PhD Studentship in bioinformatics and cardiovascular biology - Exploring the application of geocomputational methods to high resolution spatial transcriptomics data from the human heart

About the Project

Award summary

100% of home tuition fees paid and an annual stipend (living expenses) of £21,805 (2026-27 UKRI rate). Successful international candidates will be required to fund difference between the home fees and international fees.

Overview

Interested in bioinformatics, and high-resolution mapping of human heart? This PhD project will investigate how computational geography methods can be scaled to analyse next-generation spatial transcriptomics data, advancing our understanding of cardiac ageing and disease.

Background: Spatial ‘omics methods measure gene or protein expression in their native context. We have shown that the micro-scale maps they generate can be analysed using computational geography methods developed for macro-scale data. Our toolkit, STExplorer, enables access to these approaches, improving understanding of spatial ‘omics localities.

As spatial ‘omics platforms such as 10X Genomics’ Visium rapidly increase in resolution, tools like STExplorer must evolve to handle larger datasets. High-definition spatial transcriptomics data are being generated in Newcastle to study links between cellular senescence and cardiovascular disease. These datasets will serve as a test case for developing STExplorer for HD analysis and will support insights into cardiac ageing.

Research Aims: This computational biology project will apply our geospatial tools to new HD spatial datasets from human heart. You will:

• Develop capacity to analyse HD datasets using STExplorer
• Apply these tools to Visium HD datasets from the CARDIAC-MAP project
• Collaborate with supervisors and partners to assess their value for spatial ‘omics analysis

Research Environment: You will work across informatics and cardiac research groups in the Faculty of Medical Sciences, with expertise in spatial ‘omics, myocardial senescence, regeneration, and ageing. The project offers strong training in bioinformatics, data science, and cardiac biology.

Number of awards 1

Start date 21.09.2026

Award duration 4 years

Application closing date 19.05.2026

Sponsor Jeffcock and Luccock Endowment JJ Hunter Bequest Faculty of Medical Sciences Newcastle University

Name of supervisor/s Dr Simon J Cockell, School of Biomedical, Nutritional and Sport Sciences Professor Gavin Richardson, Biosciences Institute

Eligibility Criteria You must have, or expect to achieve, at least a 2:1 honours degree or international equivalent, in a subject relating to bioinformatics or biomedical science. Further qualification such as an MRes is advantageous. This award is available to home and international applicants. Successful international candidates will be required to make up the difference between home fees and international fees. English Language requirements: IELTS 6.5 overall, with 5.5 or more in each sub-skill.