Research Opportunities

Christopher Allen Open to PhD applications from those having preferably a 1st class honours in microbiology, biochemistry, bioinformatics or a related discipline (or equivalent, including other research experience). I particularly value pre-doctoral research experience very highly, and I would encourage prospective PhD students to gain one or more year’s research experience in a research field commensurate with their interests before starting a PhD. Mature students are especially welcome.

Emma Allott Identifying mechanisms leading to improved prostate cancer outcomes in statin users
https://www.findaphd.com/phds/project/identifying-mechanisms-leading-to-improved-prostate-cancer-outcomes-in-statin-users/?p116301

Gareth Arnott Open to PhD applications in the area of animal behaviour and welfare.

Gemma Beatty One PhD project completed:
‘Plants for Pollinators: developing and testing ‘pollinator-friendly seed mixes and planting schemes for gardens, amenity spaces and agricultural systems.’
Three PhD projects Ongoing:
‘Action Oak: Applying genetic and spatial approaches to assist with sessile oak (Quercus petraea [Matt.] Liebl.) woodland management in light of threats from future climate change and insect herbivores’.
‘Identifying the prospects for green coastal defenses: an integrated approach to maximize biodiversity, ecosystem and landscape resilience’
‘Molecular phylogenetics and ecology of Clavarioid fungi (Clavariaceae) in ancient grassland habitat’
Willing to supervise projects that utilise molecular tools to aid understanding and implementation of nature-based solutions and conservation.

Nicholas Birse Open to PhD applications from those with at least a 2.1 degree (or equivalent) with an interest in fundamental mass spectrometry method development and instrument design, or in areas related to data processing of large/complex mass spectrometry datasets.

Simon Cameron I would be happy to discuss PhD projects in the broad field of biology, particularly those that align with my research expertise and interests of:

- Human milk composition and microbiology, including donor human milk
- Antimicrobial resistance in the food chain
- Mass spectrometry, with a focus on ambient ionisation MS
- Mass spectrometry to understand health and disease in humans, plants, and animals

Katrina Campbell Open to PhD applications from those having at least a 2.1 degree (or equivalent) in a biological science or analytical chemistry related field, who are interested in development of rapid detection techniques for more effective monitoring and control of known and emerging concerns affecting food security. Topics include antibody production, novel binders, biosensors and microarray diagnostics, natural toxins, chemical contaminants and pathogens. Also interested in all topics on food security including those related to food supply chains, AMR and biocontrol, climate change and mitigation strategies.

Isabella Capellini (1) Evolution and ecology of diversity in parental care, placental morphology and reproductive strategies in mammals, amphibians and/or fish;
(2) The ecology of sleep in wild mammals;
(3) Global scale studies of the drivers of the invasion success - what 'makes' a successful invader;
(4) Or more broadly, projects on fundamental questions on the evolution of animal phenotypic diversity

Grace Carroll Interested in PhD applications in animal welfare, animal behaviour, anthrozoology and evolutionary psychology, particularly in the following areas:

- farm animal welfare, particularly pigs
- the development of animal welfare assessment methods
- human behaviour change for improving animal welfare
- the evolutionary psychology of pet keeping
- feline welfare e.g. indoor versus outdoor housing

Ben Collins Open to PhD applications from those with at least a 2.1 degree (or equivalent) in with an interest in the lab's research topics

Patrick Collins I am looking for a motivated student(s) to pursue a PhD relating to the critically endangered flapper skate and other large demersal elasmobranch species (blue skate, white skate etc). I am looking to answer questions reading to the location and parameterisation of egg laying sites, estimation of sexual maturation rates and bycatch vulnerability. I am also developing image based analysis techniques using towed cameras, BRUVs, AUVs and ROVs to answer fundamental questions relating to the ecology and associated habitats of these large, high conservation value species. I have plenty of data and funding secured to support field work and analyses. We would need to work together to secure stipend and fees (e.g. DAERA studentships etc).

Lisa Connolly I am open to PhD applications in the fields of:
- Endocrine disruptors
- Toxicological analysis of endocrine disruptors
- In vitro bioassay development/analysis of chemicals
- Chemical food safety
- Investigating the effects of chemicals on mammalian and environmental health

Christopher Creevey Open to Ph.D. applications from those having at least a 2.1 degree (or equivalent) in a biological or computational subject and with a strong interest in learning computational biology.
Postdoctoral research positions are available for candidates with a Ph.D. and experience in the analysis of biological data.

Ross Cuthbert Biological control; biological invasion; disease vector biology; environmental change; socio-economic impact; trophic ecology

Geoffrey Gobert I am open to PhD applications from individuals holding or expecting to hold at least a 2.1 degree (or equivalent) in the fields of immunology, biochemistry or parasitology. A strategy for obtaining funding for a PhD is required. Applicants should be interested in helminthology or parasitology with a view to research pathogens of clinical and/or veterinary significance.

Irene Grant Open to PhD applications from those having at least a 2.1 BSc degree (or equivalent) in Microbiology, Food Microbiology or Microbial Biochemistry. Please refer to my publications for clarification and inspiration.

Brian Green Projects are available for enthusiastic new researchers to investigate:
- High resolution LC-MS/MS metabolite profiling of novel animal model of ageing and dementia
- Discovery of novel metabolomic biomarkers indicating risk of delirium or cognitive decline
- Food and plant bioactives with therapeutic actions in diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease

Gary Hardiman I am open to PhD applications from individuals holding or expecting to hold at least a 2.1 degree (or equivalent) in the fields of computer science, bioinformatics, biochemistry, microbiology or marine biology. A strategy for obtaining funding for a PhD is required. Applicants should be interested in computational biology approaches, multi-omics data integration and systems and network biology.

Individuals interested in working with Prof Hardiman are welcome to contact him to discuss ideas and/or possible collaborations.

Sarah Helyar Project in the following areas: Population genetics, especially marine species, eDNA, field based genomics.

George Hutchinson Development and application of Experimental, Behavioural, and Valuation Methodologies in Economics in the following areas:

- Environmental and Ecological Economics and Management.

-Agricultural Economics and Food Marketing including Economics of Agri-Environment and Forestry Policy

-Energy Economics and Management

-Health Economics, Patient Preference, Public Health, Physical Activity and
Human Nutrition.

-Economics of Outdoor Recreation, Land Management, Waste Management and
Planning.

-Economics of Air and Water Management and Economics of Climate Change.

Edel Hyland The genetic and/or epigenetic nature of anti-fungal drug tolerance in Candida glabrata.

Link to application below.

Domhnall Jennings 1. Play behaviour and the regulation of body condition
2. Maternal stress and offsrping survival
3. Play behaviour in relation to successful weaning
4. Contect learning in invertebrates
5. Aggressive behaviour and weapon damage

Anastasios Koidis Open to PhD applications from those having at least a 2.1 degree (or equivalent) in a chemistry and food science based subject, who are interested in using multivariate statistical methods, fingerprint analysis and novel processing technologies when relevant to advance our understanding of the chemical and physical parameters of foods in relation to their structure, bioactivity and their authenticity via development of cutting edge analytical methods, please read my publications for clarification and inspiration.

Tilman Kuhn Projects in Nutritional Epidemiology and Public Health Nutrition. Different topics on the role of diet in the prevention of chronic diseases possible, depending on personal interests and skills. MSc, MD, or PhD candidates very welcome, please get in touch for more details. Collaborations with European partners, particularly the University and Medical University Vienna (Austria), and the Heidelberg Institute of Global Health (Germany) are an option.

Alberto Longo Environmental valuation
Agri-food economics
Energy economics
Health economics

Nicola Marks Epidemiology of helminth parasites and drug resistance
Tick borne and zoonotic diseases
Sensor technologies for the early diagnosis of animal disease
Sensor technologies and parasite infection

Aaron Maule Functional genomics tools for parasites
Parasite therapeutics and drug discovery
Parasite stem cell biology
Parasite neurobiology

John McGrath Biogeochemistry of microbial phosphorus and nitrogen cycling
Wastewater microbiology
Bioremediation
Microbial genomics, metagenomics and transcriptomics
Soil microbiology
Environmental sustainability
Anaerobic digestion
Clostridium difficile

https://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofBiologicalSciences/Connect/AcademicStaff/ProfessorJohnMcGrath/

Geoff McMullan We have a range of opportunities to work with Clostridium difficile, and more widely in anaerobic microbiology, biotechnology and microbial proteomics.

Andrew Meharg arsenic, rice, plant nutrition, agronomic sustainability, inorganic contaminant residues in wildlife and agronomic food-chains

Mark Mooney Open to PhD applications from those having at least a 2.1 degree (or equivalent) in a biological science or analytical chemistry related field, who are interested in development of techniques for more effective detection and monitoring of emerging chemical threats and endemic diseases affecting food safety and sustainable food production.

Eric Morgan Prediction, diagnosis and management of parasite infections in animals.

Niamh O'Connell Farm animal behaviour and welfare

Linda Oyama I lead the AMR and One Health Lab and coordinate the AMR Hub at Queens.

We are a vibrant, supportive and multicultural team, which you'll soon find to be a home away from home.

We use a One Health interdisciplinary approach, combining the fields of microbiology, biochemistry and bioinformatics to tackle the key societal challenge of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) caused by infectious bacteria and fungi in the human-veterinary-agri interface. Our research focuses on three broad areas:

1. Understanding antimicrobial resistance in microbiomes from a One Health perspective through surveillance and epidemiological studies.
- AMR surveillance utilising a combination of wet-lab, in silico and meta-‘omic methods to further understanding of AMR origins/evolution, burden and transmissions.

2. Tackling antimicrobial resistance through the discovery and development of novel treatment options for various clinical and veterinary applications
- Antimicrobial chemotherapy especially employing novel microbiome derived antimicrobial peptides to combat AMR in multidrug resistant pathogens.

3. Exploring microbiome interactions for the development of diagnostic tools

You can find more details on our website theamrlab.com

Konstantin Panov Currently I am offering only self-funded PhD positions.

Daniel Pincheira-Donoso - Ecology
- Evolutionary biology
- Macroecology
- Climate change and conservation

Neil Reid Open to PhD applications from those with a minimum of 2.1 degree (or equivalent) in Conservation Biology, Ecology, Zoology or Environmental Science (or allied subjects) with an interest in policy-relevant evaluation of conservation strategies e.g. agri-environment schemes; conservation ecology especially in the tropics (rainforest biomes); applied ecology (particularly of farmland species or non-native biological invasions) or development of methods in biodiversity monitoring and surveillance (with an emerging interest in the use of Artificial Intelligence i.e. neural networks for camera trap or satellite image analysis (including Geographic Information Systems) or soundscape audio analysis).

Mark Robinson I am open to PhD applications in the fields of:

Host-parasite interactions
Helminth extracellular vesicles
Trematode infections of humans and animals

Helen Roche Diet, innate immunity and metabolism

Masoud Shirali Projects in genomics, and other omics(epigenomics, transcriptomics and metabolomics) studies and utilizing data science approaches in animal breeding are available.

Chen Situ I am open to PhD applications in the fields of:
◦AMR - development of plant-based antimicrobial alternatives
◦Health and disease in humans and animals
◦Food safety, quality and nutrition
◦Rapid immunodiagnostic for chemical contaminants and biomarkers

Karen Siu Ting Metabarcoding:

Monitoring key species interactions in the Genomic Era: Forest Arthropod Biodiversity and Conservation

https://www.quadrat.ac.uk/projects/monitoring-key-species-interactions-in-the-genomic-era-forest-arthropod-biodiversity-and-conservation-case/

Timofey Skvortsov Open to PhD applications in the following areas:
- Synthetic biology and genetic engineering of bacteriophages and their proteins
- Structural biology of phage enzymes with antibacterial and antibiofilm properties, including endolysins and depolymerases
- Phage therapy
- Viromics and mobilomics
- Microbiome analysis and manipulation
- Microbial bioinformatics
- Biology and genomics of bacteriophages and viruses of archaea
- Metatranscriptomics of biofilms
- Horizontal gene transfer in biofilms
- Antimicrobial discovery
- Discovery and engineering of biocatalysts

Qiaozhu Su Dr Su is open to wide-ranging PhD applications from candidates with a basic science or clinical background. Her fields of interest include:
• Nutritional signalling, Energy metabolism, and metabolic disease
• Gut microbiota
• Pharmacology
Previous research experience is desirable.

Katerina Theodoridou Open to PhD applications from those having at least a 2.1 degree (or equivalent) in an animal science, animal production related field, and who are interested in identification of technologies and nutritional practices to improve the sustainability and productivity of ruminant production systems.

Lynn Vanhaecke Nutrimetabolomics: new MS-based technologies at the production line

Paul Williams Open to PhD applications in the field of biogeochemistry and global food security.

David Wright Dr Wright is open to wide-ranging PhD applications from candidates with backgrounds in statistics, data science or computer science (including those with clinical experience). His areas of interest include: interpretable Machine Learning, integration of multi-modal data and federated analytics.

Di Wu 1.Emerging Fraud Challenges against Alternative Proteins
2.Innovative Applications of Nanopore Platforms
3.Metabolomics and Proteomics in Food Authenticity analysis

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