MSc and PhD Opportunities

Postgraduates needed immediately to work on a collaborative, multi-disciplinary project on:

Chemistry and Biosystematics of Seaweeds

Recent work has shown that it is impossible to understand marine species diversity and relationships without gene sequencing. Secondary metabolites are chemical constituents of marine organisms which have great ecological importance, and are also studied for potential uses in human health (drug discovery). This innovative project combines the results of molecular systematics of seaweed groups with comparative studies on the chemistry of their secondary metabolites to understand the evolution of chemical constituents in the light of information on the relatedness of species.

Bursaries are available at both MSc and PhD level.

Students working on biosystematics aspects will work with Prof John Bolton at the University of Cape Town. An Honours degree or MSc in a biological subject is required. Experience with molecular systematic techniques is an advantage, but not a requirement. Please contact:  john.bolton@uct.ac.za

Students interested in working on chemical aspects, natural product isolation/characterization/metabolomics will work with Dr Denzil Beukes at Rhodes University, Grahamstown. A four year degree or an MSc in Chemistry or Pharmacy is required. Please contact: d.beukes@ru.ac.za