Mechanics of Life Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarship Programme Studentship

The Mechanics of Life Doctoral Scholarship Programme is a multi-disciplinary doctoral training scheme funded by the Leverhulme Trust. The programme enables interdisciplinary scientists to develop new techniques, methodologies and analytical tools required to resolve outstanding challenges underpinning Mechanobiology across a broad range of biological themes. For the October 2026 entry, the programme is offering a studentship for a specific project: 'Development of optogenetic mechanical tools to control protein translocation across biological pores.' This project focuses on understanding the fleeting unfolding events encompassing protein translocation across biological pores of different natures, including peroxisomes, proteasomes and lysosomes. The research will use a combination of single-molecule nanomechanical experiments with single-cell optogenetic experiments to explore whether a unifying mechanism that takes into account a protein's mechanical stability and local structure as a master regulator of protein translocation can be drawn. The successful student will be trained in state-of-the-art techniques including single molecule force spectroscopy (AFM and magnetic tweezers), design of optogenetic constructs, and light microscopy, complemented with bespoke training on molecular and cell biology. The project will be conducted in the Garcia-Manyes laboratory, based in the Department of Physics at King's College London (Strand Campus) and the Francis Crick Institute. The studentship is aimed at students with a degree either in the physical sciences (physicists, chemists, mathematicians, materials scientists, engineers, computer scientists) or in the biological sciences (biologists, biochemists, physicians) who show a deep interest in unlocking the complexity and challenges of mechanobiology.