Join our Graduate School of the National Oceanography Centre Southampton (GSNOCS). We're an interdisciplinary research community working on the latest topics in ocean and earth science.
GSNOCS is a centre of excellence. We are large, international, scientifically diverse and genuinely interdisciplinary with over 120 registered PhD supervisors and more than 150 PhD students with backgrounds in:
Find out more about the:
One-to-one contact with practising researchers is the most important component of postgraduate education. We host a large cohort of academic staff at NOCS involved in supervising our PhD students. There are many hundreds more working in related disciplines across the University.
A supervisory team will mentor and guide you in carrying out your research. An advisory panel will monitor your progress and give additional advice.
Our research generally focuses on one of these areas:
You can either apply for a structured studentship or propose your own PhD idea.
Structured studentships are advertised PhD projects with a title, supervisor, remit and funding already in place. These projects are set up through collaborations with industry, external partners or through one of several centres for doctoral training that we take part in.
Taking one of our structured studentships will give you access to additional training, conferences and secondments.
The IGNITE Doctoral Landscape Award (DLA) offers fully-funded studentships. You can explore these here or visit the IGNITE website to explore projects for September 2025 entry for the first round of IGNITE recruitment.
Although the deadline for INSPIRE DTP applications has passed, most of these projects will not be filled by INSPIRE students and are likely available if you have an alternative source of funding. If you are interested in an INSPIRE project, please contact the lead supervisors for more information.
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.
Sound can be used to understand ocean biophony, geophony and anthropogenic processes and their interactions. This project will acquire novel passive acoustic datasets from a submarine canyon system. Machine learning techniques will be used to isolate and understand different components of the soundscape, with a particular focus on beaked whales.
The project will explore new techniques in computer vision to enable AI on the “edge” i.e. within AUVs, as well AI-enabled scheduling on-board the robot.
Coastal flooding is the second largest non-malicious risk to the UK. Accurate coastal forecast information is critical to enabling EA Incident Managers to assess coastal flood risk in real time and take appropriate mitigating actions.
Floods have been identified as one of the most dangerous hazards in the UK causing potentially billions of pounds of economic and social damage per year. Flood risk is becoming an increasing concern as studies suggest that flood frequency and magnitude are changing over time in the UK, with events that would have been rare in the recent past seeming to become less rare now.
Numerous seabird and marine mammal species occur in the subtropical and subantarctic zones of the southern Indian Ocean. This project aims to model and identify the species- and community-level distribution of these charismatic animals to reveal ecosystem processes and patterns in the region and support spatial conservation and management initiatives.
Aggregation of organic particles to form “marine snow” can produce significant export pulses that contribute to ocean carbon storage. This project will analyse unique datasets of biological glues, turbulence and particle characteristics collected in high latitude environments to assess the drivers of aggregation and quantify its influence on carbon export.
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.
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.
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.
Recent work has highlighted the importance of turbulent mixing in the ocean bottom boundary layer in upwelling the dense waters formed at high latitudes. This project will use cutting-edge sensors, including optical fibres along the seafloor, to provide a new window on near-bottom ocean turbulence.
Beaches are of high economic and societal importance. They support tourism and provide essential protection from the marine environment by dissipating energy from tides, surges, and waves. Many beaches are becoming narrower under increasing effects of climate change. The situation is particularly acute for beaches with little or no contemporary sediment supply, resulting in some cases in complete beach loss with dire consequences for coastal protection, local economy, and coastal community resilience.
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.
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.
This project explores coastal transformations along the south coast of England linked to the combined impacts of storms, waves, and rising sea levels. The south coast is highly vulnerable to climate change because of its exposure to powerful weather systems originating from the North Atlantic.
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.
Globally soft coastlines represent major regions of population and biodiversity. They are under threat from rapid environmental and population growth. This research will combine long (600yr) sources of evidence found in documentary and sediment archives to fully understand how climate change – mediated via storm and surge driven flooding resulted in change to the physical, ecological and socio-economics and community response of soft coastal systems.
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.
You can either apply for a structured PhD or propose your own research project idea.
Taking a structured PhD will give you access to additional training, conferences and secondments.
We offer our structured studentships in partnership with Inspire Natural and Environmental Research Council (NERC) and the South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership (SCDTP).
We offer a wide range of fully-funded studentships. We run most of our PhD studentships in partnership with doctoral training centres, meaning you’ll benefit from enhanced training and guaranteed funding.
These studentships:
Find out about the Inspire doctoral training partnership offering fully-funded studentships.
The University of Southampton supports (in conjunction with other funders) additional fully-funded studentships.
These are associated with some projects carried out in collaboration with a non-academic partner. Students get a top-up to their research training support grant (RTSG) of £1,000 or £2,000 a year.
GSNOCS has a limited number of international student scholarships, available for highly qualified non-UK/EU applicants to help cover the cost of student fees.
You must identify the project(s) you're interested in, and we recommend you contact the relevant supervisors before you apply.
Get in touch with the GSNOCS office team at [email protected]
Once you've found a supervisor, they can help you with potential funding sources. We offer match funding in some cases.
You'll need to state how you intend to pay for your tuition fees when you submit your application.
Find out more about funding your PhD
You can borrow up to £29,390 for a PhD starting on or after 1 August 2024. Doctoral loans are not means tested and you can decide how much you want to borrow.
Find out about PhD loans on GOV.UK
You may be able to win funding from one or more charities to help fund your PhD.
2023 to 2024 entry:
| PhD | UK | International |
|---|---|---|
| Full time | tbc | £25,500 |
| Part time | tbc | £12,750 |
2024 to 2025 entry:
| PhD | UK | International |
|---|---|---|
| Full time | £4,786 | £26,100 |
| Part time | £2,393 | £13,050 |
| Ocean and Earth Science Distance Learning Part-time | £2,393 | £13,050 |
2025 to 2026 entry:
| PhD | UK | International |
|---|---|---|
| Full time | tbc | £26,700 |
| Part time | tbc | £13,350 |
| Ocean and Earth Science Distance Learning Part-time | tbc | £13,350 |
You're eligible for a 10% alumni discount on a self-funded PhD if you're a current student of graduate from the University of Southampton.
It's a good idea to contact a relevant supervisor about the project or research you're interested in, before you apply.
Decide whether to apply to an advertised research project or create your own proposal.
It's a good idea to email potential supervisors to discuss the specifics of your project. It's best to do this well ahead of the application deadline.
You’ll find supervisors’ contact details listed with the advertised project, or you can search for supervisors in the staff directory.
You’ll need to send us:
You’ll need to have a 2:1 undergraduate honours degree, or equivalent qualification, in an appropriate subject.
If English is not your first language, you'll need an IELTS minimum level of 6.5 with a 6.0 in writing, reading, speaking and listening.
Your awarded certificate needs to be dated within the last 2 years.
If you need further English language tuition before starting your degree, you can apply for one of our pre-sessional English language courses.
Check the specific entry requirements listed on the project you’re interested in before you apply.
Research degrees have a minimum and maximum duration, known as the candidature. Your candidature ends when you submit your thesis.
Most candidatures are longer than the minimum period.
| Degree type | Duration |
| Ocean and Earth science PhD full time | 2 to 4 years |
| Ocean and Earth science PhD part time | 3 to 7 years |
