Award Summary

100% home fees covered, and a £31,805 stipend per year for students who are eligible for Home fee status.

Overview

Plastic pollution is one of the defining environmental challenges of our time. This PhD project aims to develop the next generation of engineered enzymes capable of breaking down polyethylene terephthalate (PET), the plastic used in bottles, packaging and textiles, into its reusable building blocks. The ultimate goal is to create highly effective enzyme panels that can operate under conditions relevant to future industrial-scale PET recycling, helping to enable a truly circular plastics economy.

Working at the interface of engineering biology, enzyme engineering and sustainability, you will focus on discovering, characterising and improving PET-degrading enzymes. You will design and test enzyme variants, develop biochemical and analytical assays to measure performance, and investigate how combinations of enzymes can work together to maximise plastic depolymerisation efficiency.

You will be embedded within a multidisciplinary team of experts in artificial intelligence, bioinformatics, laboratory automation and synthetic biology. While the wider team develops AI-driven discovery pipelines and robotic high-throughput workflows, your research will centre on the enzyme engineering and experimental validation that drive real-world impact.

As part of the NERC-funded EngBio4Env Doctoral Focal Award programme, you will join a cohort of researchers tackling major environmental challenges through engineering biology. This provides access to specialist training, industry engagement, entrepreneurship opportunities, and international collaborations, including a research placement with leading partners in Argentina. The project offers a unique opportunity to combine cutting-edge biotechnology with environmental impact and industrial relevance.

Number Of Awards

1

Start Date

September 2026

Award Duration

4 years

Application Closing Date

20 July 2026

Sponsor

NERC

Supervisors

Student will be supervised by Prof. N. Krasnogor and Prof. W. Willats (secondary supervisor), working in collaboration with Prof. C. Romero and Prof. A. Alvarez at PROIMI, Argentina.

Eligibility Criteria

You must have a MSc degree or equivalent in relevant subject or subject relevant to the proposed PhD project (e.g. Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Biochemistry, Microbiology, Molecular Biology, Synthetic Biology, Engineering Biology). Enthusiasm for research, ability to think and work independently, excellent analytical skills and strong verbal/written communication skills are essential requirements.

The studentship covers fees at Home rate (UK and EU applicants with pre-settled/settled status and meet the residency criteria).

Applicants whose first language is not English require an IELTS score of 6.5 overall with a minimum of 5.5 in all sub-skills.

How To Apply

Apply using Apply to Newcastle Portal

Once registered select ‘Create a Postgraduate Application’.

‘Course Search’ identify programme of study:

• search for the ‘Course Title’ using programme code: 8050F
• Research Area: Computing Science
• select ‘PhD Computer Science(Full Time) – Computing Science) as programme of study (please note that although you will be registered at the Computing department, this is an experimental Synthetic Biology opportunity, for which we have state-of-the-art laboratories)

Provide the following information in ‘Further Questions’ section:

• ‘Personal Statement’ (mandatory) - upload document or write statement directly into form
• Use code COMP2181 in ‘Studentship/Partnership Reference’
• when prompted how you are providing research proposal - select ‘Write Proposal’. Then type in the title of the research project from this advert – and provide your own statement.