Edinburgh Infectious Diseases is a vibrant network of infectious disease researchers and clinicians. The community has over 230 research groups and 800 members across the University of Edinburgh, and other institutions across the city including Edinburgh Napier and Heriot Watt Universities, the Moredun Research Institute, Scotland’s Rural College and clinical colleagues in NHS Lothian.
Projects available

The projects being offered for this studentship are fundamentally collaborative, and bring together two researchers with different approaches, to answer questions in a transdisciplinary way.

Note: Students can apply for ONE of the projects listed below:

Aligning Legal and Biological Temporalities in the (Anticipatory) Governance of Infectious Disease in the UK
Bovine lungworm in a changing climate; epidemiology and sustainable control in the face of reduced anthelmintic efficacy
Characterising mechanisms of mononuclear phagocyte recruitment to the lung and their localisation specific function in respiratory viral infection.
Deciphering the impact of co-infection with bovine immunodeficiency virus on the immune response to bovine tuberculosis
How does the human fungal pathogen, Candida albicans, exploit its metabolic flexibility to enhance its virulence?
Identifying focal points and functional relevance of host-microbe communication during tissue injury and repair
Investigating the role of RNA binding proteins in the neglected tropical pathogen Burkholderia pseudomallei
It’s about time! Ecology and evolution of circadian and seasonal rhythms in host-parasite interactions
Killing time! How circadian immunity and resource availability interact during malaria infections
Malaria and the Intestinal Immune Response
Phylogeography of foot-and-mouth disease viruses in Equatorial Africa
Structure and function of the mitochondrial DNA network in trypanosomatid parasites
Tracking the evolution, spread and key drivers of zoonotic diseases
Understanding drivers of disease in the red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris), a threatened UK native species

In collaboration with one of the supervisors offering a project, students may also develop their own research project. In such cases, the project proposal must be submitted along with the other supporting documents and online application by the closing date of Friday 7 July 2023.
Training

The Ker Memorial PhD Studentship will support a student to work on a collaborative project that brings together a wide range of approaches and techniques to bear on a range of key problems in infectious diseases.

As part of the studentship, the successful applicant will have access to a wide range of training opportunities in both technical and transferable skills. The University of Edinburgh has a strong commitment to providing a supportive and positive research culture, and students will be encouraged to join peers on cohort-based doctoral training programmes to build professional networks.
Studentship funding

All students will receive a stipend at UKRI levels (£18622 per annum from 1 October 2023 per annum), plus £30K in travel and research funds across all four years of the Programme. All University fees will be covered. UK applicants only.

The studentship is available from 1 October 2023. However this date is flexible and a later start date can be discussed.

Please visit the Studentship website for all information and now to apply: https://www.ed.ac.uk/edinburgh-infectious-diseases/teaching/ker-memorial-phd-studentship-2023