Medicine Swansea University Research Excellence Scholarships (SURES): Fully Funded PhD: The In Vivo Mechanistic Dissection of Lifespan Extension Pathways

Organisation/Company

Swansea University

Department

Central

Research Field

Medical sciences » Medicine

Researcher Profile

First Stage Researcher (R1)

Country

United Kingdom

Application Deadline

10 Apr 2024 – 23:59 (Europe/London)

Type of Contract

Other

Job Status

Full-time

Hours Per Week

35

Offer Starting Date

1 Oct 2024

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

Not funded by an EU programme

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

Offer Description

Medicine: Swansea University Research Excellence Scholarships (SURES): Fully Funded PhD: The In Vivo Mechanistic Dissection of Lifespan Extension Pathways

Swansea University is pleased to offer fully-funded Swansea University Research Excellence Scholarships (SURES) for full-time doctoral students to its fifth cohort, commencing in October 2024.  

Ageing is a growing fundamental economic and social challenge since the age structure of our population will change markedly during this century. Despite significant improvements in living conditions and healthcare leading to increasing life expectancy, it is extremely rare to grow old in good health and by the age of 85 essentially no individual is disease-free.  As such, drug discovery research is focusing on potential interventions that enhance the human health span. One area of research focus is on the reversal of cellular senescence, and so there has been a rapid development of interventions that behave as senolytic drugs. One such drug is Resveratrol, a naturally occurring plant compound that is thought to reverse cellular senescence through its action on SIRT1. 

The specific aim of the project is to use Resveratrol, and related senolytic compounds, to identify ageing pathways in a new in vivo model of ageing the African Turquoise Killifish (Nothobranchius furzeri). The project will investigate the effect of mid-lifespan dosing of Resveratrol and similar compounds on lifespan and ageing (senescence) markers in Killifish using RNA-seq and proteomic approaches. Once novel pathways are identified, the project will then use gene editing (CRISPR/Cas9) of Killifish to validate these novel mechanisms of senescence reversal. 

This project will be a collaboration between the Murray laboratory at Swansea University, and the Faragher laboratory, at the University of Brighton.

Requirements

Research Field

Medical sciences » Medicine

Education Level

Bachelor Degree or equivalent

Skills/Qualifications

Candidates must have attained, or must be expected to attain, a first-class honours degree and/or a distinction at master’s level. If you are eligible to apply for the scholarship (i.e. a student who is eligible to pay the UK rate of tuition fees) but do not hold a UK degree, you can check our comparison entry requirements. Please note that you may need to provide evidence of your English Language proficiency. 

Specific Requirements

• Where applicants have multiple master’s degrees, a distinction must be held in the degree that is most relevant to the intended PhD study. 
• If you are currently studying for a master’s level qualification with an expected award date that is later than 01/10/2024, you should hold a minimum of an upper-second-class (2:1) honours degree.   
• You should be able to demonstrate a pass with a minimum grade average of at least 70% for your part-one master’s degree modules (the taught aspect of your master’s course rather than a research-focused dissertation) and submit your dissertation by no later than 30/09/2024.  

Applicants must be able to begin their course of study in October 2024. As a cohort-based programme, deferral to an alternative enrolment window within the academic year or to another academic year is not permissible.

Please note that both the degree and language-proficiency entry requirements for SURES are higher than the baseline standard for entry that is stipulated for most of the PhD programmes at Swansea University. 

Due to funding restrictions, this scholarship is open to applicants eligible to pay tuition fees at the UK rate only, as defined by UKCISA regulations .  

Additional Information
Benefits

This scholarship covers the full cost of UK tuition fees and an annual stipend at £19,237.

Additional research expenses will also be available.

Eligibility criteria

Candidates must have attained, or must be expected to attain, a first-class honours degree and/or a distinction at master’s level. If you are eligible to apply for the scholarship (i.e. a student who is eligible to pay the UK rate of tuition fees) but do not hold a UK degree, you can check our comparison entry requirements. Please note that you may need to provide evidence of your English Language proficiency. 

• Where applicants have multiple master’s degrees, a distinction must be held in the degree that is most relevant to the intended PhD study. 
• If you are currently studying for a master’s level qualification with an expected award date that is later than 01/10/2024, you should hold a minimum of an upper-second-class (2:1) honours degree.   
• You should be able to demonstrate a pass with a minimum grade average of at least 70% for your part-one master’s degree modules (the taught aspect of your master’s course rather than a research-focused dissertation) and submit your dissertation by no later than 30/09/2024.  

Applicants must be able to begin their course of study in October 2024. As a cohort-based programme, deferral to an alternative enrolment window within the academic year or to another academic year is not permissible.

Please note that both the degree and language-proficiency entry requirements for SURES are higher than the baseline standard for entry that is stipulated for most of the PhD programmes at Swansea University. 

Due to funding restrictions, this scholarship is open to applicants eligible to pay tuition fees at the UK rate only, as defined by UKCISA regulations .  

Selection process

Please see our website for more information.

Website for additional job details

https://www.swansea.ac.uk/postgraduate/scholarships/research/medicine-sures-phd…

Work Location(s)

Number of offers available

1

Company/Institute

Swansea University

Country

United Kingdom

City

Swansea

Postal Code

SA2 8PP

Geofield

Where to apply

Website

https://www.swansea.ac.uk/postgraduate/scholarships/research/medicine-sures-phd…

Contact

City

Swansea

Website

https://www.swansea.ac.uk/postgraduate/scholarships/research/medicine-sures-phd-in-vivo-2024-rs569.php?utm_source=euraxess&utm_medium=scholarship&utm_campaign=postgraduate24&utm_content=pgr

Street

Singleton Park

Postal Code

SA28PP

E-Mail

[email protected]

STATUS: EXPIRED