FSE PhD President's Doctoral Scholarship: Interdisciplinary Methods for Liquid Crystal-Based Biosensing

The University of Manchester; Manchester; On-site; GBP 22,000 - 23,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of Manchester invites applications for a four-year PhD studentship funded by UKRI. The successful candidate will study liquid crystals and their use in bio-sensing, employing mathematical modelling, ex-vivo experiments, and in-silico studies.

The project aims to quantify LC-cell interactions and develop signals for sensing. Stipend is £21,805 per year plus £1,000 per annum enhancement, with a research training grant up to £20,000 for the full four-year programme; international

Responsibilities

• Develop mathematical models for LC–surface interactions.
• Perform benchmark experiments on LC interactions with epithelial tissue.
• Validate models with experimental data and develop ML tools for LC sensing outputs.

Skills

Mathematical modelling

Machine learning

Ex vivo experiments

Bio-sensors

Tools

Neural networks

Job description

This4-yearPhDstudentshipisopentobothHome(UK)andinternationalapplicants.Thesuccessfulcandidatewillreceive an annualstipendattheUKRIminimumrate(currently£21,805peryear)plus£1,000/annumenhancement,andaresearchtrainingsupportgrantofupto£20,000forthefull4-yearprogramme. This project is in competition for funding with other projects. Usually, the projects that receives the best applicants will be successful.

Liquidcrystals(LCs)areexceptionallyversatileandfunctionalmesophasesthatcombinefluiditywiththeorderingofsolids.LCshavetremendouspotentialaslow-costandnon-invasivebio-sensorsandhavebeenusedtosenseglucose,proteins,enzymes,cells,micromoleculesetc.Inthisproject,wewillusemathematicalmodelling,ex-vivo(laboratory)andin-silicoexperimentstoquantifythefundamentalinteractionsbetweenLCsandprototypecells.Thiswilladdressopenquestionson-(i)howinterfacialLC-cellinteractionsinducereorientationandstructuralchangesinLCsand(ii)howthesechangescanbeusedtoproducequantifiablesignals.Thesesignalscanbeusedforsensingdifferenttypesofcells,fordetectinginfectedcellsandfortargeteddrugdelivery.Theprojecthasfourcoreobjectivesincorporatedintoworkpackages(WP)attheinterfaceofmathematicalmodelling,mechanics,machinelearningandlaboratoryexperiments,aslistedbelow.

• [1]WPI:DevelopnovelmathematicalmodelsforLCinteractionswithsoftflexiblesurfaces,representativeofhumantissue;
• [2]WPII:performbenchmarkexperimentsonhowLCsinteractwithepithelialtissueandcells;
• [3]WPIII:validateandrefinemodelswithexperimentaldataand
• [4]WPIII:developneuralnetworks/machinelearningtoolsfortranslationofLCoutputstosensingapplications,e.g.indigitaldiagnosticsandhealthcare.

TheseWPswillsetupaparadigmaticframeworkforthedesignofLCbiosensorswithbespokeproperties.

ThisprojectisexpectedtostartinSeptember2027.

£21,805 plus £1,000 per annum enhancement