Are you holding Master’s degree and looking for fully funded PhD positions? University of Plymouth, 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. 36 Fully Funded PhD Positions
Summary of PhD Program:
The South West Doctoral Training Partnership (SWDTP) is one of the largest doctoral training providers for social scientists in the UK. This strategic partnership is formed by the Universities of Plymouth, Bristol, Bath, Exeter, UWE, Bath Spa, Plymouth Marjon and Bournemouth and brings together social science academic leaders across our 18 disciplinary and interdisciplinary pathways, and representing one of the largest groupings of social scientists in the country.
The SWDTP has been accredited by the Economic and Social Sciences Research Council (ESRC) to offer a hub of world-class social sciences research, and has been allocated 36 ESRC studentships annually. It is part of a national network that is training a new generation of social scientists.
Application Deadline: 14 January 2025
2. Fully Funded PhD Position in Integrating modern and long-term ecology to inform UK peatland fire management in a changing climate
Summary of PhD Program:
Climate change is increasing wildfire risk globally. In the UK, peatland wildfires have been frequent and severe in recent years(1). Peatlands are important carbon-rich biodiverse ecosystems. Wildfire can severely damage peatlands with significant environmental impacts(3). Fire has played an important role in shaping landscapes historically(2), but uncontrolled fires lead to loss of ecosystem function and reduced peatland carbon storage capacity(3). This research aims to inform future peatland fire management strategies and improve understanding of carbon loss following fire events. Information about recent and long-term past (palaeo) ecological trends(4) in response to fire, climate and vegetation change will be integrated with modern ecological research.
Application Deadline: 8 January 2025
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3. Fully Funded PhD Position in Monitoring and managing the impacts of extreme sediment-rich flows in fluvial systems
Summary of PhD Program:
Extreme sediment-rich flows, triggered by natural or man-made dam outbursts, landslides, and wildfires, cause major disruptions in river systems. Due to climate change, the frequency and magnitude of these events are expected to rise, as many triggers are climate-sensitive. These flows mobilise vast amounts of sediment, generating post-event pulses involving a variety of grain sizes. These pulses are challenging to identify, monitor, and model, complicating hazard management. This is especially critical for the hydropower sector, which is rapidly expanding into unstable, high-mountain regions
Application Deadline: 8 January 2025
4. Fully Funded PhD Position in Dynamics of land-to-lake transfers in the Lake Victoria basin
Summary of PhD Program:
The Winam Gulf catchment of Lake Victoria has historically been affected by poor land management practices leading to soil erosion, loss of agricultural productivity, flooding and downstream impact on lake ecology and associated fisheries. A gap in local knowledge/data and technical capacity to coordinate and deliver usable data tools was identified. This gap inhibits the dynamic understanding of the impact of soil degradation on soil-to-crop dynamics and subsequent impact on lake ecosystem/human health via the food chain. This is particularly pertinent given the growing importance of aquaculture to economic and food security in the Lake Victoria basin. Limited resources to monitor and regulate land degradation and inputs into the lake environment require scalable geospatial tools to direct limited resources for the mitigation of land degradation.
Application Deadline: 8 January 2025
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5. Fully Funded PhD Position in From the mantle to the seafloor: How do oceanic core complexes form at mid-ocean ridges?
Summary of PhD Program:
At slow-spreading mid-ocean ridges, fault systems known as Oceanic Core Complexes [1] (OCCs) exhume mantle rocks to the seafloor, creating hydrothermal systems that directly impact ocean chemistry, seafloor mineralization, lithospheric rheology, and microbial ecosystems [1-2]. Despite their importance, the formation of OCCs is a poorly understood process which must be constrained to fully understand the how OCCs and mantle exhumation impact our oceans [1-5]. This project will address this fundamental tectonic and marine geoscience problem with a new understanding of how OCCs form.
Application Deadline: 8 January 2025
6. Fully Funded PhD Position in Giant fossil landslides: hidden hazards in dryland mountains
Summary of PhD Program:
Giant (>several km2) and fossil (difficult-to-recognise pre-historic and ancient) bedrock landslides are understudied in continental settings. Dryland environments provide long-term archives of these ancient landslides due to low erosion rates and minimal vegetation cover. The current expansion of human activities in drylands, driven by economic pressures such as mining, alongside advances in remote sensing and data processing, presents a timely opportunity to expand our knowledge of these landslides. This is essential because 1) they can pose significant hazards if reactivated by activities such as construction or mining, and 2) their preserved landscapes may reveal causes of landslides in specific geologic settings.
Application Deadline: 8 January 2025
7. Fully Funded PhD Position in Life and Death in the Deep Biosphere
Summary of PhD Program:
Archaea, one of three Domains of life on Earth, are an ancient form of organism that occur ubiquitously across a diverse array of environments, from oceans to extreme environments such as hot springs. A unique characteristic of Archaea is their ability to adjust the composition of their membrane lipids in response to environmental conditions, including compounds known as glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs) which are comprised of 80 carbon atoms (C80) with four terminal ether groups. The widespread distribution of these lipids, and stability over geological timescales, mean GDGTs are commonly used to reconstruct paleoenvironmental conditions (e.g. sea surface temperature), allowing a better understanding of how climate has changed in the past, which in turn can be used to predict future change.
Application Deadline: 8 January 2025
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8. Fully Funded PhD Position in Nature recovery in the European palaeoecological record
Summary of PhD Program:
The recovery of nature is a pressing global issue. Nature recovery is difficult to predict, and different recovery strategies are implemented from tree planting to diverse forms of rewilding. Across Europe, humans transformed the vegetation of the continent through forest clearance for agriculture over millennia [1,2]. However, within that long-term transformation, multiple major population collapses occurred, in prehistory and the historic period. These collapses offer unparalleled opportunities as ‘long term’ experiments to understand natural nature recovery: reductions in population and land use pressure should result in ecological change [3]. This PhD project will develop detailed long-term data using palaeoecology and archaeology to assess past ecological recovery, using pandemics as disrupters to past human systems.
Application Deadline: 8 January 2025
9. Fully Funded PhD Position in Mg2+ and Ca2+ variability in seawater and the impact on marine calcifiers
Summary of PhD Program:
This studentship will take advantage of world leading research vessels and facilities at the Western Channel Observatory and the University of Plymouth (UoP). Water samples from Plymouth Sound will be regularly sampled and analysed for Mg2+, Ca2+, pH, DIC, alkalinity, and salinity at the Plymouth Marine Laboratory and the UoP. Alongside this, bivalves will be cultured at the aquaculture facilities at the UoP at various Mg/Ca ratios and analysed for oxygen consumption, tissue growth and shell secretion.
Application Deadline: 8 January 2025
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10. Fully Funded PhD Position in Using novel techniques to investigate foraminifera biomineralisation and geochemistry
Summary of PhD Program:
Despite decades of research, the mechanisms by which planktonic foraminifera build their calcite shells remain elusive. This project will utilise Electron Back Scatter Diffraction (EBSD) and in-situ chemical analyses to investigate the shell wall at the microstructural level. The aim is to better understand how foraminifera biomineralisation occurs and how these structures vary between species. This research will not only enhance understanding of biomineralisation but also provide insights into how these processes have evolved. By linking microstructural features to environmental conditions and evolutionary history, it could improve palaeoenvironmental reconstructions and our understanding of macroevolutionary trends.
Application Deadline: 8 January 2025
11. Fully Funded PhD Position in Can land crabs be part of the sustainable aquarium industry?
Summary of PhD Program:
Globally the tropical aquatic aquarium trade is a multi-million-dollar industry, which traditionally has comprised wild-caught individuals, although advances in captive-breeding technologies have started to change this. Land crabs are growing in popularity as aquarium/terrarium species with nearly all individuals traded wild-harvested. In recent years, a few species of anomuran crabs have been bred by hobbyists/small-scale breeders for trade through e-commerce. At the same time there have been major gains in our understanding of land crab physiology and development, and the potential for ecophysiology to inform the health of invertebrates in the tropical aquatic aquarium trade has been highlighted. This means that we now have the potential to culture healthier individuals of these species on a larger scale.
Application Deadline: 8 January 2025
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12. Fully Funded PhD Position in Understanding the primary drivers for seagrass (Zostera marina) recovery and regeneration
Summary of PhD Program:
In the shallow coastal waters around the UK, we have been losing a globally important, but hidden, habitat. Seagrasses are the only angiosperm that live fully in the marine environment. They provide important nursery grounds for fish, can clean excess nutrients from the water and have the potential to sequester carbon to mitigate climate change. The Ocean Conservation Trust (OCT), based in the National Marine Aquarium, has been working to address seagrass habitat loss in the UK since 2013. They are leaders at growing subtidal seagrass for reintroduction and key partners in large-scale restoration projects. Restoring habitats that have been degraded or destroyed is difficult, especially when we have limited information about the processes that govern growth and survival of the organisms involved.
Application Deadline: Open until filled
13. Fully Funded PhD Position in Anthropogenic impacts on growth and protein metabolism in the European sea bass, Dicentrarchus labrax
Summary of PhD Program:
Pollution of coastal waters by sewage is currently of major concern. However, little is known about the biological impact on critical functions in animals such as growth, particularly in combination with other stressors such as human-induced ocean warming. Growth is essential in all animals, allowing animals to reach a threshold size for reproduction and occupy adult ecological niches. Soft tissue growth in animals is essentially achieved by the synthesis and retention of proteins, an energetically expensive process, typically accounting for between 25 and 40% of the energy required by an animal. This study will make the first detailed analysis of how sewage pollution and warming seas are likely to affect protein metabolism and growth during the critical juvenile stage of development, in a species of substantial socioeconomic importance in the UK, European seabass.
Application Deadline: Open until filled
14. Fully Funded PhD Position in Evaluating efforts to create temperate rainforest: recruitment of biodiversity and resilience to natural enemies
Summary of PhD Program:
The British and Irish Isles have very low levels of current tree cover and what remains is frequently of poor condition [1]. The UK government has therefore proposed increasing tree cover to 16.5% in England by 2050, through tree planting and/or natural regeneration via seed dispersal. Tree planting is expensive but necessary for woodland expansion [2], yet a lack of long-term monitoring means the capacity of planted woodland and natural regeneration to support healthy and resilient native woodland is often unclear [3]. This project focuses on Temperate Rainforest, an internationally important woodland habitat found in mild and wet climates and characterised by extensive growth of epiphytes (ferns, mosses and lichens).
Application Deadline: Open until filled
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15. Fully Funded PhD Position in Using hermit crab personality to understand the effects of human induced rapid environmental change (HIREC)
Summary of PhD Program:
Human induced rapid environmental change (HIREC) places new selection pressures on natural populations. The strength of these will depend on the balance between adaptive phenotypic plasticity, maladaptive impairment, and individual differences in these responses [1]. Behaviour is very sensitive to HIREC [1] so understanding its effects on behaviour is key to predicting long-term consequences for animal populations [1]. Hermit crabs are a model species for studying behavioural responses to HIREC [2] including elevated temperature [1], light pollution [3], noise pollution [4], ocean acidification [1] and microplastics [5], and a model for animal personality, a framework for probing between- and within-individual variation in behaviour [1].
Application Deadline: Open until filled
16. Fully Funded PhD Position in Swamped: Is Crassula helmsii a significant threat to wetland biodiversity?
Summary of PhD Program:
Biological invasions represent one of the most significant threats to biodiversity. Freshwaters are disproportionately affected by such invasions, and home to a disproportionately large proportion of biodiversity, especially invertebrates. They also provide crucial ecosystem services. Crassula helmsii, a native Australasian plant, has been aggressively invading European freshwaters for over 30 years, with drastic consequences for their floristic diversity. Understanding of Crassula’s impacts on invertebrates, which make up the bulk of freshwater diversity, are more limited. Our work suggests that whilst Crassula invasion changes community composition and function, it does not lead to drastic declines in fully aquatic macroinvertebrate diversity or biomass. Much of the biodiversity in sites invaded by Crassula is not fully aquatic, however, with many specialist wetland invertebrates living in the seasonally flooded margins, which are heavily invaded, alongside open water habitats.
Application Deadline: Open until filled
17. Fully Funded PhD Position in AI-driven biodiversity insight: enhancing underwater ecosystem monitoring through advanced computer vision
Summary of PhD Program:
The health of our oceans is critical to the planet’s overall environmental stability, yet marine biodiversity is under increasing threat from climate change, overfishing, and pollution. Traditional methods of monitoring underwater ecosystems are often limited by the challenges of the marine environment, such as difficult access and poor visibility. There is an urgent need for innovative approaches that can provide accurate, real-time biodiversity data. This project seeks to harness Artificial Intelligence (AI) and advanced computer vision to transform underwater monitoring. Automating species identification and behaviour analysis will improve the quality and efficiency of biodiversity assessments, supporting the conservation and sustainable management of marine resources.
Application Deadline: 6 January 2025
18. Fully Funded PhD Position in Sea to Sky: leveraging AUVs and satellites to determine floating wind impacts on Celtic Sea key ecosystem drivers
Summary of PhD Program:
This project will utilise autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), equipped with novel sensors, and high-resolution satellite remote sensing to understand FLOW interactions with ocean dynamics in the Celtic Sea. NERC’s Autosub Long-Range 1500 AUV will collect data on shelf-sea dynamics (stratification, currents, turbulence), biogeochemistry (oxygen, nutrients), phyto- and zooplankton diversity and abundance, and forage fish distribution. These measurements will be compared with satellite data on thermal and ocean colour fronts, providing insights into their location, timing, structure and persistence in relation to FLOW.
Application Deadline: 6 January 2025
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19. Fully Funded PhD Position in Understanding the response of marine ecosystems to ocean-based carbon dioxide removal
Summary of PhD Program:
The project will examine the impact of OAE on marine phytoplankton, testing the resilience of various species to episodes of low carbon dioxide. Identifying these groups will help us understand how, when and where oCDR technologies can be deployed. The student will have the opportunity to learn multiple experimental techniques, including the design and application of OAE approaches. Further techniques will include phytoplankton physiology, field sampling and advanced microscopy. Full training will be provided. The student will also be able to work with a range of international collaborators examining OAE.
