Wessex One Health BBSRC scholarship:AI-driven design and evaluation of Pan-Filovirus vaccine antigens (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

AI-driven design and evaluation of Pan-Filovirus vaccine antigens

Theme(s): Infection and Cellular Biology; Detection, Prevention and Intervention

Lead partner: University of Sussex 
Supervisor: Dr Antony Oliver:  antony.oliver@sussex.ac.uk

Joint partner: Dstl    Supervisor: Bethany Auld:  bauld@mail.dstl.gov.uk

Project Summary

Several filoviruses, including Ebola and Marburg viruses, cause severe haemorrhagic fevers in humans and non-human primates, with case fatality rates of up to 90%. Transmitted zoonotically from animal reservoirs, these viruses remain a persistent threat to global health security, particularly in regions with limited access to diagnostics and effective countermeasures. Their potential for rapid spread, high mortality, and societal disruption also makes them a priority for biodefence research.

Current filovirus vaccines are highly specific, providing protection only against individual species or strains rather than the entire filovirus family. This limitation leaves significant gaps in outbreak preparedness and response.

This PhD project, jointly supported by the University of Sussex and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, aims to develop a pan-filovirus vaccine antigen using cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and bioinformatic tools. Platforms such as AlphaFold will be used for structure prediction, while BEpiPred will support B-cell epitope mapping to identify conserved antigenic regions shared across multiple filovirus species. These computational insights will inform antigen design to elicit broad, cross-reactive immune responses.

Experimental validation will employ pseudotyped viruses—non-replicative particles engineered to express viral envelope proteins—enabling safe, high-throughput assessment of antigen expression, immunogenicity, and neutralisation potency and breadth under containment level 2 conditions. Data from these assays will guide refinement and selection of the most promising vaccine candidates.

This interdisciplinary studentship offers a unique opportunity to work at the interface of AI, structural biology, and molecular virology. The ultimate goal is to produce a prototype antigen suitable for preclinical evaluation, thereby strengthening global filovirus preparedness and demonstrating the transformative potential of AI in aiding vaccine design.

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 further 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:   Dr Antony Oliver:  antony.oliver@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