The Undergraduate College Scholarships studentship will cover UK/EU tuition fees for three years, plus an annual stipend of £13,590pa for three years. Viruses are the most abundant replicating entities on the planet, with an estimated 1031 viruses in the oceans alone. Marine viruses have a number of interesting roles in marine ecosystems, including as a significant agent of plankton mortality, as carriers of genes between microbial hosts, and as drivers of evolutionary change. However, viruses are not currently well represented (or often not represented at all) in marine ecosystem models, so it is hard to quantify the impacts of viruses on ecosystem function. This has significant implications for predictions of the marine carbon cycle and its response to global change.
This Undergraduate College Scholarships fully funded project will develop theoretical models of viruses in the marine ecosystem, in order to better understand their role in ecology, evolution and ecosystem function. The student will join a research team that is seeking to understand marine microbial ecology and evolution through the use of sophisticated computer simulations. A key goal of this work is to understand the response of marine ecosystems to global change. This project offers the opportunity to work in the important and fast-developing area of marine ecosystem research. The Undergraduate College Scholarships student will develop generic skills in computational modelling of complex systems, as well as domain-specific knowledge of the marine microbial ecosystem. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in mathematics, physics, computer science or another quantitative discipline, as well as a keen interest in biology and environmental science. Undergraduate College Scholarships Within the broad remit described above there is some flexibility for the student to direct their own research and we welcome relevant project proposals.
Scholarship Application Deadline: 30 May 2011
Further Scholarship Information and Application
