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Current research degree projects

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Explore our current postgraduate research degree and PhD opportunities.

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202 research degree projects

Ocean and earth science

Envisioning Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management (FCERM) governance in a well-adapted nation

Envisioning flood and coastal erosion risk management (FCERM) in a well-adapted nation is imperative, as flooding intensity and frequency increase alongside other climate hazards. Flooding impacts disproportionately affect marginalised communities, due to pressures such as precarious housing, and a lack of disposable capital and trust in authorities. 

Funding: Fully funded (UK and international)

Closing date: 8 January 2025
Ocean and earth science

Implications of diverse risk perceptions within and across coastal communities for adaptive capacity and community engagement

Coastal flooding hazard will be increasing over the next century driven by unavoidable sea level rise and other climate change impacts. Since we cannot eliminate the risk of all marine hazards on coastal communities, many coastal management strategies are shifting towards adaptive solutions.

Funding: Fully funded (UK and international)

Closing date: 8 January 2025
Ocean and earth science

Combining AI and climate projections to improve management, maintenance and operation of European storm surge barriers

Coastal flooding is one of the most dangerous and costly natural hazards that humanity faces globally and yet it will become even more frequent and challenging to manage because of climate change and other factors. In densely populated estuarine settings, a storm surge barrier is often an attractive and economical solution for flood protection. 

Funding: Fully funded (UK and international)

Closing date: 8 January 2025
Ocean and earth science

Unlocking Improved Flood Modelling using Computer Vision Stream Gauging  

Flood models are essential for helping to manage and mitigate the annual £2.2B cost of flooding to the UK. However, one of the big uncertainties that remains in these models is how complex floodplains are characterised under a range of real-world conditions. This project will use new technologies in flow monitoring to meet this challenge. Specifically, Computer Vision Stream Gauging (CVSG) offers a way off characterizing complex flows over floodplains. 

Funding: Fully funded (UK and international)

Closing date: 8 January 2025
Ocean and earth science

Decision support to deliver gravel barrier adaptation pathways mapped to system state triggers

Gravel barrier shorelines offer widespread, critically important natural flood protection to many coastal communities. Their management, creation and enhancement are increasingly seen as sustainable, while providing nature-based adaptation options that boost natural capital. But these assets must be well managed to ensure they continue serving such functions in the face of increased risk of coastal erosion and flooding.

Funding: Fully funded (UK and international)

Closing date: 8 January 2025
Ocean and earth science

The Impact of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation on Flooding for Nuclear Sites in the UK

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) plays a critical role in decadal climate variability with impacts on sea level, regional weather patterns, and thus flooding, which poses a significant hazard to coastal infrastructure, including the UK’s Nuclear Power Plants. The overall goal of this project is to address fundamental questions about the causes and consequences of flooding around the UK’s coastlines over the next 100 years.

Funding: Fully funded (UK and international)

Closing date: 8 January 2025
Ocean and earth science

Is carbon dioxide release from sedimentary rocks a missing driver of geological climate change?

The magnitude of future warming will depend upon the strength of carbon cycle feedback mechanisms. However, there are carbon cycle feedbacks that we still know little about. This PhD project will test whether CO2 release from sedimentary rocks is a missing carbon cycle feedback in past and future warm climates.

Funding: Competition funded

Closing date: 9 December 2024
Ocean and earth science

A seismic study of rift-plume interaction in the South Atlantic

Continental breakup can generate huge volumes of magmatism that are generally attributed to the influence of mantle plumes. The project will use new seismic data from the continental margin of Brazil to investigate variations in magmatism along this margin that appear to contradict current understanding of how plumes work.

Funding: Competition funded

Closing date: 8 January 2025
Ocean and earth science

Can nitrogen fixation contend ocean desert expansion?

Life in the ocean is sustained by nitrogen fixation, a microbial process supplying bioavailable nitrogen. This project will explore biological controls on nitrogen fixation in the Indian Ocean, bridging cell to ocean scale nitrogen fluxes in the least explored basin in the world’s oceans.

Funding: Competition funded

Closing date: 8 January 2025
Ocean and earth science

Long-term change in the benthos – seabed photography as a critical tool for monitoring

Long-term environmental monitoring of changes to the seabed is rare but important, particularly as climate change accelerates. Seabed photography makes it possible, but inconsistency in application reduces comparability. This project will assess climate-related ecological change in benthic fauna and develop the consistency in seabed photography key to future marine monitoring.

Funding: Competition funded

Closing date: 8 January 2025