Neuronostics are delighted to announce a new partnership with the Universities of Nottingham and Birmingham to enable an MRC funded PhD studentship entitled Epilepsy as a dynamic disease. This 3.5-year PhD award is offered as part of the Integrated Midlands Partnership for Biomedical Training (IMPACT) Doctoral Training Partnership. The partnership enables talented students to benefit from a diverse range of projects and skills within a cohort of 10-15 other students, stimulating ‘outside the box’ thinking and performing innovative, world-leading research.

The PhD project will build on a mathematical neuronal population activity model, recently developed at Nottingham (using a mixture of statistical physics and nonlinear dynamics). The project will extend this model to include physiologically important components for the diffusion of ions in the extracellular space, and the resulting effect on electrical communication within cortical tissue. This is vitally important for the mechanistic interpretation of clinical EEG signals, against which the model will be validated using datasets provided by Neuronostics and their clinical partners.

Lead PhD supervisor Professor Stephen Coombes from the School of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Nottingham commented “I am delighted that this project has been selected for recruitment for this year’s cohort. Epilepsy is a fascinating example of a complex disease, for which mathematical models provide a tool to enable exciting new insights. I am particularly pleased that we can partner with Neuronostics, which will provide the successful student with a unique opportunity to ensure that their research has strong translation value for people with epilepsy.”

Neuronostics Managing Director (and co-supervisor of the project) Professor John Terry commented “It’s fantastic for the company to be able to partner with world-leading mathematical and biomedical researchers. This is an incredible opportunity for a student with a strong background in mathematics or data science, who would like to make a real difference to how we diagnose and manage epilepsy.”

For further details of the studentship and to apply, please visit the IMPACT website. The closing date is 7 January 2021.