This scholarship, with the Computational Biophysics Group in the School of Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia (Physics Discipline), provides an opportunity for a talented student to undertake their Ph.D. on a computer-based molecular biophysics project of medical significance, funded by the National Institutes of Health, USA.
The Computational Biophysics Group develops advanced physical and chemical simulation approaches to explore problems associated with membrane charge transport. Ion channels are proteins that control the movements of charged molecules across cell membranes to enable electrical activity in the body. This project involves the development and application of advanced computer simulation methods to explore the mechanisms of ion conduction, selectivity and activation for ion channels that control neuronal signalling and brain function. Investigations may extend to how these channels may be modulated by drugs, as therapeutics for a range of neurological and cardiac diseases. This project has established experimental collaborators and uses supercomputing resources in Australia and the USA, including the new DE Shaw Anton2.