Studentships

ACCE DLA (Adapting to the Challenges of a Changing Environment)

ACCE's vision is to develop motivated, confident & multi-skilled PhD students, undertaking cutting-edge research & tackling environmental science questions of global significance. Studentships are offered between the Universities of Sheffield, Liverpool, York & UKCEH in a multi-disciplinary environment including biologists, mathematicians, analytical chemists & policy experts. See all ACCE projects here.

2025 opportunities with UKCEH (apply for all by 8 January 2025):

• Bending the biodiversity curve: how can we measure success?
• A multidisciplinary study of dune environments; past to present
• Habitat networks designed for all - ensuring climate-resilience for a wide diversity of species. Based at University of Liverpool.
• Enhancing detections of invertebrates to improve biosecurity in the South Atlantic. Based at University of Liverpool.
• Wild solutions: unlocking the potential of native grass microbiomes to boost crop resilience to environmental stress. Based at University of Liverpool.
• Mountain lakes as sentinels of change: linking nitrogen deposition rates to greenhouse gas emissions. Based at University of Liverpool.
• Disentangling patterns of global biodiversity change. Based at University of Sheffield.
• Genetic consequences of climate change-induced range shifts in Aricia butterflies. Based at University of York.
• The role of birds in the dissemination of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) from natural and engineered ecosystems. Based at University of York.
• A biodiverse future for woodlands in the presence of deer. Based at University of York.
• The role of air pollution and climate change in achieving UK woodland carbon sequestration targets. Based at University of York.
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CENTA DLA (Central England NERC Training Alliance)

CENTA research spans six universities (Birmingham, Leicester, Loughborough, Warwick & The Open University) and research institutes (UKCEH & BGS). A critical mass of researchers in climate & environmental sustainability, organisms & ecosystems & the dynamic earth provide a range of training & facilities. Training is supported by end-users from industry to non-governmental organisations & government agencies. See all CENTA projects here.

2025 opportunities with UKCEH (apply for all by 8 January 2025):

• HInterMap: drone-based mapping to improve monitoring and understanding of headwater and intermittent streams
• Tracking antimicrobial resistance across biomes
• Developing a Wildfire Digital Twin: Attributing causes of extreme fire events. Based at University of Leicester.
• Will saltmarshes remain a carbon sink under global changes? Shedding light on the belowground processes and associated C fluxes. Based at University of Birmingham.
• Going to extremes – impacts of global change on river ecology. Based at University of Birmingham.
• Changing seasons in a changing world: the role of phenology and physiology on carbon sequestration in temperate forests. Based at University of Birmingham.
• Hot or not?: Exploring river temperature and macrophyte responses to riparian shading to guide tree planting restoration initiatives. Based at University of Birmingham.
• Above-below ground interactions for nature recovery in coastal sand dune wetlands. Based at Loughborough University.
• Microbial origins of methane emissions and uptake in forested closed landfills. Based at The Open University.
• The role of the hydrological niche in predicting vegetation response to climate change. Based at The Open University.
• Life from fire? Can smouldering gas emissions support microbe growth? Based at The Open University.
• Conversion of annual to perennial growth in invasive plant species. Based at University of Warwick.

CROCUS is a newly awarded DLA led by the University of Reading and Swansea University, in partnership with the British Geological Survey, the Institute of Zoology, the National Oceanography Centre, the Natural History Museum, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. Projects will be considered across the NERC remit. See all CROCUS projects here.

2025 opportunities with UKCEH (apply for all by 20th January 2025):

• Shining a light on short-term response of insects and their predators to climate extremes: harnessing the potential of automated AI camera and audio systems
• Developing metrics of change for pollinating insects in the UK
• Does wilder grazing enhance ecosystem processes?
• Digging Deeper: Unravelling the Impact of Wastewater Treatment Plants on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)
• Assessing production, residence and nursery values for finfish in saltmarsh habitats in South Wales to inform management strategies for conservation and restoration. Based at Swansea University.
• Spatially informed biodiversity restoration strategies to benefit multiple species. Based at Swansea University.
• Sustainable Agriculture & Farming for Ecosystem Resilience (S.A.F.E.R.). Based at Swansea University.
• Keeping pace with climate change: facilitating species dispersal through productive landscapes. Based at University of Reading.
• How can AI-based insect monitoring technologies enhance large-scale insect monitoring? Based at the Institute of Zoology, London.

E5 DLA (Edinburgh Earth, Ecology & Environment)

Edinburgh has one of the highest concentrations of NERC-remit research in the UK. The clustering of environmental research around Edinburgh means that E4 students are part of a vibrant community of researchers & professionals that extends to many opportunities in science, policy, charity & business activities. See all E5 projects here.

2025 opportunities with UKCEH (apply for all by 6 January 2025):

• Adaptive variation in the timing of reproduction in Scots pine from the ancient Caledonian Pinewoods
• Are tropical tree communities shaped by processes in the seed-to-seedling transition?
• Examining the carbon chemistry and cycling of natural and artificial peatland pools. Based at University of Edinburgh.
• Exploring the utility of ultra high resolution spatial (UAV) data and machine learning for seabird colony assessment. Based at University of Edinburgh.
• How does your grassland grow? Towards the creation of actionable information for managed grasslands. Based at University of Edinburgh.
• Investigating the Cycling and Bioavailability of Glacially Derived Metals in a Changing Arctic Ocean. Based at University of Edinburgh.
• The genomic aftermath of colliding expansion waves - a case study in Scottish Speckled Wood butterflies. Based at University of Edinburgh.

Envision DTP (Developing next generation leaders in environmental science)

Envision brings together a powerful group of UK researchers with industry & NGO partners to provide a new generation of environmental scientists with the skills, knowledge & experience they need to take on the challenges of a changing world. Led by Lancaster University, research falls into the 3 areas of environmental change, sustainable use of natural resources & environmental hazards & risk. 

The funding for this DTP has now ended and it is not expected to recruit further student cohorts.

GW4+ DLTP (Great Western Four)

GW4+ identifies areas of complementary expertise across the universities of Bristol, Bath, Cardiff and Exeter to develop research communities at scale, to address major global and industrial challenges. The collaborative research & innovation of GW4+ recognises and builds on the industrial and research strengths of the South West, working across the natural sciences and encouraging collaborative projects between the universities, research institutes and industrial and public sector partners. See all GW4+ projects here.

2025 opportunities with UKCEH (apply by 13 January 2025):

• Understanding the role of land-atmosphere interactions for extreme tropical thunderstorms

Iapetus DLA

Named after the ancient ocean that closed to bring together England and Scotland, Iapetus is a partnership that joins the leading research universities of Durham, Glasgow, Heriot Watt, Newcastle, St Andrews & Stirling, together with UKCEH, BAS & BGS, in a united approach to doctoral research & training the next generation of leaders in the science of the natural environment. See all Iapetus projects here.

2025 opportunities with UKCEH (apply for all by 3 January 2025):

• The genetic diversity and adaptive potential of mountain birch in Scotland for high-altitude nature recovery
• Use of remote sensing data to improve predictions of ozone and drought impacts on crop yield
• Sensing the air: ammonia, ammonia sensors and improving rural air quality
• Novel statistical models accounting for misidentification in ecological data. Based at University of Glasgow.
• Assessing the Hydro ecological Impacts of Climate-Driven Extreme Events on UK Rivers. Based at Heriot-Watt University.
• Weathering vs. climate change: Quantifying recent silicate weathering using novel isotope tracers. Based at Durham University, also linked to the FDRI project.

ILESLA DLA (Interdisciplinary Life and Environmental Science Landscape Award)

The world faces unprecedented challenges, from climate change and food security to infectious diseases, biodiversity declines and sustainability. The Interdisciplinary Life and Environmental Science Landscape Award (ILESLA) will train a new generation of creative, collaborative and entrepreneurial researchers who are equipped to meet these complex, cross-disciplinary challenges. These future leaders will have the knowledge and skills to generate innovative solutions that integrate science across BBSRC and NERC remits, and to conduct curiosity-led research that generates far-reaching insight into biological and environmental systems, and their interactions. ILESLA is the successor to the BBSRC Interdisciplinary Bioscience and the NERC Environmental Research DTPs and builds on their success. This new programme will cover the full remit of both preceding programmes. 

UKCEH may partner in some of the PhD's offered in this DLA.

Oxford DTP in Environmental Research

The Oxford DTP in Environmental Research offers a world class, multidisciplinary training environment for the next generation of researchers working at the frontiers of Environmental Research. The Oxford DTP operates slightly differently, with two studentship routes. Some students are recruited direct to CASE or collaborative projects, while others are not admitted directly to project and apply to one of the three research streams (for students who wish to devise their own projects). 

The funding for this DTP has now ended and it is not expected to recruit further student cohorts.

SCENARIO DTP (Science of the Environment: Natural and Anthropogenic processes, Impacts and Opportunities)

The scientific scope of SCENARIO is broad, spanning the physical, chemical and biological processes within the overarching theme of "environmental risk and sustainability" over a wide range of temporal & spatial scales. SCENARIO incorporates supervisory expertise spanning the science of atmosphere, oceans, ice, hydrology, soil, ecosystems & space weather. SCENARIO seeks to attract high-quality graduates from science, mathematics & engineering degrees. 

The funding for this DTP has now ended and it is not expected to recruit further student cohorts.

The SSCP DTP harnesses world leading expertise from Imperial College London & Core Partner Institutions to offer a unique multidisciplinary PhD training programme. SSCP’s key scientific challenge is to understand & quantify complex biological, physical & human systems, & the interactions between them, in sufficient detail to predict & manage future change. This knowledge is used to develop innovative technical, business & policy responses to environmental & societal challenges.  

The funding for this DTP has now ended and it is not expected to recruit further student cohorts.

AI INTERVENE is a new Doctoral Focal Award funded by NERC. The DFA program’s goal is to prepare a new generation of researchers skilled in both artificial intelligence (AI) and biodiversity to help address the global biodiversity crisis. AI-INTERVENE aims to train PhD students to be adaptable, skilled in real-world applications, entrepreneurial, and driven by sustainability and inclusivity.

2025 opportunities with UKCEH may be forthcoming shortly

ECORISC CDT (Ecotoxicological Risk Assessment Towards Sustainable Chemical Use)

The ECORISC Centre for Doctoral Training is a partnership between five universities and UKCEH, funded for six years with projects designed to better understand the risks of chemicals in the natural environment and how to best assess and manage these risks. It will produce a generation of innovator scientists that can identify, understand and effectively manage the risks of chemicals through the use of state-of-the-art science and out-of-the-box thinking.

The funding for this DTP has now ended and it is not expected to recruit further student cohorts.

ECOSOLUTIONS is a new Doctoral Focal Award focusing on solutions to the issues of chemical pollution. It will combine cutting-edge environmental science with approaches from other disciplines (natural, health and social sciences, engineering) to deliver systems-based approaches which minimise wider socio-environmental impacts of the manufacture and fate of chemicals.

2025 opportunities with UKCEH may be forthcoming shortly

The ECOWILD Centre for Doctoral Training programme has been designed to deliver the next generation of innovative researchers and conservationists needed to protect some of the Earth’s most vulnerable and valuable ecosystems. ECOWILD is a unique partnership that brings together research expertise and innovation across various fields including environmental toxicology, ecology, multiple stressor theory and modelling, wetland conservation and restoration, socioeconomics, community engagement, management and governance; and involves some of the leading UK experts in these fields. See all ECOWILD projects here.

2025 opportunities with UKCEH (apply for all by 9 January 2025):

• PondChart: harnessing spatial information and earth observation to map and predict occurrence of multiple stressors on mini-wetlands
• The effects of PFAS forever chemicals on species in wetland species across climate gradients
• Unravelling the effects of multiple stressors on microbial communities and ecosystem health in semi-natural and constructed wetlands
• Predicting Synergistic Effects of Multiple Stressors on Estuarine Hydro-Ecological Resilience. Based at Heriot-Watt University.
• Developing novel tracer-based methods to investigate how pressures on upland wetlands alter flood and drought resilience. Based at Heriot-Watt University, also linked to the FDRI project.
• Impacts of multiple stressors (pollutants and disease) on beavers in England. Based at University of the Highlands and Islands.
• How does climate change influence dynamics between saline and freshwater coastal wetlands?. Based at University of York.
• Temperature, precipitation and chemical gradient impacts on the ecology and dynamics antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in engineered and natural wetlands. Based at University of York.

The vision of FLOOD-CDT is to train the next generation of research practitioners, who will have both: (1) the multidisciplinary skills and knowledge required to address key sector needs and research questions across all drivers of flooding, and; (2) the ability to bridge gaps that currently exist between the evidence base and flood risk management approaches, policy, regulation and community engagement. See all FLOOD projects here.

2025 opportunities with UKCEH (apply by 8 January 2025):

• A sub-hourly quality controlled blended UK precipitation dataset to understand uncertainty in flood predictions. Based at Newcastle University, strategically aligned to the FDRI project.
• Assessing the eco-hydrological and geomorphic effects of floodplain restoration. Based at Newcastle University.
• Beyond the peak – towards improved understanding of flood signatures, their drivers and trends. Based at Southampton University.
• Resilient dunes: determining the impacts of winter flooding variability on coastal dune wetland plant communities using remote sensing. Based at Loughborough University.
• Unlocking Improved Flood Modelling using Computer Vision Stream Gauging. Based at Southampton University, strategically aligned to the FDRI project.

RED-ALERT CDT's will train a new generation of leaders to transform how we manage aquatic environmental health via Real-Time Digital Water-Based Systems. Red-ALERT convenes private, government, regulatory/public sector organisations with world-leading researchers in genetics, ecotoxicology, sensor technology, Internet of Things, autonomous real-time data collection, mathematical modelling & data analytics. See all RED ALERT projects here.

2025 opportunities with UKCEH (apply by 7 January 2025):

• Microbial Source Tracking for Antimicrobial Resistance and Pathogens in Aquatic Ecosystems.
• Effects of extreme weather events and livestock excreta management on the viability and transfer of pathogens to watercourses. Based at Bangor University.
• Salmon Disease Omics (SalDiOmics) - Developing a novel genomic toolkit to understand the spatio-temporal dynamics of freshwater salmonid disease. Based at Bangor University.
• Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of Antimicrobial Resistant Organisms in Freshwater Ecosystems. Based at Bangor University.
• Human Pathogen Detection in the Environment using Integrated Quantum Nanodiamond Sensors. Based at Bangor University.
• Carbon and particulate cycling in river systems in the Anthropocene. Based at University of Exeter.
• Do pollutants from wastewaters accumulating in aquatic invertebrates affect breeding success of insectivorous birds. Based at University of Exeter.
• Otters versus gadgets: how does passive sampling compare with sentinel species monitoring for evaluation of freshwater pollution? Based at Cardiff University.
• Linking the changing chemical environment to biological recovery across formerly industrial rivers. Based at Cardiff University.