Wessex One Health BBSRC scholarship: How do bacteria adapt to their environment? (2026)

What you get

PhD studentships cover four years of UK or International PhD fees and a tax free maintenance allowance (currently £20,780  in 2024-5) plus some research and travel costs.

Type of award

PhD scholarship

PhD project

How do bacteria adapt to their environment?

Theme(s): Microbial Evolution and Drug Resistance

Lead partner: University of Sussex 
Supervisor:  Prof Adam Eyre-Walker: a.c.eyre-walker@sussex.ac.uk 

Joint partner: UKHSA
Supervisor: Hassan Hartman:  Hassan.Hartman@ukhsa.gov.uk 

Project Summary

Like all organisms, bacteria must adapt to their ever-changing environment. However, unlike eukaryotes they can achieve this in two very different ways; by undergoing adaptive evolution in the genes that they already have, as eukaryotes do, and by acquiring new genes from other sources. The aim of the project is to study both aspects of adaptation in bacteria, considering both pathogenic and non-pathogenic species. During the project we will construct pangenomes from species which have tens of thousands of sequenced strains and apply newly developed tests to investigate whether the accessory genes, genes that are present in only some strains, are adaptive. At the same time, we will apply a range of other population genetic tests to investigate adaptation in both the core and accessory genes. The project will analyse pre-existing data using a variety of population genetic tests. The project will offer the student training in Big Data, bioinformatics, computer programming, statistical analysis, population genomics and evolutionary biology.

Eligibility

Who we are looking for

You will have the ambition, motivation and scientific curiosity to research new approaches to combatting infectious diseases in the themes of:

• Detection, prevention and intervention
• Microbial evolution and drug resistance
• Understanding disease spread
• Infection and cellular biology. 

You will have or expect to have an MSc, and/or a first or upper second honours degree in a relevant subject. We welcome applications from graduates of all universities, and from candidates already in work, or returning after a career break.

Note: Lab experience is desirable but not essential as all successful applicants will be trained in basic lab skills where applicable.

The Scholarships are open to both UK and International applicants.  However international places are limited as 70% of each cohort must be Home Students.  In addition, some of the partner laboratories have nationality or residency requirements due to security clearance checks on their researchers.  Please contact the supervisors for details of any further requirements for this project.

Number of scholarships available

One for this project but 17 PhD studentships are available for October 2026  across the programme. 

Deadline

How to apply

Please apply by submitting an application form for a Wessex One Health scholarship and completing our EDI survey

You will find this project listed in Section 14 of the application form.

If you are invited for interview, you should contact the supervisors ahead of the interview, but you are welcome to contact them before applying to find out more about the project.

Contact us

For Sussex-specific enquiries contact pgr-scholarships@sussex.ac.uk

For information on this project, contact the Sussex supervisor:  Prof Adam Eyre-Walker: a.c.eyre-walker@sussex.ac.uk 

For further information on the programme or application process, email WOH@surrey.ac.uk.

You might also be interested in

You can find out more about the Wessex One Health Programme here,

Timetable

The timetable is as follows:

Submission deadline: Midnight Friday 23 January 2026

Shortlisting: by 13 February 2026

Online interviews: Online, week beginning 3 March 2026