Research opportunities 

A wide range of research areas are available for prospective students to choose from. These include invertebrate pathology, protein structure and function, gene expression in cancer and apoptosis, the molecular basis of development and signal transduction, plant genetic engineering, plant virology, mycorrhizas and fungal plant pathogens, cell growth and differentiation, food and industrial microbiology, biological control, biofilm studies and microbiological studies of necardioforms, evolution and biotechnological application of bacteriophages.

MSc and PhD applicants should contact the Senior Administrative Officer natashya.bennett@wits.ac.za before applying to find a supervisor.

Facilities

The research labs at the School of Molecular and Cell Biology are adequately equipped to enable postgraduate students to perform molecular and cellular research. Some general equipment includes growth rooms, autoclaves, pH meters, laminar flow hoods and tissue culture cabinets. For general molecular DNA work we have thermal cyclers, spectrophotometers, electrophoresis systems, a gel imaging system and an automated sequencer. All MCB postgraduate students have access to a range of microscopes including light, transmission electron, scanning electron, confocal scanning laser, inverted, and fluorescent microscopes. For protein research, some of the available instruments include an isothermal titration caliorimeter, a stopped flow and a fluorescence spectrophotometer.