PhD Studentship (MRC DiMeN)

Talking Electrically to Cells: Discovering Transmembrane Proteins to Improve Cell – Bioelectronic Interfaces for Electroceuticals and Biosensors

How to Apply

Overview

Humans are awash with bioelectrical signals – for example, throughout our nervous system. But out electrical nature goes deeper – diseases such as cancer exhibit altered membrane potentials, and voltage gradients guide cells towards wounds during healing.¹ These are tantalising glimpses of the role bioelectricity plays in both the regulation of life, and of its therapeutic potential.

The challenge

Measuring bioelectrical signals is tricky. Hard, inorganic electrodes radically alter cell behaviour (in vitro cellular phenotype) and trigger adverse responses when inside the body (in vivo foreign body reaction). Single-cell techniques such as patch-clamp are time consuming and impossible at scale.

Fabricating electrodes from soft conductive materials helps,² as do electrode coatings coated which attempt to mimic cell binding molecules or attract cells electrostatically (e.g. RGD peptides, poly-lysine). However, these approaches are often cell agnostic and can leave thick, disordered layers of polymer on the electrode surface – a barrier signal transduction. A better, biology-driven approach is needed.

The opportunity

To combine three ideas from three disciplines – engineering, biology and chemistry to create electrode surfaces that intimately integrate with the cell surface, in an approach widely applicable across bioengineering and the emerging electroceutical industry (the use of electricity in therapeutics).

How

You will take advantage of an existing array of >1,500 soluble recombinant transmembrane proteins,³ and develop approaches to spatially-patterning these onto high-density microelectrode arrays (surfaces that can sense and stimulate electrical signals) using state-of-the-art patterning systems, and charge-carrier sensitive bioconjugation strategies.

You will work closely with biologists, chemists, biophysicists and bioengineers, learn how to apply different forms of surface chemistry, culture cells, develop bioelectronics and use techniques such as high-throughput image analysis in order to evaluate your results.

The team

You will be joining the Complex Interface Team, a new interdisciplinary research group led by Dr Stuart Higgins (School of Physics, Engineering and Technology), working to understand the role of bioelectricity and its application in healthcare. The team is supported by ~£2 million in funding, providing a well-resourced environment to deliver your research.

You will be supervised by Stuart, Professor Gavin Wright (Department of Biology) and Professor Alison Parkin (Department of Chemistry) – giving you access to diverse teams to help you achieve your goals.

Beyond the lab

We publish our Team Ethos proudly for all to see. Stuart is an award-winning supervisor, officially recognised by the UK Council for Graduate Education, and has over 10-years’ experience advocating for best practice in academia.⁴

We are building a new network to unite bioelectricity and bioelectronics expertise across the UK, giving you the opportunity to interact with research, industrial and clinical teams, developing your professional skills and building your network.

By the end of this studentship

You will have highly-desirable interdisciplinary abilities, broad network, and transferable professional skillset, ideally suited for a future career in industrial biomedical roles or academia.

Want to know more? Visit the website of the Complex Interface Team to read more about our work, ethos and values – and if you’re interested, contact Stuart for an informal conversation.

Institutional Requirements

Funding notes (text provided by University of York)

To apply for this course you should hold, or expect to hold, an honours degree in a related subject area for entry into this PhD programme with a 2:1 or first-class honours (or overseas equivalent). If English is not your first language you must provide evidence of your ability. For further details please visit https://www.york.ac.uk/biomedical-research-institute/phd-biomedical-science/.

Funding Notes

Funding notes (text provided by MRC DiMeN DTP)

Studentships are fully funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) for 4yrs. Funding will cover tuition fees, stipend (£20,780 for 2024/25) and project costs. We have a very small number of funded studentships for exceptional international applicants. Please read additional guidance here: View Website

Studentships commence: 21st September 2026

Apply now

All applications are made via the application form accessed on the DiMeN website at www.dimen.org.uk

Please read the full application guidance on the website before submitting an application.

Apply now

M. Levin, ‘Bioelectric signaling: Reprogrammable circuits underlying embryogenesis, regeneration, and cancer’, Cell, vol. 184, no. 8, pp. 1971–1989, Apr. 2021, doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.02.034. ↩
S. G. Higgins, A. Lo Fiego, I. Patrick, A. Creamer, and M. M. Stevens, ‘Organic Bioelectronics: Using Highly Conjugated Polymers to Interface with Biomolecules, Cells, and Tissues in the Human Body’, Adv. Mater. Technol., vol. 5, no. 11, p. 2000384, Nov. 2020, doi: 10.1002/admt.202000384. ↩
L. Wood and G. J. Wright, ‘High-Content Imaging for Large-Scale Detection of Low-Affinity Extracellular Protein Interactions’, SLAS Discovery, vol. 24, no. 10, pp. 987–999, Dec. 2019, doi: 10.1177/2472555219879053. ↩
S. G. Higgins, ‘Understanding scientists is key for science’, Nat. Mater., vol. 18, no. 10, Art. no. 10, Oct. 2019, doi: 10.1038/s41563-019-0432-2. ↩