Dr Ana daSilva Filipe
Thursday, October 08, 2026
Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
About the Project
To apply, please click institution website.
Background
Emerging and re-emerging viruses continue to pose major threats to global health. Wastewater surveillance offers a unique opportunity to monitor viral circulation at the population level, providing early warning of outbreaks and the emergence of novel pathogens or variants. This project will combine viral genomics, next-generation sequencing and artificial intelligence to develop innovative approaches for detecting and characterising WHO priority viruses in wastewater and understanding how viral…
communities change across different environments and seasons.
Further Details
At the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, DETECTIVE is looking for a Doctoral Candidate (DC) to work on Work Packages 1. As DC12, your objectives are:
- Develop a sequencing-based PCR assay for targeting WHO priority viruses
- Benchmark assay performance using a viral agnostic probe-based assay
- Characterise the wastewater virome across multiple settings including urban, rural, hospitals and airports across different seasons.
- Test feasibly of detection of mutations of interest such as vaccine escape and drug resistance
- Define AI tools for inferring the virus ability to infect specific hosts and identify potential zoonosis
You will be supervised by Dr Ana da Silva Filipe, with additional support from Dr Katherine Smollett and Dr Joseph Hughes (University of Glasgow). Secondment opportunities and training will be provided through collaborations with Dr Sami Oikarinen (Tampere University, Finland) and Dr Javier Martin (MHRA, UK).
Requirements
Essential:
- Hold a First Class or Upper Second Class (2.1) Honours degree, or international equivalent, in a life sciences, biomedical sciences, quantitative biology, or related discipline.
- Have a strong interest in infectious disease research and emerging pathogens.
- English language requirements in line with the University of Glasgow's terms. For details see: University of Glasgow - Postgraduate study - Postgraduate research opportunities A-Z - Virology
- Demonstrate the ability to work effectively in an interdisciplinary and international research environment.
- Have not resided/carried out work or studies in the UK for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before the April 1st, 2027.
- Must not hold a doctoral degree at the time of recruitment.
Desirable:
- Experience with molecular biology, including PCR techniques and knowledge of high-throughput sequencing technology and data analysis.
- Master's degree (or equivalent) in biomedical sciences, microbiology, virology, immunology, epidemiology, or a related field.
Marie Skłodowska-Curie eligibility criteria
Applicants must:
- Not already hold a doctoral degree.
- Comply with the Marie Skłodowska-Curie mobility rule, meaning they must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work or study) in the United Kingdom for more than 12 months during the 36 months immediately preceding recruitment.
What we offer
A contract with the University of Glasgow for 3 years (probation of 6 months).
A competitive salary and comprehensive employment benefits in line with MSCA Doctoral Network requirements and the University of Glasgow's employment terms.
The opportunity to work on large-scale and in-house research with motivated colleagues.
- Planned secondments in the Medicines and Healthcare products regulatory agency (MHRA, London UK) and Tampere University (TAU, Finland).
- Interdisciplinary network-wide training schools (one week each): 1) Foundations in Virology, Bioinformatics and Epidemiology; 2) Advanced Integration of Scientific, Diagnostic and Public Health Virology, and 3) Translational Virology and connecting Academia, Clinical Practice and Public Health for Pandemic Preparedness.
- Individually tailored career development plan and personal empowerment program.
- Access to Campus Sport Services at a reduced rate price
- Cycle to work scheme: https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/staff/benefits/travel/cycletowork/.
- A competitive salary and comprehensive employment benefits in line with MSCA Doctoral Network requirements.
- A holiday allowance of eight weeks annual leave, including public holidays.
About the host institution
The MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research (CVR) is home to an internationally leading critical mass of virologists, entirely focused on the study of human viral diseases and viruses at the human-animal interface. Established in 2010 as a partnership between the University and the Medical Research Council (MRC), the CVR contributes to national virology capability and supports the global response to viruses and the diseases they cause. The CVR has excellent facilities for conducting research in molecular biology and virology located in a purpose-built research building at the Garscube campus of the University of Glasgow, including high containment laboratories, purpose built Viral Genomics suite and Viral Bioinformatics expertise. The CVR is a core component of the School of Infection and Immunity within the College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences at the University of Glasgow. The University of Glasgow is a world top 100 University with a rich history of academic excellence and innovation since 1451, with a diverse community of students from over 140 countries. https://www.gla.ac.uk/research/az/cvr/
About DETECTIVE
DETECTIVE (Data driven Excellence in Training of Epidemiological, Clinical, Technological and Innovative Virus Experts) is an EU-funded MSCA training programme aimed at developing new, data-driven methods to anticipate, detect and respond to emerging viral threats at an earlier stage than before. Coordinated by Prof. Dr. Heli Harvala, Professor of Virology at the University of Turku in Finland, the network brings together 8 academic institutions and 14 associated partners from across Europe.
Within DETECTIVE, researchers will develop innovative methods used to detect emerging pathogens earlier, understand who is most at risk, and translate the complex multi-source data into real-time, evidence-based decisions and clinical applications. The project's overall goal is to establish a unified, end-to-end epidemic-intelligence frame work, enhancing Europe's capacity to respond to threats quickly and in a coordinated manner. This will be achieved by an integrated approach combining virology, evolutionary genomics, epidemiology, diagnostics and AI-based analytical methods.
Funding Notes
Start date: 1 March 2027
An employment contract with the University of Glasgow for 3 years (probation of 6 months) as a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Early Career Researcher.
A competitive salary, living allowance and mobility allowance in line with MSCA Doctoral Network requirements.