Insect Doctors Research

At this INSECT DOCTORS page you can find the Research Projects of the hired PhD candidates within the INSECT DOCTORS programme.

The PhD projects intended to start in April or May 2020. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic most of the PhD students had to start later. They are all enrolled in double degree constructions involving universities in two countries.


Research Projects per Work Package

The research is divided over three science themes and each consists of 5 Research Projects. The country of the hiring organisation is placed witihin brackets. By clicking on the titles of the projects more information will be come available.

1. Pathogen-host interactions (Research Projects 1-5)

Discovering interactions between pathogens and insect hosts, and determining abiotic and biotic triggers for disease outbreaks.

2. Covert infections and pathogen detection

(Research Projects 6-10)

Understanding the molecular mechanisms behind latency / persistence (covert infections) and how to discover / detect pathogens to prevent disease outbreaks.

3. Increasing insect resistance against pathogens

(Research Projects 10-15)

Focussing on the interactions between pathogens and
the insect microbiome and how nutritional adaptations can increase fitness of
reared insects.