PhD Opportunities in Plant Biology in United Kingdom

The University of Nottingham is inviting applications for an EPSRC PhD studentship on novel optics and artificial intelligence approaches to imaging the centre of a live, intact plant root. Based in the Optics and Photonics Research Group within the Faculty of Engineering, the multidisciplinary project combines optical microscopy, AI, machine learning, wavefront correction, computer vision, and plant biosciences. The research will address the challenge of imaging deep inside complex plant roots,...

[Fully funded for 4 years, including full Home and International tuition fees plus a UKRI stipend at the 2027-28 rate.] PhD Studentship at the University of Plymouth in collaboration with the University of Exeter. This project, Uncovering the impact of multiple anthropogenic stress factors on rhizosphere plant-microbe interactions , investigates how combinations of global change pressures such as warming, drought, soil contaminants and pesticides affect the plant-soil interface. The research foc...

Our NRPDTP Doctoral Training Partnership PhD projects are now open for an October 2027 start , based with leading supervisors at the John Innes Centre and the wider Norwich Research Park network. This is a PhD opportunity in bioscience , with research themes likely spanning plant and microbial biology, molecular bioscience, and related life-science areas. The post highlights a doctoral training partnership environment, which is typically designed for research training with multiple supervisors a...

[4-year Norwich Research Park Biosciences Doctoral Training Partnership PhD studentship with tuition fees paid directly to the university, a stipend of £21,805 for 2026/27, and a Research Training Support Grant of £5,000 per year.] PhD Studentship: Engineering Biology to Decode Gene Regulatory Networks in Lateral Root Initiation at the University of East Anglia , working with the Guiziou Group at the Earlham Institute . This project sits at the intersection of engineering biology , plant science...

[Fully funded 4-year PhD studentship including payment of tuition fees, a stipend to cover living expenses (£21,805 for 2026/27), 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), focused on Endosymbiosis-Mediated Regulation of Nuclear Calcium Signalling . This project sits at the interface of plant biology, endosymbiosis, cell biology, genetics, molecular biol...

[Fully funded studentship covering fees, maintenance stipend of £21,805 p.a. for 2026/27, and a research training and support grant (RTSG). Limited international studentships available with home/international fee difference waived by the university; does not cover visa or health surcharge costs.] PhD Studentship at the University of East Anglia in the evolution of plant environmental perception and calcium signalling. This project investigates how plants detect and respond to changes in their en...

PhD opportunity at the Centre for Novel Agricultural Products (CNAP), Department of Biology, University of York , in collaboration with the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge . This project sits at the intersection of plant biology , engineering biology , 3D imaging , single-cell genomics , spatial transcriptomics , and computational genomics . The research asks how cells from two evolutionarily distant plant species recognise each other, reprogramme their identities, and form...

PhD opportunity at the University of Birmingham , UK in Plant Immunity and Epigenetics . This project explores whether plants can remember stress and develop long-lasting disease resistance, using tomato plants as a model system. Research themes include plant molecular biology , epigenetics , small RNA signalling , plant-pathogen interactions , and functional genomics . The post is aimed at applicants interested in plant biology and related life science research areas. Funding information shared...

PhD opportunity at the University of Warwick in collaboration with the Midlands Integrative Biosciences Training Partnership and project partner Vitacress. This funded PhD focuses on plant biology , biological sciences , and molecular biology , with a strong applied angle in crop disease epidemiology . The project investigates Basil Downy Mildew (caused by Peronospora belbahrii ) in sweet basil, a globally important culinary herb and high-value crop. Research themes include: characterising BDM r...