PhD in Plant Sciences

University of Cambridge

The Department of Plant Sciences is an outstanding University Centre for research in plant and microbial sciences. It offers excellent research and training opportunities in the following areas of plant and microbial science: Cell function & responses to the environment Developmental biology & signalling Genetics and epigenetics Ecosystem function and conservation Evolution and diversity Microbiology & biotic interactions Plant pathology and epidemiology Mathematical biology Enhancing photosynthesis Biotechnology and engineering The Crop Science Centre is an alliance between the University of Cambridge's Department of Plant Sciences and the crop research organisation NIAB. The Centre will serve as a global hub for crop science research and a base for collaborations with research partners around the world. The degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) is the University's principal research degree. A PhD in Plant Sciences takes three to four years of full-time study to complete (or four to seven years part-time) and consists of research and courses as required under academic supervision. Applicants should contact a potential supervisor before proceeding with their PhD application. You can browse the personal/group pages of the Research Group Leaders to check details of their research. The aim of PhD training is to develop a deep theoretical and practical understanding through research into aspects of Plant Sciences, augmented by appropriate lecture courses delivered within the department or, more generally, across the Postgraduate School of Life Sciences. The course provides training in a wide range of disciplines, including plant genetic engineering, plant development, plant molecular biology, plant biochemistry, plant-microbe interactions, microbiology, plant ecology, crop biology, plant virology, plant epigenetics, epidemiology, plant taxonomy, plant physiology, eco-physiology, and bioinformatics. Having identified a research area of interest and contacted the appropriate Supervisor, the first stage in developing an application should be to draft an appropriate research summary of the training to be undertaken. Full-time PhD students must submit a thesis for examination by the end of their fourth year of study, although we encourage students and their supervisors to complete the thesis and submit it within the period of funding support, which, depending on the programme, may range from three to four years. All postgraduate students attend induction and safety training courses in the department. In addition to undertaking their research, students will attend relevant courses and lectures, for example, instrumentation, sequencing and database use, statistics, experimental design, analysing data, writing reports and a thesis, and how to give effective scientific presentations. Students are expected to take part in the Postgraduate School of Life Sciences' Researcher Development Programme. Students receive termly reports on their work.