About the Project
A fully funded PhD opportunity to participate in the world-leading research undertaken by the EPSRC Doctoral Landscape Award at the University of Sheffield.
Supervised by Prof Chris Holland and Prof Iain Todd.
The University of Sheffield is one of the leading Russell Group universities in the UK. We carry out cutting-edge research with strong links to industry. When you enrol to do a PhD with us, you will be working with world-leading academics and have access to top of the range facilities. As a PhD student you will have the opportunity to gain skills not only to conduct research, but also to take your career to the next level, whether you want to stay in academia, go into industry or the public sector, or set up your own company. You will have access to a range of training and support services to help you excel in your studies and beyond.
Project Description
This project will develop a completely new way to spin artificial silk fibres, by using the natural gland itself as the world’s most advanced fibre production factory. It will address two practical roadblocks which in part has explained why we don’t yet have spider silk clothing; 1) faithfully replicating the full silk protein structure and 2) processing the material in an appropriate, natural, manner.
A unique and elegant means to sidestep the above barriers has been provided through a recent innovation with our collaborator Prof. Goodacre at Nottingham to extract and “keep alive” natural silk glands ex vivo. Establishing this novel methodology has required the application of highly specialised knowledge of biology and genetics which has been extensively refined by them over the last 5 years. Together want to advance this state-of-the-art and build “serifluidic modules”; a stable environment to experimentally access an intact glandular system containing, expressing and capable of processing undegraded native protein dope.
Scientifically this blows open the door to a range of imaging techniques that can visualise silk flow and structure development. This will address topical hypotheses surrounding the role of solvent environment in silk rheology, nucleation-based microfibrillar development and the enigmatic and controversial role of Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation. This also progresses our field’s biomimetic technological frontier as these modules will literally be the gold standard for silk microfluidic spinning, enabling us to see in real time how processing impacts fibre performance. The PhD will culminate in integrating these serifluidic modules into an effector for a 6-axis robotic arm, allowing us to place fibres into materials as a proof-of-concept for advanced composites manufacture or biomedical applications.
We believe this ambitious and adventurous project represents the bleeding edge of bioinspired technology. Whilst seemingly high risk in totality, the proposed approach sidesteps several technological barriers to implementation where many have failed in the past and recent discoveries are telling us now is the time to drive forward. The fortuitous combination of biological innovation, fundamental understanding and our engineering mindset will enable us to determine via nature’s gold standard if this technology pathway is (literally) viable. We are confident that such an approach could serve as a flagship for future nature-based engineering.
If successful you will be an integral part of the Natural Materials Group run by Prof. Chris Holland, a highly interdisciplinary, creative and team-oriented research environment dealing with a range of materials, from snail mucus to silk and hair. You will be co-supervised by Prof. Iain Todd, an international authority in additive manufacture and work with Prof. Goodacre a world leader in spider biology. You’ll be trained in house in practical and theoretical areas as well as a wide range of transferrable skills (many of our students become prize winners), all of which are relevant and useful for later employment (rheology, the study of flow in particular is a very specialist and in demand subject in everywhere from oil and gas to chocolate production).
Further added value to the PhD comes through putting the knowledge gained from this work into practice either through our industry partners or by exploring the commercialisation potential of your research findings. Our industrial advisors and supervisory experience would give you first hand exposure to generating real-world impact from your research in an entrepreneurial environment.
A background in materials science, biology, physics, chemistry or engineering is required.
If you have reached the end of this advert you’re clearly curious, good for you! Now why not start an informal conversation with Chris to find out more about the role and if your background and skills may be suitable.
How to apply
Interested candidates are strongly encouraged to contact the project supervisors to discuss your interest in and suitability for the project prior to submitting your application.
Please refer to the EPSRC DLA webpage for detailed information about the EPSRC DLA and how to apply. Applicants must ensure that they use the correct application form linked to the EPSRC DLA webpage and must submit an application for October 2027 entry. The form is unique to the EPSRC DLA. It contains the list of advertised projects from which to select, and three questions specific to the DLA.
The application deadline is 17:00 GMT 13 January 2027.
The majority of our DLA studentships will be allocated to candidates who qualify for Home fee status, in accordance with EPSRC funding regulations which place strict limits on international recruitment.
Funding Notes
The award will fund the full tuition fee and a maintenance stipend at the UKRI rate (currently £21,805 per annum) for 3.5 years, as well as a research grant to support costs associated with the project.