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  Understanding the molecular and physiological basis for crop-weed interactions for sustainable agriculture


   Faculty of Biological Sciences

  Dr Tom Bennett, Prof Amanda Bretman, Dr Lynn Tatnell  Friday, March 14, 2025  Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)

About the Project

Feeding our growing global population in a sustainable way that reduces inputs is a critical challenge for modern plant science. The major biological threat to a plant’s existence is neighbouring plants, since they directly compete for water, nutrients and light. Plants therefore might compete with neighbours, or if they are surrounded by their relatives, might be more cooperative. There is therefore increasing interest in understanding the mechanisms by which plants detect and respond to their neighbours.

Crops are usually grown in highly-related, densely sown monocultures, so selective breeding for high overall yield might have favoured cooperative responses. However, this might disadvantage crops when it comes to interacting with weeds. Weeds causes major economic losses to crop production, and crops appear poorly adapted to their theat. For instance, the common weed black-grass is a major problem in winter wheat cultivation in the UK, causing significant harvest losses. Our previous findings suggest that modern elite wheats have lost a range of competitive traits, including large root systems, and release of chemicals to inhibit neighbour growth. We will explore whether older landrace wheats maintain these competitive traits, which could be used as a source of genetic variation to create competitive elite wheat cultivars. We will investigate the molecular responses to different types of neighbours. In combination, this could help us to devise an integrated weed management strategy reducing the need for herbicides.

To achieve these objectives, this interdisciplinary project will use a combination of crop science, physiological, genetic, transcriptomic, bioimaging and behavioural ecology approaches, to create a new understanding of the nature of interactions between wheat and black-grass.

Find out more:

Wheeldon et al (2022) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2022.06.063

Clark & Bennett (2024) https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erad335

For informal enquiries about the project, please contact Dr Tom Bennett .

About YBDTP:

YBDTP brings together world-class bioscience research and innovation, as well as excellence in doctoral supervision, across the region. YBDTP will fund postgraduate researchers at the Universities of Leeds, Sheffield, York, Bradford, Hull, Leeds Beckett, Sheffield Hallam and Teesside forming a strong regional training partnership. In YBDTP you'll benefit from a regional doctoral training programme that has interdisciplinary collaboration at its core. The aim is to enable you to develop a range of research skills in biological, biotechnology and biochemical areas as well as equip you with core data analysis and professional skills that are necessary for bioscience research and related non-academic careers.

https://www.whiterose-mechanisticbiology-dtp.ac.uk/yorkshire-bioscience-dtp/

Funding Notes:

Funding: A tax-free annual stipend at the standard UKRI rate (£19,237 for 2024/25 entry), research costs and tuition fees at UK rate

Academic year: 2025/26

Open to: International (including EU) and UK (home) students

Eligibility:

Open to International (including EU) and UK (home) students.

You can apply if you have, or are expecting to gain, at least an upper second-class honours degree or equivalent. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of this programme, we welcome applications if your background is in any biological, chemical or physical science or mathematics and are interested in using your skills in addressing biological questions. International students should check if they meet the entry requirements for their country.

We aim to support the most outstanding applicants from outside the UK and are able to offer a limited number of bursaries that will enable full studentships to be awarded to international (EU and non-EU) applicants. These full studentships will only be awarded to exceptional quality candidates, due to the competitive nature of this scheme. 

The Yorkshire Bioscience DTP is committed to recruiting extraordinary 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 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.

Not all projects will be funded; a limited number of candidates will be appointed via a competitive process.

English language: If English isn't your first language, you may need to provide evidence of your English language ability.

How to apply:

Application deadline: 5pm, Friday 14th March 2025

To submit your application, click on the link to the Expression of Interest form in the Funding Notes section on any of your chosen projects. You can apply for up to 3 YBDTP projects (which can be at different universities).

We would advise you to read the questions in the form before submitting your application. Inside the form there is a link to a document for you to see the questions in advance.

If you have any questions about the application process, please email .

If you have any questions about the project you are interested in, please email the project supervisor (details inside the project description).

How we allocate:

Shortlisting will take place as soon as possible after the closing date and successful applicants will be notified promptly. If you're shortlisted, you'll be invited for an interview on a date to be confirmed in February 2025. You'll be notified as soon as possible after the interview dates whether your application has been successful, placed on a reserve list or unsuccessful. If you are successful, you'll be required to confirm your intention to accept the studentship within 10 days.

Terms and conditions:

The studentships are fully funded for four years, and you must complete your PhD in four years.

You'll receive the UKRI minimum doctoral stipend per year for your living costs, which is paid to you in regular instalments. The UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) stipend is tax free and does not need to be paid back.

International students will need to have sufficient funds to cover the costs of their student visa, NHS health surcharge, travel insurance and travel to the UK as these are excluded from UKRI funding.

Agriculture (1) Biological Sciences (4) Food Sciences (15)

Funding Notes

To apply for a studentship from the Yorkshire Bioscience Doctoral Training Partnership to undertake this project, please complete an expression of interest form for October 2025 recruitment here: View Website


References

Food security, sustainable agriculture, crop science, wheat, plant genetics, plant science

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