Professor Stephen Royle

Supervisor Details

Contact Details

Scientific Background

Research Interests

The Royle lab researches cell biology at the molecular level. We are interested in two processes fundamental to eukaryotic cellular life:

Mitosis.
Endocytosis.

Scientific Inspiration

Discoveries are made by pushing boundaries and taking chances. Ironically, many scientists are very conservative and risk-averse! I鈥檓 inspired by those who dare to be different: the fearless experimentalists and the challengers of the status quo.

Research Groups

Supervision Style

In three words or phrases: Collaborative, supportive and detail-oriented.

Provision of Training

You will have access to everything you need to make a success of your PhD. For experimental methods, training is done between members of my research group and I can assist with troubleshooting. Microscopy specialists will train you to use our fancy microscopes. We鈥檙e here to help you to become the best you can be.

Progression Monitoring and Management

I am here to help you, but it is your responsibility to make a success of your project. You need to own it.

Communication

We mainly use Slack for communication and I鈥檓 always happy to discuss science (or anything!) with lab members. I work a lot outside of regular work hours. I may send you a message the moment I think of something, but there is no pressure for you to respond until the next working day.

PhD Students can expect scheduled meetings with me:

In a group meeting

At least once per week

In year 1 of PhD study

At least once per week

In year 2 of PhD study

At least once per week

In year 3 of PhD study

At least once per week

These one on one meetings will be face to face in my office, and I am usually contactable for an instant response on every working day.

Working Patterns

A PhD is best tackled like any other job and I expect students to keep consistent working hours like all other members of my lab. Certain tasks in the lab need to occur at set times or outside regular working hours. Finally, students need to be able to commit to a rota/timetable shared with other members of the team.

Notice Period for Feedback

I need at least 1 week鈥檚 notice to provide feedback on written work of up to 5000 words.

MIBTP Project Details

Primary supervisor for:

Sorting out intracellular vesicle traffic

Secondary Supervisor(s): Professor Corinne Smith

University of Registration: University of 糖心TV

BBSRC Strategic Research Priority: Understanding the Rules of Life (Structural Biology, Systems Biology)

Project Outline

Eukaryotic cells are compartmentalized: they contain organelles and membrane-bound domains that each have distinct identities. For example, the endoplasmic reticulum is different to the Golgi apparatus. The identities of these compartments must be maintained, yet there needs to be exchange of specific materials (proteins and lipids) between them. This exchange, via vesicle transport, is tightly regulated in order to maintain compartment identity. Proper cellular organisation is core to cells functioning normally and as such, membrane traffic controls most of the things that cells need to do: move, secrete, signal and so on.

Until recently it was thought that we had a complete inventory of the types of vesicles used in membrane traffic. There were several types of vesicular carrier described, including clathrin-coated vesicles (50-100 nm diameter) formed at the plasma membrane (PM) or TGN, COPII-coated vesicles (60-70 nm) originating at the ER, and intra-Golgi transport vesicles (70-90 nm). Our lab have recently found a new class of transport vesicle, termed intracellular nanovesicles (INVs). These small (35 nm diameter) vesicles are widespread in the membrane trafficking system and play a role in anterograde traffic, Golgi integrity and recycling of endocytosed material.

Due to their recent discovery, there is a lot to learn about these vesicles. We are actively pursuing many of the basic questions: how do they form? How are they transported? What cargos do they carry? From this we want to understand how membrane traffic is organised, and where these vesicles fit into the picture. We are using a combination of state-of-the-art imaging methods (super-resolution microscopy and electron microscopy), genetically encoded probes and proteomics. Due to their ubiquity and their recent discovery, understanding INVs in more detail is likely to have wide impact in the membrane trafficking field and on cell biology in general.

Co-supervisor on a project with Dr John James.