PhD opportunity at the University of Nottingham and University of Adelaide

PhD opportunity at the University of Nottingham and University of Adelaide

A novel population phenotypic and genetics-based approach to understanding sensory preferences of the “global consumer”.

Applicants are invited for this exciting PhD studentship studying the impact of phenotypic and genetic variations in sensory response on food preferences in both the UK and Australia.

Phenotypic and genetic variations in the population have been shown to have an impact on sensory response and consumer preference. For example, previous research has shown vegetable intake is related to variations in sensory response to a specific bitter compound (PROP) which can be explained by genetic variation on the TAS2R38 gene. However, little is known about the impact of other phenotypes and genotypes on sensory preferences of sweet foods and diet choices.

This PhD will take a scientifically controlled approach to investigate the phenotypic and genotypic variations across different global population groups. Resulting data will be mined to generate understanding of the “global consumer” to facilitate calorie reduction for food manufacturers. A background in statistics or bioinformatics is essential and some knowledge of sensory and consumer science, genetics or food science would be beneficial.

Dr Rebecca Ford (UoN; r.ford@nottingham.ac.uk), Dr Qian Yang (UoN), Professor Ian Fisk (UoN), Dr Susan Bastian (UoA) and Professor David Adelson (UoA)

https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~sazintra/public/studentship/uoa-uon/Combined-Advert-UoN-UoA-studentships.pdf

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