About the Project
The human gut microbiome is a complex ecosystem shaped by diet, the host and microbial transmission between people. While gut bacterial populations were once thought to be genetically stable, we now know that they can evolve within their hosts over remarkably short timescales. Our research shows that Westernised and less-industrialised populations differ substantially in gut bacterial composition, diversity, microbial sharing and evolutionary patterns, with potential consequences for microbiome…
resilience and human health.
This PhD will explore how Western lifestyles affect the ecology and evolution of gut bacteria. Using more than 6,000 gut metagenomes and state-of-the-art strain-resolved metagenomics, you will:
- Identify ecological and evolutionary signatures associated with industrialisation
- Determine how bacterial populations adapt over time, hosts and environments
- Reconstruct bacterial metabolic niches and investigate how these vary globally
You will gain advanced training in evolutionary theory, microbial ecology, high-resolution metagenomics, sequencing technologies, statistics and computational analysis. Previous exposure to statistics or programming is useful, but specialist methods will be taught through mentorship and collaboration.
During this 4-year DTP programme, you will join an interdisciplinary research environment spanning microbial ecology, evolutionary genomics and bioinformatics. Opportunities include a research visit with collaborators in Poland, international conferences and training courses, and a 3-month industrial placement. The project offers strong publication opportunities and substantial scope to develop your own research questions and scientific direction.
The project is supervised by Prof Falk Hildebrand (https://www.falk.science), Dr Wilfried Haerty (https://www.earlham.ac.uk/profile/wilfried-haerty) based at the Quadram and Earlham Institutes at Norwich Research Park. The team provides complementary expertise in microbial ecology, evolutionary genomics, computational biology and microbial physiology.
Norwich is a compact historic city with a vibrant research and student community, an active independent food, pub and coffee scene, and easy access to the Norfolk countryside and coast.
The Norwich Research Park Biosciences Doctoral Training Programme (NRPDTP) is offering fully funded studentships for October 2027 entry. The programme offers postgraduates the opportunity to undertake a 4-year PhD research project whilst enhancing professional development and research skills through a comprehensive training programme. You will join a vibrant community of world-leading researchers. All NRPDTP students undertake a three-month professional internship placement (PIPS) during their study. The placement offers exciting and invaluable work experience designed to enhance professional development. Full support and advice will be provided by our Professional Internship team.
This project has been shortlisted for funding by the NRPDTP. Shortlisted applicants will be interviewed on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th February 2027.
Visit our website for further information on eligibility and how to apply: https://biodtp.norwichresearchpark.ac.uk
Our partners value diverse and inclusive work environments that are positive and supportive. Students are selected for admission without regard to gender, marital or civil partnership status, disability, race, nationality, ethnic origin, religion or belief, sexual orientation, age or social background.
To maximise accessibility and attract students from underrepresented groups to our programme we have introduced bespoke templates for applicant Personal and Research statements which will enable every applicant to fully represent themselves through providing suitable examples and evidence. These forms are on the NRPDTP website and must be used for these sections of the application form.
Entry requirements
At least UK equivalence Bachelors (Honours) 2:1. English Language requirement (Faculty of Science equivalent: IELTS 6.5 overall, 6 in each category).
Mode of study
Full-time
Start date
1 October 2027
Funding Notes
This project is awarded with a 4-year Norwich Research Park Biosciences Doctoral Training Partnership PhD DTP studentship. The studentship includes payment of tuition fees (directly to the University), a stipend to cover living expenses (2026/27 stipend rate: £21,805, and a Research Training Support Grant of £5,000pa for each year of the studentship.
References
Hildebrand, et al. Dispersal strategies shape persistence and evolution of human gut bacteria. Cell Host Microbe (2021).
Frioux, et al. Enterosignatures define common bacterial guilds in the human gut microbiome. Cell Host & Microbe (2023).
Belcour, Frioux, et al. Metage2Metabo, microbiota-scale metabolic complementarity for the identification of key species. eLife 9, (2020).
Fritscher et al. Protal: Ultra-fast metagenomic profiling and strain-resolved analysis. bioRxiv (2026)
Duncan et al. Detecting Signatures Underlying the Composition of Biological Data. Nucleic Acids Research (2025)