PhD Studentship: Nigel Groome Studentship: Exploring Human Immunity and Microbiome Interplay with Multi-Omics Tools

Oxford Brookes University - Faculty of Health, Science and Technology - School of Biological and Medical Sciences

3 Year, full-time funded PhD Studentship

Eligibility: Home UK/EU and International applicants

Bursary p.a.: Bursary equivalent to UKRI national minimum stipend plus fees (current 2025/26 bursary rate is £20,780)

Fees and Bench fees: will be met by the University for the 3 years of the funded Studentship. Visa and associated costs are not funded. International applicants can visit https://www.brookes.ac.uk/students/isat/ for further information

Closing date: Friday 19 September 2025

Start Date: January 2026

Project Title: Nigel Groome Studentship: Exploring Human Immunity and Microbiome Interplay with Multi-Omics Tools

Requirements: Applicants should have a first or upper second-class honours degree from a Higher Education Institution in the UK or acceptable equivalent qualification. International/EU applicants must have a valid IELTS Academic test certificate (or equivalent) with an overall minimum score of 6.5 to 7.0 and no score below 6.0 issued in the last 2 years by an approved test centre.

Project description: Understanding how microbes interact with the human host is central to tackling chronic inflammatory, autoimmune, and infectious diseases. This exciting PhD project will harness cutting-edge sequencing technologies - including metagenomics and transcriptomics - to explore the dynamic interplay between human gene expression and microbial communities. The successful candidate will develop and apply computational and machine learning approaches to integrate Oxford Nanopore (ONT) long-read data with bulk and single-cell RNA-seq profiles. The aim is to identify host-microbiome molecular signatures that drive immune regulation, inflammation, or disease susceptibility. This project offers a unique opportunity to work at the intersection of human genomics, microbiome science, and computational biology, with access to advanced sequencing platforms and collaborative support from genomics and bioinformatics core facilities. The student will build computational pipelines for multi-omic integration across metagenomics, host transcriptomics, and clinical metadata. Training will be provided in ONT data processing, differential expression and abundance analysis, and bulk or single-cell RNA-seq. The project will use public datasets as well as samples generated through collaborations. Ideal candidates will have strong interests in microbiome-host biology, bioinformatics, or machine learning. Experience with R or Python is desirable. This interdisciplinary project is suited for students who wish to gain expertise in both human health and data-driven biology. Please contact Dr Irina Chelysheva for informal inquiries. The studentship requires you to undertake the equivalent of up to 6 hrs of teaching per week on average, during semester time, and to include preparation and marking (but no more than 20 hrs per week), and to participate in a teaching skills course without further remuneration. Application process: For details of how to apply, and for any queries, contact hls-applications@brookes.ac.uk. Director of Studies: Dr Jack Sunter Supervisors: Dr Irina Chelysheva Project Contact: Dr Irina Chelysheva: i.chelysheva@brookes.ac.uk