Postgraduate Studentship
Mathematical modelling of self-propelled cell motion on biomaterial surfaces
Department of Mathematics
STUDENTSHIP covers fees (University and College) and maintenance.
Applications are invited for a postgraduate studentship, funded by the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology Global Research Partnership [KAUST GRP], to work on "Mathematical modelling of self-propelled cell motion on biomaterial surfaces" under the supervision of Dr Jim Oliver, Dr Sarah Waters (OCIAM) and Dr Jonathan Whiteley (CBG). This DPhil studentship will start on 1 October 2009, is
available to all nationalities, covers maintenance and full overseas fees and will be based in the newly established Oxford Centre for Collaborative Applied Mathematics (OCCAM).
OCCAM has been established with substantial funding from the KAUST GRP. The Centre, which is part of the Mathematical Institute, will be allied to a global network of mathematicians. Aiming to meet the ever-increasing global demand for quantitative understanding of complex scientific phenomena, OCCAM has been built on the strength of four pre-existing groups of applied and computational mathematicians working in Oxford: the Oxford Centre for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, the Centre for Mathematical Biology, the Numerical Analysis Group and the Computational Biology Group. It has a symbiotic relationship with other scientific communities which have a need for problem-solving mathematics both within the University of Oxford and beyond. Over the first five years the centre will employ 40 new staff and students.
The successful colonization of a medical implant device depends on the early response of the host's cells to the implant surface. The commercial development of the next generation of devices will therefore benefit from a more quantitative understanding of the mechanisms involved in the adhesion and migration of a single mammalian cell over a biomaterial surface. We have developed two long-wavelength multiphase reactive flow models of the cell's motile machinery. The models are
based on poroviscous generalizations of the thin-film equation in lubrication theory and of the Trouton equations in extensional flow theory. The main aims of this project are: (i) to develop robust numerical algorithms to solve the two-dimensional versions of these challenging free boundary problems; and (ii) to calibrate and test their predictions by direct comparison with data from the in vitro cell systems obtained by our experimental collaborators.
The collaborators involved in this project are Professor David Grant, Dr Colin Scotchford (Bioengineering Group, University of Nottingham) and Professor John King (School of Mathematical Sciences, University of Nottingham).
The studentship is attached to Jesus College.
For information about OCCAM please visit our website:
www.maths.ox. ac.uk/occam
Applications can be made online at
www.ox.ac.uk/ admissions/ postgraduate_ courses/apply/ how_to_apply. html and should include a CV, covering letter, three references and a transcript of your undergraduate degree. Alternatively, applications can be sent to Margret Sloper at the Mathematical Institute using the University's application form for graduate study, which can be downloaded from the above link. Applications must arrive by end of day Friday 27th February 2009. The reference for this application is BK/08/057; make sure that you state this in the covering letter. Applicants must arrange for their referees to send references directly to the Graduate Studies Assistant (fax or e-mail is sufficient) by the closing date. For further details about the projects, including the application process, please see the Further Particulars link below, or contact Graduate Studies, email graduate.studies@ maths.ox. ac.uk
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