PhD Studentship: AI-Led Protein Design for Plant Disease Resistance

This fully funded four-year PhD studentship at the University of East Anglia, hosted at the John Innes Centre, investigates how to computationally engineer plant immune receptors for enhanced disease resistance. Supervised by Professor Mark Banfield as part of the Norwich Research Park Biosciences Doctoral Training Programme (NRPDTP), the project combines computational protein design, molecular biology, biochemistry, and structural biology. The successful candidate will design and test recognition-switch-execute modules using both in vitro and in vivo approaches to prevent agricultural crop loss. In addition to cutting-edge research, the student will participate in comprehensive professional development and complete a mandatory three-month professional internship placement.

• Design novel, de novo immune receptors using emerging computational protein tools and bottom-up approaches.
• Build and combine recognition-switch-execute modules to detect pathogen molecules and elicit cellular responses.
• Investigate molecular mechanisms of engineered receptors through in vitro and in vivo laboratory techniques.
• Conduct in planta assays and plant pathology experiments to evaluate disease resistance performance.
• Collaborate with leading national and international research partners on interdisciplinary scientific tasks.
• Present research findings at relevant national and international academic conferences.
• Complete a mandatory three-month professional internship placement (PIPS) during the course of the study.