Modelling gene expression in budding yeast

Gene expression is fundamental to life, but only recently have we appreciated how stochastic, or "noisy", this process is, with the numbers of proteins and mRNAs changing substantially over time in any particular cell. Such fluctuations are important: sometimes allowing one cell to survive environmental stress while its genetically identical neighbour does not.

SULSA is funding a Ph.D. studentship to investigate and model stochastic gene expression in budding yeast, one of the most studied eukaryotes.  Although there is a consensus on how gene expression should be modelled in bacteria, there are several different ad hoc approaches for eukaryotes.

Working with Professor Peter Swain (Edinburgh) and Dr. Ian Stansfield (Aberdeen), the SULSA student will experimentally examine the key factors generating stochasticity using a combination of systems and synthetic biology. The aim is to establish a standard for other models in yeast and higher eukaryotes. By constructing synthetic transcriptional and translational control loops in a simple biochemical network, the student will test both the model and the efficiency of the two types of control for damping or amplifying stochastic fluctuations.

Applicants should be a graduate from a U.K. or E.U. university with a
2.1 or 1st class degree, or an equivalent qualification, in either the physical sciences or the biological sciences, but with strong mathematical training.

The student will be based in Edinburgh at the Centre for Systems Biology at Edinburgh in a new, purpose-built building, but will also take advantage of the expertise and facilities of the Institute of Medical Sciences in Aberdeen, where Dr. Stansfield is based.

All tuition and living expenses of £13,000 per year will be provided by SULSA and the School of Biological Sciences of the University of Edinburgh.

Interested candidates should contact either Peter Swain
(peter.swain@ed.ac.uk) or Ian Stansfield (i.stansfield@abdn.ac.uk).

The expected start date is Autumn 2010. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.