BBSRC Industrial CASE studentship: Understanding insecticide detoxification in the leafcutter bee, Megachile rotundata

The University of Exeter’s College of Life and Environmental Sciences, in partnership with the BBSRC and Bayer are inviting applications for a fully-funded PhD studentship to commence in September 2017. For eligible students the studentship will cover UK/EU tuition fees plus a standard annual tax-free stipend of £14,296 for four years. As this is a BBSRC Industrial CASE studentship the student will also benefit from an additional stipend enhancement of £2,500 per annum. The student would be based at the Penryn Campus in the College of Life and Environmental Sciences.

Academic Supervisors:
Professors Chris Bass and Lena Bayer-Wilfert (University of Exeter)

Project Description:
Chemical insecticides have been used to control insect pests for many decades and remain essential to ensure a supply of affordable food and as part of disease vector control for the foreseeable future. A key requirement for the development of insecticides is that they are pest specific and not harmful to the main bee pollinator species which play an essential role in ensuring production of seeds in a remarkable range of flowering plants. Much of the research in this area has focussed on the honey bee (Apis mellifera) however, there is now increasing awareness of the importance of non-managed bee pollinators (such as solitary bees) in pollination services. This studentship aims to develop a detailed molecular and biochemical understanding of how insecticides interact with the solitary leafcutter bee, Megachile rotundata. The project will characterise detoxification enzymes from M. rotundata and examine their role in defining insecticide selectivity in vitro and in vivo. Such understanding will allow the molecular basis of differential selectivity within different chemical classes of commercial insecticides to be elucidated and so facilitate the rational design of novel bee-safe compounds
The student will be trained in a diverse range of techniques including insect bioassays, molecular biology, biochemistry, transcriptome profiling and bioinformatics. In addition the project will provide exposure to the crop protection industry through the Bayer link/placement. The student will be based in the Bass lab and be part of a thriving group comprising several PhD students, post-doctoral research fellows and technicians.

Eligibility:
This studentship will be funded by the BBSRC, and is only available to UK and EU nationals. You must have resided in the UK for three years prior to starting the studentship to receive funding for tuition fees and a stipend. Candidates from outside the EU are not eligible for this studentship. Students from EU countries who do not meet the residency requirements may still be eligible for a fees-only award but no stipend. Applicants who are classed as International for tuition fee purposes are not eligible for funding.
For detailed guidance about eligibility please refer to the BBSRC guide to studentship eligibility (http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/documents/studentship-eligibility-pdf/).

Studentships will be awarded on the basis of merit and are awarded for 4 years of full-time study (part-time pro-rata) to commence in September 2017..