PhD Studentship: Understanding the Evolution of Calcium Signal Decoding Mechanisms in Plants

Overview

Plants modify calcium ion concentrations in their cells to adapt and grow when facing environmental stimuli and stresses. These cellular calcium changes trigger downstream responses, such as gene expression re-programming. Flowering plants feature extensive protein networks linked to calcium signalling, but genetic redundancy often hinders study. Model plant species like the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha have smaller gene families governing these pathways, offering unique insights into plant calcium signalling and potential targets to improve crop stress tolerance. This full-time, fixed-term PhD project uses a multi-disciplinary approach combining biochemistry, cell biology, and molecular genetics to dissect these mechanisms in the liverwort. The work takes place on site in the United Kingdom within the School of Biological Sciences at the University of East Anglia.

What you get

The studentship is awarded through the Norwich Research Park Biosciences Doctoral Training Partnership PhD DTP program and spans four years. Financial support includes the direct payment of tuition fees to the university and a living expenses stipend set at the 2026/27 rate of £21,805 per annum. Additionally, recipients receive a Research Training Support Grant of £5,000 per annum for each year of the studentship.

Key dates

The closing date to submit applications is 23:59 on 30 November 2026.