Opportunities in the School of Biological Sciences

Supervisor: Professor Marc Holderied
Contact: marc.holderied@bristol.ac.uk

I am a bio-acoustician with strong links to bio-inspired engineering.

My current research focusses on acoustic camouflage, and has recently discovered an anti-biosonar stealth cloak in moths, which is ten times more effective than existing sound absorbers.

We are commercialising this discovery into a University spin-out for ultrathin bio-inspired sound absorbers. We are looking for biologists interested in acoustics to explore aspects of acoustic camouflage against bat biosonar.

Supervisor: Professor Claire Grierson
Contact: claire.grierson@bristol.ac.uk

98% of the food we eat ultimately comes from soil, but soil erosion is accelerated by agriculture and climate change.

We are addressing this challenge by discovering how plant roots hold on to soil, identifying the genes, proteins and polysaccharides involved and investigating their production and function. We use model (Arabidopsis) and crop (wheat) plants and a wide range of methods, from molecular genetics and cell biology, to plant biochemistry, soil binding assays, plant uprooting assays and soil erosion tests.

Supervisor: Dr Harry Siviter
Contact: harry.siviter@bristol.ac.uk

I’m interested in the behaviour, ecology, and conservation of pollinators.

Much of my research has focused on the impact of anthropogenic stressors (pesticides, habitat loss, etc) on bumblebee and solitary bee health.

I am also interested in animal cognition and specifically about how bees learn and respond to an ever-changing environment.

I’d be keen to recruit PhD students interested in

1. the impact of anthropogenic stressors on pollinators
2. the relationship between bee cognition and behavioural ecology and
3. the costs and benefits of ecological intensification in agriculture.

Supervisor: Dr Christoph Grueter
Contact: c.grueter@bristol.ac.uk

My group focuses on the behaviour, ecology and evolution of social insects, particularly honeybees.

Our research explores collective decision-making, cognition, foraging behaviour, and communication within insect societies. We investigate how these behaviours evolve and adapt to environmental pressures, with a special interest in cooperative strategies and the impacts of environmental stressors such as habitat changes and climate variation.

We are hoping to recruit a PhD student who wants to explore how environmental changes, such as increasing temperatures and altered land use, affect flower constancy in bees and its impact on their health. By manipulating temperature and flower arrangement, the study will assess how these factors influence foraging patterns, colony dietary diversity, and bee health. Additionally, it will examine genetic markers of stress in bees with narrow diets, providing insights into how environmental pressures impact pollination and bee population resilience.

Supervisor: Professor Christos Ioannou
Contact: c.c.ioannou@bristol.ac.uk

Our research is broadly on the themes of collective behaviour and predator behaviour, using fish as a model system.

Recently we have been investigating the interactions of these behaviours with environmental stressors relevant to anthropogenic change, including effects of temperature, turbidity and acoustic noise, as well as behavioural interactions between invasive and native species.

We use the latest technology (virtual and robotic prey, computer tracking of fish movements) in laboratory and field studies.

Most of our work happens in our state-of-the-art fish facility at the University of Bristol, but we also have field sites in Trinidad (working with wild guppies) and Tanzania (working with wild cichlids).

Programming is a large component of our research to process and analyse large data sets, primarily using R. I would be able to supervise a PhD student in any of these areas.

Although we are based in the School of Biological Sciences, those with backgrounds in physics, engineering, mathematics, psychology and computer science and with a strong interest in animal behaviour are very welcome to apply, as well as biologists. We particularly welcome and encourage applications from under-represented groups and disadvantaged backgrounds.

There is the option for these research degrees to be conducted part-time or with flexible working. Please see https://ioannougroup.com/ for more information and our publication list.

Supervisor: Dr Nathalie Stroeymeyt
Contact: nathalie.stroeymeyt@bristol.ac.uk

Our research focuses on studying collective behaviour, communication, and spreading processes in complex networked societies such as ant colonies.

Our overarching aims are to understand how elaborate collective patterns, such as spatial division of labour within the nest, emerge from simple individual-level behavioural rules, and how social and spatial heterogeneities influence the transmission of information, resources and pathogens through the group.

In recent years, we have mainly focused on the strategies used by ants to reduce their susceptibility to epidemics when faced with an infectious pathogen, from individual responses (personal immunity) to alarm communication and whole-colony changes in spatial and social organisation.

This research programme relies on a combination of cutting-edge techniques for data collection (automated individual tracking, micro-CT scanning of ant nests), data analysis (social network analysis, machine learning, deep learning) and mathematical modelling (simulation of contagious processes over time-ordered networks).

Possible research directions for a future PhD students include studying the dynamics of spread of alarm signals, and how they help mount a collective response against external threats; and how ants flexibly adjust their nest architecture in order to achieve collective resilience in the face of environmental fluctuations.

Supervisor: Professor Martin Genner
Contact: m.genner@bristol.ac.uk

The group studies the ecology of evolution of life in aquatic ecosystems, with the objective of learning about the processes that have shaped modern biodiversity and enable it to persist in a changing world.

Study systems include East African freshwaters, European seas, and the Southern Ocean.

We use a variety of methods, including genome-based approaches, detailed anatomical studies, environmental DNA, and ecological modelling.

For further information, visit https://martingenner.weebly.com/.

Supervisor: Dr Sinead English
Contact: sinead.english@bristol.ac.uk

Dr Sinead English leads the Evolution and Vector Ecology laboratory where research of the group focuses on two main themes:

1. how does stress during pregnancy (e.g. nutrition, infections, heatwave) impact outcomes for mothers and offspring;
2. how do insect populations cope with environmental change and what are the implications particularly for insect vectors of disease?

They use a range of themes including experiments on unusual insects (e.g. Diploptera and Glossina, insects which give birth to live young), comparative studies, theoretical models and analyses of long-term population cohort studies (e.g. Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, ALSPAC).

Supervisor: Dr Patrick Kennedy
Contact: patrick.kennedy@bristol.ac.uk

In the ‘Social Strategy Lab’, we study the fascinating evolution of cooperation and conflict in animals.

We use a combination of theoretical models and behavioural experiments (especially with social insects).

Current postgraduate students in the lab are exploring the evolution of social behaviour in wasps (with fieldwork in Africa and Australia) and developing game theory models to explain how animal societies evolve.

For the CSC Scholarship, I am especially keen to hear from students who would like to develop new theoretical models of social conflict, using mathematical approaches and computer simulations. If you think this might be you, get in touch with me to discuss further.

Supervisor: Professor Thomas Gorochowski
Contact: thomas.gorochowski@bristol.ac.uk

My lab explores the molecular-scale mechanisms that individual cells and groups of cells use to make sense of their world.

We apply tools and methods from the field of synthetic biology to create new living systems from the ground-up. By studying these artificial systems using novel techniques we are developing based on sequencing, high-throughput phenotyping assays and computational modelling, we aim to better understand the rules governing how biological parts are best pieced together to perform useful computations.

Understanding the computational architecture of cells opens new ways of reprogramming them to tackle problems spanning the sustainable production of materials to novel therapeutics. It also provides key insights into how biology controls the complex processes and structures sustaining life.

Supervisor: Dr Beatriz Gonçalves
Contact: beatriz.goncalves@bristol.ac.uk

In our research group we study the origin of flowering plant shape diversity which has evolved from a range of interactions between plants and their environment.

Key questions we are interested in are:

• What are the processes of development that shape a diversity of floral organs?
• Is there a shared developmental origin between leaves and floral organs?
• What evolutionary processes enabled the diversification of floral organs?

To decipher the origin of flower shape diversity, our research explores how the various cellular and molecular processes that control plant organ development evolve.

We are particularly interested in the evolution of the carpel which is the organ that produces seeds and gives rise to the fruit.

Supervisor: Professor Jill Harrison
Contact: jill.harrison@bristol.ac.uk

My group aims to identify developmental genetic changes enabling vascular plants to originate during evolution. To this end, we are investigating the genetic basis of sporangium development using forward genetics in a moss, and shoot apex function in a range of plant species, including mosses, liverworts and lycophytes. We are also applying the knowledge we generate to improve yield in wheat.

Supervisor: Dr Martin de Kauwe
Contact: m.dekauwe@bristol.ac.uk

Climate change is rapidly transforming the growing conditions of terrestrial ecosystems, with widespread evidence of more frequent, intense, and prolonged droughts and heatwaves.

Our research group is focussed on improving our capacity to predict the resilience on trees species to extreme weather events.

We would be keen to recruit students interested in applying modelling, remote sensing or experimental approaches to advance our understanding of plant responses to drought or temperature extremes.

Supervisor: Dr Pierre Buscaill
Contact: pierre.buscaill@bristol.ac.uk

Researching plant immunity and pathogen interactions, particularly focusing on the molecular mechanisms that underlie plant defence responses and their application in enhancing crop resilience.

Supervisor: Dr Chris Clements
Contact: c.clements@bristol.ac.uk

My group is interested whether we can predict what ecological systems are at risk of collapse in the face of global environmental change, with a focus on resilience loss and early warning signals.

We tackle these issues by analysing data from global data sets of biodiversity change and data from high-tech robotic experimental system laboratory systems.

Supervisor: Professor Andy Radford
Contact: andy.radford@bristol.ac.uk

We have two main research themes.

The first considers social evolution - cooperation, conflict and its consequences, and vocal communication - in a range of taxa, including mongooses, birds, cichlid fish and paper wasps.

The second research theme is more applied, investigating the impacts of human disturbance (especially noise and light pollution) on wildlife and how we might mitigate and manage anthropogenic impacts; much of this work is on marine species living on coral reefs.

Supervisor: Dr Stephen Montgomery
Contact: s.montgomery@bristol.ac.uk

We are interested in how brains evolve to produce behavioural and ecological diversity.

To try to understand these links, we combine a range of approaches, including behaviour and ecology, neuroanatomy and development, and comparative genomics.

We are open to CSC students interested in using genomic data to explore these topics in a phylogenetic or developmental context.

Supervisor: Dr Jim Fouracre
Contact: jim.fouracre@bristol.ac.uk

My group is interested in how developmental timing is regulated in plants.

To do this we predominantly use vegetative phase change, and the regulatory network of miR156 and the SPL family of transcription factors, as a model experimental system.

Current projects include how miR156 is regulated spatially and temporally and how we can optimise miR156 activity to improve crop yields.

Supervisor: Dr Lucy Alford
Contact: lucy.alford@bristol.ac.uk

Climate change is leading to warming winters in temperate regions. As a result, many beneficial insects are no longer entering into a winter diapause and are instead remaining winter-active. This increased winter activity will render insects increasingly vulnerable to unpredictable cold events brought about by climate change, with implications for the valuable ecosystem services they provide (e.g. pest control, pollination).

Through combining fields of thermophysiology, functional biodiversity and applied ecology, our research aims to better understand how we can provide targeted and multifaceted support for insects in a changing climate to safeguard biodiversity and food security for the future.

Supervisor: Dr Jordi Paps Montserrat
Contact: jordi.paps@bristol.ac.uk

Our lab is interested in the genomic basis of major evolutionary transitions, such as the origin of the Animal Kingdom, land plants, parasites, or terrestrial animals.

We use comparative genomic approaches in an evolutionary framework to understand how organisms and genes have evolved together and pinpoint which genes.

We also have projects using genes to reconstruct the evolutionary history of organisms or important gene families. We work with a large range of organisms, with emphasis on the Animal Kingdom and invertebrates.

Supervisor: Dr Tommaso Jucker
Contact: t.jucker@bristol.ac.uk

Our group is broadly focused on understanding the processes that shape the structure, diversity and function of the world’s forests, in an effort to predict how these will respond to rapid environmental change.

We do this using everything from manipulative experiments, long-term field observations, remote sensing and modelling.

Supervisor: Professor Nicholas Roberts
Contact: nicholas.roberts@bristol.ac.uk

My research spans many aspects of visual ecology and animal vision, while working to understand the impacts of light pollution.

I am also very interested by new optical principles that animals exploit for visually guided behaviours. I would be pleased to recruit new PhD students interested in studying light pollution and visual cues associated with insect navigation.