MPhil/PhD Biotechnology

Research in biotechnology at Newcastle spans the Faculty of Medical Sciences (FMS) and the Faculty of Science, Agriculture and Engineering (SAgE). We invite proposals for MPhil and PhD projects in biotechnology across the fields of medical sciences, biological, agricultural and environmental sciences, and marine science and technology.

We offer MPhil and PhD supervision in the following research areas:

Medical sciences

In medical sciences our research focuses on translational medicine, from drug discovery and development to effective product commercialisation and process optimisation. Our key areas are:

the development of drugs for the treatment of cancer and psychiatric disorders
novel antibiotic innovation
design and development of integrated electrochemical and bio-microelectromechanical (bio-MEMS) sensors for application to point-of-care diagnosis of disease processes and sensor technologies for real-time, high content intracellular analysis using polymer-based nanosensor systems

Biological, agricultural and environmental sciences

In biological, agricultural and environmental sciences our research focuses on:

the search and discovery of commercially significant natural products
the production of crops with novel traits
the fundamental role played by micro-organisms in the turnover of pollutants and the production of high value novel compounds, including pharmaceuticals and pesticides.

Marine science and technology

Our work has led to pioneering advancements in developing novel antibiotics and omega-3 oils from plankton. We also explore the industrial applications of marine organisms such as the development of environmentally friendly antifouling coatings.