PhD in Engineering Synthetic Phages to S. aureus Skin Infections

This PhD research project at the University of York aims to develop a novel synthetic phage platform to selectively eliminate pathogenic S. aureus strains while preserving the healthy skin microbiome. The project integrates bioinformatics, metagenomics, synthetic biology, and microbiology, translating computational discovery into laboratory-validated antimicrobial solutions.

This interdisciplinary project bridges in silico discovery and wet-lab experimentation, creating a complete pipeline for phage discovery and engineering.

• Analyze large-scale global skin metagenomic datasets using high-performance computing (HPC)
• Apply advanced bioinformatics and machine-learning tools to identify novel viral genomes
• Discover bacteriophages with potential specificity against S. aureus

• Evaluate infectivity and efficacy against clinical S. aureus isolates
• Select promising phage candidates for experimental validation
• Use synthetic biology and genome engineering to assemble and modify viral genomes
• “Reboot” synthetic bacteriophages in the laboratory.

Motivated candidates with backgrounds in microbiology, biomedical Sciences, biology, biotechnology or related life sciences

Applicants should submit:

• A cover letter outlining research interests and motivation
• A CV highlighting academic background and relevant experience
• Contact details for academic referees (if requested by the department)