Midlands Integrative Biosciences Training Partnership (MIBTP)

Possible funded MIBTP projects 

Please apply on the standard MIBTP application found here: Postgraduate Research Degrees

Start date: October 2025. Applications have now closed.  

• Understanding the influence of native and supplemented soil microbiomes on drought stress resistance in forage grass ecosystems - Dr Alexander Watson Lazowski
• Assessing the impact of modified transient carbohydrate accumulation on agronomic traits of wheat via gene alteration - Dr Alexander Watson-Lazowski
• The utilization of protein extracts from brewery spent grain and spent yeast in the formulation of protein blends for 3-D printed food products - Dr Claire Munialo
• Individuality in animals: applying personality profiles to evidence-based management of small mammals in education - Dr Ellen Williams 
• Beyond vertebrates: developing validated welfare standards and ethical guidelines for invertebrate management in captivity, farming and research - Dr Heather Campbell
• Investigating the long-term impacts of environmental enrichment for dairy heifers, and its relation to a successful transition into the milking herds - Dr Holly Vickery
• Improving knowledge of cabbage stem flea beetle biology as a basis for sustainable pest management - Dr Tom Pope
• SMART-VW: Sustainable monitoring and advanced recognition technology for vine weevil management - Dr Joe Roberts
• The impact of regenerative agriculture on above-belowground interacdtions on crop productivity - Dr Simon Jeffery
• The importance and welfare implications of pasture access for lactating dairy cattle - Dr Gemma Charlton
• Drivers of chemical diversity, niche-partitioning and insect resistance in cultivated and wild species of coffee - Dr Simon Segar
• Processing of specialised secondary metabolites by an extemely polyphagous weevil: implications for plant protection - Dr Simon Segar
• Optimising management strategies within dairy cow-calf contact systems in the United Kingdom - Dr Annabelle Beaver
• Enhancing the efficacy of entomopathogenic control solutions with essential oils for insect pest management - Dr Ben Clunie
• Optimising cover crop strategies for integrated pest management of wireworm - Dr Ben Clunie
• Reducing lamb mortality by enhancing placental efficiency - Dr Claire Kershaw 
• Examination of intermediate compounds in anaerobic digestate and their effect on phosphorous removal using electrocoagulation - Dr Marie Kirby
• Biotechnological exploitation of gut microorganisms and lignocellulosic substrates - Dr Marie Kirby
• A non-invasive method to monitor status of Johne's disease in dairy cattle - Dr Tharangani Herath
• Improving the welfare of farmed fish by personality and physiological profiling in aquaculture settings - Dr Tharangani Herath
• Improving welfare of salmonids: Impact of stress on behaviour and host-pathogen dynamics during early life stages - Dr Tharangani Herath
• Strip cropping, autonomous vehicles and regenerative agriculture. Can crop productivity and resilience be improved through combining technology with traditional techniques? - Dr Nicola Randall
• The potential of waste wool as a soil amendment to improve plant productivity and agricultural resilience - Dr Nicola Randall
• Sainfoin as an alternative legume forage to support livestock health, biodiversity and reduced emissions - Dr Nicola Randall
• The plant-insect-fungi interaction: exploring the dynamic relationship between plant host, insect and entomopathogenic fungi biopesticide efficacy - Dr Laura Vickers