The School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences at Queen Mary is one of the UK’s elite research centres, according to the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF). We offer a multi-disciplinary research environment and have approximately 180 PhD students working on projects in the biological and psychological sciences. Our students have access to a variety of research facilities supported by experienced staff, as well as a range of student support services.
Our PhD students become part of Queen Mary’s Doctoral College which provides training and development opportunities, advice on funding, and financial support for research. Our students also have access to a Researcher Development Programme designed to help recognise and develop key skills and attributes needed to effectively manage research, and to prepare and plan for the next stages of their career.
Hemp is a botanical class of cannabis that is grown specifically for industrial or medicinal use. Its use in healthcare is rapidly growing, resulting in an estimated market size of $16 bn, with its growth rate well above the average for a new therapeutic. Its appeal stems from its uniqueness to act on multiple molecular pathways and receptors, simultaneously addressing co-morbidities such as appetite, anxiety, inflammation and pain perception. It has the potential to address key unmet clinical needs, including patient adherence and improved quality of life.
Understandably, it has attracted great interest from both pharmaceutical and healthcare institutes. In collaboration with industrial partners, we have been able to systematically understand some of these behavioural changes made by hemp as well as their respective targets.
Our aim now is to leverage machine learning (ML) to rapidly accelerate our research and to precisely predict the effects of different hemp extracts provided by industrial partners. However, this endeavour faces specific challenges. Hemp, with its multiple components, is complex to represent using traditional molecular descriptors.
Combined with the limited data available for such an emerging therapeutic, especially one that results in simultaneous multiple outputs, standard ML pipelines become inadequate. To address these intricacies, the project will develop an innovative ML pipeline focusing on three core features:
Collectively, these elements will produce an ML pipeline equipped to efficiently map the complex interactions between hemp's components and their therapeutic effects, which will be the primary outcome, with the prospect of yielding a new therapeutic for treating mental disorders. Both in vitro and in vivo experiments will be used to refine the active learner at each query iteration, therefore, the student will have gained both advanced ML and laboratory skills.
This studentship is open to students applying for China Scholarship Council funding. Queen Mary University of London has partnered with the China Scholarship Council (CSC) to offer a joint scholarship programme to enable Chinese students to study for a PhD programme at Queen Mary. Under the scheme, Queen Mary will provide scholarships to cover all tuition fees, whilst the CSC will provide living expenses for 4 years and one return flight ticket to successful applicants.
Applicants must be:- Chinese students with a strong academic background.- Students holding a PR Chinese passport.- Either be resident in China at the time of application or studying overseas.- Students with prior experience of studying overseas (including in the UK) are eligible to apply. Chinese QMUL graduates/Masters’ students are therefore eligible for the scheme.Please refer to the CSC website for full details on eligibility and conditions on the scholarship.
Applications are invited from outstanding candidates with or expecting to receive a first or upper-second class honours degree in an area relevant to the project (biology, pharmacology, neuroscience, biotechnology). A masters degree is desirable, but not essential.
Informal enquiries about the project can be sent to Caroline Brennan at c.h.brennan@qmul.ac.uk.
Formal applications must be submitted through our online form by 31st January 2024 for consideration, including a CV, personal statement and qualifications. You must meet the IELTS/ English Language requirements for your course and submit all required documentation (including evidence of English Language) by 14th March 2024. You are therefore strongly advised to sit an approved English Language test as soon as possible.
Shortlisted applicants will be invited for a formal interview by the supervisor. If you are successful in your application, then you will be issued an QMUL Offer Letter, conditional on securing a CSC scholarship along with academic conditions still required to meet our entry requirements. Once applicants have obtained their QMUL Offer Letter, they should then apply to CSC for the scholarship by in March 2024 with the support of the supervisor.
Only applicants who are successful in their application to CSC can be issued an unconditional offer and enrol on our PhD programme. For further information, please go to: https://www.qmul.ac.uk/scholarships/items/china-scholarship-council-scholarships.html
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