Position Summary

Researchers from the School of Pharmacy are seeking qualified candidates to pursue a 36-month fully funded PhD Studentship in University College Cork (UCC), Ireland. Successful candidates will be part of a highly motivated team that will use modern computational methods to develop critical medicines for improving global health and equality.

For low-income populations in developing countries access to life-saving medicines is often fraught with obstacles. These include a lack of financial incentive for major pharmaceutical companies to develop such medicines, as well as lack of technical expertise and resources of local manufacturers to navigate the rigorous process of bringing these drugs to market.

To address this issue a team from the School of Pharmacy, UCC, led by the Professor of Pharmaceutics, Brendan Griffin is aiming to develop Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning tools that can accelerate the creation of medicines for conditions that disproportionately affect those in developing countries, such as malaria and other tropical diseases. These tools will be made freely accessible via an open-source, web-based platform, ensuring that this technology can be leveraged worldwide. This ambitious project aligns to the UCC Futures thematic areas of Future Medicines and AI & Data Analytics. Successful candidates will gain experience developing computational tools to support a rational and science-based approach to selecting formulations for critical medicines in developing countries.

Key tasks in the PhD Studentship include:

• Investigation of stability requirements and chemical space of critical drug molecules which address global health inequalities.
• Develop computational tools with highest applicability for drug molecules which address global health inequalities.
• Complete in vitro small-scale screening experiments to inform and validate the utility of the computational models.
• Complete PhD credits as per structured PhD program requirements as set out by University College Cork.

Start Date (Planned): Negotiable

Salary/Stipend: €25,000 (plus fees).

Requirements

• Applicants must have a first class or upper second-class honours degree in pharmacy, pharmaceutical science, chemical sciences or material sciences related disciplines.
• A master’s degree in project-specific scientific fields such as Drug Delivery, Mathematics/Modelling would be desirable.
• Applicants should have prior practical laboratory experience.
• Applicants should provide demonstrate capability of working within a project team and ability to innovate.
• Proficiency in handling and storing cheminformatics data and experience with scientific computing and machine learning is desirable.
• Applicants must all meet UCC eligibility requirements for registration as a PhD.
• Applicants must have solid written and oral communication skills in English. Candidates who are not fluent in English are requested to provide proof of English proficiency (in speaking and writing) as per UCC Postgraduate English Language Entry Requirements.

Applications

To apply for the position, please provide:

1. A cover letter outlining your motivation for applying.
2. A detailed CV including education, work experience, skills, dissertations, research interests, career objectives, names and contact details of two referees, and list of publications if any;
3. a transcript of his/hers master studies’ grades (including the overall grade) if available; Please also provide proof of proficiency e.g. English language certificates.

Timelines

The deadline for the on-line application is 21^st July 2025.

Applicants will only be notified if they have been shortlisted for interview. The selected candidates after interview will be expected to start their research as quickly as possible.