PhD position available for April 2025 start

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Project: Development of broad-spectrum host-targeting antivirals against coronaviruses. 

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Start date: 1 Apr 2025​

Deadline: 8 Jan 2025

Interviews will be held on 13 Jan 2025

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About the project: 

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for broad-spectrum antivirals, which can be deployed rapidly against coronaviruses and future emerging viruses. In this project, the successful candidate will work within a multidisciplinary team to identify and develop antiviral compounds against coronaviruses and other RNA viruses.

Viruses manipulate host pathways upon infection, activating cellular signalling pathways leading to changes in host cell protein phosphorylation. Kinases that regulate these pathways have been suggested to be important antiviral drug targets.

We have identified several kinase-targeting proteolysis targeting chimera (PROTAC) molecules that have anti-coronavirus activity. This project aims to take this further, to develop these PROTACs as pan-coronavirus inhibitors and investigate their mechanism of action using a combination of molecular biology and cell biology techniques.

This project provides a unique opportunity to work at the forefront of virology research, making important contributions towards understanding the fundamental aspects of coronaviruses, as well as having a positive impact on public health measures for infection control.

The successful candidate will based within the Leicester Institute of Pharmaceutical Innovation in the Leicester School of Pharmacy, with dedicated state-of-the-art facilities for undertaking the project.

The candidate will be supervised by Dr Maitreyi Shivkumar (maitreyi.shivkumar@dmu.ac.uk), and co-supervised by Dr Tim Snape (tim.snape@dmu.ac.uk), as part of an multidisciplinary research team, who will provide excellent training and support in scientific, technical, and transferable skills required to develop as a research scientist. Potential applicants can contact Dr Shivkumar or Dr Snape for any informal queries.

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Techniques associated with the project: Cell and virus culture, molecular cloning, immunofluorescence and confocal microscopy, Western blotting, virus entry assays, drug inhibition assays, flow cytometry, transmission electron microscopy, NMR, medicinal chemistry.

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Funding: DMU is offering a fully-funded 3-year PhD scholarship for this work, . Tuition fees at Home level will be waived (international students will need to pay the difference between Home and International fees which is around £10k per year).

The studentship comes with a stipend pegged at the UKRI rate, currently at £19,237 per annum.

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Eligibility: Applicants must:

• Possess a UK Honours degree in Biochemistry, Biomedical Sciences or related fields with at least an upper second  class (or overseas equivalent), a Masters Degree in similar fields, or an academic or professional qualification plus experience in their sector or industry.

• Be enthusiastic about the research topic.

• Demonstrate the ability to clearly communicate complex ideas to a variety of audiences.

• Be self-motivated and able to work independently and with a team.

• Demonstrate competence in the use of the English language. Please see section 5b here for further details on meeting our English language entry criteria. ​​

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How to apply: This is a two-stage application process. 

Stage 1: Please send the following documents to PGRscholarships@dmu.ac.uk. 

• A completed DMU Scholarship Application Form

• A 2 page CV

• 2 Academic References

Deadline for Stage 1: Wednesday 8 Jan 2025

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Stage 2: Shortlisted candidates will be contacted to undergo an interview. The interview is scheduled for 13 Jan 2025. The successful candidate will be contacted with a request to submit a full application through the DMU PGR Application Portal. 

Deadline for full application: Friday 31 Jan 2025