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Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences

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PhD opportunities

PhD projects in the Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences become available all year round. You can browse through the current opportunities in each of our research centres below, alongside faculty projects offered through funded studentship schemes.

When you find a project of interest, your first step is to contact the first supervisor named in the project description by email to discuss before submitting an application. Deadlines and full details of how to apply are specified in the project descriptions.

Projects: Craniofacial & Regenerative Biology

Projects: Host-Microbiome Interactions

Projects: Dental Education

Projects: Oral, Clinical & Translational Sciences

General prospectus page: NOTE: prospective students should identify a supervisor/project before applying

The MRC Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) is advertising 7 Industrial Collaborative Awards in Science and Engineering (iCASE) studentships in Biomedical Sciences.

 Listed below are the exciting projects on offer. Full information on the supervisor team and partner details can be found on the MRC-DTP webpage.

  • Engineering of Nanoparticles for prenatal applications
  • Interrogating the therapeutic impact of MYB overdose brought on by AKT inhibitor treatment in blood cancers
  • Evaluation of the quantitative accuracy and radiation dosimetry of an advanced pre-clinical multipinhole SPECT/CT theranostic imaging device
  • Optimization of the potency and specificity of engineered regulatory T cells to treat inflammatory and fibrotic liver diseases
  • Better localisation for epilepsy surgery by optimising simultaneous EEG and functional MRI recordings at 7T
  • Trans-generational transmission of obesity and obesity-induced liver disease – a role for maternal microbiota and Toll-like receptors.
  • Elucidating spatio-temporal nuclear dynamics in 4D using state-of-the-art imaging in beating hearts

 These 4-year iCASE studentships are fully funded* and will follow the ‘0+4’ PhD track. As a programme, we recognise that the best students come from a range of backgrounds and have a range of training needs. This pathway provides adequate time for training in both experimental and broader research skills, with a particular focus on quantitative skills and research methodologies offered by the MRC Doctoral Training Partnership.

 

The successful candidates will start their PhD project in September 2023 and will participate in all other training and cohort activities of the MRC DTP. iCASE projects are a collaboration between an academic institution and a commercial or non-academic partner; offering a unique opportunity to receive high-quality research training that bridges academic and industry partners.

 

*During this spring recruitment round we can only offer studentships to those that meet Home or UK national fee status. For further information on home student status please click here.

 

The programme welcomes applications from a diverse range of backgrounds. Applicants will be reviewed on qualifications, experience, and potential to undertake a research degree. This year, in line with our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion goals, we are using a NEW blinded application process, which means at shortlisting the panels will not be able to view any personal data on the candidate. Submission deadline Thursday 13 April 1 pm. Visit our webpage for full details on the application process and application timeline.

Online Q&A session on Wednesday 29 March from 5-6 pm, please register here.

Bridge the gap between in-vivo life sciences and multi-scale modelling


PhD opportunities with the Centre for Craniofacial & Regenerative Biology

Sense organs are essential for communication with our environment providing visual, auditory and olfactory input. Among the most common birth defects, are craniofacial malformations often associated with sensory defects, while age-related loss of vision, smell and hearing is increasingly common in the ageing population.

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There are three unique features common to all vertebrates: the vertebral column, the brain as part of the nervous system and a complex head where sense organs became concentrated.

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One of the key questions in biology is to uncover how cells with the same genomic information become different from each other. This is not only important to understand embryo development, but also to determine what goes wrong in disease, how we can use this information to promote tissues regeneration or to reprogram cells for stem cell-based therapies.

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The evolution of the incredibly complex jaw apparatus of snakes allows many species to consume prey much larger than themselves. This study explores the development, structure and function of two lower jaw specialisations unique to most snake species, namely the free mandibular symphysis and the intramandibular hinge joint.

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Hearing as one of the five human senses plays a crucial role in our quality of life and integration into society, impacting on speech and language skills. Congenital hearing loss has been estimated to occur at an incidence of 1 in 1000 births, and as such has a major impact on the life of many children.

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Chronic inflammatory periodontal disease (PD) is widespread globally with associations with systemic disease, ultimately leading to tooth loss. Current therapeutic strategies and products used in PD treatment and prevention rely on antimicrobial effects. To date, no management strategy has been created that effectively tackles the inflammatory response responsible to lead to the dysbiosis that causes PD.

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PhD opportunities with the Centre for Host-Microbiome Interactions

There is no doubt that the majority of disabled people are, and should be, receiving dental treatment in the community within general dental practices. A small, but significant, number of patients are still referred regularly for specialist care from Special Care Dentistry Teams, however, and this study sets out to examine who these special care patients are and what it is that makes them special.

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The aim of this study is to undertake qualitative interviews to develop an understanding of the impact of TMJ on the daily lives of people living with atypical facial pain.

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This research will explore the experiences of dental students and practicing dentists self-identifying as having a disability with a focus on identifying barriers to successful practice and the ways these are, or should be, being negotiated.

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There is wide recognition that dentistry is changing and that skills and knowledge needed are also changing. A growing body of researchers are now looking at workforce planning and shaping the workforce of the future with a focus on the mix of skills and professions needed within the dental team (see for example Wanyonyi et al. 2014). What kinds of dentists are we trying to create?

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Erosive tooth wear is a common clinical condition that can result in destruction of tooth tissue (1). This PhD will investigate the role of proteases on the salivary pellicle in the protection of enamel from erosion and abrasion.

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The successful management of peri-implantitis is based on the evaluation of composite therapeutic end-points, similar to those of periodontal treatment, that correspond to disease resolution and include the presence of shallow pockets without any bleeding on probing or suppuration and the maintenance of radiographic bone levels.

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Chronic inflammatory periodontal disease (PD) is widespread globally with associations with systemic disease, ultimately leading to tooth loss. Current therapeutic strategies and products used in PD treatment and prevention rely on antimicrobial effects. To date, no management strategy has been created that effectively tackles the inflammatory response responsible to lead to the dysbiosis that causes PD.

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The PhD study will contribute to the literature by prospectively examining the efficacies of post-extraction ridge reconstruction protocols of compromised extraction sockets with bony wall dehiscences.

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PhD opportunities with the Centre for Dental Education

Dental professionals and students have a responsibility to behave professionally both online and offline.

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Learning in the digital age gives educational institutions opportunities to gather rich data which could be used for inferring the progress of learners in learning technologies and environments. However, while large amounts of data are available, little interpretation about them is being made.

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Simulation of dental caries has always been a challenge to truly replicate the texture, softness and colour for haptically enabled virtual simulators. This research project will explore the 1. variations between clinicians on acceptable amounts of caries to leave in a HDVRS 2. develop more realistic caries representations 3. assess student performance in caries removal on the new models

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PhD opportunities with the Centre for Oral, Clinical & Translational Sciences

Oral cancer has good prognosis when detected at an early stage. However, up to half of patients are diagnosed with advanced lesions, when 5-year survival rates are as low as 20%. This project will focus on the development and evaluation of initiatives to encourage timely presentation of symptoms of oral cancer. The project will involve developing an evidence-based online training package for the dental team, testing the feasibility of delivering this intervention and assessing the impact on patients and the dental team.

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This project focuses on the process and content of communication between dentists and dental patients. Specifically, the project will investigate how dentists discover patient's information needs and check patient's understanding of information during routine dental consultations, investigate patient preferences, and determine the impact of differing methods of communication.

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Prognosis for head and neck cancer is dependent on timely diagnosis and prompt treatment. However, some patients face difficulties in accessing, attending or completing treatment due to ongoing issues with addiction or their mental health. The focus of this doctoral research will be to assess the impact of a new community support service for patients with addiction and/or mental health issues.

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Dental implants are used for treating either partial or complete edentulous patients. Despite their good survival rate, there is a still high prevalence of peri-implant diseases. This is classified as peri-implant mucositis which is reversible inflammation of the soft tissues around an implant and peri-implantitis which involves inflammation leading to loss of supporting bone around an implant. This project will provide novel insights into the role of host responses related to peri-implantitis in predisposing to CVD risk.

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Aerobility is a charity which offers those with any disability the opportunity to experience a flight in a small aircraft. For some it is a once in a lifetime experience, for others it can comprise a full course leading to a pilot’s licence. The aim of the charity Is to improve sense of self worth, quality of life and wellbeing of its clients. KCL, through partnership with Aerobillity, is looking to develop an academic assessment of the outcomes for clients, volunteers and the families of those clients

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Oral cancers are severe life-limiting diseases, particularly when discovered in the later stages. Early detection in precancerous or early cancer stages (i.e., carcinoma in situ) is among the most important measures for reducing morbidity and mortality rates in oral cancer patients.

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The overall aim of this research is to develop a 3D printed PEEK scaffold that has a surface and internal geometry similar to bone which will be further investigated as to whether different surface preparations (i.e. physical, chemical and organic) enhance the proliferation of human (HOB) osteoblast cells and, assess whether any osteo-inductive property can be imparted by specific self-assembling peptides (SAP’s) on the differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC’s).