Mark Webber

[4-year Norwich Research Park Biosciences Doctoral Training Partnership PhD CASE studentship with Inspiralis Limited. Includes payment of tuition fees, £20,780 annual stipend (2025/6 rate), and a Research Training Support Grant of £5,000 per year.] This fully funded PhD studentship at the University of East Anglia investigates the genetic and environmental factors driving genome rearrangement in two strains of foodborne bacteria. The project aims to deepen our understanding of how macro changes in bacterial genome structure influence key phenotypes such as biofilm formation and antibiotic response, which are critical in the context of food safety and public health. The successful candidate will join the research group of Dr Gemma Langridge, a world-leader in genome rearrangement, and receive additional supervision from Prof Mark Webber, an expert in biofilms. The research will be conducted at the Quadram Institute, located on the Norwich Research Park, which offers state-of-the-art facilities and a vibrant community of microbiologists, molecular biologists, and informaticians. Training will encompass both wet lab and computational techniques, including long and short read sequencing, metabolic and biofilm phenotyping, transposon mutagenesis, and sequence analysis. The studentship is part of the Norwich Research Park Biosciences Doctoral Training Programme (NRPDTP), which provides a comprehensive professional development and research skills training programme, as well as a three-month professional internship placement (PIPS) to enhance career prospects. The funding package includes payment of tuition fees, a stipend of £20,780 per year (2025/6 rate), and a Research Training Support Grant of £5,000 per year. Applicants must have at least a UK equivalent Bachelors (Honours) degree with a minimum 2:1 classification and meet English language requirements (IELTS 6.5 overall, 6 in each category). The position is full-time, starting on 1 October 2026. Shortlisted applicants will be interviewed in early February 2026. For further details on eligibility and application procedures, visit the NRPDTP website or contact Dr Gemma Langridge for informal enquiries.

[4-year Norwich Research Park Biosciences Doctoral Training Partnership PhD CASE studentship with Inspiralis Limited. Includes full payment of tuition fees, a stipend of £20,780 per year (2025/6 rate), and a Research Training Support Grant of £5,000 per year.] This PhD studentship at the University of East Anglia investigates how antibiotic resistance evolves in mixed bacterial communities, with a particular focus on biofilms. The project addresses a critical challenge in human health by moving beyond simple laboratory models to study resistance mechanisms in complex, real-world microbial communities. The research will explore the emergence of resistance in mixed species biofilms, using Salmonella as a model organism, and will examine which resistance mechanisms are viable under competitive conditions. The student will join the research groups of Prof Mark Webber and Dr Matthew Gilmour, gaining hands-on experience in microbiology, biofilm biology, genomics, transposon mutagenesis, and informatics. The project is based at the state-of-the-art Quadram Institute on the Norwich Research Park, home to the Centre for Microbial Interactions and over 100 microbiology research groups, providing a vibrant and collaborative environment. The position is part of the Norwich Research Park Biosciences Doctoral Training Programme (NRPDTP), which offers a fully funded 4-year PhD CASE studentship in partnership with Inspiralis Limited. The studentship covers full tuition fees, an annual stipend of £20,780 (2025/6 rate), and a Research Training Support Grant of £5,000 per year. All NRPDTP students participate in a three-month professional internship placement (PIPS) to enhance their professional development. Applicants must hold at least a UK equivalent Bachelors (Honours) degree with a 2:1 classification and meet English language requirements (IELTS 6.5 overall, 6 in each category). The programme starts in October 2026, with applications due by 2 December 2025. Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed in early February 2026. For further details on eligibility and application procedures, visit the NRPDTP website.

[4-year Norwich Research Park Biosciences Doctoral Training Partnership PhD studentship with payment of tuition fees, a stipend for living expenses at £21,805 for 2026/27, and a Research Training Support Grant of £5,000 per year.] PhD Studentship at the University of East Anglia and Quadram Institute Bioscience: Cracking the Chain of Command in Multidrug Efflux Evolution . This project investigates one of the key questions in antibiotic resistance biology: why bacteria carry multiple efflux pumps, yet only a few dominate multidrug resistance in clinical isolates. Working with Professor Mark Webber and Dr Gemma Langridge at the Quadram Institute Bioscience, the successful candidate will explore the hierarchy of multidrug efflux systems in E. coli and related bacteria, and determine whether that hierarchy is condition-dependent and alterable. The research will use a massive transposon library of more than 800,000 mutants to map fitness impacts across diverse conditions, including anaerobic growth, biofilms, serum, and other relevant environments. The project will also examine how removal of specific pumps reshapes resistance hierarchies and will separate functional costs from regulatory costs. This offers an excellent training environment for students interested in microbial evolution, bacterial genetics, transposon mutagenesis, and bioinformatics. The studentship is a 4-year Norwich Research Park Biosciences Doctoral Training Partnership PhD DTP studentship . Funding includes payment of tuition fees, a stipend to cover living expenses at £21,805 for 2026/27 , and a Research Training Support Grant of £5,000 per year for each year of the studentship. The student will be based in the state-of-the-art Quadram Institute building on the Norwich Research Park, within the Centre for Microbial Interactions and a vibrant microbiology community of over 100 research groups. The environment is described as world-class and offers substantial opportunities for training and personal development. Eligibility requirements beyond a strong interest in antibiotic resistance are not specified in the posting. Applicants should apply via the University of East Anglia postgraduate research application portal before 30 November 2026 .