Fully Funded PhD Studentships: AI for Biology & Agriculture
With Industry Supervisors + Internships
For ML / AI / Data Science candidates — No biology required
James Hutton Institute, Dundee, UK | Start: Sept 2026
We are recruiting two funded PhD students to apply cutting-edge AI, deep learning, multimodal modelling and protein-structure prediction to major challenges in biology and agriculture.
Both projects include industrial supervisors and guaranteed industry internships.
Strong ML/AI skills required; biology training provided.
1️⃣ Identification of target genes for control of economically important plant pathogens using large foundation models (LFMs) (Syngenta), deadline: 9 Jan 2026
Apply: bit.ly/4p5Hy8t
You will:
• Build and fine-tune LLM-style foundation models for fungal genomics
• Use deep learning, transfer learning, sequence/graph models, multimodal integration
• Work with high-dimensional omics data with expert support
• Complete an internship at Syngenta
Ideal for: deep learning, multimodal models, representation learning.
2️⃣ Identification of key gene for better barley using AI protein structure modelling, deadline: 5 Jan 2026
Apply: bit.ly/BarleyAI
You will:
• Use AlphaFold-style structure prediction on barley gene variants
• Create a protein-structure atlas across genotypes
• Link structural data to phenotype, GWAS and expression
• Undertake an internship via BARIToNE / AHDB
Ideal for: geometric DL, structure-based modelling, variant-effect prediction.
⭐ Why Apply
• Work with real, industry-generated datasets
• Guaranteed internship + industry supervision
• GPU compute, large datasets, strong computational support
• Publish in journals and international conferences
• Excellent career prospects in biotech, agritech, health AI
• Fully funded (stipend + fees + training + travel)
Applicant Background (AI Focus)
Skills in:
• ML/DL (PyTorch/TensorFlow)
• Data science, statistics, representation learning
• Sequence models, GNNs, transformers, geometric DL
• Or strong coding + analytical skills
No biology/genomics experience needed — full training provided.
Follow the links for each project in the post above to submit your application. Pre-application enquiry is welcome.