Plants use calcium as a second messenger in signal transduction pathways associated with many different biological processes, for example during drought, salt or cold stress, and during interactions with pathogens or symbionts. These different stimuli are able to induce different calcium signals in plant cells, but it is unclear how these different calcium signals bring about further specific responses.

Many calcium-binding proteins have been identified in plants and most of these proteins possess EF-hand motifs which have been shown to directly bind calcium ions. We are interested in understanding how these calcium-binding proteins decode different calcium signals into specific signalling responses.

If you are interested in a postdoctoral position in our laboratory, please e-mail me directly to discuss possibilities. We are very interested in potential postdocs with a strong background in plant biology, synthetic biology or biochemistry. Applicants are encouraged to look for funding sources, including Wellcome Trust Postdoctoral Fellowships, Marie Curie Fellowships, Newton Fellowships and HFSP Fellowships. 

Current lab members

Mellieha Allen (BBSRC DTP funded PhD student, jointly supervised with Prof Jonathan Todd, UEA)

Lorelei Bilham (BBSRC/NERC funded Research Technician)

Tamim Kabir (NERC DTP funded PhD student, jointly supervised with Prof Jonathan Todd)

Rocky Payet (BBSRC/NERC funded Senior Research Associate)

Ines Raycheva (BBSRC/NERC funded Research Technician)

Althea Rose (BBSRC DTP funded PhD student, jointly supervised with Dr Taoyang Wu, UEA)

Hannah Wright (BBSRC DTP iCASE funded PhD student, jointly supervised with Dr Andrew Gates and Dr Gabriella Kelemen, UEA, and PGRO)

Former lab members

Connor Tansley (BBSRC DTP funded PhD student)

Alexander Jarvis (Gatsby funded Research Associate)

Maria Contreras Delgado (Eastern ARC funded PhD student)

Click here for current PhD opportunities in Biological Sciences, but feel free to email me to discuss projects outside these areas and alternative sources of funding.

Ben Miller is a molecular biologist with an interest in calcium signalling pathways and synthetic biology in plants. His research is focussed on how plants use calcium as a second messenger to respond and adapt to the environment.

Lecturer, University of East Anglia (2021 - Present)

Eastern ARC Fellow in Synthetic Biology, University of East Anglia (2015 - 2021)

Post-doctoral Scientist, John Innes Centre (2012 - 2015)

PhD, John Innes Centre (2012)

BSc, University of Durham (2008)