Research Group website >>

How day-to-day research training and support is provided: Initial lab training will be provided by shared SWBio student Josie Elliott. Further day-to-day lab support will be shared between more senior lab group members (a mix of PhD and postdocs) who routinely use the necessary protocols (e.g. molecular, microbiology and engineering techniques). We use a shared file for numerous protocols that are routinely updated and optimised which the student will have access to. For other research development, the student will be trained by me and Edze. Our teams have excellent track records of winning conference awards and prizes (e.g., Young Microbiologist of the Year, Walter M. Fitch prize Symposium SMBE, numerous talk and poster prizes) and of high-impact publications from PhD students as lead authors (including Nature, Nature Comms, MBE).

Supervision style: Directive support: A / Training structure: 6

How often PhD students see you in a timetabled group meeting: At least once a week

Other research groups that PhD students will have the opportunity to frequently interact with: Our weekly lab meeting includes members from other groups who are not part of large lab groups and like interaction with our lab. Importantly, this student will be brought into a large BBSRC sLola consortium that will be running alongside this PhD. This large grant includes 12 PIs, 9 PDRAs, 3 RTs and 1 PhD student. The consortium meets virtually monthly and annually in person to discuss progress. There is the opportunity to visit any of the labs in the consortium to learn new skills or discuss project directions. Our lab group in Bath is also part of a larger microbiology research theme (made up of 11 PIs and many postdocs and PhD students) that meet every semester to share research and discuss research culture. There is always the opportunity during these events to create collaborative ideas that can lead to opportunities to be part of another lab.

How often you meet with your PhD students 1-1 formally outside of group meetings (i.e. meetings of >30 minutes): Significantly varies depending on the student; Mixture of virtual/in person.

Expected working pattern (based on a full-time student): My expectation is that the student to be present on campus during core hours – and frequent out-of-hours work is discouraged for health and safety reasons. There is flexibility and I do have members of my lab group that commute from quite a distance that have an agreed hybrid working pattern with me. With some long-term evolution experiments, there might be times when weekend work is necessary. Ensuring my students are not over-working and taking time to rest and recharge is something I take seriously, and I frequently check-in and make sure they are balancing everything.

How the second supervisor supports the PhD project: Edze and I have a good system for student support. Our current SWBio student, Josie, is well integrated into both research groups. We (Edze, Josie and I) have regular group meetings (about every 2 months) to discuss project progress. At times, these are more frequent, e.g. when we are preparing a paper for publication or discussing new data. Josie also participates in group activities for both research groups (e.g. away days, seasonal socials) and has visited the lab in Falmouth to conduct some experiments when needed. We will mirror this system for the new SWBio student as it works well.

Notice needed for feedback on work (based on a 5000 word report): 1-2 weeks

Communication: I am always available via email. I have regular working hours with 3 days in the office and 2 days working from home (this helps with childcare commitments). There are, however, members of the group in the lab every day. One to ones and lab meetings are during regular weekly slots. Any additional meetings can be arranged in advance, I'm also happy for the student to pop by my office when I am in. I may email outside working hours, but I do not expect a response outside of the recipients working hours.

Research Group website >>

How day-to-day research training and support is provided: You will receive self-guided training in mathematical modelling supported by the main supervisor. The post-docs and PhD students in the group all assist each other with interactions mediated via regular group meetings. Any necessary experimental training will be carried out by students and post-docs within the Kelsh group.

Supervision style: Directive support: C  / Training structure: 8

How often PhD students see you in a timetabled group meeting: At least once a week

Other research groups that PhD students will have the opportunity to frequently interact with: Students will be able to interact both with the Yates group and the Kelsh group. In addition, we run regular seminars at the Centre for Mathematical Biology and interaction with other supervisors and their group members is actively encouraged.

How often you meet with your PhD students 1-1 formally outside of group meetings (i.e. meetings of >30 minutes): At least once per week; Mixture of virtual/in person.

Expected working pattern (based on a full-time student): It is expected that you will work the equivalent of a 9-5 job, but the way you structure your working pattern (beyond attendance at group meetings, supervisory meetings, seminars and training) is largely up to you. We want everyone in the Yates group to have good work/life balance so we actively encourage taking weekends and holidays.

How the second supervisor supports the PhD project: The student will meet weekly with both supervisors to discuss the project and to set new work goals.

Notice needed for feedback on work (based on a 5000 word report): 1-2 weeks

Communication: Available to e-mail every day. I have non-traditional working hours but monitor my emails everyday. I may contact you outside of working hours but I do not expect responses outside working hours. We will have regular weekly meeting slots and I am available to meet outside these times provided we arrange the meetings in advance.

Research Group website >>

How day-to-day research training and support is provided: The supervisory team and members of their groups will provide training in all experimental and analysis techniques needed to carry out this project.

Supervision style: Directive support: A / Training structure: 8

How often PhD students see you in a timetabled group meeting: At least once a week

Other research groups that PhD students will have the opportunity to frequently interact with: Keith Vance shares a lab with Adele Murrell and they have joint group meetings focusing on our common interest of epigenetic regulation of gene expression. Vance also has joint group meetings with the Kelsh lab on zebrafish development.

How often you meet with your PhD students 1-1 formally outside of group meetings (i.e. meetings of >30 minutes): At least once per week; All in person.

Expected working pattern (based on a full-time student): At least within core hours (10-4) and other time to be managed around this.

How the second supervisor supports the PhD project: The student will spend some time during PhD with second supervisors' research group and the student will attend Mason group lab meetings. The student will meet with both supervisors every month.

Notice needed for feedback on work (based on a 5000 word report): 1-2 weeks

Communication: The Main Supervisor, Keith Vance, is available to e-mail every day. Meetings are often arranged in advance but the student will also be encouraged to drop into my office when needed to discuss the project.

Research Group website >>

How day-to-day research training and support is provided: Ethical and practical training for use of fish will be provided locally by Kelsh. Experimental work training will be provided by our post-doc and/or other PhD students as appropriate. Our post-doc will provide day-to-care, whereas overall project guidance will come from the supervisory team.

Supervision style: Directive support: C / Training structure: 8

How often PhD students see you in a timetabled group meeting: At least once a week

Other research groups that PhD students will have the opportunity to frequently interact with: We have weekly joint lab meetings with other zebrafish groups i.e. those of David Gurevich, Nikolas Nikolaou and Philip Ingham.

How often you meet with your PhD students 1-1 formally outside of group meetings (i.e. meetings of >30 minutes): Varies year to year as studentship progresses; Mixture of virtual/in person.

Expected working pattern (based on a full-time student): At least within core hours (10-4), with other time managed around this to give freedom to student. Nature of the research means that it can be advantageous to do some weekend or evening work, but this is left to student to self-manage. Attendance at lab meetings is expected.

How the second supervisor supports the PhD project: Meeting jointly with both supervisors at about monthly intervals. Training may be provided by members of both labs where appropriate.

Notice needed for feedback on work (based on a 5000 word report): 1-2 weeks

Communication: I prioritise responding to lab members, whether by e-mail or in-person requests. I may contact you out of hours but do not expect a reply until you're ready. Meetings can be 'on-demand', but usually easier to email requesting meeting, which will then be scheduled within a day or two.

 Research Group website >>

How day-to-day research training and support is provided: Day-to-day support for research training will be provided by a combination of Bath-based supervisors (Thompson, Koumanov and Kasprzyk-Hordern) and other research staff (PDRAs and technicians). Some training will also be provided by experienced PhD students, for example, when being introduced to a specific new technique. 

Supervision style: Directive support: B / Training structure: 5

How often PhD students see you in a timetabled group meeting: At least once a fortnight

Other research groups that PhD students will have the opportunity to frequently interact with: The Centre for Nutrition, Exercise and Metabolism group meets at least once a month and also coordinates other activities and training (including an annual retreat). There is also a monthly "Journal Club" shared with Professor Betts & Gonzalez. In addition, the student can attend monthly "Research Rounds" in the Department for Health, as well as accessing meetings in Chemistry and Life Sciences (as required and/or appropriate given the direction of the research). Students can also access a comprehensive package of training in statistics via the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Statistical Applied Mathematics (SAMBa), and in the use of computation (including Machine Learning) via the Centre for Mathematics and Algorithms for Data (MAD), both of which are based at the University of Bath. 

How often you meet with your PhD students 1-1 formally outside of group meetings (i.e. meetings of >30 minutes):At least once per week; Mixture of virtual/in person.

Expected working pattern (based on a full-time student): Typical hours would be Monday-Friday 9am-5pm, but this is heavily dependent on the student's preferred way of working and the specific requirements of the research at any given time. 

How the second supervisor supports the PhD project: The second supervisor will take a leading role during the second rotation project and more broadly in the analytical chemistry aspects of the project. There will be monthly meetings with both supervisors during the first two years of the project, after which this will be reviewed dependent on the requirements of the student at this particular time (e.g. if they are involved in an extended intervention study and the student feels that there is less need to meet as frequently). 

Notice needed for feedback on work (based on a 5000 word report) 1-2 weeks

Communication: Available on email every day except during holiday periods. One of the co-supervisors (Dr Koumanov) is also available on email on a daily basis. Students typically contact supervisors via phone, WhatsApp or just popping by the office for a short chat. Longer meetings will need to be scheduled (e.g. working on a paper draft). 

Research Group website >>

How day-to-day research training and support is provided: You will initially shadow and be trained by various members of my research group. Our research assistant will teach you peptide synthesis and synthetic chemistry. Our three PhD students will teach you the phage display workflow. You will work directly with me to develop your data analysis skills. 

Supervision style: Directive support: B / Training structure: 8

How often PhD students see you in a timetabled group meeting: At least once a week

Other research groups that PhD students will have the opportunity to frequently interact with: In addition to being full members of the Lovell, Spencer, Laabei and Van den Elsen labs, you will also share a lab with the Mehrban group and be adjacent to the Mason lab; both labs focus on peptide discovery and form a cluster of research groups focused on protein and peptide research. You will also have a chance to work in the Cresswell lab, which focuses on synthetic methodology. This is a good option if you are interested in synthetic chemistry.

How often you meet with your PhD students 1-1 formally outside of group meetings (i.e. meetings of >30 minutes): At least once per week; Mixture of virtual/in person.

Expected working pattern (based on a full-time student): The expected working pattern is 9am-5pm. Weekend work is not recommended unless absolutely necessary. 

How the second supervisor supports the PhD project: As well as completing a rotation project in the Spencer lab, you will join all Spencer group meetings. In addition, you will meet with Lovell, Laabei, Van den Elsen and Spencer together once per month to discuss project process. 

Notice needed for feedback on work (based on a 5000 word report): < 1 week

Communication: I'm available by e-mail every working day and will try to respond within a few hours. My office door is open for drop-ins between 9am and 5pm. 

Research Group website >>

How day-to-day research training and support is provided: The student will be trained in PNA synthesis and conjugation chemistry using a specialist peptide synthesiser at the University of Bath. In the Pourzand laboratories, the student will be trained in hypoxia imaging assays using a confocal fluorescent microscope equipped with a hypoxia stage. At the University of Bath, we have a dedicated hypoxia imaging facility where trained specialists are on hand. There is wide expertise in the research group of Dr Pourzand in hypoxia assays from a chemical biology perspective, which are key in this basic science approach. Furthermore, we are part of a new collaborating initiative the Research Complex at Harwell, where results will be validated for maximising impact/knowledge transfer in terms of the potential applicability and alignment to the goals of the Nucleic Acid Therapy Accelerator: 'NATA' to homologate brand new therapies and technologies directly targeting genetic mutations (https://www.natahub.org). With Stephen Paisey (Cardiff), the student will be trained in radiation handling techniques, 89-Zr radiolabelling methodologies, animal handling and PET/CT imaging.

Supervision style: Directive support: C / Training structure: 7

How often PhD students see you in a timetabled group meeting: At least once a fortnight

Other research groups that PhD students will have the opportunity to frequently interact with: We are a part of the Centre for Therapeutic Innovation (CT) at Bath, Centre for Bioengineering & Biomedical Technologies (CBio) and collaborate within SAMBa CDT and the Institute of Sustainability, as well as Cancer Research at Bath. Therefore we have frequent joint meetings with collaborating groups under these frameworks and opportunities to interact widely. 

How often you meet with your PhD students 1-1 formally outside of group meetings (i.e. meetings of >30 minutes): At least once per week; Mixture of virtual/in person.

Expected working pattern (based on a full-time student): Core hours expected (10 am – 4 pm) and other time to be managed around this. Depending on the nature of cellular imaging experiments, and availability of centralised kit, there would be reasonable expectations for some hours outside cores to be worked, by arrangement. depending on the experimental project needs, and individual needs of the PhD student. 

How the second supervisor supports the PhD project: Weekly 1:1 meetings which each supervisor, in line with current arrangements with our joint students. Meetings between both supervisors every 2 months and students spend equal amount of time in each labs (Chemistry/Life Sciences at Bath) during PhD.

Notice needed for feedback on work (based on a 5000 word report): < 1 week

Communication: Both supervisors are available to email every day and endeavour to respond within 24 hours during the working week; in practise, it is often within the same working day. We adopt a flexible working pattern so may send emails outside of ‘normal’ working hours, though will not always be in a position to respond to queries straight away. Please be assured that we do not expect a response outside of your own working hours. 

Research Group website >>

How day-to-day research training and support is provided: Following initial training intensive training in bioinformatics and machine learning/AI, the student will be expected to manage their own time/work, with weekly meeting to monitor progress with both supervisors. Both supervisors will be available as required to address problems/questions. 

Supervision style: Directive support: B / Training structure: 8

How often PhD students see you in a timetabled group meeting: At least once a week

Other research groups that PhD students will have the opportunity to frequently interact with: The students will have the opportunity to interact with other students undertaking computer based projects (i.e. programming, bioinformatics) at the Milner Institute (University of Bath).

How often you meet with your PhD students 1-1 formally outside of group meetings (i.e. meetings of >30 minutes): At least once per week; All in person.

Expected working pattern (based on a full-time student): The student will be expected to work core hours, i.e. 10am – 4pm, although given that this project is computer-based, this could be either on-site or off-site.

How the second supervisor supports the PhD project: The second supervisor will attend the weekly meeting and will provide support (as required) outside of this regular meetings.

Notice needed for feedback on work (based on a 5000 word report): < 1 week

Communication: I am available on site most days and can also be contacted by email.

Research Group website >>

How day-to-day research training and support is provided: The student will receive training from the PI and other members the lab including current PhD students and technical staff. 

Supervision style: Directive support: B / Training structure: 8

How often PhD students see you in a timetabled group meeting: At least once a week

Other research groups that PhD students will have the opportunity to frequently interact with: - Regular meetings with students in the Nematomorph Genome Consortium (including students from University of Kyoto, University of Otago) – Annual in person meetings with Mark Viney's research group at the University of Liverpool to discuss parasitology. Students present work and lead discussions at these meetings. – Annual meetings with the Kikuchi parasitology laboratory at the University of Tokyo (usually online and occasionally in person). – Shared laboratory and office space with the Laabei lab (co-supervisor) facilitating interaction with students from this group working on microbiology

How often you meet with your PhD students 1-1 formally outside of group meetings (i.e. meetings of >30 minutes): At least once per week; In person.

Expected working pattern (based on a full-time student): The working pattern will be flexible to meet the requirements and preference of the student. Students have structured meeting schedules each week for lab meetings and 1-1 supervisor meetings but will have freedom to set up experiments at the time of day they prefer. If the student requires additional support to plan experiments etc this will be discussed and more structure introduced as needed. Students are encouraged to manage their own time schedules. 

How the second supervisor supports the PhD project: Monthly online meetings will be set up and approximately every 6-9 months in person meetings will take place. 

Notice needed for feedback on work (based on a 5000 word report): 1-2 weeks

Communication: Vicky Hunt is expected to be on campus and available most days Monday – Friday for non-scheduled meetings and discussions. Contact is also available by email and through a lab Slack account.