Suzanne Higgs

Fully funded PhD opportunity at the University of Birmingham on Exercise, Cognition and Appetite in the Ageing Brain . The project asks how appetite regulation, food-related decision-making, episodic memory, and the hippocampus may be linked in older adults, and whether exercise can help. The successful candidate will join a large UKRI-funded study running a year-long exercise intervention with older adults. Research activities include MRI, fitness testing, cognitive assessment, a test-meal paradigm before and after the intervention, food intake and satiety ratings, gut hormones (GLP-1, ghrelin, CCK), quarterly week-long food diaries, interoception measures, episodic memory tasks, and hippocampal volume and vascular analyses. This is a novel, interdisciplinary PhD with training across cognitive neuroscience, neuroimaging, exercise physiology, and nutrition. It is described as low risk because it is embedded in an established team. Supervisors listed are Katrien Segaert, Suzanne Higgs, Sam Lucas, and Jack Feron. Funding covers fees and stipend for both home and international students. Application deadline: 23 November 2026. Useful links: project information, funding/application process, apply now, and lab page.