Zoology / Animal Science (january) PhD Projects, Programs & Scholarships

Competition Funded PhD Project (European/UK Students Only)

PhD Research Projects are advertised opportunities to examine a pre-defined topic or answer a stated research question. Some projects may also provide scope for you to propose your own ideas and approaches.

This project is in competition for funding with other projects. Usually the project which receives the best applicant will be successful. Unsuccessful projects may still go ahead as self-funded opportunities.

Background. Current strategies to control rodent pests have substantial environmental impact, relying on baits that are highly toxic to vertebrates and attract non-target species such as wood mice, bank voles and field voles.

The Consequences of Transmission Heterogeneities for Disease Outbreaks

University of Liverpool
Institute of Integrative Biology

Prof A Fenton, Prof M Viney

Application Deadline: 8 January 2020

Funding Type

PhD Type

Competition Funded PhD Project (European/UK Students Only)

There are ever-increasing concerns about the threat of emerging infectious diseases, in both wildlife (e.g., rabies, chytridiomycosis in amphibians, white nose syndrome in bats etc.) and humans (e.g., Ebola, pandemic influenza, chikungunya fever etc.).

The impacts of climate change on pollinator-plant interactions

University of Liverpool
Institute of Integrative Biology

Dr R Whitlock, Dr K L Evans, Dr C García

Application Deadline: 8 January 2020

Funding Type

PhD Type

Competition Funded PhD Project (European/UK Students Only)

Climate change has pervasive impacts on biological diversity, determining species persistence, geographical distributions, trait expression and genetic composition.

Transgenerational effects of pollutants: the role of the egg

University of Liverpool
Institute of Integrative Biology

Dr H Muhamad Ali, Dr S J Plaistow, Prof R Goodacre

Application Deadline: 8 January 2020

Funding Type

PhD Type

Competition Funded PhD Project (European/UK Students Only)

Anthropogenic stress is altering our planet at an unprecedented rate and has major implications for global biodiversity, health and the economy.

The synthetic littermate project: How do natural experiences shape the functional organisation of the developing brain?

University of Sheffield
Department of Psychology

Dr SP Wilson, Prof AJ Prescott

Applications accepted all year round

Funding Type

PhD Type

Self-Funded PhD Students Only

This project does not have funding attached. You will need to have your own means of paying fees and living costs and / or seek separate funding from student finance, charities or trusts.

How do natural experiences shape the functional organisation of the developing brain? To address this question directly, we have been developing a novel robotic technology - the synthetic littermate (or ’surrogate’).

*EASTBIO* Adaptation in Exploratory Processes

Research Group: Centre for Biological Diversity

Prof K N Laland, Prof G Ruxton

Application Deadline: 5 January 2020

Funding Type

PhD Type

Competition Funded PhD Project (European/UK Students Only)

BBSRC Thematic Group. Frontier Bioscience. Organisms often respond to new challenges through ‘exploratory mechanisms’ (Gerhart & Kirschner, 1997), which are complex developmental systems that operate by generating variation (i.e.

*EASTBIO* Building for a changing world: how do breeding birds respond to temperature variation?

Research Group: Centre for Biological Diversity

Prof S Healy, Prof S Meddle

Application Deadline: 5 January 2020

Funding Type

PhD Type

Competition Funded PhD Project (European/UK Students Only)

BBSRC Thematic Group. Frontier Bioscience. It may seem obvious that a bird’s nest plays an important role in reproduction. For example, the eggs or young in a nest that is exposed to predators, in a nest that gets too wet or too cold or is too loosely attached to a branch are unlikely to survive.

*EASTBIO* Can we predict supergenes? Testing the genetic basis of a colour polymorphism in an aposematic bug.

Research Group: Centre for Biological Diversity

Dr D Shuker

Application Deadline: 5 January 2020

Funding Type

PhD Type

Competition Funded PhD Project (European/UK Students Only)

BBSRC Thematic Group. Frontier Bioscience. Understanding the genetic basis of traits remains central to understanding fundamental biological questions – such as how genetic variation maintained in populations – and to developing genetic interventions for beneficial or pest species.

*EASTBIO* Control of the ParaHox genes in chordate evolution and development

Research Group: Scottish Oceans Institute

Dr D E K Ferrier, Prof J K Dale

Application Deadline: 5 January 2020

Funding Type

PhD Type

Competition Funded PhD Project (European/UK Students Only)

BBSRC Thematic Group. Frontier Bioscience. This project will use a comparative approach to dissect regulatory mechanisms of the chordate ParaHox genes (Gsx, Xlox/Pdx1 and Cdx), analysing regulatory elements of these genes in both the invertebrate sea squirt Ciona intestinalis and the vertebrate Gallus gallus (chicken).

*EASTBIO* Impact of the microbiome on development and health

Research Group: Biomedical Sciences Research Centre

Dr I Somorjai

Application Deadline: 5 January 2020

Funding Type

PhD Type

Competition Funded PhD Project (European/UK Students Only)

BBSRC Thematic Group. Frontier Bioscience. The gut microbiota - the complex community of bacteria, viruses and archaea with which we live - has an important impact on health, disease progression, lifespan and behaviour (Glendinning and Free 2014).