[4-year Norwich Research Park Biosciences Doctoral Training Partnership PhD CASE studentship with Inspiralis Limited. Includes payment of tuition fees, £20,780 annual stipend, and £5,000 per annum Research Training Support Grant.] This fully funded PhD studentship at the University of East Anglia focuses on combatting wheat take-all disease, a major root disease that can reduce wheat yields by up to 20%. The project investigates the role of the rhizosphere—the soil region directly interacting with plant roots—and its microbial communities in suppressing take-all symptoms. Both bacterial and fungal antagonists have been identified as key players in disease prevention, but their effectiveness in field trials varies due to complex interactions among abiotic factors, plant genetics, and the broader microbial context.

As a PhD student, you will develop advanced molecular laboratory and bioinformatics skills to analyze microbial community genetic diversity. You will work with existing field data from the Watkins wheat landrace collection to inform and potentially modify synthetic microbial communities, screen wheat representatives for disease suppression, and conduct amplicon sequencing to correlate microbial community composition with disease severity. The project aims to isolate key microbial players and perform microbiome swaps to determine optimal community structures for disease suppression. You will join the Neil Hall Group and collaborate with experts at the Earlham Institute, John Innes Centre, and Rothamsted Research, gaining exposure to cutting-edge research in microbial genomics, wheat diversity, and synthetic communities.

The studentship is part of the Norwich Research Park Biosciences Doctoral Training Programme (NRPDTP), which offers a comprehensive 4-year PhD experience, including a three-month professional internship placement (PIPS) to enhance your professional development. The funding package covers tuition fees, a generous annual stipend, and a research training support grant. Applicants should have a strong background in biological or agricultural sciences, with skills or interest in molecular biology, bioinformatics, microbiology, or plant sciences.

International applicants may need to demonstrate English language proficiency. The application deadline is December 2, 2026, with interviews scheduled for early February 2026. For more information and to apply, visit the University of East Anglia postgraduate research portal and the NRPDTP website.