Systems Biology PhD/MSc (Research)
Systems biology emphasises a multi-level, integrative approach to understanding how living organisms work. With our close links to the polyomics facility, we apply a full range of post-genomic technologies to aid our understanding.
Research projects
Fully funded PhD opportunities
- Listen to your gut: how do gut bacteria communicate with host tissues? [FindAPhD: applications close Friday 6 March 2020]
Self funded PhD opportunities
Comparative functional genomics for insect control
Outline & aim
Insects are the most successful class of life on earth, with more species than all other organisms combined. It’s inevitable that insects impinge on human life in both positive (e.g. pollinators) and negative (disease vectors, destroyers of crops) ways. The availability of genomes for ever increasing numbers of insects allows us to understand insect function more generally than has ever been possible, and may allow us to devise new, more specific –and thus greener- methods of insect control for food security.
This project will draw on our established skills in insect physiology and genomics (e.g. flyatlas.org) to increase our understanding of fundamental processes, like renal function, that are mission-critical to survival. The student will join a large, vibrant research group, funded by the BBSRC, NIH and Horizon 2020, and will be trained in a wide range of contemporary skills, listed below.
Techniques
- Functional genomics: transcriptomics, microarrays, RNAseq, metabolomics, informatics.
- Genetics: Drosophila genetics, transgenics, crosses, conditional expression.
- Physiology: microdissections, functional assays
- Imaging: microscopy, confocal microscopy, immunofluorescence, reporter genes
References
- Beyenbach et al. "The developmental, molecular, and transport biology of Malpighian tubules." Annual review of entomology 55 (2010): 351-374.
- Robinson et al. "FlyAtlas: database of gene expression in the tissues of Drosophila melanogaster." Nucleic acids research 41, no. D1 (2013): D744-D750.
- Cabrero et al. "Chloride channels in stellate cells are essential for uniquely high secretion rates in neuropeptide-stimulated Drosophila diuresis."Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 111.39 (2014): 14301-14306.
- Efetova et al. "Separate roles of PKA and EPAC in renal function unraveled by the optogenetic control of cAMP levels in vivo." Journal of cell science 126, no. 3 (2013): 778-788.
- Cabrero et al.. "A biogenic amine and a neuropeptide act identically: tyramine signals through calcium in Drosophila tubule stellate cells." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 280, no. 1757 (2013): 20122943.
Contact
Drosophila models of human disease
Outline & aim
To cure human disease, models are needed to provide better understanding, and to identify possible treatments. Although the standard lab model is the mouse, labs around the world have found that many human diseases can be modelled cheaply, quickly and ethically in the simple genetic model fly, Drosophila melanogaster. This can provide huge advantages, and can bring real research advances within the scope of a PhD project.
Nowhere is the need for models greater than in the study of kidney (renal) disease, as the human kidney is hugely complex and surrounded by a dense, opaque sheath. Our lab has shown that we can model serious kidney disease in Drosophila, and so this project is to study such diseases, like inborn errors of metabolism (IEMs) and kidney stones, in this simple organism. he student will join a large, vibrant research group, funded by the BBSRC, NIH and Horizon 2020, and will be trained in a wide range of contemporary skills, listed below.
Techniques
- Functional genomics: transcriptomics, microarrays, RNAseq, metabolomics, informatics.
- Genetics: Drosophila genetics, transgenics, crosses, conditional expression.
- Physiology: microdissections, functional assays
- Imaging: microscopy, confocal microscopy, immunofluorescence, reporter genes
References
- Beyenbach, Klaus W., Helen Skaer, and Julian AT Dow. "The developmental, molecular, and transport biology of Malpighian tubules." Annual review of entomology 55 (2010): 351-374.
- Robinson, Scott W., Pawel Herzyk, Julian AT Dow, and David P. Leader. "FlyAtlas: database of gene expression in the tissues of Drosophila melanogaster." Nucleic acids research 41, no. D1 (2013): D744-D750.
- Dow, J. A., & Romero, M. F. (2010). Drosophila provides rapid modeling of renal development, function, and disease. American Journal of Physiology-Renal Physiology, 299(6), F1237-F1244.
- Hirata, T., Cabrero, P., Berkholz, D. S., Bondeson, D. P., Ritman, E. L., Thompson, J. R., ... & Romero, M. F. (2012). In vivo Drosophilia genetic model for calcium oxalate nephrolithiasis. American Journal of Physiology-Renal Physiology, 303(11), F1555-F1562.
- Al Bratty, M., Hobani, Y., Dow, J. A., & Watson, D. G. (2011). Metabolomic profiling of the effects of allopurinol on Drosophila melanogaster. Metabolomics,7(4), 542-548.
Contact
Synthetic biology for enhancing crop water use efficiency
Outline & aim
Stomata are pores that provide for gaseous exchange across the impermeable cuticle of leaves. Stomata exert major controls on the water and photosynthetic carbon cycles of the world and can limit photosynthetic rates by 50% or more when water demand exceeds supply. Guard cells surround the stomatal pore and regulate its aperture. Our deep knowledge of guard cells – much arising from this laboratory – gives real substance to prospects for engineering stomata to improve crop yields under water-limited conditions.
This project will engage the synthetic tools of optobiology with the aim of accelerating stomatal responses to environmental drivers, especially light and water availability, both important for crop production. The project will draw on optobiological switches – notably LOV domain peptides – and will use these to control the gating of key ion channels at the guard cell membrane that are known to drive stomatal movements.
Techniques
The student will gain expertise in synthetic and molecular biological methods, and a deep grounding in the concepts of membrane transport, cell biology and physiology. Skills training will include in-depth engagement in synthetic molecular biology, protein biochemistry and molecular genetic/protein design, single-cell imaging and fluorescence microscopy and analysis. Additional training may include single-cell recording techniques in electrophysiology and membrane transport.
References
- Wang, et al. (2014) Plant Physiol 164,1593-99
- Lawson & Blatt (2014) Plant Physiol 164, 1556-70
- Eisenach, et al. (2012) Plant J 69, 241-51
Contact
Overview
Systems Biology draws on the strengths of molecular and cell biology to try to build an integrative picture of how organisms work. Implicit in the approach is big data (coming from imaging, microarray, RNAseq, proteomics or metabolomics, for which we are very well equipped), together with mathematical and computational biology to draw higher-level insights. Systems biology also works very well with genetic model organisms, such as yeast, Drosophila or Arabidopsis; or in human biomedicine.
Through their research interests in drug development, biotechnology and clinical applications, many of our project supervisors have strong links with pharmaceutical and agrochemical industry. The interdisciplinary nature of systems biology means that these highly active supervisors have international collaborations both with other Universities and industry. Funds are available through the college of MVLS to allow visits to international laboratories where part of your project can be carried out. This provides an excellent opportunity for networking and increasing your scientific knowledge and skill set.
Research topics are allied to ongoing research within the institute, the majority of which are basic science projects. A variety of multi-disciplinary research approaches are applied, including biochemistry, molecular biology, molecular genetics, materials science, polyomics (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics etc), bioinformatics, structural biology, microscopy and imaging techniques. Specific areas of interest include:
- modelling organ specificity in the plant circadian clock
- post-genomic insights into tissue function and control in Drosophila
- optimising recombinant protein expression and secretion in mammalian cells
- systems biology approaches of stress-induced plasticity of the mitochondrial intermembrane space
- light control of local and long distance phytohormone signalling in Arabidopsis
- quantitative systems biology of membrane transport and cellular homeostasis
- systems biology of gas exchange and photosynthesis, from molecule to the field
- materials and metabolomics for identification of stem cell fate modifying metabolites
- analysis and integration of large omics datasets
Study options
PhD
- Duration: 3/4 years full-time; 5 years part-time
MSc (Research)
Duration: 1 year full-time / 2 years part-time
Integrated PhD programmes (5 years)
- Year 1 - completion of taught masters level modules
- Years 2 to 5 - research degree
- This is for international students who come with MSc + PhD Scholarships so you don’t have to exit and re-enter the country, thereby preventing you from having to apply for 2 Visas. Students can move from MSc directly to the PhD 1+3+1 Format, (1 year MSc (only taught component), 3 years lab, 1 year thesis pending).
- Completion of taught masters level modules before entering a research PhD will provide you with a valuable introduction to academic topics and research methods, whilst providing key training in laboratory skills and the critical evaluation of research data.
- Our ethos of research-led teaching will allow you to hone your research ideas and discuss these with potential PhD supervisors during year 1. Upon successful completion of the taught component and dependent on your GPA, alongside students on our masters programmes, you will progress to your research degree in year 2 to do 3 years research / lab work and complete an examinable piece of independent research during the last year of the programme.
Entry requirements
PhD programmes
Awarded or expected First-class or high Upper Second-class BSc degree.
Integrated PhD programmes
Upper Second-class Honours degree or international equivalent in a relevant subject area.
English Language requirements for applicants whose first language is not English.
Fees and funding
Fees
2020/21
- £4,407 UK/EU
- £21,920 outside EU
Prices are based on the annual fee for full-time study. Fees for part-time study are half the full-time fee.
Additional fees for all students:
- Re-submission by a research student £525
- Submission for a higher degree by published work £1,315
- Submission of thesis after deadline lapsed £340
- Submission by staff in receipt of staff scholarship £765
Depending on the nature of the research project, some students will be expected to pay a bench fee (also known as research support costs) to cover additional costs. The exact amount will be provided in the offer letter.
Alumni discount
A 10% discount is available to University of Glasgow alumni. This includes graduates and those who have completed a Junior Year Abroad, Exchange programme or International Summer School at the University of Glasgow. The discount is applied at registration for students who are not in receipt of another discount or scholarship funded by the University. No additional application is required.
Funding for EU students
The UK government has confirmed that EU nationals will remain eligible to apply for Research Council PhD studentships at UK institutions for 2019/20 to help cover costs for the duration of their study. The Scottish Government has confirmed that fees for EU students commencing their studies in 2019/20 and 2020/21 will be at the same level as those for UK students.
2019/20 fees
- £4,327 UK/EU
- £21,020 outside EU
Prices are based on the annual fee for full-time study. Fees for part-time study are half the full-time fee.
Additional fees for all students:
- Re-submission by a research student £500
- Submission for a higher degree by published work £1,250
- Submission of thesis after deadline lapsed £320
- Submission by staff in receipt of staff scholarship £730
Depending on the nature of the research project, some students will be expected to pay a bench fee (also known as research support costs) to cover additional costs. The exact amount will be provided in the offer letter.
Funding
- BBSRC Doctoral Training Partnerships
- External funding information
Support
The College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences Graduate School provides a vibrant, supportive and stimulating environment for all our postgraduate students. We aim to provide excellent support for our postgraduates through dedicated postgraduate convenors, highly trained supervisors and pastoral support for each student.
Our overarching aim is to provide a research training environment that includes:
- provision of excellent facilities and cutting edge techniques
- training in essential research and generic skills
- excellence in supervision and mentoring
- interactive discussion groups and seminars
- an atmosphere that fosters critical cultural policy and research analysis
- synergy between research groups and areas
- extensive multidisciplinary and collaborative research
- extensive external collaborations both within and beyond the UK
- a robust generic skills programme including opportunities in social and commercial training
Resources
We offer a wide range of cutting-edge research facilities that span 3 buildings, including:
- core facilities in fluorescence activated cell sorting analysis
- cell imaging and biophysical techniques, with NMR.
- cutting edge microarray
- next-generation sequencing
- proteomics and metabolomics facilities
- in-house informatics support
How to apply
Identify potential supervisors
All Postgraduate Research Students are allocated a supervisor who will act as the main source of academic support and research mentoring. You may want to identify a potential supervisor and contact them to discuss your research proposal before you apply. Please note, even if you have spoken to an academic staff member about your proposal you still need to submit an online application form.
You can find relevant academic staff members with our staff research interests search.
Gather your documents
Before applying please make sure you gather the following supporting documentation:
- Final or current degree transcripts including grades (and an official translation, if needed) – scanned copy in colour of the original document
- Degree certificates (and an official translation, if needed): scanned copy in colour of the original document
- Two references on headed paper (academic and/or professional).
- Research proposal, CV, samples of written work as per requirements for each subject area.
Submitting References
To complete your application we will need two references (one must be academic the other can be academic or professional).
There are two options for you to submit references as part of your application. You can upload a document as part of your application or you can enter in your referee’s contact details and we will contact them to request a reference.
Option 1 – Uploading as part of the application form
Your references should be on official headed paper. These should also be signed by the referee. You can then upload these via theOnline Application form with the rest your documents to complete the application process.
Please be aware that documents must not exceed 5MB in size and therefore you may have to upload your documents separately. The online system allow you to upload supporting documents only in PDF format. For a free PDF writer go to www.pdfforge.org.
Option 2 - Entering contact details as part of the application form
If you enter your referees contact details including email on the application form we will email them requesting they submit a reference once you have submitted the application form. When the referee responds and sends a reference you will be sent an email to confirm the university has received this.
After submitting your application form
Use our Applicant Self Service uploading documents function to submit a new reference. We can also accept confidential references direct to rio-researchadmissions@glasgow.ac.uk, from the referee’s university or business email account.
I've applied. What next?
If you have any other trouble accessing Applicant Self-Service, please see Application Troubleshooting/FAQs.
Contact us
- If you have any questions about your application before you apply: contact our College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences Graduate School
- If you have any questions after you have submitted your application: contact our Admissions team
- Any references may be submitted by email to: rio-researchadmissions@glasgow.ac.uk
International Students
- Advice on visa, immigrations and the Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) can be found on our International student pages
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