Apply for a PhD Fellowship

15 PhD Studentships in Functional Metagenomics, Computational Biology, Protein Engineering, Directed Evolution, Bioinformatics and Enzyme Mechanism

MetaExplore is now recruiting PhD Students to start between February and September 2026. Each research team has their own application process. The deadline for applications is on the 12th of January 2026.

MetaExplore is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral Network set up to provide young researchers with hands-on research experience and formal training in directed evolution, protein engineering, bioinformatics, chemical biology and mechanistic enzymology.

The objective of MetaExplore is to explore new strategies for harvesting novel enzymes and biocatalysts form environmental sources. The endeavour is based on a powerful combination of sequence-based and functional metagenomic approaches and our training programme equips young researchers with computational and experimental skills to integrate both productively.

(i) On the experimental side: screening large and diverse metagenomic DNA libraries (environmental DNA from polar regions, hot environments, soil, marine & fresh-water and gut libraries) will be carried out using ultrahigh-throughput technologies will lead to the discovery novel proteins with useful functions 

(ii) On the computational side: unprecedented availability of sequence data (e.g. >3 billion ORFs in the database MGnify) and machine learning will provide systematic insights via in silico sequence interpretation.  The MetaExplore network will harnessing the diversity of nature and the power of machine learning and AI:

(iii) Together the experimental and in silico projects will provide a better fundamental understanding of how existing enzymes evolved and how enzyme mechanisms can be manipulated by protein engineering.

(iv) Applications:  We explore the use the enzymes identified as outlined above for green technology applications of biocatalysis (microplastics degradation, glycobiology or fine chemical synthesis) and in healthcare (bacteriocidal reagents or therapeutic enzymes).  Industrial partners will help to generate practical impact in biotechnology. 

The processing of applications has started on the 20th of November 2025 and will continue until all positions in the network are filled.

Eligibility Criteria for the MSCA doctoral candidates:

• can be of any nationality
• must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the recruiting partner for more than 12 months in the three years immediately preceding the recruitment date. 
• must not have a doctoral degree at the date of their recruitment and will be enrolled in doctoral programme during the project

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