Dear All, please spread this announcement to all who might be interested. Thanks. Best regards, Jan -----8<--------------------------------------------------------- PhD Studentship: Towards Principles of Spatiotemporal Organisation of Gene Expression Project Description: Having obtained access to entire genomes and a growing amount and diversity of molecular data, the biosciences now face the challenge to find principles underlying the organisation of living systems. Two hallmarks that currently attract attention are biological networks and spatially extended structures. The objective of this project is to explore principles that emerge at the interface between these two, using computational models and integrating them with molecular data. The emergence of biological complexity by interactions between network structure and spatial structure formation is expected to be an important principle, enabling efficient encoding of amazingly complex phenotypic structures using genetic information amounting to just a few hundred megabytes. In this project, you will conduct computational studies of gene expression and morphogenesis. You will develop computer models of these biological processes, use these to systematically generate synthetic data, and analyse these, using statistics and machine learning approaches, in order to identify characteristic features and principles of the spatiotemporal dynamics of biological development. The project will be carried out within the Computational Biology Laboratory at the School of Computing Sciences. Co-operation with with colleagues in the School of Biological Sciences, the Institute of Food Research, and the John Innes Centre provides unique opportunities for validating and improving your models using empirical data. Working on this project requires skills / experience in (1) computer models of complex biological systems and processes (2) handling and interpreting biological data (ideally experience with microarray analysis) (3) software development and scientific computing in a Linux (or other Unix) environment. While the project provides opportunities to develop and extend these skills, some experience in one or more of these areas is desirable. Candidates should hold a degree in Computing, in the Biosciences or an allied subject. Preference will be given to those with serious interest, or experience, in work in the interdisciplinary field of computing and the biosciences. Applicants are therefore strongly encouraged to mention all experience or interests that may be pertinent to the project. Starting Date: 1st October 2005 Funding: Students can expect funding to cover all fees, together with a maintenance grant, up to an annual combined budget of L 16K Duration: 3 years Application procedure: Applicants should complete the application form available from http://www.cmp.uea.ac.uk/admissions/researchdegree.jsp . For informal enquiries on the project, please contact Jan T. Kim (jtk at cmp.uea.ac.uk). General enquiries about the application procedure should be directed to the Science Group Graduate Office (scipg at uea.ac.uk). Closing date: 22 July 2005