Lead supervisor: Dr Michael Plevin (Department of Biology)
Co-supervisors: Dr Chris Spicer (Department of Chemistry) and Dr Rosa Dominguez-Espinosa (Syngenta)
The student will be registered with the Department of Biology
Crop plants are susceptible to a variety of pests and diseases and the climate crisis will only increase and widen the threat. At the same time, the rising global population means agricultural processes need to produce more food but without further damaging the environment. A key area of development is environmentally friendly crop protection.
Protein-based biologics are showing promise in pest and disease control. They can be developed to target pests or diseases with high specificity and selectivity while also being fully biodegradable. This PhD project is an exciting opportunity to participate in the development of protein-based crop protectants. You will join a collaboration between the Departments of Biology and Chemistry at the University of York, and Syngenta, a multi-national company that develops products for agricultural use.
Protein biologics need to be stable across their lifetime, from their production to their delivery to the site of action. The goal of this project is to develop protein-based stability agents that can be used to chaperone protein biologics across the production and delivery pathways. The project will involve designing, engineering and producing protein-based stability agents, and characterising their impact on different protein biologics. The student will have access to protein production, modification and characterisation equipment, including cryoEM, NMR spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography.
We're looking for a student with a strong interest in biophysics, structural biology, chemical biology, biochemistry and/or biotechnology. Experience with recombinant expression, characterisation and/or chemical modification of proteins would be an asset, though significant training in all aspects of the project will be available. The student will join the BBSRC-funded White Rose PhD programme (York, Sheffield and Leeds) and will participate in a range of cohort-based training activities. The project is an iCASE studentship and includes a 3-month secondment to Syngenta's UK research centre. The studentship also comes with significant additional funding from Syngenta, including a stipend supplement of £2.5k per year.
Please contact either Michael Plevin ([Email Address Removed]) or Chris Spicer ([Email Address Removed]) for more information.
The Department of Biology holds an Athena SWAN Gold Award. We are committed to supporting equality and diversity and strive to provide a positive working environment for all staff and students.
The WR DTP and the University of York are committed to recruiting future scientists regardless of age, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, disability, sexual orientation or career pathway to date. We understand that commitment and excellence can be shown in many ways and we have built our recruitment process to reflect this. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds, particularly those underrepresented in science, who have curiosity, creativity and a drive to learn new skills.
Entry Requirements: Students with, or expecting to gain, at least an upper second class honours degree, or equivalent, are invited to apply. The interdisciplinary nature of this programme means that we welcome applications from students with any biological, chemical, and/or physical science backgrounds, or students with mathematical background who are interested in using their skills in addressing biological questions.
Programme: PhD in Mechanistic Biology (4 years)
Start Date: 1st October 2023
Interviews: March/April 2023 (date tbc)
Continue with Facebook
