About the Project
The University of Exeter and the University of Queensland are seeking exceptional students to join a world-leading, cross-continental research team tackling major challenges facing the world’s population in global sustainability and wellbeing as part of the QUEX Institute. The joint PhD programme provides a fantastic opportunity for the most talented doctoral students to work closely with world-class research groups and benefit from the combined expertise and facilities offered at the two institutions, with a lead supervisor within each university. This prestigious programme provides full tuition fees, stipend, travel funds and research training support grants to the successful applicants. The studentship funding is provided for up to 42 months (3.5 years)
Ten generous, fully-funded studentships are available for the best applicants, 5 offered by the University of Exeter and 5 by the University of Queensland. This select group will spend at least one year at each University and will graduate with a joint degree from the University of Exeter and the University of Queensland.
Find out more about the PhD studentships www.exeter.ac.uk/quex/phds
Successful applicants will have a strong academic background and track record to undertake research projects based in one of the three themes of: Physical Activity and Nutrition; Healthy Ageing; and Environmental Sustainability.
The closing date for applications is midnight on 26 May 2018 (GMT), with interviews taking place between 25 June and 6 July 2018. The start date will be January 2019.
Please note that of the 10 Exeter led projects advertised, we expect that up to 5 studentships will be awarded.
Supervisors
Exeter Academic Lead: Professor Rod Wilson
Queensland Academic Lead: Dr Andrew Barnes
Project Information
In 2014 aquaculture exceeded wild-capture fisheries for the first time as our global source of seafood. Furthermore, aquaculture is the only way to increase seafood production in response to the UN call to double seafood production by 2050 to meet the growing human population and demand. The most obvious contribution to meeting this demand will be the further intensification of aquaculture and improving its efficiency and sustainability.
Intensive aquaculture is always associated with elevated CO2 but this has only recently been recognised as a key welfare and productivity concern across the aquaculture sector (1). Recent research suggests that the highest CO2 levels commonly found in salmon aquaculture cause a major reduction in growth. Furthermore, suboptimal high CO2 conditions are now being linked with infectious disease outbreaks, which are now considered to be the primary barrier to achieving the required growth of this food production sector, with an impact exceeding $6 billion per annum (2).
There is evidence of impaired immune function in marine shellfish under high CO2 conditions related to future climate change (3-5), but no studies have yet addressed the potential effect of high CO2 on immune function and disease resistance in fish, despite intensive fish production having CO2 levels that are 10 times higher than climate change predictions for end of the century.
We therefore aim to address this key knowledge gap by assessing how elevated CO2 influences disease resistance in both fish and shellfish species relevant to aquaculture in the UK and Australia.
Collectively the laboratories of Wilson (Exeter), Barnes (UQ), and Verner-Jeffries (Cefas) provide ideal expertise for in vivo physiological approaches (e.g. blood acid-base balance, metabolism) and precision water chemistry control systems, infectious disease challenges, together with extensive fully assembled transcriptomes from immune tissues in aquatic animals. Diseases that currently limit sustainable aquaculture production in both the UK and Australia include those caused by bacteria, viruses, and fungal-like oomycetes. We aim to study one or more of these pathogens, and their associated diseases, in a range of relevant host organisms of direct commercial relevance to aquaculture production in both the UK and Australia (e.g. salmon, trout, barramundi, kingfish, oyster, mussel, lobster, shrimp).
How to Apply:
Clicking ’Apply Online’ will take you to the University of Exeter application system.
Funding Notes
Full tuition fees, stipend of £15,000 p.a, travel funds of up to £15,000, and RTSG of £15,000 are available over the 3.5 year studentship
References
References
1) Ellis, R.P., Urbina, M.A., Wilson, R.W. (2017). Lessons from two high CO2 worlds: future oceans and aquaculture. Global Change Biology.
2) Stentiford et al. (2017). New paradigms to help solve the global aquaculture disease crisis. PLOS Pathogens 13:e1006160.
3) Ellis et al. (2015). Pathogenic challenge reveals immune trade-off in mussels exposed to low pH and high temperature. JEMBE, 462: 83-89.
4) Asplund et al. (2013). Ocean acidification and host-pathogen interactions: blue mussels, Mytilus edulis, encountering Vibrio tubiashii. Enviromental Microbiology, doi:10.1111/1462-2920.12307
5) Bibby et al. (2008). Effects of ocean acidification on the immune response of the blue mussel Mytilus edulis. Aquatic Biology, 2: 67-74.
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