PhD in Infectious Diseases and Complex Systems- COM – PhD (Funded

About the Award
The University of Exeter’s College of Engineering, Maths and Physical Sciences, is inviting applications for a fully-funded PhD studentship to commence in September 2019 or as soon as possible thereafter. For eligible students, the studentship will cover UK/EU/International tuition fees plus an annual tax-free stipend of at least £15,009 for 3.5 years full-time, or pro rata for part-time study. The student would be based in the College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences at the Streatham Campus in Exeter.

Location: Department of Computer Science, Streatham Campus, Exeter

Project Description:

This is an exciting opportunity for a fully-funded PhD position in data science, collective behaviour and infectious disease epidemiology, not tied to any specific project. This PhD will use ideas from data science, statistics, complexity and network theory to develop new methods that address real-world problems.

n example project:

The network of interactions between co-circulating infections:

Bacteria and viruses often interact with each other in the host competing for resources and space. and have been shown to modify the ability of the other to transmit. Nevertheless, most studies consider considering pathogen species in isolation. Some disease-causing respiratory tract infections are poly-microbial, resulting from synergistic and antagonistic interactions between pathogens. Few of these interactions are well understood, due to the complexity of the system. Moving beyond this requires taking a dynamic, complex systems approach, inspired by analysis of available data. This project aims to develop a data-driven theoretical framework for understanding the ecology of co-circulating infections in human populations. This is a fundamentally inter-disciplinary project that would suit an ambitious student with interests in epidemiology and disease ecology.

The PhD studentship will be awarded to the best candidate and would suit a highly-motivated student with a background in a quantitative subject (e.g. statistics, physics, mathematics) and an interest in public health, or a student with a background in public health or medicine with an interest in quantitative approaches. The ideal candidate will be one who could take the opportunity to shape the topic and direction of the work.

Award:

This award provides annual funding to cover UK/EU/International tuition fees and a tax-free stipend. For eligible students the award will cover the tuition fees in full, plus at least £15,009 per year tax-free stipend.

The studentship will be awarded on the basis of merit for 3.5 years of full-time study to commence in September 2019 or as soon as possible thereafter.