York YBDTP project: Accelerating protein library screening via innovative sensor arrays

Lead supervisor: Dr Michael Plevin

Co-supervisors: Prof Steven Johnson - PET York and Prof Christoph Wälti, School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Leeds

The student will be registered with the Department of Biology (University of York)

How do you find a needle in a haystack? Proteins are frequently used in biotechnology. Properties of interest (e.g. binding, enzymatic activity, stability, etc) can be enhanced in the lab through screening approaches: Large libraries of a target are randomly generated and “bio-panned” to identify sequence variants with high potential. The challenge here isn’t making the library of variants; rather the tough part is efficiently identifying variants with better properties than the starting sequence. Finding protein variants that bind a target more tightly can require access to expensive equipment whereas identifying enzyme variants with improved activity or substrate specificity often needs a suitable and scalable assay. This project will develop the next-generation of evaluation technology to characterise and select for important properties of thousands of protein variants at a time. Unlike other approaches, this technology is cheap and label-free, meaning that it has the potential to analyse a broader range of proteins in a wide range of different contexts and downstream applications.

This project is ideally suited to a student with a strong interest in protein design and engineering and a background in biochemistry, biophysics or structural biology. The student will develop and screen different protein libraries against well characterised targets and develop protocols for how our new sensing technology can more effectively identify variants with desirable properties. The project is a collaboration between research groups with interests in protein engineering and sensor development and the student will gain significant interdisciplinary training. This project has the potential to develop a technology and protocols that could revolutionise how protein libraries are screened in both academia and industry.

The Departments of Biology and Chemistry both hold 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 YB 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 Biology (4 years)

How to apply

To submit your application, click on apply now below. You can apply for up to 3 YBDTP projects (which can be at different universities).

We 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 questions about the application process, please email wrdtp@leeds.ac.uk.

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

How we allocate:

Shortlisting will take place shortly 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 shortly 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.

APPLY NOW

Application deadline: Monday 6th January 2025