The position

Applications are invited for a 3-years fee-free PhD position at the University of Nottingham, UK, including secondment opportunities at Technische Universität Dresden (Germany), Helsinki University (Finland), and MIP Pharma (France).

The successful candidate will receive an annual salary of approximately £42k, with potential increases based on eligibility for Family Allowance and pension contributions. The position will fund a PhD for the period of employment, expected to total 36-months, with options for further financial support.

Start date: 1stJuly 2025

The Mac4Me Project

The Mac4Me Doctoral Network Consortium will provide a training-through-research program to Doctoral Award/PhD Candidates, with a network covering 25 institutions across 11 countries. The Doctoral Network Consortium aims to improve our limited understanding of how to treat metastatic cancer. Adopting an innovative, multidisciplinary and cross-sectional approach, Mac4Me aims to understand tumour cell-immune host interactions at the metastatic site, with an in-depth molecular and mechanistic understanding of the immune and matrix changes induced by tumour cells. It will use innovative animal-free organ-on-chip systems, reproducing early metastasis in brain, bone and liver.

PhD Project

Identification, characterisation and manipulation of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) in the ageing matrix

Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are complex sugars that have multiple roles in controlling cell behaviour in healthy tissue which can be subverted in disease. We will use and continue to refine a newly developed mass spectrometry (MS) method that enables the label-free, unbiased analysis of complex GAGs, combining both spatial and compositional analysis. In this project, analysis of aged and tumour tissue will be combined with work from other Mac4Me network partners to develop and test inhibitors of GAG synthesis to alter the role of GAGs in supporting metastasis, making use ofin vitro, animal-free assays.

The expected outcome is a radically improved understanding of how GAGs change during ageing and metastasis. The development of modulators of GAG synthesis will be coordinated with project partners and will be part of a recent drive to create novel therapeutics based on the in vivo activities of GAGs.

Environment:

The candidate will join the Stem Cell Glycobiology group, a dynamic and diverse group based in the Biodiscovery Institute on University Park at the University of Nottingham. You will be working alongside other PhD candidates, PostDocs, technicians and other staff within a collegiate and supportive environment that will work to help you be the best you can be as part of your PhD. Previous PhD students from the group have gone on to successful careers in academic research, teaching, entrepreneurship (our spin-out company, Peptimatrix is hosting another Mac4Me doctoral candidate), biotechnology and more.

The doctoral candidate will also work in close collaboration with other Mac4Me doctoral candidates through a highly diverse educational agenda of online and face-to-face meetings. Importantly, each PhD has planned short-stay research visits with our European partners as an integral part of their PhD program.

Eligibility requirements:

Candidates will be required to meet the Marie SkÅodowska-Curie Early Stage Researcher eligibility criteria( https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/…). In particular, at the time of appointment the successful candidate must have had less than four years full-time equivalent research experience and must not have already obtained a PhD. Additionally, they must not have resided in the (recruiting host country) UK for more than 12 months in the three years immediately before the appointment.

Candidates should have a primary degree or master’s in biological / biochemical / chemical / biomedical science, or a related discipline. Candidates who already have a PhD are not eligible to apply.

The language of MSCA is English and candidates must have evidenced proficiency in English to meet University of Nottingham requirements.

Selection process: To apply, email your application to GlycoWeb@nottingham.ac.uk with the following documents:

▪ a motivation letter, emphasizing specific interests, qualifications and motivation to apply for this position

▪ a detailed CV (resume) and contact information of at least two references that may be consulted

▪ transcripts of bachelor and master degree (diploma)

Closing Date: 3 April 2025