Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Modular Metabolic Engineering for Netzero Commodity Manufacture PhD 36 months PHD Programme By Loughborough University |TopUniversities
Programme Duration

36 monthsProgramme duration

Tuitionfee

28,600 Tuition Fee/year

Application Deadline

10 Feb, 2025Application Deadline

Main Subject Area

Data Science and Artificial IntelligenceMain Subject Area

Programme overview

Main Subject

Data Science and Artificial Intelligence

Degree

PhD

Study Level

PHD

Study Mode

On Campus

Fuels, chemicals and materials, collectively known as commodity products, are the building blocks of modern industry and economy thanks to their extensive use in manufacturing myriad consumer products. Since almost all these commodities are currently being produced from petroleum or petroleum-derived feedstocks, they are mainly known as petrochemicals. Production of these commodity products from petroleum is not only unsustainable (due to continuous depletion of petroleum resources) but also damaging to the environment (due to the resulting emission of direct and indirect harmful greenhouse gases (GHGs), including CO2, CO, and CH4.
Thus, biological conversion of harmful GHGs into high-value bio-commodities by using them as feedstocks can simultaneously address the challenges of both carbon neutral/ NetZero commodity manufacture and harmful GHG emissions to counteract global warming and climate change. However, biological production of commodities from GHGs is significantly challenging due to the requirement of bespoke designer cell factories to convert gases into commodities of interest. This interdisciplinary project, aims to address this challenge by developing designer cell factories through engineering bespoke biochemical pathways into gas-fermenting bacteria. 
The pathways will be developed through the application of AI-assisted, state-of-the-art machine learning and cheminformatics algorithms, followed by their experimental implementation and optimisation in designer cell factories. These objectives will be achieved through the implementation of both computational and experimental approaches in computational biology, systems biology, synthetic biology and metabolic engineering. 
This project provides an excellent opportunity to work with multidisciplinary research groups within the Chemical Engineering Department at Loughborough University. You will be joining a vibrant and multidisciplinary research community, focusing on tackling some of the most pressing and demanding societal challenges related to sustainability, environment and human health through harnessing the power of machine learning, systems biology, synthetic biology, and metabolic engineering.

Programme overview

Main Subject

Data Science and Artificial Intelligence

Degree

PhD

Study Level

PHD

Study Mode

On Campus

Fuels, chemicals and materials, collectively known as commodity products, are the building blocks of modern industry and economy thanks to their extensive use in manufacturing myriad consumer products. Since almost all these commodities are currently being produced from petroleum or petroleum-derived feedstocks, they are mainly known as petrochemicals. Production of these commodity products from petroleum is not only unsustainable (due to continuous depletion of petroleum resources) but also damaging to the environment (due to the resulting emission of direct and indirect harmful greenhouse gases (GHGs), including CO2, CO, and CH4.
Thus, biological conversion of harmful GHGs into high-value bio-commodities by using them as feedstocks can simultaneously address the challenges of both carbon neutral/ NetZero commodity manufacture and harmful GHG emissions to counteract global warming and climate change. However, biological production of commodities from GHGs is significantly challenging due to the requirement of bespoke designer cell factories to convert gases into commodities of interest. This interdisciplinary project, aims to address this challenge by developing designer cell factories through engineering bespoke biochemical pathways into gas-fermenting bacteria. 
The pathways will be developed through the application of AI-assisted, state-of-the-art machine learning and cheminformatics algorithms, followed by their experimental implementation and optimisation in designer cell factories. These objectives will be achieved through the implementation of both computational and experimental approaches in computational biology, systems biology, synthetic biology and metabolic engineering. 
This project provides an excellent opportunity to work with multidisciplinary research groups within the Chemical Engineering Department at Loughborough University. You will be joining a vibrant and multidisciplinary research community, focusing on tackling some of the most pressing and demanding societal challenges related to sustainability, environment and human health through harnessing the power of machine learning, systems biology, synthetic biology, and metabolic engineering.

Admission Requirements

3.2+
6.5+
92+
Applicants will normally need to hold, or expect to gain, at least a 2:1 undergraduate degree (or UK equivalent) in Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering, Biotechnology, Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Microbiology, Systems Biology, Synthetic Biology, or an appropriate Master’s degree.

10 Feb 2025
3 Years
Oct

International
28,600

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