The big picture: using wildflower strips for pest control
Wheat is one of the most important cereal crops in Europe, North America and elsewhere. Take-all (TA) disease, caused by the fungus Gaeumannomyces tritici, is the most important root disease of wheat globally, limiting water/ nutrient uptake and reducing grain yield and quality. Current disease control options are based around crop rotations, deploying specific agronomic practices and seed dressings. In TA fungal populations considerable phenotypic variation exists, including high and low virulence isolate types and differing sensitivity to the chemical fungicide Silthiofam.
This PhD project to be done in collaboration with the company CertisBelchim has two broad aims. The first is to explore and understand the factors driving TA population dynamics and genome evolution across Europe. This will involve fieldwork to obtain and analyse TA isolates recovered from diseased wheat crops and ongoing wheat trials in North, South, East and West Europe each differing in climate and managed under different agronomic practices and seed dressing treatments. The second aim is to use carefully designed field experiments, to be done at Rothamsted and other European locations, to explore the disease control effectiveness and changes in TA population dynamics and genome evolution. These field trials will investigate the effects of different break crop species, e.g. oats, rye, field beans, and seed treatments, i.e. Silthiofam, Toltek, a new biological, or a combination of the two. Collectively, this research aims to better understand TA impact on farmer and food productivity and support the development of integrated management for TA.
The student will learn a range of key skills. These include field trial design and management, aseptic techniques for fungal isolation/culturing, phenotyping and genotyping, bioinformatics, population genomics, evolutionary analyses, statistical analyses and big data analyses benefitting from many years of field trials and satellite images. The detailed genome/pangenome and evolutionary analyses will be done in collaboration with the Earlham Institute, Norwich as part of ongoing UK and global studies.
The student will undertake an initial rotation research project and skills training at Bath University for 5 months, before transferring to Rothamsted. In addition, specific training periods will take place in the company's laboratories in Belgium and France.
The student will have access to world class research facilities throughout and will receive outstanding interdisciplinary training. The student will also receive training in how to give oral/poster presentations at laboratory meetings, workshops, national/international conferences, write a scientific paper for peer review and will take part in outreach events.
To be eligible for a fully-funded studentship, you must meet the below academic and residence criteria.
Applicants for a studentship must have obtained, or be about to obtain, a First or Upper Second Class UK Honours degree, or the equivalent qualifications gained outside the UK, in an appropriate area of science or technology. Applicants with a Lower Second Class degree will be considered if they also have a Master’s degree or have significant relevant research or non-academic experience.
In addition, due to the strong quantitative component of the taught course in the first year and the quantitative emphasis in our projects, quantitative experience is needed. We recognise this can be demonstrated through a number of options, and have included some examples below (this is not an exhaustive list):
*Significant quantitative component examples include statistics, bioinformatics, maths, physics, data analysis, computation.
Of note: a limited number of our PhD projects may have a greater quantitative emphasis and require advanced quantitative experience. These expectations will be outlined by the PhD project supervisor.
Applicants must ensure they highlight their quantitative background within their application (i.e. the quantitative techniques used and how applied).
To support accessibility to PhD training opportunities, these studentships are only available to applicants that have not previously obtained or about to obtain a PhD degree (or equivalent).
If your first language is not English, you will need to meet the minimum English requirements for the programme. Further information about these English requirements >>
We ask that the language requirements are met by 1st June at the latest, to allow adequate time to obtain any necessary documentation to allow you to study in the UK. Further information about documentation required >>
IMPORTANT: Residency requirements are complex and too detailed to capture in full below. So please read alongside guidance provided on the GOV.UK website and UKCISA website to ensure you meet the criteria.
Home students
Fully-funded studentships are available for Home students. To be classed as a Home student, candidates must meet the following criteria:
International students
If you do not meet the above criteria, you will be classed as an International student.
A limited number (up to 30%) of UKRI fully-funded studentships are available through the SWBio DTP, that applicants who would be classed as an International student are eligible for. This also means that there are normally no restrictions on applying to any project that is advertised (unless otherwise indicated). Please apply through our normal application route.
Note: A UKRI fully-funded studentship will only cover what is listed under the ‘UKRI-BBSRC funded studentship‘ section. However there may be other costs that you may encounter and need to take into consideration which will not be covered by the studentship. For example, visa fees, healthcare surcharge and relocation costs .
Projects advertised during the main SWBio DTP recruitment period (this period will be indicated by an application deadline) are all 4 years fully-funded (subject to being made a studentship offer following the SWBio interview day).
A fully-funded four year SWBio DTP studentship will cover:
A limited number (up to 30%) of UKRI fully-funded studentships are available through the SWBio DTP, that applicants who would be classed as an International student are eligible for. This also means that there are normally no restrictions on applying to any project that is advertised (unless otherwise indicated). Further information about residence criteria
* An enhanced stipend is available for students with a recognised veterinary degree qualification. There may also be enhanced stipends associated with projects that have a CASE partner (CASE projects are highlighted as *CASE in the project lists).
** International students will not be required to cover the difference between home and international tuition fees.
Please visit Funding – SWBiosciences Doctoral Training Partnership for further details on stipends and further details for international students.
For further details on how to apply for this studentship project, please visit the SWBio web pages.