PhD Project: Functional genomics of sexually antagonistic selection (GRIESHOP_U27DTP)

PhD Project: Functional genomics of sexually antagonistic selection (GRIESHOP_U27DTP)

Quick Decision

This UEA opportunity connects evolutionary genetics, quantitative inference and functional genomics, investigating how sex-biased genomic signals relate to fitness effects. The substantive challenge is to show when a shared variant has opposing fitness consequences in males and females, and explain the mechanism without confusing gene expression with reproductive success.

The official GRIESHOP_U27DTP information described in October 2026 names Karl Grieshop, accepts Home and Overseas applicants, gives a deadline of 30 November 2026 without a clock or timezone, and lists entry on 1 October 2027. These dates do not establish current individual availability; confirm whether the place and terms remain unchanged. A four-year NRPDTP competition explicitly supports international tuition and maintenance. This is a positive funding route, not a personal award already secured. Contact k.grieshop@uea.ac.uk about the initial datasets, daily training and supervisory arrangements. Current exact project Current supervisor profile

Research Problem and Doctoral Work

Sexually antagonistic selection offers one explanation for genetic variation that persists despite having harmful effects: a variant can benefit one sex while harming the other. This does not mean that every male–female difference is antagonistic, or that every sex-biased transcript has an opposing fitness effect. The project's useful question is how genomic signals become an explanation of sex-specific fitness and life-history variation.

The advertisement specifies three doctoral tasks: identify and characterise sexually antagonistic loci recurring across multiple studies; validate their effects on sex-specific fitness and traits in fruit flies using CRISPR-Cas9 allele swaps; and probe mechanisms from gene regulation to alternative splicing. It also names bioinformatics, genome engineering and sequencing technologies. The public call does not identify a fixed candidate list or specify which validation evidence is already available, so the starting loci and experimental allocation should be clarified with the supervisor. Its descriptions of relevance to conservation, pest management, ageing and health are possible wider implications, not demonstrated application outcomes. Official research aims

Cross-study consistency would be useful but needs interpretation. Shared populations, overlapping datasets, correlated traits and linked variants can make apparent replication less independent than it seems. A transcript-level association is not automatically the causal variant, and an effect on a component of fitness need not capture lifetime reproductive success. These are methodological cautions inferred from the research question, not additional experiments promised by the advertisement.

A credible thesis could combine reproducible integration of earlier evidence with a smaller, well-supported functional explanation. It need not prove a universal solution to sexual conflict. Discuss how the starting evidence distinguishes sex-specific effects from opposite-sign fitness effects, how uncertainty will be reported, and what remains informative if a candidate does not replicate. Statistical restraint is part of this project's value: a negative or context-dependent result can clarify the limits of an evolutionary explanation.

School, Programme and Field Context

The host and degree-awarding university is the University of East Anglia, with Grieshop in the School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science. NRPDTP organises the doctoral training and funding competition; it is not another awarding university. The project reference is not a verified degree-registration code, which should be confirmed with admissions. The school's official profile integrates molecular, genomic, organismal and ecological work. School research environment Official university location information

Grieshop belongs to the Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation, which spans Biological and Environmental Sciences. Its description of more than 20 faculty and around 70 research staff and doctoral students indicates a sizeable local evolutionary community. These institutional figures do not establish a particular student's supervisory capacity, sequencing access or collaboration budget. The nearby institutes' long-read and single-cell training in the project description are opportunities, not allocated instrument time. CEEC community

The four-year programme combines research with an initial training-needs analysis, a tailored Personal Development Plan, cohort activities, masterclasses and advanced training. This project specifies an ordinary three-month PIPS professional placement, outside the student's own PhD research; it should not be recast as a CASE industrial collaboration of a different length. Clarify when placement and methodological training fit around the research. NRPDTP training PIPS and CASE distinctions

UEA's QS 2027 overall rank is 381. This is an institutional comparison, not a rank for evolutionary genomics or this laboratory. The stronger project-specific signals are the supervisor's relevant publications, CEEC context and structured four-year support. Completion milestones, second supervision, day-to-day mentoring and individual facility access remain unverified. QS institutional ranking

Supervisor and Lab Assessment

The October 2026 profile lists Karl Grieshop as Lecturer in Genomics and Bioinformatics, at UEA since 2023 and accepting PhD students; that general invitation does not establish a place on this particular topic. His official profile combines experiments, statistics, quantitative genetics, genomics and mathematical modelling to study genetic trade-offs. It also records earlier Toronto and Stockholm appointments. Publications arising from those collaborations establish experience, but not that every collaborator or resource is now part of the local UEA laboratory. Only Grieshop is named on this project's current supervisor list. Grieshop role and research

Three recent genuine coauthored originals provide different kinds of evidence:

• Grieshop et al., Molecular Biology and Evolution 42(7), msaf099, 2025; DOI 10.1093/molbev/msaf099. Grieshop and Liu are joint first authors, with Grieshop among the corresponding authors. Experimental evolution in fruit flies connects sex-biased selection with expression and splicing. Splicing in male-selected males, but not females, shifted in a masculinised direction, whereas expression levels were largely feminised in both sexes. The mismatch cautions against one-dimensional interpretation. The evidence scope is the complete institutional original abstract, authorship information and limited indexed introduction/results, excluding complete methods, results and supplementary evidence. The earlier preprint is the same study. 2025 expression and splicing original
• Mishra et al., Genome Biology and Evolution 16(11), evae234, 2024; DOI 10.1093/gbe/evae234. Grieshop is a coauthor. Allele-specific expression and a Bayesian framework distinguish sex- and tissue-dependent regulatory variation. Some patterns could support sex-specific dominance reversals, but tissue differences were about as frequent as sex differences. That weakens a claim that sexual conflict uniquely explains expression variation; it does not directly establish antagonistic fitness at every locus. The evidence scope includes the complete institutional original abstract and selected indexed Results; full text and supplements are outside that scope. 2024 cis-regulatory original
• So et al., Evolution 79(12), 2724–2738, 2025; DOI 10.1093/evolut/qpaf187. Grieshop is a coauthor; So is corresponding author. A plant pedigree study estimates genetic variance and cross-environment correlations. Increased mean fecundity did not establish increased adaptive genetic capacity; broad credible intervals and incomplete lifetime-fitness modelling limit inference. This demonstrates adjacent quantitative-genetic experience, not direct fruit-fly sexual-conflict validation. The evidence scope includes the full original abstract, methods overview and substantial selected Results/Discussion, without complete methods, supplementary information or original-data reanalysis. September online and December issue dates are one publication. 2025 quantitative-genetics original

The source's 2024 dominance-reversals overview is not counted as a third experimental original. These three studies provide specific evidence on expression, regulation and quantitative-genetic interpretation; they do not establish that all starting loci in this proposed project have been causally validated. Ask which datasets and pilot functional evidence are available and who provides daily computational and molecular mentoring.

Funding, Application, and Living Cost

The source calls the project shortlisted for NRPDTP funding, while its funding note describes a four-year studentship. The programme terms described in October 2026 award successful eligible applicants four years of full tuition, UKRI-rate maintenance and research support, and explicitly include international applicants. International appointments are limited to 30% of annual network intake, not a 30% individual success probability. The exact Home/Overseas listing and full-tuition policy support Chinese applicants competing through this route; selection and the individual award schedule remain to be confirmed. Current NRPDTP funding Funding and academic eligibility

£21,805 is the 2026/27 stipend reference, not a confirmed 2027 personal amount. The £5,000 annual Research Training Support Grant pays research/training costs, not extra living income. No CASE enhancement is established for this ordinary PIPS project. Confirm award dates, payments, placement expenses and costs if registration extends beyond the funded period.

For October 2027 starters, the October 2026 policy describes a contribution of up to £3,500 per student toward visa application and IHS costs, against appropriate evidence after enrolment and registration. It does not cover accompanying dependants or remove the need to fund upfront charges. October 2026 government cost references list £558 Student visa application fee and £776 IHS per student visa year; actual visa length and rounding affect the total. Student visa Health surcharge

UEA's dated 2026/27 accommodation table provides 41-week examples of £178.50–£209.50 weekly, or £7,318.50–£8,589.50. A 52-week comparison at unchanged prices would be £9,282–£10,894, not an offered contract or 2027 quotation. Against the reference stipend, that leaves £10,911–£12,523 after rent, before food, travel, deposits and other costs; it is not savings. Check postgraduate eligibility, summer provision and actual availability. The October 2026 immigration reference of £1,171 monthly outside London for up to nine months is a separate evidence rule, not an annual Norwich budget. China is on the differential-evidence list, which does not waive the financial requirement. Dated housing prices Immigration financial evidence

Applicant Fit and Preparation

NRPDTP normally accepts a UK First or Upper Second-class Honours degree, or an overseas qualification judged equivalent. The exception concerns an applicant who already has a Lower Second-class degree, 2:2, plus either a Master's meeting the relevant School's requirements or significant relevant research/non-academic experience. It is not a general exception for every grade below 2:1, and a Master's is not universally mandatory. Chinese qualifications require individual equivalence assessment; no universal Chinese PGR percentage was established here, and taught-Master's thresholds should not be imported. Academic and international eligibility

This research naturally suits evolutionary biology, genetics, bioinformatics or quantitative bioscience experience. The call does not turn every advertised training method into a prior hard requirement. Show a research example where you distinguished association, uncertainty and biological interpretation. Coding and statistical preparation would help, but the exact balance of computational and experimental work should be discussed rather than assumed.

The October 2026 Science PGR information lists IELTS 6.5 overall, every component 6.0, or PTE 61 overall, every component 60. It lists a two-year validity window evaluated against course start; admissions should confirm the actual test dates. English can be an offer condition, but must be satisfied before admission. English-medium education in China is not an automatic exemption. Current PGR English equivalents

Apply through the UEA system, using both mandatory NRPDTP Personal Statement and Research Statement proformas; omission leads to rejection. The project notice says these templates are intended to help applicants, especially those from underrepresented groups, present suitable examples and evidence. The partners state that selection does not distinguish by gender, marital or civil partnership status, disability, race, nationality, ethnic origin, religion or belief, sexual orientation, age or social background. The notice gives no specific procedure for adjustments following disability disclosure; confirm individual arrangements with NRPDTP or UEA. Up to three projects may be chosen, with a separate application for each. Provide certificates/transcripts, official English translations where required, a CV and at least two referees, including an academic referee; proposed supervisors, friends and relatives cannot act as referees. Additional identity/immigration documents depend on circumstances. The programme interviews are scheduled for 2–4 February 2027. No closing hour, time zone or reference-grace period is stated; plan submission accordingly. Application documents and mandatory forms 2027 selection dates General UEA PGR guidance

Next Actions and Questions to Verify

Before applying, ask Grieshop which independent studies and candidates form the starting point, what functional evidence exists, and what daily statistical and laboratory training is available. Clarify the second supervisor, exact degree-registration code, Chinese qualification assessment and deadline clock. These questions can be raised in normal pre-application discussion to establish research and training fit.

At interview, discuss why sex-biased expression need not imply opposite fitness effects, how gene-level associations differ from causal variants, and how population or tissue context changes interpretation. Ask what question remains worthwhile if initial candidates do not replicate. The programme promises substantial training, but not every neighbouring institute's facility or every collaborator's supervision.

Before accepting, confirm the personal award schedule, international tuition coverage, maintenance, PIPS arrangements, extension liability and any individual ATAS condition. ATAS depends on the final subject classification and personal circumstances; the general guidance does not establish this project's requirement. ATAS guidance

Transferable strengths include statistical genetics, reproducible data analysis, study design and communication across computational and experimental teams. NRPDTP alumni describe academic, industry, intellectual-property and public-service pathways. Those are programme examples, not verified laboratory placement rates, salaries or guaranteed employment. The doctorate is an evolutionary-bioscience qualification, not a clinical qualification. Programme career examples

Evidence and Sources

Project, team and original research

• Current exact GRIESHOP_U27DTP official recruitment
• Karl Grieshop current official faculty profile
• Expression divergence in response to sex-biased selection
• Cis-regulatory variation in relation to sex and sexual dimorphism in Drosophila melanogaster
• The capacity for adaptation to climate warming in a naturalized annual plant (Brassica rapa)
• UEA School of Biological Sciences research environment
• UEA Centre for Ecology Evolution and Conservation

Funding, eligibility and doctoral training

• Current NRPDTP four-year international funding
• NRPDTP programme website linked in the project notice
• NRPDTP foreign-qualification and international eligibility
• NRPDTP application system, templates and documents
• NRPDTP exact 2027 recruitment dates
• NRPDTP individual and cohort training
• NRPDTP placements and PIPS official distinctions
• UEA current Science doctoral English equivalencies
• UEA actual expanded general PGR admissions guide

Costs, institution, careers and immigration

• NRPDTP employability and alumni official evidence
• QS UEA 2027 overall university rank
• UEA official 2026/27 accommodation prices
• Student visa route and application fee
• Student visa financial evidence China
• Student immigration healthcare surcharge
• ATAS official conditional subject scope
• UEA official 2026/27 institutional address