Andrea Münsterberg

[4-year fully funded Norwich Research Park Biosciences Doctoral Training Partnership studentship including payment of tuition fees, a stipend for living expenses (2026/27 rate: £21,805), and a Research Training Support Grant of £5,000 per year.] PhD Studentship at the University of East Anglia in partnership with the Norwich Research Park Biosciences Doctoral Training Programme (NRPDTP). This project, “The Cardiac Positioning System – How Do Heart Progenitors Find Their Way?” , investigates one of the earliest and most fundamental events in vertebrate development: how cardiac progenitor cells migrate, interpret guidance cues, and converge at the embryonic heart field to form the future heart. The work is centered on developmental biology and combines live cell imaging, molecular genetics, and computational analysis to understand how migrating progenitor cells read and respond to complex signalling environments. Working in a collaborative supervisory team at UEA, you will be supervised by Professor Andrea Münsterberg with contributions from Tim Grocott and James Mccoll . The project offers hands-on training in live imaging/microscopy, CRISPR/Cas9-based functional experiments, molecular biology, and analysis of cell migration trajectories. You will study how candidate genes influence migration behavior and fate decisions during heart formation, with the potential to generate fundamental new insight into the molecular control of organ development. The studentship is fully funded and awarded as a 4-year NRPDTP PhD DTP studentship . Funding includes tuition fees, a maintenance stipend for living costs, and an annual Research Training Support Grant. The stated 2026/27 stipend rate is £21,805 , and the RTSG is £5,000 per year . NRPDTP students also complete a three-month professional internship placement (PIPS) during the degree, supported by the programme’s internship team. Eligibility highlights: applicants should hold at least a UK-equivalent Bachelor’s (Honours) degree at 2:1 and meet the English language requirement of IELTS 6.5 overall with 6.0 in each component (or equivalent for the Faculty of Science). Application notes: the project has been shortlisted for NRPDTP funding. The application deadline is 30 November and shortlisted candidates are expected to be interviewed on 2, 3, and 4 February 2027 . The planned start date is 1 October 2027 . Applicants are encouraged to use the bespoke NRPDTP Personal and Research statement templates provided by the programme. For more information, contact [email protected] or [email protected] .