A research degree in the Faculty of Biological Sciences is an opportunity to gain and develop skills as an independent researcher in your chosen field. Under the supervision of your lead supervisor and one or more co-supervisors, you will get the chance to carry out cutting-edge research on a particular biological problem and to become part of a large research community using multi-disciplinary approaches to tackle today’s important research questions. Throughout your PhD you will not only strengthen your research skills and knowledge within your research area but also develop skills through our training programmes as well as through attendance as seminars and conferences.Our research focuses on skeletal muscle structure and function using a range of approaches from assessment of fundamental molecular mechanisms that underlie excitation-contraction coupling through to whole-body functional measures that underpin muscle performance. Our interests lie in the muscle itself, including blood vessels and fibre composition, as well as in the neural mechanisms and pathways through which the central nervous system and skeletal muscles communicate.