Current research degree projects
Explore our current postgraduate research degree and PhD opportunities.
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168 research degree projects
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Ocean and earth science
How does vertical mixing shape the Arctic shelf sea dynamics?
This project aims to address the challenge of predicting land-sea exchanges of material in Arctic shelf seas. Employing numerical and semi-analytical models, we’ll reveal how vertical mixing impacts property and movement of the Arctic's shelf waters. Results will provide valuable insights for refining mixing parameterizations to improve climate predictions. -
Ocean and earth science
Dissolved Organic matter subduction and transport along the east Greenland Margin
Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is the largest pool of reduced carbon in the ocean, sequestering 2 Pg C/yr of atmospheric carbon dioxide. This project uses in situ physical and chemical observations to investigate how overturning processes in the Nordic Seas inject vast amounts of DOC into the deep ocean. -
Ocean and earth science
Role of multiple anthropogenic pressures in determining marine benthic ecosystem functioning
The widespread reorganisation of ecological communities associated with anthropogenic activity, within the context of climate change, heighten concerns about the likely consequences for ecosystems. By combining extant data sets with laboratory and field observations, this studentship will determine the effects of multiple stressors, alone and in combination, on marine benthic ecosystems. -
Ocean and earth science
Green house gas detection using silicon photonics platform
Towards the journey for Net Zero, there is a pressing need to revolutionise the monitoring of greenhouse gas pollutants throughout the oceans. Modern gas sensors are bulky and power hungry, limiting their use—this project will develop unique and tiny Silicon Photonic sensor chips for widespread oceanic greenhouse gas monitoring. -
Ocean and earth science
A seismic study of the continent-ocean transition southwest of the UK
At some rifted margins, mantle rocks are exhumed both from beneath the continent and through tectonic extension at the mid-ocean ridge, then hydrated and intruded by melt. This project aims to quantify the evolution of mantle hydration and melting during breakup at such margins, using a new seismic dataset. -
Ocean and earth science
Ocean physics and ecology: can robots disentangle the mix?
Marine phytoplankton are key players in the global carbon cycle, responsible for half of Earth’s primary production. This project will use underwater robots to evaluate small-scale physical processes in the upper ocean, its effects on phytoplankton growth and assess the importance of including these processes in oceanic carbon models. -
Ocean and earth science
Ecosystem engineering in past and future reefs
Have all ancient reef-builders influenced biodiversity as coral reefs do today? Coral reefs are the primary ecosystem engineers in our oceans today, but their capacity to maintain environments is threated by climate change. Using the fossil record, we can study the (in)consistency of climate change impacts on reef-building ecosystem engineers. -
Ocean and earth science
Understanding variability in Earth’s climate and magnetic field using new archives from the Iberian Margin
You will work on exciting sediment archives recovered during a recent major international scientific research expedition to the North Atlantic. This project will shed new light on fundamental shifts in Earth’s past climate as well as develop new understanding on the dynamics, causes and consequences of Earth’s magnetic field changes. -
Ocean and earth science
Novel ocean sensing using seafloor telecommunications cables for geohazards and environmental monitoring
Monitoring our oceans and detecting geohazards are more important than ever, and existing seafloor fibre-optic cables may provide a global network of low-cost and green sensors with proper calibration. This project aims to calibrate cable data with standard acoustic measurements, analyse the recorded ocean soundscapes, and develop ocean monitoring techniques. -
Ocean and earth science
Geochronology of ridge flank hydrothermal contributions to global biogeochemical cycles
This project aims to determine the role aging ocean crust has played in setting seawater chemistry and buffering atmospheric CO2 over Earth’s history. This will be accomplished by combining geochemistry and geochronology to evaluate the nature, timing and duration of hydrothermal inputs from the mid-ocean ridge flanks to the oceans.