Wessex One Health Doctoral Landscape Award Scholarships 2027

Wessex One Health BBSRC Doctoral Landscape Award scholarships (2027)

What you get

PhD studentships cover four years of UK or International PhD fees and a tax free maintenance allowance (currently £21,805 in 2026-7) plus some research and travel costs.

Type of award

PhD scholarship

PhD project

About Wessex One Health (WOH)

Sussex supervisors are offering the following projects for September 2027:

• Investigating how RNA binding proteins shape host-virus dynamics during FMDV infection (Dr Ben Towler/Pirbright
• Fighting the next global pandemic: Structural characterisation, virtual screening, and translational antifungal testing of novel alternative oxidase (AOX) (Prof Erika Mancini/UKHSA)
• Paralysis in the hive: epidemiology and persistence of a neglected virus pathogen of honeybees (Prof Bill Hughes/APHA)
• How nutrition and climate change influence viral infection outcomes in bumblebees (Dr Beth Nicholls/Pirbright)
• Targeting viral entry through a Wnt/B-catenin signalling axis (Dr Rhys Morgan/UKHSA)
• Multiscale modelling of respiratory virus transmission to identify drivers of infection and optimise targeted interventions in healthcare settings (Dr Chris Hadjichrysanthou/UKHSA)
• Mutational signatures: decoding the forces shaping pathogen evolution (Prof Frances Pearl/Pirbright)
• Understanding Mycobacterium tuberculosis in vivo phenotypes to discover new drug and vaccine targets (Prof Simon Waddell/UKHSA)
• Heavy Metal Exposure, Biofilms, and Antimicrobial Resistance in Clinically Important Bacterial Pathogens (Dr Leena Al-Hassan/Dstl)
• Where do bats go and who do they meet? Using novel ecological monitoring methods to understand potential transmission pathways of European Bat Lyssavirus 1.(Prof Fiona Matthews/Pirbright
• Modelling the impact of repeated antibiotic exposure on antimicrobial resistance (Dr Chris Hadjichrysanthou/UKHSA) – based at UKSHA
• X-ray inactivation of viruses for structurally preserved public health diagnostic reagents.(Dr Ed Wright/UKHSA) based at UKHSA
• Understanding the spillover risk of bat alphacoronaviruses in Sub-Saharan Africa (Dr Ed Wright/UKHSA) based at UKHSA

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 but 70% of each cohort of students must be UK and some of the host laboratories have further nationality or residency requirements for their researchers, so bear this in mind when selecting your four project preferences.

In order to be eligible to apply for the necessary security clearance, applicants for projects with Dstl must be a UK national, currently resident in the UK, and have resided in the UK continuously for the past five year. Applicants for projects including laboratory work at APHA, UKHSA or Pirbright Institute must be currently resident in the UK and have at least three years continuous UK residency. Counter Terrorist Check (CTC) clearance is required prior to commencing work at all the above laboratories. Please contact the supervisors of your chosen project if you have any questions. 

The University Admissions team will check your application in detail but in general you count as a UK student if you are 

• a UK national who has been living in the UK or EU for the three years prior to starting your course;
• an EU national with Settled Status;
• an EU national with Pre-Settled status who has been living in the UK or the EU for 3 years prior to starting your course;
• a student with Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK;
• an Irish National (due to a reciprocal agreement with the UK)

All other students (e.g. EU nationals moving to the UK to start their PhD) will count as Overseas students.

Number of scholarships available

18 PhD studentships are available for October 2027 start across the consortium. 

Deadline

How to apply

Applicants should submit a Wessex One Health online application form (not the Sussex application form in the first instance) and complete our EDI by the deadline - midday on January 11th 2027

Prospective students are asked to select up to four projects from those available. The Sussex projects are listed in Section 14 of the application form.

Shorlisted applicants will be invited to an online interview where you will record your responses. If you are invited for interview you should contact your preferred supervisor/s if you have not already done so before applying.

Contact us

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

For information on our Sussesx projects contact our Sussex supervisors named in the project descriptions.

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

You might also be interested in

You can see further information about the Wessex One Health programme here.

Timetable

The timetable is as follows:

• Submission deadline: January 11th 2027 mididay
• Online interviews: w/c March 1st 2027