PhD Positions in Synthetic Biology in China

This Doctor of Philosophy project at the University of Southampton will develop AI-guided synthetic bacteriophages for clinical care in military and conflict-related healthcare settings. The research addresses antimicrobial resistance and multidrug-resistant organisms, including Acinetobacter baumannii , Pseudomonas aeruginosa , Enterobacterales and Staphylococcus aureus . The project will investigate bacterial diversity and genomic characteristics in challenging healthcare environments and expl...

The Spemann Graduate School of Biology and Medicine (SGBM) at the University of Freiburg is an international doctoral school offering a multidisciplinary research and training environment in the life sciences and biomedicine. Doctoral fellows work toward a PhD at the University of Freiburg, and medical doctors can also join an MD/PhD pathway. The programme is embedded in a strong research network that includes outstanding research facilities and major partner institutions and clusters such as th...

Nanyang Technological University in Singapore is offering a fully funded PhD opportunity in biomedical engineering through the Smith Lab in the School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology. The project, Engineering the Blood-Brain Barrier (BBB) for Precision Gene and Therapeutic Delivery , will investigate approaches that combine synthetic biology, viral vectors, and extracellular vesicles. The research is focused on developing engineered blood-brain barrier systems and delivery s...

This fully funded PhD will investigate how to design plant root microbiomes that support more productive agriculture with fewer chemical inputs and pesticides. The project will examine the chemical rules governing interactions among soil microbes. These insights will then be used to design synthetic microbial communities that are stable, functional, and able to support plant health. The intended outcome is a new generation of reliable biofertilizers, addressing the limitations of products develo...

The University of East Anglia in Norwich, United Kingdom, is offering a full-time PhD studentship in machine learning-guided engineering of next-generation cancer therapeutics, starting 1 October 2027. Supervised by Dr Amit Sachdeva, the interdisciplinary project will develop small antibody fragments designed to penetrate solid tumours more effectively than conventional full-length antibodies. The research combines machine learning-guided protein design with experimental chemical biology, synthe...

Max Planck School Matter to Life in Germany is offering a fully funded, integrated five-year MSc/PhD programme for students interested in chemistry and interdisciplinary molecular sciences. The two-year Master’s phase takes place at Heidelberg University or the University of Göttingen and covers chemistry, molecular systems, synthetic chemistry, biophysics, biomaterials, synthetic biology, complex systems, and the chemistry of living systems. Students then progress to a three-year PhD research p...

The University of Oxford is offering a 3.5-year DPhil studentship in Control and Engineering Biology on the project “Learning and controlling cellular dynamics.” The research sits at the intersection of engineering, biology, control theory and machine learning. Potential directions include developing mathematical and computational models of cellular behaviour, designing feedback-control strategies, and building experimental tools using microfluidics, automated microscopy and light-controlled gen...

[4-year Norwich Research Park Biosciences Doctoral Training Partnership PhD studentship with tuition fees paid, a stipend of £21,805 per year (2026/27 rate), and a Research Training Support Grant of £5,000 per year.] PhD opportunity at the University of East Anglia and the Earlham Institute on Designing Plant Gene Expression with Explainable AI . This studentship sits at the intersection of artificial intelligence, plant genomics, and engineering biology, asking whether explainable AI can discov...

[Fully funded 4-year Norwich Research Park Biosciences Doctoral Training Partnership PhD studentship including tuition fees, an annual stipend of £21,805 (2026/27 rate), and a Research Training Support Grant of £5,000 per year.] PhD studentship at the University of East Anglia in the Norwich Research Park Biosciences Doctoral Training Programme (NRPDTP): Rewiring Photosynthetic Pathways in a Purple Bacterium . This fully funded 4-year PhD project focuses on engineering the purple phototrophic ba...