Are you holding Master’s degree and looking for fully funded PhD positions? University of Essex, Colchester, England invites online application for multiple funded PhD Programs / fully funded PhD positions in various research areas.
Candidates interested in fully funded PhD positions can check the details and may apply as soon as possible. Interested and eligible applicants may submit their online application for PhD programs via the University’s Online Application Portal.
1. Fully Funded PhD Position in Quantifying the impacts of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from infrastructure decommissioning on benthic micro and macrofaunal communities
Summary of PhD Program:
This project takes advantage of existing archived benthic sediment samples collected along a distance gradient from 50 m to 3200 m away from two North Sea platforms (i.e. North West Hutton and Miller, that were decommissioned in 2009 and 2018 respectively). The University of Essex has obtained a suite of hydrocarbon data (petroleum alkanes, PAHs), archived DNA and metagenome data from these sediments that will be made available to the student. All supervisors have well-established track records of supervising Masters and PhD students to completion and are fully committed to supporting the student. Therefore this project is very low risk.
Application Deadline: 1 February 2025
2. Fully Funded PhD Position in Unilateralism v Multilateralism: Harnessing International Economic Policy for Sustainable Transitions
Summary of PhD Program:
This project focuses on the costs and benefits of unilateralism in pursuing sustainable transitions. In recent years, the EU has ramped up its use of unilateral economic instruments as a way of exerting leverage on third states in the areas of sustainability and climate policy. From the new Deforestation Regulation, to the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, to the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, the EU is using the power of its economic market to influence the behaviour of actors around the world.
Application Deadline: Open until filled
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3. Fully Funded PhD Position in Transitions to sustainable wildlife harvest: evidence based management and the social licence to hunt
Summary of PhD Program:
This PhD project will develop approaches in ecological and social sciences to help overcome barriers to sustainable recreational hunting – leading to methods that can help the UK government meet social and conservation objectives. Areas of research could include estimating species specific harvest of waterbirds, developing methods to make harvest estimation easier, understanding the social licence of wild bird hunting in the UK, and exploring social and practical barriers to positive ecological outcomes for hunted waterbirds.
Application Deadline: Open until filled
4. Fully Funded PhD Position in Towards a praxis of a just transition in developing economies: Beyond counter accounts and regulatory frameworks to action
Summary of PhD Program:
This is an opportunity to conduct fully funded interdisciplinary research under the Sustainable Transitions Leverhulme Doctoral Training Programme at the University of Essex. Climate change risk is unevenly borne globally by the more vulnerable, principally from developing economies. This inequality gives prominence to the notion of a ‘just transition’. However, the emergence of the concept of a ‘just transition’ in relation to developing economies has continued to attract discourses that challenge the dominant discourses of the Global North which are arguably based on existing dominant structures (e.g., capitalism, economic growth, technology, politics).
Application Deadline: Open until filled
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5. Fully Funded PhD Position in The role of directors’ duties and their relationship with non-financial reporting in achieving environmental sustainability
Summary of PhD Program:
Directors’ duties are an extremely important component of company law in all jurisdictions of the world. They influence the way that businesses make decisions, formulate strategies and consider ‘externalities’ such as the environment. Directors’ duties generally require decision-makers within companies to act in the best interests of the companies themselves and do not require companies to achieve specific outcomes for the environment, such as net zero carbon emissions, biodiversity loss, waste and pollution.
Application Deadline: Open until filled
6. Fully Funded PhD Position in Nature protection versus nature restoration: Who benefits and who loses out?
Summary of PhD Program:
This is an opportunity to conduct fully funded interdisciplinary research under the Sustainable Transitions Leverhulme Doctoral Training Programme at the University of Essex. Decisions around whether to use limited conservation funding to protect “good” ecosystems or improve degraded ones are typically based upon economic and ecological considerations alone. Yet there are numerous potential ways in which this decision not only determines the costs and ecological benefits of conservation activities, but also the social outcomes.
Application Deadline: Open until filled
7. Fully Funded PhD Position in Nature-based Solutions (NbS) to mitigate the effects of sea-level rise
Summary of PhD Program:
Research must inform such ambitious goals on the utility of and transition to NbS: (i) Marine science provides the knowledge base on the ecology and settlement biology of reef-building organisms. (ii) Circular economies that benefit businesses, society, and the environment can be created to provide materials (e.g. bivalve shell, rubble) that encourage natural settlement and reef-formation. (iii) The socioeconomic landscape together with conservation concerns and existing regulatory frameworks on coastal use must inform future defence strategies.
Application Deadline: Open until filled
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8. Fully Funded PhD Position in From Global Promise to Local Impact: Evaluating Climate Funding at the Local Level
Summary of PhD Program:
The efforts to establish ‘loss and damage’ climate funding to aid countries impacted by climate disasters underscore the need for collective approaches to transform financial institutions and governmental practices to ensure that support meets local needs. Structural challenges such as resource distribution, access to finance, corruption, multilevel governance systems and participation in decision-making can all complicate ‘loss and damage’ implementation for disadvantaged or vulnerable communities at the local level.
Application Deadline: Open until filled
9. Fully Funded PhD Position in Exploring the legal and social emergence of rights of nature as a form of environmental protection
Summary of PhD Program:
This project will examine Rights of Nature (RoN), drawing from both legal and sociological perspectives. The RoN movement has gained traction in recent years as a novel approach to environmental protection and the rethinking of nature-human relationships. Originating in the rights movements of communities in Amercia and Indigenous Peoples in South America, rights of nature laws were then adopted around the globe. The initiative behind granting rights or personhood to nature is, clearly, an attempt to safeguard ecological systems. More fundamentally, it represents a deeper philosophical shift that redefines nature as a legal subject, rather than merely an object or resource for human exploitation.
Application Deadline: Open until filled
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10. Fully Funded PhD Position in Digital Technologies of farming: analysing and communicating its impact on farmers and the environment
Summary of PhD Program:
Technology is changing the way we work across many spheres, including the agricultural industry. For example, sensor technologies employed in farming (like virtual fencing and GPS animal tracking) claim to accelerate the transition to more sustainable agricultural practices. Technological solutions are key to sustainable transitions but their success relies on how people understand and interact with these technologies. The acceptance of digital technologies and their impact on the working practices of farmers, agricultural workers, and conservationists are underexplored (especially in the UK context).
Application Deadline: Open until filled
11. Fully Funded PhD Position in Co-Production, Climate Resilience, and Accountability: A Pathway to Localising Sustainable Agendas
Summary of PhD Program:
This project explores the intersection of co-production, climate resilience, and accountability as a strategy to localise the global sustainable development agenda. As climate change disproportionately affects vulnerable communities, it is crucial to develop localised, inclusive approaches that integrate local knowledge and address unique environmental and social challenges. Co-production, where multiple stakeholders collaborate – governments, citizens, NGOs, and businesses – offers a suitable framework for this purpose.
Application Deadline: Open until filled
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12. Fully Funded PhD Position in Biodiversity Conservation. An empirical analysis of the ways that developers in England are working to achieve Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG)
Summary of PhD Program:
The project provides the opportunity to analyse the contributions that businesses and governmental organizations are providing in relation to biodiversity conservation, by studying the ways that developers are applying the Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) regulation applicable in England. This regulation, which has become mandatory since February 2024, affects some types of developers in England who, unless exempt, are required to provide a 10% increase in the biodiversity value of habitats within their development. This can be delivered by improving on-site habitats, off-site habitats, or by purchasing statutory biodiversity credits.
Application Deadline: Open until filled
13. Fully Funded PhD Position in Addressing the place of microorganisms in the Nagoya Protocol: microbial biogeography, genomics and taxonomy
Summary of PhD Program:
This project will investigate the ambiguities and scientific challenges concerning the place of microorganisms in the Nagoya Protocol with a view to proposing pathways towards clarification. In 2014 the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization was established. It focuses on resources deriving from vascular plants and animals. While microbes are included, issues around their global distribution and the definition of a microbial species have created crucial legal and taxonomic ambiguities, which have significant implications for industry and human communities where industrially desirable microbes are located.
