ABOUT US

PhD studentships are available at the UCL Division of Infection and Immunity in the research team led by Prof. Paola Bonfanti currently based at the Francis Crick Institute.
The Division of Infection and Immunity is part of the UCL Faculty of Medical Sciences, which brings together UCL Medical School and five other Divisions spanning clinical and basic biomedicine. The Francis Crick Institute (The Francis Crick Institute) is an institute of biomedical research, with a commitment to excellence, emphasis on multidisciplinary research, and a mission of promoting young and emerging talents, creating partnership with leading Universities and Institutions.
Three studentships are funded for 3 years by a European Research Council (ERC Advanced Grant, Horizon Europe Guarantee Scheme) research grant that aims at developing an innovative cross-disciplinary approach to understand and drive thymus regeneration, combining clinical data, in vivo models, advanced ex vivo and in vitro technologies with computational science. This overall research aims to transform how thymus-related conditions are treated, with potential impacts on ageing, cancer, and immune disorders.
The PhD projects are inter-linked and will cover a combination of experimental and computational approaches to investigate thymus function. The main experimental techniques include mammalian cell culture, advanced imaging, molecular biology, bioengineering and in vivo models. Computational techniques include analysis and integration of datasets from single cell transcriptomics, spatial transcriptomics and proteomics combined with machine learning approaches.
Prof. Bonfanti directs an interdisciplinary team, across the two main institutions. The proposed project stems from a joint collaborative effort with UCL as University partner and developed thanks to the Secondment programme UCL/Crick of the lead applicants who have access to all STPs and Crick scientific environment. The Crick support staff collaboratively working across disciplines to understand the fundamental biology of health and disease and the translational science team helps rapidly turning discoveries into treatments. The Crick’s Science Technology Platforms (STPs) provide researchers with access to state-of-the-art equipment and technical advice in the effective use of the technologies e.g., spatial technologies platforms, imaging, advanced sequencing, bioinformatic support and mouse genetic modification service.
See https://www.crick.ac.uk/research/labs/paola-bonfanti for further background information.

Comprehensive Training: The purpose of the training is to support the PhD students for 3 years to do internationally leading science in one of the project areas indicated above. The primary supervisor, together with the thesis committee members, will support the student during the PhD progress.
Outstanding scientific environment: Students will be based at the Francis Crick Institute according to the secondment agreement described above. Students will be registered in the UCL Division of Infection & Immunity, which has an impressive scientific output. The Division and the Crick organise regular internal and external seminars, journal clubs, and clinical meetings.
Professional Development: The students will not only gain research training but also develop a deeper understanding of the importance of their research for patients. The student will receive training in the ethical aspects of the research involving patients and tissue. They will present their research at national and international conferences, providing an opportunity to meet their peers and experts in the field.