Park Biosciences Doctoral Training Partnership (NRPDTP) PhD studentship. The studentship includes payment of tuition fees (directly to the University), a stipend for each year of the studentship (2020/21 stipend rate: £15,285), and a Research Training Support Grant for each year of the studentship of £5,000pa.
References
1. https://www.earlham.ac.uk/newsroom/earlham-institute-branches-out-darwin-tree-life
2. Niederhuth CE, et al. (2016) Widespread natural variation of DNA methylation within angiosperms. Genome Biol 17(1):194.
3. L.-J. Gardiner, R. Joynson, J. Omony, R. Rusholme-Pilcher, L. Olohan, D. Lang, C. Bai, M. Hawkesford, D. Salt, M. Spannagl, K. F. X. Mayer, J. Kenny, M. Bevan, N. Hall, and A. Hall, “Hidden variation in polyploid wheat drives local adaptation.,” Genome Res, http://doi.org/10.1101/gr.233551.117