Engineering bacteria for improved bioremediation and hydrogen production (LEA-SMITH_U26DTP3)

Primary supervisor – Dr David Lea-Smith

Engineering biology has enormous potential to address global environmental challenges like bioremediation, biosequestration, pollutant monitoring, and resource recovery. In this project, the student will apply the cutting-edge synthetic biology tools developed by the Lea-Smith laboratory to engineer the purple bacterium, Rhodopseudomonas palustris, a species already well adapted for bioremediation of many wastestreams and which synthesises hydrogen as a by-product. Specifically, the student will identify which compounds are being degraded and for those compounds that are poorly metabolised the student will engineer in metabolic pathways and transporters to enable degradation. The student will also engineer the electron transport pathways to improve hydrogen production. These modifications will result in strains more commercially applicable for bioremediation of wastewater and other waste products such as crude glycerol. These strains will be tested for commercial applicability in larger bioreactors with Professor Robbie Pott, a process engineer based at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa. The student will gain expertise in a wide range of skills including microbiology, synthetic biology, enzyme characterisation, structural biology and process engineering, which will provide excellent training for a future career in academia or industry. They will also join the £11.6 million Environmental Biotechnology Innovation Centre where they will receive further training and interact with a broad range of academics and industrial partners commercialising engineering biology applications.

The Norwich Research Park Biosciences Doctoral Training Programme (NRPDTP) is offering fully funded studentships for October 2026 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 25 or 26 August 2026.

Visit our website for further information on eligibility and how to apply. Please note the guidance for the programme Personal and Research Statements, which the programme template documents must be used in the application. 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. 

Funding

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 (2026/7 stipend rate: £21,805), and a Research Training Support Grant of £5,000pa for each year of the studentship.

References

David J. Lea-Smith, Francis Hassard, Frederic Coulon, Natalie Partridge, Louise Horsfall, Kyle D. J. Parker, Robert D. J. Smith, Ronan R. McCarthy, Boyd McKew, Tony Gutierrez, Vinod Kumar, Gabriella Dotro, Zhugen Yang, EBIC partners, Natalio Krasnogor, Engineering Biology Applications for Environmental Solutions: Potential and Challenges. Nature Communications 16 (1), 3538.

 Victoria AJ, Selao TT, Moreno-Cabezuelo JA, Mills LA, Gale GAR, Lea-Smith DJ, McCormick AJ (2024). A toolbox to engineer the highly productive cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. PCC 11901. Plant Physiology 196 (2), 1674-1690.

Hassard F, Curtis TP, Dotro GC, Golyshin P, Gutierrez T, Heaven S, Horsfall L, Jefferson B, Jones DL, Krasnogor N, Kumar V, Lea-Smith DJ, Le Corre Pidou K, Liu Y, Lyu T, McCarthy RR, McKew B, Smith C, Yakunin A, Yang Z, Zhang Y, Coulon F (2024). Scaling-up Engineering Biology for Enhanced Environmental Solutions. ACS Synthetic Biology 13 (6), 1586-1588.

Mills LA, Moreno-Cabezuelo JA, Wlodarczyk A, Victoria AJ, Mejias R, Nenninger A, Moxon S, Bombelli P, Selao TT, McCormick AJ, Lea-Smith DJ (2022). Development of a biotechnology platform for the fast-growing cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. PCC 11901. Biomolecules 12 (7), 872.

Du Toit J-P, Lea-Smith DJ, Git A, Hervey J, Howe CJ, Pott R (2021). Expression of alternative nitrogenases in Rhodopseudomonas palustris is enhanced using a novel genetic toolset for rapid, markerless modification. ACS Synthetic Biology 10 (9), 2167-2178.