Dr Rebecca Jones
Supervisor Details
In three words or phrases: Supportive, organised, student-centred
Provision of Training
In the beginning, I will provide all the necessary training and support required for you to develop independence. As you become more independent, you can work to your own schedule and I will also encourage you to partake in suitable professional development training.
Progression Monitoring and Management
In Y1, we will arrange a suitable time each week in which we can meet to discuss your progress and create monthly action-plans. Regular scheduled meetings will ensure that you feel supported throughout your PhD, you have dedicated time to ask questions and problems can be quickly resolved.
Communication
Aside from the weekly one-to-one meetings, the group will communicate through email and a WhatsApp group chat for general communication, so I would expect these to be checked regularly within working hours. You will be responsible for managing your work/life balance but if you have any issues that impact your ability to fulfil your potential or my/our expectations then I will be more than happy to talk about them.
PhD Students can expect scheduled meetings with me:
In a group meeting
At least once per week
In year 1 of PhD study
At least once per week
In year 2 of PhD study
At least once per fortnight
In year 3 of PhD study
At least once per month
These meetings will be mainly face to face, and I am usually contactable for an instant response on every working day.
Working Pattern
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 1 week's notice to provide feedback on written work of up to 5000 words.
Project Details
Dr Jones is the primary supervisor on the below project:
Investigating the links between DNA replication origins and nuclear envelope assembly
Secondary Supervisor(s): Prof Corinne M. Spickett
University of Registration: Aston University
BBSRC Research Themes:
- Understanding the Rules of Life (Structural Biology)
- Integrated Understanding of Health (Ageing)
Apply here!
Deadline: 23 May, 2024
Project Outline
Housed within the nucleus of the cell, DNA replication is the fundamental process of cell division and occurs within the majority of the trillions of cells we have in the body. Understanding how it is regulated in healthy cells is of the utmost importance, so that we can then exploit our findings and tackle the many diseases associated with defective DNA replication, including ageing and cancer.
In eukaryotic cells, with large genomes, DNA replication begins at thousands of sites along the chromatin, named origins of replication. Selection and activation of these origins is a multi-stage process, with each step occurring in different stages of the cell cycle. Origins are first selected by the Origin Recognition Complex (ORC) in late mitosis, are licensed by loading of the MCM2-7 helicase complex in G1 phase and then activated in S-phase (Costa and Diffley, 2022. Ann Rev Biochem). The focus of this project is to characterise the first step of origin selection by the ORC complex in human cells. Although generally accepted that this occurs in late mitosis, very little is currently known as to how this is coordinated, especially in the context of other late-mitotic events. One such, very important, late-mitotic event is the re-assembly of the nuclear envelope around the segregated chromosomes. Notably, both ORC binding and nuclear envelope reassembly, are thought to occur in late anaphase/early telophase (Diffley et al, 1994. Cell; Guttinger et al, 2009. Nat Reviews).
The aim of this project is to explore the connection between the selection of replication origins by the ORC complex and nuclear envelope reassembly following exit from mitosis. For this, we will work primarily with immortalised human cell lines and use a range of cell biology, microscopy and biochemical techniques to characterise the binding of these factors to chromatin and begin to explore whether they impact one-another.
This project would suit a PhD student candidate who has an interest in studying and characterising fundamental biological processes in cells, and a passion for learning new molecular biology and biochemical techniques.
Techniques
- Cell biology (tissue culture, flow cytometry)
- Microscopy
- Molecular biology (protein expression, molecular cloning)
- Biochemistry (western blotting, chromatography)
- Mass spectrometry