The Yu Research Group at Stanford University is recruiting 1–2 PhD students starting in Fall 2027 (https://yulab.stanford.edu/). We are looking for highly motivated students interested in developing fundamental and translational approaches for understanding chemical–microbe interactions.
Our current PhD openings will focus on three complementary research directions:
- Environmental microbiology and analytical chemistry Combining aerobic and anaerobic cultivation, microbial ecology, functional validation, and bioinformatics to understand chemical biotransformation across heterogeneous environmental media and diverse microbial communities, with an emphasis on both bioremediation and biorecovery. Students are expected to work with aerobic microbial communities or pure culture and anaerobic microbial communities or pure culture (e.g., activated sludge, human/animal gut microbiome)
- Chemical degradability, predictive chemistry and biology, and human-centered AI Developing analytical workflows (e.g., Astral-Orbitrap, ICP-MS, NMR based) to characterize chemicals and biomolecules, and establishing scalable experimental and computational platforms to characterize and predict their degradability, toxicity, and impacts on microbial communities.
Students with backgrounds in environmental microbiology, microbial ecology, biochemistry, analytical chemistry, chemical engineering, chemistry, bioengineering, or related fields are encouraged to apply. The group integrates both wet-lab and computational research. Candidates with strong backgrounds in computational biology or machine learning are very welcome, with the expectation that a substantial part of their PhD training will involve hands-on experimental work.
The lab has established capabilities in analytical chemistry, general and molecular microbiology, chemical experimentation, and computational data analysis, and is continuing to expand its capabilities in biochemical characterization (https://yulab.stanford.edu/instruments).
Our group especially values humility, commitment, honesty, curiosity and a strong willingness to learn, initiative, reliability, collaboration, a solution-oriented mindset, and intellectual independence. We believe that supporting and learning from one another is essential to doing impactful science. We also value open and timely communication: students are encouraged to share feedback, questions, and challenges early, and the PI is committed to being responsive and supportive.
Prospective students are welcome to reach out Yaochun Yu (yaochuny.cee@gmail.com) with following materials combined in One Pdf:
- A CV that includes ALL educational institutions attended and degrees earned, the GPA for each degree, English language proficiency scores demonstrating that Stanford’s requirements have been met, if applicable, previous research experience, and a complete publication list. For admission consideration, the minimum scores are 90 for the TOEFL taken before January 21, 2026, 4.5 for the TOEFL taken on or after January 21, 2026, or 7 for the IELTS. The minimum scores for exemption from the Stanford English Placement Test are 109, 5.5, and 8, respectively.
- Unofficial transcripts for all completed and currently enrolled degree programs
- A brief motivation letter describing their research interests, relevant experience, career goal, and why they are interested in joining the Yu Research Group; and
- Contact information for two references, with at least one referee who has worked closely with the applicant and can speak to their research ability, personality, independence, initiative, reliability, and ability to collaborate with others.
For Stanford Fall 2027 admission: The application deadline for graduate programs in Stanford’s School of Engineering and Doerr School of Sustainability is December 1, 2026. If you are interested in joining our group but have not yet received a response to your inquiry, you are still welcome to apply. Please indicate Yaochun Yu as a faculty member of interest in your application so that your materials can be considered as part of the applicant pool.