Full time (Three Years)

£14,279 tax free stipend (all university fees paid)

We are looking for a fully funded PhD student to work on the Leverhulme Trust funded project. Applicants should hold an MSc in bioinformatics, a background in genetics and an interest in alternative splicing and a passion to generate new ideas and brand new knowledge. You should also have a desire to work in a wet lab, learn new techniques, apply your passion and creativity to this project and carve out a niche for your future career in science. You must be willing to work very hard and dedicate yourself to making the project a success.

Research has indicated that clock genes are fine-tuned by the alternative splicing (AS) process and initial work indicates that DNA methylation and histone modifications may be key factors in the process. The project will evaluate how DNA methylation and chromatin states impact AS to control clock genes. Normal plants as well as plants which have an identical DNA sequence but differential DNA methylation will be used to understand how DNA methylation mediates AS during the day/night cycle in plant clock genes.

We are a small lab in the Section of Life Sciences, School of Human and Life Sciences at Canterbury Christ Church University, located in the vibrant and historical city of Canterbury in Kent, United Kingdom. We are passionate about science and will support you to realise your full potential and achieve your career goals. You will also spend some time in Dundee carrying out ChIP-seq in the lab of Professor Gordon Simpson, providing you with exposure to and experience of working in a lab doing world leading research.

This PhD position is available from 1st September 2016 on a full time basis for 36 months. Informal enquiries may be made to Dr Naeem Syed (email: [email protected]). To apply, please submit a CV (max 2 pages) with a covering letter (explaining your passion for science and this project) and contact details of three referees (in a single PDF) to Dr Naeem Syed (email: [email protected]).

Interviews are to be held: 28^th July