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.
Submesoscale motions are difficult to directly observe in the ocean. This project will leverage specialised processing of existing Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) measurements to enable a more detailed observational picture of the submesoscale. Using this novel perspective, the student will help refine our understanding of submesoscale currents and waves.
We can obtain complementary information about the composition of Earth’s mantle and crust from seismic and electromagnetic signals. The project will explore the detection of seismic signals by seafloor electromagnetic sensors and vice versa, using several datasets including new data collected in September 2023 with co-located seismic and electromagnetic sensors.
You will investigate sinking particles key role in ocean carbon storage –– in a region identified as climate-system tipping point: The Labrador Sea. You will use state-of-the-art in situ images of plankton and particles collected autonomously over an entire year to understand and quantify this critical ecosystem.
The project will focus on the spatial patterns of macrofaunal biodiversity in an abyssal ecosystem over scales relevant to the management of potential deep-sea mining. It will use the latest ecological and genomic methods on samples collected in 2024 as well as through new potential collections with the JPI-Oceans project.
We invite you to explore the role of ocean mixing on Antarctic ice melt. You will use acoustic and oceanographic data from West Antarctica to unlock an untapped data set. You will generate new knowledge of the dynamics of ocean mixing that is crucial for understanding Antarctic ice loss.
Phytoplankton that perform photosynthesis are the source of energy that drives global elemental cycles, including carbon, and thus regulate climate. Their growth requires essential elements (N, Fe, Mn). Project will determine how phytoplankton adapt to changing availabilities of these resources to understand how photosynthesis will respond in a changing ocean.
Photography is a key tool in monitoring remote marine habitats, but determining real ecological change is hampered by a lack of comparability between rapidly improving camera systems. This project will maximise comparability in image-derived ecological metrics by evaluating and minimizing sources of method bias, considering human- and AI-generated data.
This project will use a variety of hydrographic datasets to understand the water mass formation processes within the ice covered Weddell Sea, and how they are responding to climate change. These control the formation of climatically important water masses and the exchange of properties between the ocean and atmosphere.
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 |
