Current research degree projects
Explore our current postgraduate research degree and PhD opportunities.
Search PhD projects
174 research degree projects
-
Ocean and earth science
A hidden carbon source: permafrost under the Arctic shelves
Underneath the shallow Arctic shelves relict subsea permafrost contains a large pool of carbon including methane. The project will investigate future subsea permafrost degradation, the associated methane release and other concurrent changes in the marine environment. -
Ocean and earth science | Geography and environmental science
Contrasting peatland carbon dynamics in Britain and Newfoundland
This project explores the impact of nutrient deposition on long-term carbon storage in Holocene/Anthropocene peatlands by comparing near-pristine localities in Newfoundland with impacted counterparts in Wales. The approach will be interdisciplinary, integrating documentary archives with palaeoecological analyses (including ancientDNA) and peat geochemistry to create high-quality evidence for peatland conservation. -
Ocean and earth science
Nutrient limitation in a changing Arctic Ocean
As ice melts in the warming Arctic Ocean, primary productivity increases, drawing down atmospheric CO2: a process thought to be limited by nitrogen supply. Few data exist, however, on nutrient limitation and stress in the Arctic. This project will explore how Arctic change impacts the activities of carbon fixing microorganisms. -
Ocean and earth science
Tracking nutrient and metal exchange during Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement
Working in collaboration with Vesta, this project will investigate the fate of bio-limiting and/or toxic trace metals that may be released during olivine dissolution in coastal environments, improving our understanding of potential environmental and ecosystem impacts associated with ocean alkalinity enhancement as a form of ocean-based carbon dioxide removal. -
Ocean and earth science
Seismo-acoustic properties of sea-ice and applications to climate monitoring
Sea-ice melting impact ecosystems. Satellite methods cannot accurately measure sea-ice thickness due to assumptions of snow cover and freeboard. This project will develop green technologies for ice thickness measurements. This project will involve novel laboratory geophysical measurements of ice and development of low power acoustic source for autonomous underwater vehicles. -
Ocean and earth science
Seafloor Mapping with Flexible Autonomy in Heterogenous Swarms of Underwater Robots
The project aims to design a controller for collaborative task division among autonomous platforms surveying seafloor areas. Building on existing collective decision-making strategies in robot swarms, the project uses Machine Learning (e.g., multi-agent reinforcement algorithms) to enable a heterogeneous set of underwater vehicles (AUVs and Drifters) to map unknown areas. -
Ocean and earth science
Beyond species on the move: characterising Southern Ocean bioregions and communities under present and future climates
Using the latest climate models and novel spatial analyses, this PhD will investigate the biogeographic and ecological characteristics of pelagic bioregions in the Southern Ocean. Projecting these bioregions under future climate storylines will identify ecological risks, climate winners and losers, and provide outputs that can guide climate-smart ecosystem management. -
Ocean and earth science
Antarctic Ice Sheet response to climate forcing
The aim of this project is to assess the role of climate variability in driving Antarctic Ice Sheet changes and its contribution to sea level rise by combing new observations of ice, ocean and atmosphere. -
Ocean and earth science
Does organic carbon burial explain the ‘greenhouse’ to ‘icehouse’ transition?
The Cenozoic (66-0 Ma) is characterised by a shift from a warm, ‘greenhouse’ climate to a cold, ‘icehouse’ climate. However, the mechanisms responsible remain poorly understood. This project will combine organic geochemistry and Earth system modelling to assess the importance of organic carbon burial in modulating climate during the Cenozoic. -
Ocean and earth science
Controls on organic carbon transport and burial in deep-sea basins in the Atlantic Ocean
Quantify the frequency and volumes of sediment delivered to deep-sea basins from high-to-low latitudes along the Eastern Atlantic and determine underpinning controls. Quantify the organic carbon sequestered in turbidites in deep-sea basins to establish geological fluxes of carbon from hinterland to abyssal plains, and whether there is a long-term climate influence.