Regulation of polarized trafficking amidst change

• Funding – self-funded/externally sponsored applicants   (PhD Fees can be found here)
• Applications are accepted year round
• Standard Entry dates – January and September
• Applicants are expected to have a degree (equivalent of Honours or Masters) in a relevant discipline.

Multicellular organisms must organize their morphology and physical characteristics. Amidst changes to cell function and specialization, cells must maintain spatiotemporal regulation of communication. We aim to determine the molecular mechanisms of trafficking during dynamic responses to cell changes and specialization. We focus on polarized trafficking, a pathway responsible for intracellular and extracellular communication. These pathways and their components are fundamental, yet despite this importance, we do not understand the mechanisms enabling functional plasticity. The essential and central machinery for polarized trafficking is the exocyst complex. This protein complex and its associated regulatory machinery tethers diverse cargo vesicles to distinct plasma membrane sites. Yet how regulation enables dynamic response amidst change is unclear.  

 We offer projects related to our aims to determine mechanisms for cargo vesicle recognition, reveal a structural ensemble illuminating mechanistic flexibility, and determine the functional mechanism for polarized trafficking-mediated secretion in specialized cells. These projects span stem cell biology to structural biology including cryo-electron microscopy.  

 We harness in vitro reconstitution and structural biology approaches coupled to experimental cell biology in dynamic and complex cell systems. This interdisciplinary approach enables student training in state-of-the-art skills with an expectation to leave the lab as a PhD having mastered two distinct approaches. Together, we will transform our understanding of the role for polarized trafficking in dynamic and specialized cell systems, leading towards a capacity for modulation of communication. 

Our research community thrives on the diversity of students and staff which helps to make the University of Dundee a UK university of choice for postgraduate research.  We welcome applications from all talented individuals and are committed to widening access to those who have the ability and potential to benefit from higher education.