PhD Studentship, Robustness and Fragility of Microbial Metabolic Networks A PhD studentship in computational systems biology is available at the University of St Andrews in Scotland.
Understanding the robustness and fragility of microbial metabolic networks will have impacts across bioscience, in particular for understanding how pathogens might respond to anti-infective drugs which target the enzymes essential to the pathogen's metabolism, and how microbes might respond to synthetic biology modifications which co-opt or otherwise interact with the organism's metabolism. This studentship will apply computational systems biology, bioinformatics, and network analysis to assess the robustness and fragility of microbial metabolic networks. You will use data on the interaction between proteins and small organic molecules to decipher metabolic networks, where enzyme-catalysed reactions link together substrates and products to form pathways and cycles. You will work with bioinformatics data to trace to both the variation of networks across different species and also the networks’ evolution; you will apply simulations of metabolism’s evolution to work backwards in time and suggest plausible evolutionary trajectories. Ultimately, you will develop predictions of perturbations that disrupt metabolic networks, and those which would have little effect. You will categorise the architecture and robustness or fragility of metabolic systems across both biological species and time. Likely future applications include the use of synthetic biology to exquisitely design interventions that will affect a pathogen's metabolism without risk to the host or environment. You will obtain training in bioinformatics, systems biology, modelling, and machine learning, as well as a working knowledge of microbial metabolic networks. You will be jointly supervised by Dr V Anne Smith (Biology) and Dr John Mitchell (Chemistry). Both groups work in computational systems biology and machine learning, with Dr Smith’s research concentrating on network analysis and Dr Mitchell’s on enzymes and computational chemistry. For more information on their research please visit: Dr V Anne Smith’s research pages: http://biology.st-andrews.ac.uk/vannesmithlab/ Dr John Mitchell’s research pages: http://chemistry.st-andrews.ac.uk/staff/jbom/group/ EASTBIO - the BBSRC East of Scotland Bioscience Doctoral Training Partnership - is a partnership between the Universities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and St Andrews; the Scottish Universities Life Sciences Alliance (SULSA); and the Scottish Universities Physics Alliance (SUPA). A fully funded EASTBIO PhD studentship (fees and stipend at the standard rate) is available for Autumn 2015 for candidates with a strong academic record and that satisfy BBSRC studentship eligibility requirements (see http://www.eastscotbiodtp.ac.uk/how-apply-0 if you are unsure - typically UK citizenship required). If you are interested, please first make an initial informal enquiry, including a covering letter explaining your interest in the studentship and a CV, to anne.sm...@st-andrews.ac.uk. Formal applications should follow to the University following the procedure available at: http://www.eastscotbiodtp.ac.uk/how-apply-0 using the forms provided and via the link to St Andrews University. Complete applications must have been received by the University by 16 January 2015. --- Dr V Anne Smith School of Biology Sir Harold Mitchell Building University of St Andrews St Andrews, Fife KY16 9TH United Kingdom +44 (0)1334-463368 anne.sm...@st-andrews.ac.uk<mailto:anne.sm...@st-andrews.ac.uk> biology.st-andrews.ac.uk/vannesmithlab/ The University of St Andrews is a charity registered in Scotland : No SC013532
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