Synthetic Organic Chemistry PhD Studentship - Total Synthesis of New Polyketide Natural Product Antibiotic for the Treatment of ESKAPE Infections

Postgraduate Opportunities

Newcastle University

Reference code: CY031
Closing date: 1 July 2016
Sponsor: Rosetrees Trust
Start date & duration of the award: 26 September 2016 for 3 years
Person Specification
To qualify, you must have experience and a passion for organic synthesis. You should have, or expect to receive, a 2.1 or above Bachelors (BSc) or Masters (MChem/MSc) degree in chemistry.
You must be creative, hardworking, dedicated, work well as part of a team of researchers and be keen on problem solving.
If your first language is not English you need an overall IELTS score of 6.0.
Project Description
This is a synthetic organic chemistry PhD project, focussed on the total synthesis of a novel biologically active polyketide (and analogues) for the development of new antibiotics.
The continued rise in infection by drug-resistant bacteria has resulted in an urgent need to discover and develop new antibiotics. As part of our research to find new antibiotics which can overcome drug resistant infections, we recently discovered a new in class polyketide natural product which shows good antibiotic activity against Gram-positive bacteria, including MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) a drug resistant bacteria infectious bacteria. In addition this compound appears to display a novel antibiotic mode of action, minimising the potential for drug resistance developing in the future.
This project is therefore focussed on understanding how this molecule acts as an antibiotic with an aim to develop new clinically useable compounds. This will be achieved through the total synthesis of the naturally occurring polyketide to allow sufficient material for more extensive biological testing and the synthesis of analogues to probe the SAR (structure activity relationship). Through this we will gain insight into the mode of action of this class of compounds and thus to move towards the development of clinical candidates.
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Funding information

Funding applies to:

Open to applicants from a range of countries

Funding notes:

100% tuition fees at the UK/EU rate and an annual stipend at the Research Council UK rate (£14,296 2016/17). Successful non-EU international students will be required to make up the difference between the UK/EU fees and international fees.

Contacts and how to apply

Academic contact:

Dr Michael Hall, School of Chemistry
MJH Research Group, School of Chemistry

Administrative contact and how to apply:

You must apply through the University’s online postgraduate application form. Only mandatory fields need to be completed however, you will need to include the following information:
- insert the programme code: 8100F in the programme of study section
- select ‘PhD School of Chemistry (full time), Chemistry’ as the programme of study
- insert the studentship code CY031 in the studentship/partnership reference field
attach a covering letter, CV and (if English is not your first language) a copy of your English language qualifications. The covering letter must state the title of the studentship, the studentship code and state how your interests and experience relate to the project. No personal statement is required.

Application deadline:

1 July 2016