Current research degree projects
Explore our current postgraduate research degree and PhD opportunities.
348 research degree projects
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Medicine | Geography and environmental science | Electronics and Computer Science
Understand household resilience and access to healthcare in the face of climate change: a mixed-methods approach to reducing vulnerabilities in rural Ghana
We wish to recruit a PhD student who is keen to learn an inter-disciplinary approach to their research. Our project proposes investigations around markers of resilience, and access to healthcare, in rural Ghana, West Africa. -
Sociology, social policy and criminology | Economics | Geography and environmental science
Resilient urban high-streets: the nature and survival of migrant businesses in hostile Britain
This interdisciplinary PhD examines how migrant entrepreneurs contribute to the resilience of British urban high streets during crises, such as COVID-19, economic hardship, and changes in immigration policy. Using ethnography and participatory methods, it explores their impact on local communities, with a possible focus on Southampton and other coastal areas. -
Geography and environmental science | Economics
Tracking the Global Story of Khat: From Banned Stimulant to Hidden Economy
This PhD investigates how Ethiopia and Kenya’s khat economies adapted after the UK ban, combining Earth observation, AI, and economic modelling to assess resilience in livelihoods, land use, and ecosystems. Using satellite data and socio-economic analysis, it reveals how global drug policies reshape rural development, sustainability, and agricultural transitions. -
Physics and astronomy
Excitons in hybrid semiconductor quantum dots for tunable emitters
Perovskite quantum dots show great potential for tunable light emitters. They are also promising candidates for single-photon emitters, which are key building blocks for quantum communication networks. This project will study the fundamental photophysics behind photon emission of perovskite semiconductor nanoparticles and develop new platforms for quantum technologies. -
Psychology
Predicting Treatment Response in ADHD Based on Individual Clinical, Cognitive and Physiological Characteristics
This PhD project builds on a newly funded NIHR research aiming at predicting response to methylphenidate (the most common medication for ADHD), based on pre-treatment clinical, cognitive, and physiological characteristics. Ultimately, this will help tailor treatment options and thus improve patients’ outcomes. -
Business studies
University of Southampton Business School studentships
University of Southampton Business School (USBS) has an ambitious quality-driven growth strategy. To enable world-leading research and generate knowledge that is recognised in the global academic community, we are seeking to award several full PhD scholarships to outstanding candidates across all disciplinary areas in Management, including Accounting, Banking and Finance, Decision Analytics and Risk, Digital and Data-Driven Marketing, HR Management and Organizational Behaviour, Strategy, Innovation Management, and Entrepreneurship.Start date: 21 September 2026. Duration: Three years full time. -
Electronics and Computer Science
Generative AI and creativity in software development
This project investigates how AI tools can augment developer creativity, while considering the potential downsides. You will be working at the intersection of human-centred AI and software engineering in delivering research with real-world impact. -
Biological sciences
Mechanisms of Cell Communication Driving Early Pancreatic Tumour Formation
This project investigates how secretory signalling pathways and cell communication influence the emergence of cancer stem cells (CSCs) during early pancreatic cancer development. Using advanced 3D organoid models, multi-omics, and genetic approaches, it aims to identify key pathways, biomarkers, and therapeutic targets for early detection and intervention in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). -
Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
Investigation of fluorinated prolines by NMR spectroscopy
Some nasty peptides (conotoxins in carnivorous snails, neurotransmitter mimetics in snake venoms) contain uncommon conformers of the proline amino acid. This project is about controlling and measuring proline’s unusual dihedral angles, and improve nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) methods to gather structural and dynamics information, using fluorinated prolines (FPro) as natural prolines' proxies. -
Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
Molecular upconversion luminescence via [d-f] hybrids
The aim of this project is to work on state-of-the-art heteropolymetallic architectures (organometallic transition-metal and lanthanide complexes) in the area of two-photon molecular upconversion luminescence, for application as novel bioimaging probes.