Mathematics: Fully Funded UKRI and AstraZeneca PhD Scholarship: ​​​Modelling Cancer Immunotherapy: Investigating T-cell engaging therapies in Oncology

10 Jan 2024
Job Information

Organisation/Company

Swansea University

Department

Central

Research Field

Mathematics

Researcher Profile

First Stage Researcher (R1)

Country

United Kingdom

Application Deadline

5 Feb 2024 - 23:59 (Europe/London)

Type of Contract

Other

Job Status

Full-time

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

Not funded by an EU programme

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

Offer Description

Funding providers: UKRI and AstraZeneca

Subject areas: Applied Mathematics, Mathematical Biology

Project start date: 

• 1 April 2024 (Enrolment open from mid–March)
• 1 July 2024 (Enrolment open from mid-June) 

Supervisors:

• Professor Gibin Powathil  (Mathematics, Swansea University - [email protected] )
• Professor Mark Jones (Computer Science, Swansea University)
• Dr Owen Jones (AstraZeneca) 
• Dr Mark Penny (AstraZeneca) 
• Dr Liam Brown (AstraZeneca) 

Aligned programme of study: PhD in Mathematics

Mode of study: Full-time

Project description: 

In immunotherapy, cancer is treated by using the body’s immune system, enabling it to recognize and kill cancer cells. There are several approaches to harness the tumour-killing capacity of the T-cells and an emerging class of therapeutics in Oncology is the use of T-cell engagers (TCE). T-cell Engagers (TCEs) are biological molecules that are at least bi-specific: they bind both a target tumour antigen (TAA) and a receptor on a T-cell, such as CD3, with the intention of activating the T-cell to destroy the tumour cell. The concept has been demonstrated pre-clinically and clinically, and drugs with such a mechanism of action have been approved for patients.  

Appropriate dosage of a molecule requires understanding of a surrogate of instantaneous target engagement in a patient. However, their development remains largely empirical while the precise relationship between the drug characteristics, its effect and accompanying potentially serious adverse events remain poorly defined.  

In this project, we aim to develop data-driven mathematical and computational models (ODEs, PDEs and agent-based approaches) to investigate the role of T-cell engagers in targeting tumour cells. We aim to study the mechanism of trimer formation and investigate features that determine the TCE efficiency to inform the development and optimisation of TCE based therapy.   

The Departments of Mathematics is part of the Computational Foundry, a world-class centre for computational research, part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund through Welsh Government. The brand-new building of the Computational Foundry provides an ideal environment for doing a PhD. 

Requirements

Research Field

Mathematics

Education Level

Bachelor Degree or equivalent

Skills/Qualifications

Candidates must hold an undergraduate degree at First Honours or a master’s degree with Merit, in a relevant discipline. If you are eligible to apply for the scholarship (i.e. a student who is eligible to pay the UK rate of tuition fees) but do not hold a UK degree, you can check our comparison entry requirements. Please note that you may need to provide evidence of your English Language proficiency. 

Knowledge in cancer biology is not essential but the candidate will be required to learn appropriate biological and clinical knowledge in order to develop mathematical and computational models. The candidate is expected to have a strong applied mathematical or related subject background. Strong computational and programming skills in one or more programming languages such as C, C++ and Matlab are preferred. Strong interpersonal skills and the capacity to work and learn independently will be required. 

Specific Requirements

Due to funding restrictions, this scholarship is open to applicants eligible to pay tuition fees at the UK rate only, as defined by UKCISA regulations . 

Additional Information
Benefits

This scholarship covers the full cost of UK tuition fees and an annual stipend of £18,622.

Additional research expenses will also be available. 

Eligibility criteria

Candidates must hold an undergraduate degree at First Honours or a master’s degree with Merit, in a relevant discipline. If you are eligible to apply for the scholarship (i.e. a student who is eligible to pay the UK rate of tuition fees) but do not hold a UK degree, you can check our comparison entry requirements. Please note that you may need to provide evidence of your English Language proficiency. 

Knowledge in cancer biology is not essential but the candidate will be required to learn appropriate biological and clinical knowledge in order to develop mathematical and computational models. The candidate is expected to have a strong applied mathematical or related subject background. Strong computational and programming skills in one or more programming languages such as C, C++ and Matlab are preferred. Strong interpersonal skills and the capacity to work and learn independently will be required. 

Due to funding restrictions, this scholarship is open to applicants eligible to pay tuition fees at the UK rate only, as defined by UKCISA regulations . 

Selection process

Please visit our website for more information.

Website for additional job details

https://www.swansea.ac.uk/postgraduate/scholarships/research/mathematics-ukri-a…

Work Location(s)

Number of offers available

1

Company/Institute

Swansea University

Country

United Kingdom

Geofield

Where to apply

Website

https://www.swansea.ac.uk/postgraduate/scholarships/research/mathematics-ukri-a…

Contact

State/Province

Swansea

City

Swansea

Website

http://www.swansea.ac.uk

Street

Singleton Park

Postal Code

SA2 8PP

STATUS: EXPIRED