PhD Scholarship in Antimicrobial Coatings for Medical Devices

Job No.: 642050

Faculty/Portfolio: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Faculty of Engineering

Location: Clayton campus

Employment Type: Full-time

Duration: 3-year fixed-term appointment

Main Supervisor: Professor Laurence Meagher

Remuneration: $30,000.00 p.a. full-time rate (pro-rata)

The Opportunity

Expressions of interest are sought from outstanding candidates for PhD study in Materials Science and Engineering.

PhD Project – Novel antimicrobial coatings containing eluting and surface tethered metal complexes

The development of resistance by bacteria to commonly used antimicrobial agents such as antibiotics is one of the most significant threats to human health today. The emergence and spread of multi drug resistant pathogenic bacteria has pushed the available treatments to their limit and the ability of microorganism’s to form biofilms further heightens their virulence.

The formation of biofilms is particularly problematic in medicine today. Biofilms account for a large percentage of implanted device-derived microbial infections in patients. When infections occur, surgical removal of the infected implants is often inevitable.

Polymer coatings that either resist bacterial attachment or kill bacteria can significantly reduce the formation of biofilms. In this project we will be studying the ways in which bioactive metal ligand complexes formed from bismuth, gallium and indium can be released from polymer coatings to kill bacteria. We will use a variety of approaches, including controlled release from degradable polymer films as well as polymer coatings formed using advanced, surface-initiated polymerisation methodologies, such as reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer or RAFT polymerisation.

This project is part of an ARC Discovery grant awarded in the recent round and is a continuation of an ongoing collaboration between Prof Laurence Meagher and Prof Phil Andrews. Research in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Monash University creates and uses materials to investigate fundamental cellular biology, develop improved technologies for cellular expansion, delivery and tissue-regeneration and even to produce materials with anti-microbial properties. This encompasses a broad range of both biologically-derived and synthetic biomaterials that can be used to make 3D scaffolds, hydrogels and electrospun fibres, as well as methods to generate biologically-active coatings. MSE is the No 1 ranked Materials Science and Engineering department in Australia and ranks 34th in the world (QS2021). MSE hosts several Monash Technology Platforms such as the Monash Centre for Electron Microscopy (MCEM), the Monash X-ray Platform and the Monash Centre for Additive Manufacturing as well as the Australian Research Council funded Industry Transformational Training Centre for Cell and Tissue Engineering Technologies, of which Professor Meagher is the Director.

Experience in the synthesis of functional monomers and polymers using techniques such as ring-opening and free radical polymerisation would be highly regarded. Other experience such as drug/bioactive molecule delivery, surface modification and/or microbiology would also be highly regarded but are not essential. This project will be based in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering under the direction of Prof. Laurence Meagher but will be highly collaborative in nature, involving Prof Phil Andrews in the School of Chemistry and Prof Richard Ferrero at the Hudson Institute.

Applicants must show excellent communication and inter-personal skills, and the potential to conduct self-motivated research. They should have an Honours or Masters Degree (or equivalent).

Note: applicants who already hold a PhD will not be considered.

Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed, either in-person or online. The interviews will be conducted in English.

Candidate Requirements

Applicants will be considered provided that they fulfil the criteria for PhD admission at Monash University and demonstrate excellent research capability. Details of the relevant requirements are available at www.monash.edu/graduate-research/future-students/apply .

Submit an Expression of Interest (EoI)

EoIs shall comprise:

A cover letter that includes a brief statement of the applicant’s suitability

• A curriculum vitae, including a list of published works
• A full statement of academic record, supported by scanned copies of relevant certified documentation
• Contact details of two academic referees
• Evidence of English-language proficiency (international applicants only)

Enquiries and EOIs shall be sent, preferably in the form of a single PDF attachment to an e-mail, to:

Professor Laurence Meagher, [email protected]

Closing Date

Sunday 30 October 2022, 11:55pm AEDT

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