PhD Studentship - Building Enzymes with New Catalytic Functions & Design and Evolution of Enzymes with New Catalytic Functions

Funding is available for this 3.5 year PhD programme, funded by CoEBio3 Centre of Excellence in Biocatalysis (available for UK students and overseas). Funding will cover tuition fees and a tax free stipend set at the UKRI rate (£19,237 for 2024/25). The start date is September 2024.

A fully funded studentship is available, based at the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology under the supervision of Prof Anthony Green.

The design of enzymes with new modes of catalysis is a major objective in modern biocatalysis. In this project will use state-of-the-art enzyme design, engineering and characterization technologies to develop enzymes for valuable chemical transformations that are unknown in nature. These enzymes will then be used as biocatalysts for the efficient, selective and sustainable production of new bioactive molecules of interest to our industry partners from across the pharmaceutical sector.

The project is highly interdisciplinary at the cutting edge of enzyme design and engineering research. The successful applicants will have full access to state-of-the-art facilities for high-throughput and automated enzyme engineering, including liquid handling robots, colony pickers and a suite of high throughput analytical facilities. The project is supported by several major industry partners, providing the student with opportunities to work across both fundamental and translational science. 

Applicants should have, or expect to achieve, at least a 2.1 honours degree or a master’s in chemistry, biochemistry or a related discipline.

We strongly recommend that you contact the supervisor for this project before you apply: Prof Anthony Green: [email protected]