The Halpin Studentship in Rice Blast Research - building local expertise that can be used to combat rice blast disease and serious agricultural threats to food security

The University of Exeter’s College of Life and Environmental Sciences is inviting applications for a fully-funded PhD studentship to commence in September 2017 or as soon as possible thereafter. For eligible students the studentship offers an annual tax-free stipend of ~£20,000 for 4 years. The student would be based in Biosciences in the College of Life and Environmental Sciences at the Streatham Campus in Exeter.

This award provides annual funding to cover a generous stipend, at ~£20,000 per year tax-free, which is greater than standard PhD studentships, reflecting the personal investment being made by the student in seeking to train in a foreign country, and the highly prestigious and selective nature of these awards. The student will also receive a generous international travel grant and training awards
Studentships will be awarded on the basis of merit and are awarded for 4 years of full-time study to commence in September 2017.

Please note that this programme is only available to students from outside of the EU.

Project Description:

The Halpin PhD Studentship programme funds international students to train in rice blast research using the very latest procedures in molecular biology and genomics and receiving the very best intellectual and practical education concerning this important disease.

The long-term aim of the Halpin PhD studentship programme is to train the next generation of molecular plant pathologists from developing countries in order to build local expertise that can be used to combat rice blast disease and serious agricultural threats to food security.

Rice is the staple crop for more than half of the world’s people and contributes 23% of the calories consumed by the current human population. According to the International Food Policy Research Institute, the rice harvest needs to increase by 38% by 2030 in order to meet the demands of the growing human population. Understanding and controlling the most important disease of cultivated rice is therefore of critical importance.

For further details about the programme please see:.http://www.exeter.ac.uk/studying/funding/award/?id=2547