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PhD Opportunities

This lists details the PhD projects that we are aware of. They are by no means exhaustive and the institutions listed, and others, may well be offering additional projects. Further details for many of these projects are already available on institutional websites. Note that application deadlines can be as early as January, and interviews usually take place during the period January-April.

To add a PhD opportunity please use our online form: Add a PhD Opportunity.

Notices with expiry dates before this date are not shown.
You may filter by the project funding statues.
Institution: Durham University
Supervisor(s): Dr Martin R. Smith (Durham University), Dr Catherine Rose (University of St Andrews), Dr Andrew Millard (Durham University), Dr Kilian Eichenseer (Durham University)
Funding Status: Funding is in competition with other projects and students
Description: The Ediacaran–Cambrian transition saw the evolutionary appearance of complex macroscopic life and animal-dominated ecosystems. Yet, basic questions on the timing and sequence of evolutionary events during that period remain unresolved, due to the challenge of correlating a geological record that straddles multiple continents. Signatures of ocean chemistry, such as stable carbon isotopes (δ13C), in principle allow for the correlation of fossil-bearing sedimentary sections from different locations. More information...
Expiry Date: Thursday, February 20, 2025
Institution: Durham University
Supervisor(s): Andrew Millard (Durham University) Dr Laura Burrel Garcia (British Geological Survey) Dr Martin Smith (Durham University) Dr Kilian Eichenseer (Durham University)
Funding Status: Funding is in competition with other projects and students
Description: Understanding subsurface geology underpins the UK’s green energy transition by enabling technologies such as geothermal energy, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen containment, and the safe storage of nuclear waste. Our understanding of subterranean geological structure draws on geophysical, chemical and sedimentological data obtained from individual boreholes. Correlating geological formations between these boreholes traditionally uses visual methods. This subjective approach can struggle to integrate diverse datasets, and to quantify uncertainties. More information...
Expiry Date: Thursday, February 20, 2025
Institution: University of Leeds
Supervisor(s): Prof Caroline Peacock (University of Leeds), Prof Benjamin Mills (University of Leeds) & Prof Simon Poulton (University of Leeds)
Funding Status: Funding is in competition with other projects and students
Description: In this project you will use new and exciting experimental, analytical and numerical techniques to explore how the availability of iron and manganese in the oceans controls the global carbon and oxygen cycles, and hence the evolution of Earth’s climate and surface conditions over past, present and future timescales. More information...
Expiry Date: Wednesday, April 30, 2025
Institution: University of Leeds
Supervisor(s): Prof Crispin Little (University of Leeds), Prof Fiona Gill (University of Leeds), Dr Steffen Kiel (Swedish Museum of Natural History), Dr Stephen Hunter (University of Leeds)
Funding Status: Funding is in competition with other projects and students
Description: Methane seeps are discrete sites where fluids rich in methane flow onto the seafloor. Only discovered in 1984, they are now known in all the World’s oceans. Methane seeps support extraordinary biological communities (Figure 1), the workings of which have radically altered our view of the life in the deep sea. This is because the primary energy source for these ecosystems comes not directly from the sun, but instead from sub-surface chemical compounds, particularly methane and hydrogen sulphide. More information...
Expiry Date: Wednesday, April 30, 2025
Institution: University of Leeds
Supervisor(s): Prof Simon Poulton (University of Leeds) and Prof Benjamin Mills (University of Leeds)
Funding Status: Funding is in competition with other projects and students
Description: The rise of oxygen on the early Earth has been recognised as one of the most significant episodes in the history of our planet, and this initial rise set in motion a prolonged chain of events that ultimately resulted in the habitable conditions we now enjoy. In recent years, the topic of early Earth oxygenation has received a huge amount of attention, and almost without exception, traditional views on the timing, causes and consequences of oxygenation have been shown to be incorrect (e.g., Krause et al., 2018; Alcott et al., 2019). More information...
Expiry Date: Wednesday, April 30, 2025
Institution: University of Leeds
Supervisor(s): Prof Natasha Barlow (University of Leeds) and Prof Clare Woulds (University of Leeds)
Funding Status: Funding is in competition with other projects and students
Description: Shallow marine sediments play a vital role in regulating climate change by accumulating and burying carbon for up to millions of years – if left undisturbed. However, fundamental uncertainties remain as too the amount of carbon buried deeper (>10 cm) below the seabed and what happens if it is disturbed. The seabed is being developed for renewable energy and communication at an exponential rate, which may threaten these previously unaccounted for deeper marine carbon stores, risking carbon loss and transformation into greenhouse gases. More information...
Expiry Date: Wednesday, April 30, 2025
Institution: University of Manitoba
Supervisor(s): Dr. Ricardo Silva, University of Manitoba Dr. Joe Moysiuk, Manitoba Museum
Funding Status: Funding is in place for this project
Description: ​Small Carbonaceous Fossils (SCFs) have proven to be a key source of information about the early evolution of soft-bodied animals, complementing the macroscopic fossil record, and have yielded ​​​unique insights about groups otherwise absent from the fossil record. This project will contribute important new information about SCF diversity during the Great Ordovician Biodiversification, which has been the focus of relatively few prior studies. More information...
Expiry Date: Wednesday, April 30, 2025