Development of tuneable hydrogels for in vitro modelling of blood vessels

Developing realistic artificial blood vessels to understand the cardiovascular system outside the body depends on hydrogels that mimic the softness and permeability of human tissue. However, many “gold standard” biomaterials (e.g., Matrigel and animal-derived collagen) suffer from batch-to-batch variability, limited control over mechanical properties, and ethical/supply-chain constraints. This project will develop and test chemically defined hydrogel systems for vascular tissue engineering, helping to create more reproducible and scalable platforms for studying vascular biology and disease. The student will formulate candidate hydrogels from non-animal biopolymers and/or synthetic polymers, exploring different crosslinking strategies to tune stiffness, swelling and degradation. Materials will be characterised using simple mechanical testing (e.g., rheology or compression), microscopy, and stability assays. In parallel, the student will assess cell compatibility by culturing endothelial cells on and in selected gels and measuring viability, spreading and early vessel-like organisation, potentially including flow exposure in basic channel or perfusion set-ups. The student will gain hands-on experience in biomaterials research, experimental design, data analysis and scientific communication. Students should be organised, curious, and willing to learn new techniques across biology and materials science. Students will need to find their own accommodation and be expected to present their findings orally at a research day in York on 08th September 2026.