School of Engineering

BME PhD projects

We have many exciting research projects for prospective PhD students to choose from. Please click on the links below to see descriptions of each project and contact information.

Advanced Medical diagnostics and Lab-On-a-Chip;

Cell and Tissue Engineering;

Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies; 

 

Synthetic and Systems Biology; 


Lab-On-a-Chip for Developing World Diagnostics

Creating Lab-on-a-Chip and biosensing devices for the Developing World is an exciting new area of science. The subject involves the use of advanced manufacturing technologies to produce accurate, sensitive and robust devices to assess levels of infectious diseases in poor rural populations. The devices have a series of additional demands, requiring that they are easy to use, readily disposable and have minimal or no power requirements.

We have two particular interests, in determining Trypanosomes in blood (the causative agent of sleeping sickness) and in assessing malarial infections. In the case of sleeping sickness, the analytical challenge lies in having the capability of measuring a single parasite in a drop of blood, which might itself contain more than one million blood cells (by analogy, looking for a needle in a haystack). We work closely with parasitologists and epidemiologists who have field experience, working in rural Africa.

The work is cross-disciplinary and we are equally interested in motivated microbiologists, engineers, parasitologists or physical scientists. The student, regardless of background, will learn advanced manufacturing methods and will train in analytical sciences. There will be many opportunities to interact with our collaborators working in parasitology. For more information please contact Prof Jon Cooper (jon.cooper@glasgow.ac.uk).


Micromanipulation for Advanced Medical Diagnostics

We are seeking a highly motivated graduate student for an exciting project at the interfaces between Physics, Engineering and Biology. The student will be based in the Advanced Medical Diagnostics research group in the Biomedical Engineering Research Division of the University of Glasgow and will perform research developing hand held medical diagnostics with micromanipulation techniques.

By placing forces onto microscopic biological samples information can be gathered about the health of the patient. Forces can be used to stretch or indent cells yielding their elasticity or they can be used to differentiate between species of cells helping to detect the presence of pathogens or parasites. By creating a hand held diagnostic device these test can be carried out at the point of care rather than in the laboratory.

Different micromanipulation techniques will be assessed for this project including optical tweezers, dielectrophoresis and optoelectronic tweezers. This will be coupled with different biological samples including blood samples to study obesity, aging and parasitic infection. The project will involve practical experimentation, theoretical simulation of the device and construction of prototypes. We require a talented research student to develop this technology. For more information please contact Dr Steven Neale (steven.neale@glasgow.ac.uk).


Microtechnologies for Cell Engineering

Cells and tissues are greatly influenced by their surroundings, taking cues as to their behaviour from both their physical and chemical surroundings. We have already shown that we can use microtechnologies, most commonly associated with microengineering, to create appropriate niches in which the cells will thrive. In one aspect of the work, we have also used nanofabrication techniques to change the fate of cells, causing stem cells to differentiate in pre-defined manner. Our interests in this latter field extends to the creation of new cardiomyocytes (heart cells) for testing of new medicines and to the development of therapeutic strategies for bone and tissue repair.

 Within the Division, we have a wide range of projects in this general area, working either with industry, or with other cell biologists to create structures, niches and environments that influence the behaviour of cells.

 The student will have a background in either cell biology, the physical sciences or engineering and will work with state of the art manufacturing tools to understand the nature of the cues that control biology. The projects all have strong industrial interest. For more information please contact Dr Huabing Yin (hy@elec.gla.ac.uk).


Bio-nanophotonics

We understand the way in which light interacts with macroscale objects, including the way it is refracted or scattered as it passes through different media. When we reduce the dimension and geometries of the material light begins to behave in unexpected ways. At the nanoscale, when length scales may be a small fraction of the width of a human hair, light has very unusual properties, creating extremely high electromagnetic fields. These interactions between light and metals and or glasses or polymers provide us with new techniques to create extremely sensitive sensors, that can probe the biological world. We can, for example, demonstrate the ability to detect single molecules, a technology which has the potential to change the way in which we diagnose disease (by detecting the biochemical changes in the body, before the pathology develops).

The project will be ideally suited to a physicist or engineer with an interest in biomedical sciences. The student will use state of the art nanofabrication tools to make new sensor arrays for the detection of pathologies associated with cancers and or infectious diseases. For more information please contact Prof Jon Cooper (jon.cooper@glasgow.ac.uk).


Developing lab-on-a-chip methods to radiolabel small molecules for use in PET and SPECT imaging

Radioisotope imaging is one of the most powerful methods to study the physiological functioning of diseased internal organs and tissue.  Techniques such as Positron Emission Tomography and Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography use small radio-labelled molecules that bind to specific biological targets to assess their ‘healthiness’ and complement anatomical imaging using MRI or x-ray CT equipment.

The aim of this project is to develop microfluidic platforms in which new, high yield, synthetic routes can be used to prepare new labelled molecules rapidly (i.e. before the radioisotope decays).

This engineered platform will carry out functions such as concentration of the radioisotope, the radiolabelling reaction, purification and detection.  Attention will be focussed on two under exploited methods to perform these tasks: electrosynthetic chemistry and phase transfer agents to transport material across liquid-liquid or ionic liquid interfaces, and generate and/or isolate reactive species in microscopic reaction ‘streams’ or ‘pots’.

This is a multidisciplinary project in which to gain experience in facets of Engineering and Chemistry associated with realising an end-goal. The project will be supervised by Dr Andrew Glidle (Andrew.glidle@gla.ac.uk) and Prof Jon Cooper (jon.cooper@gla.ac.uk) of the BioMedical Engineering group, and Dr Sally Pimlott (sally.pimlott@gla.ac.uk),

Head of the Radiopharmaceutical R&D group.


Using Acoustic Pressure to Shape and Manipulate Fluids

Microfluidics and Lab-on-a-Chip has traditionally involved the manipulation of fluids and particles, including biological cells, using either mechanical pumps or more recently using electric fields. We have been developing a new technique for creating advanced microfluidic flows by shaping acoustic fields using metamaterials.  The field is highly multi-disciplinary involving the use of microengineering of piezoelectric materials to generate sound waves, the design of phononic metamaterials to shape the acoustic fields, fluid mechanics to understand how the fluid behaves and finally biology, to realise the application of this new technology to medical diagnostics. The need to develop skills in this broad range of disciplines makes this a challenging project, equally suited to electronic, mechanical or biomedical engineers as well as physicists. We have already begun to demonstrate medical diagnostic applications, including biosensing for infectious diseases including TB. The project will prepare you across a range of subjects and will prepare you for a career in advanced medical diagnostics. For more information please contact Prof Jon Cooper (jon.cooper@glasgow.ac.uk).


Cell and Tissue Engineering

For more information please contact Dr Nikolaj Gadegaard (nikolaj.gadegaard@glasgow.ac.uk).


Rehabilitation Engineering

Following disease or trauma, such as spinal injury, it is not uncommon for a patient to loose the use of either their arms or legs, or in the most unfortunate cases, both (quadriplegia). Under these circumstances, the muscles that control the major limbs are often able to function, but the nerves are not able to signal to the muscles. In the Biomedical Engineering Division, we have worked closely with National hospitals to create a unique facility that uses advanced engineering techniques, associated with robotics and control engineering, to create new techniques to stimulate the muscles. We have already developed new paradigms in rehabilitation engineering that have enabled paraplegic and quadriplegic patients to ride bicycles and walk. This work has built upon our groundbreaking work on robots (including the fastest robot of its kind, RunBot) to help inform medics as to the new strategies for assisted walking and patient rehabilitation.

 The student will join a cross disciplinary team of engineers and medics and will work with patients in a newly refurbished rehabilitation suite within the Southern General Hospital. Ideally, the student will be suited to a candidate with a strong interest in control engineer or robotics, although we would welcome individuals from a medical background to work in this challenging and rewarding field. For more information please contact Dr Aleksandra Vuckovic (aleksandra.vuckovic@glasgow.ac.uk) or Dr Henrik Gollee (henrik.gollee@glasgow.ac.uk).


Assistive Technologies

How blind people perceive the world is an important field, and is of considerable importance in enabling them to be able to lead an independent lifestyle. This project tackles the academically challenging field of perception of space amongst blind-form birth individuals. The techniques to understand this topic are academically challenging and yet will have a profound effect on how it will be possible to assist blind people to travel around our cities and towns. 

The project will be equally suited to engineers and mathematicians as is enthusiasts, keen to see the implementation of new technologies to assist disabled people. For more information please contact Dr Marion Hersh (marion.hersh@glasgow.ac.uk).

 


Novel exercise systems for spinal cord injury

Researchers at the Centre for Rehabilitation Engineering (http://www.gla.ac.uk/cre) have pioneered the use of electrical muscle stimulation to support exercise in spinal cord injury (SCI) and developed cycling systems for paraplegic users, enabling them to exercise their leg muscle using functional electrical muscle stimulation (FES). Our recent results show that current implementations of exercise systems with FES are limited in their effectiveness for a number of reasons, including the nature of the stimulation patterns, but also that there is considerable promise in using variable and adaptive stimulation patterns. The aim of this PhD project is to investigate improvements of FES exercise systems with the aim to optimise health benefits following SCI. This will include engineering development and implementation, as well as clinical evaluation in experiments with SCI users, in close collaboration with our clinical partners at the Queen Elizabeth National Spinal Injuries Unit, Glasgow. For this project we are seeking a candidate with an engineering background and a strong interest in interdisciplinary research. For further information please contact Dr Henrik Gollee (henrik.gollee@glasgow.ac.uk).


Subtitling for Deaf and Hard of Hearing People: Emotional and Contextual Features

Subtitles or captions display the audio content of audiovisual media as text.  They are regularly used by 6 million deaf or hearing impaired and 1.5 million hearing people in the UK.  Recent advances in digital television make it possible to supplement subtitles with contextual information which is currently not available to deaf  and hard of hearing listeners and to personalise subtitles to improve viewing experiences.

The overall aim of this project is to improve the accessibility of television and other audiovisual media by adding information about the speakers’ emotions and manner of speaking, the atmosphere and other contextual features which is currently missing from subtitles. 

  1. Fundamental research on conveying the emotional content and context, loudness and pace of speech and the associated ambiance in visual form.
  2. Applied research on developing a customisable subtitling system which conveys the emotional and contextual features of audiovisual material in subtitles and meets the needs of all subtitle users.
  3. The development of standards for subtitling systems.
  4. Investigation of educational applications of the new subtitling system.

End-user involvement to ensure that the outcomes meet the end-users’ needs will draw on the supervisor’s contacts with organisations of deaf people. For more information please contact Dr Marion Hersh (marion.hersh@glasgow.ac.uk).


Assistive Communication for Deafblind People

A number of deafblind people use tactile communication methods such as the British or LORM deafblind manual alphabets or finger Braille.  The overall aim of this project is the development of portable easy-to-use two-way communication devices that support communication between deafblind people who use a deafblind manual alphabet and hearing and sighted people

This project has five main components:

  1. Fundamental research on tactile communication.
  2. Applied research on the development of two-way communication devices that support communication between deafblind people using the British deafblind manual alphabet and hearing and sighted people.  This will draw on an existing  prototype one-way communication device.
  3. Development of standards for communication devices for deafblind people.
  4. Applied research to extend the device to support communication by people who use other deafblind manual alphabets, such as LORM.
  5. Extension of the functionality of the communication devices, to enable higher level functions, such as the operation of computers, mobile and landline telephones and ATMs.

End-user aspects of the research, including end-user testing, and end-user involvement to ensure the devices meet the needs of users, will draw on the supervisor’s contacts with organisations for deafblind people in a number of countries. For more information please contact Dr Marion Hersh (marion.hersh@glasgow.ac.uk).


Neurorehabilitation of Hand Function in Patients with Injuries to the Central Nervous System

Following high level spinal cord injury, most patients have severely impaired functions of arms and hands. Although these patients cannot move their hands, they can imagine the movements, thus producing brain waves that closely resemble brain waves generated during real movements. Through BCI patients can get an on-line feedback about the quality of imagination of movements. Imagination of movements has a dual function: it 'trains' the brain to prevent negative disuse changes and at the same time, through Brain Computer Interface, it controls an electrical stimulator ( FES) which opens and closes their hands. In this way a patient gets actively engaged in a therapy gaining a high level of independence and control over it.

The aim of this project is to develop new BCI-FES strategies that will enable uni or bi-manual hand movements necessary to perform various activities of daily living, such as grasping a mug or holding a toothbrush. This will involve development of advanced BCI control algorithms and novel multichannel FES  strategies to assist patients in performing functional movements. For more information please contact Dr Aleksandra Vuckovic (aleksandra.vuckovic@glasgow.ac.uk).


Understanding Complex Fluids in Biology

We all are familiar the relationship between fluid movement and the force driving that flow, in water. However, the nature of these forces change, either at the microscale (in small vessels associated with the vascular system) or in biological fluids, (where complex interactions between cells, proteins and other biomolecules in solution, occur). Indeed, these fluid behaviours in biological systems lie at the heart of our understanding of normal physiological function, as well as in disease.

This project involves using fluid mechanics, coupled with new nanotechnologies to probe complex fluid interactions and flows, associated with disease states.  Ultimately, we seek to develop a medical sensor, which is able to diagnose changes in disease, following treatment with drugs. The research will involve working with medics and biomedical engineers using real patient samples to corroborate changes in health with the changes in the properties of patient samples. In the longer term, the work will help us understand physiological changes that occur during Alzheimer’s and infectious diseases and understand the mechanism by which new medicines work.

We are seeking a mechanical engineer or physicist, although applications from bioscientists willing to become involved in a cross-disciplinary project will also be welcome. For more information please contact Dr Jongrae Kim (jongrae.kim@glasgow.ac.uk).


Systems Biology

The signaling mechanisms that control normal cell behaviour are complex and involve the interactions of many different pathways. Indeed, it is probable that for any given response that a cell undergoes, the final outcome involves weighted contributions from families of related but different signaling pathways and molecules. As a cell grows, differentiates and develops, it will often change its function (a process that may occur naturally, during ageing, or alternatively in diseases such as cancer). In either case, the relative contributions of the network of signals becomes critical in determining the fate of the cell. The analogy between cell signaling and complex control systems or indeed communication networks is one that has helped engineers to engage with biologists to understand the nature of cell signaling and disease.

The successful applicant will work within an internationally renowned collaboration to better understand the mechanisms by which these networks interact and thus help biologists and medics to better understand the mechanism of disease and how it can be treated. For more information please contact Dr Jongrae Kim (jongrae.kim@glasgow.ac.uk).


Efficient stochastic simulation algorithm for biomolecular networks

Summary: Stochastic noise is considered as a fundamental part of biomolecular network modelling and analysis. Some observed phenomena in biomolecular network have shown some drastic differences in quality of response with random noise. The stochastic simulation algorithm by Gillespie has been proven its usefulness to simulate molecular interactions accurately. The most of stochastic simulation and modelling frameworks including the Gillespie’s algorithm are based on the well-mixed assumptions, which remove the necessity to keep all spatial information of individual molecule. In addition, the well-mixed assumption applies well for fast diffusion cases or small volume cellular systems such as Escherichia coli. However, unlike these special cases, spatial inhomogeneity makes significant contribution to responses in most of biomolecular interactions, e.g., Dictyostelium discoideum, which senses the gradient of ligand along the cell and its volume is five-hundred times bigger than the one of Escherichia coli.  A new simulation algorithm, which includes stochastic (intrinsic) and spatial (extrinsic) effects, will be developed and applied to various biomolecular network modelling and analysis problems. For more inforamtion please contact Dr Jongrae Kim (jongrae.kim@glasgow.ac.uk).


Microrheology & Microfluidics: New Tools for Bio-analysis

The study of physical and biological phenomena at very small scales has been made possible thanks to developments in micro- and nano-scale science, coupled with the commercialization of new instrumentation and equipment, available at relatively low prices. These trends have also been seen in Lab-on-a-Chip, where the rapid analysis of complex biological solutions has enabled new technologies in medical diagnostics and drug delivery.

Microrheology is a branch of rheology that studies the viscoelastic properties of samples with dimensions on the micron length scale. Microrheology is also closely connected to the field of Microfluidics (as employed in Lab-on-Chip devices); both fields attempt to describe the movements of materials/fluids in response to forces. The difference in emphasis, which separates the two fields, is the relative importance of the rheological properties of the fluid or viscoelastic material.

The aim of the PhD project is to deliver new instruments and tools for measuring fundamental information on the nature of macromolecular interactions, in solution. This can ultimately not only provide a better understanding of pathological processes, but can also be used to explore the interaction of new drugs with these molecules. The project will involve the design and development of new bio-analytical tools for real-time sensing of conformational changes in a wide range of biological and bio-analytical systems, resulting from biochemical activity.

Please also note that this position is available for UK/EU candidates ONLY.
For more information please contact Dr Manlio Tassieri (Manlio.Tassieri@glasgow.ac.uk).