PhD Studentship: Virome Dynamics and Viral Discovery in Rehabilitated Bats

This fully-funded PhD studentship at the University of Essex examines how viral communities change in bats undergoing wildlife rehabilitation. Working alongside the West Yorkshire Bat Group and the Quadram Institute, the successful candidate will collect non-invasive samples and apply shotgun metagenomics, viral genomics, and bioinformatics. The project provides interdisciplinary training in wildlife ecology, molecular methods, and computational analysis. Applicants are expected to conduct longitudinal tracking of viral populations and relate findings to host ecology and health.

• Collect non-invasive faecal samples from individual bats at admission, during rehabilitation, and prior to release in collaboration with the West Yorkshire Bat Group.
• Perform shotgun metagenomic sequencing to characterize viral diversity and enable novel viral genome discovery and reconstruction.
• Conduct bioinformatic and ecological analyses to evaluate how viral communities change over time relative to diet, host species, and gut microbiomes.
• Engage in specialist computational and sequencing training provided through the Quadram Institute.
• Manage research data reproducibly and communicate scientific findings effectively through reports and presentations.