Supervisors

Dr Stefano Pagliara, University of Exeter
Dr Margaritis Voliotis, University of Exeter

Location:

Living Systems Institute, Streatham campus, Exeter

The University of Exeter’s Living Systems Institute is inviting applications for a PhD studentship fully-funded by an EPSRC Frontier Research Guarantee Grant and the University of Exeter to commence on 23 September 2024 or as soon as possible thereafter.  For eligible students the studentship will cover Home or International tuition fees plus an annual tax-free stipend of at least £19,237 for 3.5 years full-time, or pro rata for part-time study. The student will be based in Exeter in the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences at the Streatham Campus.

Project Description:

The rise of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a pressing challenge to global health with an estimated 5 million deaths associated with AMR every year globally (Murray et al. Lancet 2022). Addressing the threat of AMR requires a one health approach, encompassing control measures and the development of novel antibiotics.

This PhD project will use single-cell imaging and artificial intelligence (AI) approaches to detect antimicrobial resistance within bacterial populations that cause life-threatening infections such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus (Orazi et al. mBio 2019). You will apply state-of-the-art, machine learning methods (deep neural networks and evolutionary algorithms) on big-data from thousands of individual bacterial (Lapinska et al. eLife 2022) to extract information on the efficacy of antibiotics against bacterial populations and rapidly predict antimicrobial resistance. Moreover, by using omics, bioinformatics and AI software, such as AlphaFold, you will identify novel and more effective antibiotics that will allow to overcome antimicrobial resistance. Therefore, this PhD offers a unique opportunity to gain cutting-edge expertise in AI, while addressing a daunting threat for our society.

Excellent programming skills, as well as previous experience with data science and artificial intelligence would be highly advantageous to carry out this PhD project. The studentship will be awarded on the basis of merit for 3.5 years of full-time study to commence on 23 September 2024.
International applicants need to be aware that you will have to cover the cost of your student visa, healthcare surcharge and other costs of moving to the UK to do a PhD.
The conditions for eligibility of home fees status are complex and you will need to seek advice if you have moved to or from the UK (or Republic of Ireland) within the past 3 years or have applied for settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme.

Entry requirements

Entry requirements:

Applicants for this studentship must have obtained, or be about to obtain, a First or Upper Second Class UK Honours degree, or the equivalent qualifications gained outside the UK, in Mathematics, Bioinformatics, Artificial intelligence, Data Science, Physics or a related discipline.
If English is not your first language you will need to meet the required level as per our guidance at https://www.exeter.ac.uk/pg-research/apply/english/

How to apply

Apply now

How to apply:

In the application process you will be asked to upload several documents:
• CV.
• Letter of application (outlining your academic interests, prior research experience and reasons for wishing to undertake the project).
• Transcript(s) giving full details of subjects studied and grades/marks obtained (this should be an interim transcript if you are still studying).
• Names of two referees familiar with your academic work. You are not required to obtain references yourself. We will request references directly from your referees if you are shortlisted.
• If you are not a national of a majority English-speaking country you will need to submit evidence of your proficiency in English.
The closing date for applications is midnight on 21st August 2024.  Interviews will be held virtually in August 2024.
If you have any general enquiries about the application process please email PGRApplicants@exeter.ac.uk or phone 0300 555 60 60 (UK callers) +44 (0) 1392 723044 (EU/International callers).  Project-specific queries should be directed by emailing the main supervisor at s.pagliara@exeter.ac.uk.

Summary