Dr Dave Uygun

Supervisor Details

Contact Details

Dr Dave Uygun

School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick

Scientific Background

Research Interests

For some reason we all need to go to sleep. Why? To a large extent, and for nearly all of history, we haven’t really known. However, within your lifetime, some amazing new ideas have come along that may be the answer we are looking for. What we do know is that for the brain to work well – good memory, cognition, mental and neurological health – we must sleep optimally. Yet modern society is plagued by poor quality sleep.

Our research focuses on how the brain controls sleep. What are the mechanisms regulating it? We interrogate these mechanisms which are comprised of molecular components, neuronal populations and neurocircuits. We look at brainwaves that define sleep quality to evaluate how these mechanisms produce good or poor quality sleep. This work is leading to ideas for novel therapeutic interventions to treat either sleep disruption itself, or even severe neuropsychiatric illnesses associated with abnormalities in sleep quality.

We combine cutting-edge genetic technologies including CRISPR-Cas9, chemogenetics & optogenetics do dissect circuits of the brain and apply advanced quantitative tools to evaluate electroencephalographic brainwaves to understand fine-tuned regulation of sleep in vivo.

Supervision Style

In three words or phrases: supportive, detail-focused, inquisitive.

Provision of Training

At the beginning, a PhD project can seem overwhelming. So, I like to communicate regularly during that time, so you have the support and guidance you need. As the project matures, you will have the skills you need and the focus will shift to producing results. At that point, you may feel that you want to work more independently. I support students who feel ready to work more independently but I will always be available to help you when you are stuck. At early and late stages, I would expect to communicate regularly, so that we both have a good handle on the direction of the research.

Progression Monitoring and Management

Different people have different work styles, and I encourage and support you to find what is efficient for you. Your project will demand that you meet certain milestones, and I will be there to help you find the way and stay on track. You will need to become skilled at managing time, and I encourage you to seek help as soon as you need it.

Communication

As your supervisor I would always want you feel welcome contacting me any time by e-mail. I will do my best to respond as soon as possible. We would also arrange regular in person or video conference meetings every two weeks. This allows me to stay up to date with your progress and help you overcome any obstacles you face. You are welcome to request ad hoc meetings whenever you are hindered by a specific issue, and I'll do my best to accommodate them.

Meetings

PhD Students can expect scheduled meetings with me at least once per fortnight. These meetings will be a mixture of face-to-face and via video chat or telephone. I am usually contactable for an instant response 3 or 4 days per week.

Work Patterns

Certain tasks in my lab need to occur at set times, and students need to be able to commit to a rota/timetable shared with other members of the team.

Notice Period for Feedback

I need at least 2 weeks' notice to provide feedback on written work of up to 5,000 words.

MIBTP Project Details

Primary supervisor for:

Developing new screens of neurodegenerative disease using machine learning and brain waves

See the PhD Opportunities section to see if this project is currently open for applications via MIBTP.

Please Note: The main page lists projects via BBSRC Research Theme(s) quoted and then relevant Topic(s).

Developing new screens of neurodegenerative disease using machine learning and brain waves

Secondary Supervisor(s): Professor Bruno Frenguelli

University of Registration: University of Warwick

BBSRC Research Themes:

Understanding the Rules of Life (Neuroscience and Behaviour)
Integrated Understanding of Health (Ageing, Pharmaceuticals)

Project Outline

Have you ever wondered what you are doing when you lose consciousness and go to sleep? If so, this project may be for you. Sleep – though very familiar to us all because we all do it – remains one of the least explored frontiers of life sciences. Throughout nearly all of history we have not known what it is for. But in just the last few decades we are beginning to understand. Advents in cutting-edge genetic technologies and applications for recording and analysing brain signals have led to a rapid expansion in how we are able to uncover how the brain controls sleep and wakefulness and how this serves to keep our minds healthy.

This project will make use of data sets collected from mice using the latest genetic engineering technology to dissect neurocircuits of sleep regulation. You will use sophisticated analytics to explore how brain-waves reveal underlying brain-circuit dysfunction associated with psychiatric illness.

The successful candidate needs no prior experience in computer science or genetics. But the student who completes this project successfully will need to be highly inquisitive about how brains work and should be interested in learning some basic computer programming. A successful candidate will be willing to attempt new approaches, use potentially unfamiliar computer software and grapple with novel concepts in computer science such as machine learning and signal processing of biopotential signals. The student that joins this lab will also get the opportunity to learn about mouse genetics, pharmacology and gene-therapy based applications, the depth of which will depend on their own level of interest in the subject matter.

Essential criteria for the role are 1) curiosity in the subject, 2) ability to work with others by offering and seeking support to complete specific objectives, 3) work independently on predetermined focused tasks.