PhD Studentship: The Oxford Interdisciplinary Life and Environmental Science Training Programme (ILESLA)

Eligibility: Home UK/EU and International applicants

Bursary p.a: Bursary equivalent to UKRI national minimum stipend plus fees (the stipend amount will be confirmed in Spring 2025; the current bursary rate for 2024/25 is £19,237)

University fees and bench fees: University fees and bench fees will be met by the University for the 4 years of the funded Studentship.

Closing date: 29 January 2025 – 12:00 midday UK time

Interviews: To be advised (early March 2025)

Start date: September 2025

Director of Studies: Dr Andrew Jones

Other Supervisors: tbc 

Requirements:

Applicants are required to hold/or expect to obtain a first-class or strong upper second-class undergraduate degree with honours in a relevant academic subject (e.g. biochemistry, biology, chemistry, geology, geography, physics, mathematics, statistics, computer science). International applicants must have a valid IELTS Academic test certificate (or equivalent – please contact us to check equivalency) with an overall minimum score of 7.5 and no score below 7.0 issued in the last 2 years - before entry to the programme- by an approved test centre (The certificate date should be within 2 years of entry to the programme). 

Project Description:

The Oxford Interdisciplinary Life and Environmental Science training programme is a 4-year PhD programme that provides students with the opportunity to undertake research across the full breadth of biological and environmental science. It provides an innovative, individually-tailored training programme that includes taught courses in interdisciplinary skills and the opportunity for students to undertake two exploratory research projects with prospective supervisors in their first year before choosing their main 3-year research project. Students also undertake a 12-week professional internship to gain direct experience of the areas of work into which they can apply their skills.

This advertisement is on the BBSRC/NERC funded ILESLA within the School of Biological & Medical Sciences in the areas of plant cell biology, mammalian cell biology, molecular biology, parasitology, developmental biology, bioinformatics, conservation, ecology and bioimaging. The successful candidate will enjoy access to our state-of-the-art facilities, including newly refurbished laboratories and bioimaging suite.

In addition to their choice of PhD project at Oxford Brookes University, the student will be able to undertake their exploratory research projects at any of the five world-class research institutions that make up the DTP:

• University of Oxford, coordinators of the DTP
• Oxford Brookes University, a partner with the University of Oxford in developing regional excellence in bioscience research
• Pirbright Institute, which provides the UK’s national capabilities for the study and control of viral diseases of livestock
• Open University
• Diamond Light Source, the UK's national synchrotron science facility
• ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, which provides national capabilities for neutron science

The programme is supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) through a Landscape Award with additional support from within the Partnership. Further information on the programme can be found on the ILESLA website.

We have many projects available which can be taken as a short term (3-month) rotation or a full PhD project. We will provide details of potential Oxford Brookes supervisors. Email the supervisors if you would like to discuss potential projects, and please email Dr Andrew Jones (a.jones@brookes.ac.uk) or Dr Verena Kriechbaumer (vkriechbaumer@brookes.ac.uk) if you would like to discuss applying.

How to apply:

Please click on the above ‘Apply’ button.

For application enquiries contact hls-applications@brookes.ac.uk.

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