Several PhD Funded Positions in Environmental Sciences at Cambridge University, UK

University of Cambridge

Deadline: Please see the details.

The Cambridge NERC Cambridge Climate, Life and Earth (C-CLEAR) Doctoral Training Partnership: The University of Cambridge and British Antarctic Survey will award at least 12 3.5 year NERC-funded PhD studentships starting in October 2024.

Dr Adam Pellegrini; Email address: ap2188@cam.ac.uk Happy to answer any Qs about the application process but in brief you should email tentative supervisors w/your CV and a short explanation of your background and interest.

There are several ways to search projects:1) by broad theme (Climate Change and Environmental Processes, Biology and Conservation or Solid Earth and Geological Hazards); 2) by staff member/department (Staff Directory); or 3) by searching for keyword (e.g. ‘Geography’ or ‘Greenland’).

The DTP Administration Office is located at the Department of Earth Sciences, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EQ and can be reached via email at dtp-admin@esc.cam.ac.uk

NERC-funded PhD Studentships

The University of Cambridge will offer at least 12 3.5 year NERC-funded PhD studentships through the Cambridge Climate, Life and Earth (C-CLEAR) DTP to start 1 October 2024.

The C-CLEAR NERC DTP and University of Cambridge actively support equality, diversity and inclusion and we encourage applications from eligible applicants from all sections of society.

How to apply:

1) Take a look at the projects on offer and make contact with the lead supervisor for those that particularly interest you, as our prospective supervisors can often provide useful advice and information about the project. We are also happy to devise a project with you if you have research interests that we share; again you should get in touch with your prospective supervisor(s) before applying. Projects for 2023 entry are now available.

There are several ways to search:1) by broad theme (Climate Change and Environmental Processes, Biology and Conservation or Solid Earth and Geological Hazards); 2) by staff member/department (Staff Directory); or 3) by searching for keyword (e.g. ‘Geography’ or ‘Greenland’).

Please note that academic staff can act as lead supervisor for one C-CLEAR studentship per application round. To avoid potential clashes at appointment we recommend that you provide a prioritised list of projects that you would consider. Should you list projects hosted within more than one Department, you will be considered for other funding (non-NERC DTP) in the host department you have applied to only.

2) Before starting the application, please ensure you are eligible to apply for admission

Competition for admission to the University of Cambridge graduate programme is intense. We require our graduate entrants to have:

at least a 2.1 in an Honours degree from a UK University or equivalent standard from an Overseas University (e.g. CGPA 3.5/4.0) in a relevant subject two outstanding references, please see the Graduate Admissions pages below for more details (We advise that you request these well in advance of the application deadline)
fluency in the English language
For more details of the University’s academic requirements see the University’s Graduate Admissions pages.

3) You will need to apply through the University’s Applicant Portal. You can find out which course to apply for and further instructions by clicking on the ‘Applying’ link at the bottom of each project page of the C-CLEAR website.

As you complete your application, please note the following:

Please select a Michaelmas Term 2024 start (01-Oct-2024).

Funding section: When asked ‘Do you wish to apply for funding?’ please tick the box ‘Yes-I wish to apply for funding’.

(Note: if you are applying to projects based at the Departments of Geography (including the Scott Polar Research Institute) or Chemistry, you may not see the funding section after 1 December; in this case you can still apply to the NERC DTP up to our 4 January 2024 noon deadline, but must indicate the NERC DTP project number(s) and supervisor(s) in the respective research section of your application).

Cambridge Trust & Gates Cambridge Pages: We encourage you to complete the Cambridge Trust and Gates Cambridge sections so that you are eligible for as many sources of PhD funding as possible beyond the DTP (be aware that earlier deadlines may apply, please see the deadline section below)

UKRI: please answer ‘yes’ that you wish to apply to the NERC Doctoral Training Partnership section and list the C-CLEAR DTP projects number(s) and/or supervisor(s) here.

If listing multiple studentships please indicate these in priority order, and apply to the course for your top priority project.

Attachments: Application attachments may vary by course (for example some will request a CV and/or research proposal); please provide all information requested by the course(s) for which you would like to be considered.

Timeline:

A) Announcement: Projects for 2024 entry are now live.

B) Deadlines:

The final deadline / closing date for C-CLEAR DTP applications is 12:00 pm (noon) GMT, Thursday 4 January 2024. All supporting documentation including references must be submitted by this date.

C) Interviews:

It is anticipated that interviews will be held online the week of 19 February 2024.

D) Offers

Initial offers will be communicated starting in late February with decisions to be made by the Universal Acceptance Date agreed by NERC on noon Wednesday 13 March 2023.

If you have any questions, we’re happy to help. Contact the C-CLEAR DTP Administrator at dtp-admin@esc.cam.ac.uk or the departmental Graduate Administrator.

Climate Change and Environmental Processes

Research in the Departments of Archaeology, Chemistry, Applied Maths and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP), Earth Sciences, Geography, Plant Sciences and at BAS includes study of physics at all levels in the atmosphere, atmospheric chemistry, climate processes, sea-level rise impacts, coastal flood and erosion hazards, palaeoclimate, solar-terrestrial processes, glaciology (land ice and sea ice), physical oceanography, carbon cycle and biogeochemistry.

Searchable Project List:

BC501: Mollusc Armageddon: Investigating declines of freshwater bivalves and snails in the UK (Lead supervisor: David Aldridge, Zoology)

BC502: Host-parasite dynamics in a new model system: community ecology, behaviour and conservation of freshwater snails (Lead supervisor: David Aldridge, Zoology)

BC503: A Colourful Conundrum: Decoding the Repeated Origins of Betalain in Plants (Samuel Brockington, Plant Sciences)

BC504: Interpreting the early fossil record of eukaryotes (Lead supervisor: Nicholas J. Butterfield, Earth Sciences)

BC505: An exceptionally preserved lacustrine ecosystem from the Mid-Miocene Climatic Optimum (Lead supervisor: Nicholas J. Butterfield, Earth Sciences)

BC506: Reevaluating the fossil record of spiculate sponges (Lead supervisor: Nicholas J. Butterfield , Earth Sciences)

BC507: Dicistroviruses: potential natural biocontrol agents against pest insets carried by bees? (Lead supervisor: John P Carr, Plant Sciences)

BC508: Understanding forest responses to anthropogenic change by tracking thousands of trees remotely (Lead supervisor: David Coomes, Plant Sciences)

BC509: *Priority CASE project* Scaling-up biodiversity reporting in food supply chains: developing a global farm-scale biodiversity metric for sustainable agriculture (Lead supervisor: Lynn Dicks, Zoology)

BC510: Genomics of temporal change and adaptation in willow (Salix) species (Lead supervisor: Richard Durbin, Genetics)

BC511: Genomics of adaptive speciation in Lake Malawi cichlid fishes (Lead supervisor: Richard Durbin, Genetics)