Studentship opportunities

Applications for the Science and Solutions for a Changing Planet DTP fully funded NERC studentships for 2018/19 are now closed.
Studentships for 2019/20 will be advertised in the summer.

About the Studentship

The SSCP DTP awards 15 fully funded studentships every year which include home/EU tuition fees, a London-weighted stipend and an additional consumables budget. Applicants can choose from a number of projects which have been proposed by various Imperial academics and researches from our partner institutions.
Should you have any questions about our studentships, please see our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page.

Eligibility Criteria

Applicants should be aware that as these studentships are funded through NERC (Natural Environment Research Council), to be eligible for a full award they must have either:

  • British Citizenship or; 

  • Settled status in the UK, meaning they have no restrictions on how long they can stay,
  • Been ‘ordinarily resident’ in the UK for 3 years prior to the start of the studentship - (For non-EU citizens, this must NOT have been in full time education.)
    This means they must have been normally residing in the UK (apart from temporary or occasional absences).  This does not apply to UK nationals. 

If you have further questions regarding eligibility, download this PDF, then please contact the specific Registry Admissions team for the Faculty within which the studentship is based.

List of 2018/19 Projects 
Project TitleSupervisorDepartment
Integrating geological modelling and hydrogeological conceptualisation to improve simulations of groundwater flow in the Thames basin Dr Marco Bianchi  British Geological Survey
Scale-dependent lithological variations and their control on water resources and flooding in the Eden Valley Dr Andrew Hughes  British Geological Survey
Constraining diagenesis in carbonate rocks using forward numerical models: towards better characterization of aquifers and CCS targets  Dr Cédric M. John Earth Science and Engineering
The holy grail of carbon capture and storage – understanding the cause and trigger of carbon dioxide mineralization in the subsurface  Dr Cédric M. John Earth Science and Engineering
Understanding modern biogeochemical cycles in the context of the international GEOTRACES program – Cadmium, zinc, lead and neodymium isotope analyses  Professor Mark Rehkamper Earth Science and Engineering
Impact of mining on riverine and ocean environments – An isotopic case study of biogeochemical processes in the Odiel-Tinto Estuary  Professor Mark Rehkamper Earth Science and Engineering
Using evolutionary modelling to investigate the Latitudinal Biodiversity Gradient  Dr Mark Sutton Earth Science and Engineering
Stability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet under Changing Environmental Conditions  Professor Martin Siegert Earth Science and Engineering
The Evolution and Biogeographic History of Notosuchian Crocodylomorphs  Dr Philip Mannion Earth Science and Engineering
Magmatism and Continental Breakup in the South Atlantic  Dr Jenny Collier Earth Science and Engineering
New joint seismic tomography for the Africa plate and underlying mantle  Dr Saskia Goes Earth Science and Engineering
Advanced modelling and design optimisation of tidal range based renewable energy generation  Professor Matthew Piggott Earth Science and Engineering
Investigating landscape response to active normal faulting: Improving understanding of seismic hazard in the Corinth Rift, Central Greece  Dr Rebecca Bell Earth Science and Engineering
Biomagnetic Monitoring As an Urban Air Quality Assessment: A Citizen-Science Approach  Dr Adrian Muxworthy  Earth Science and Engineering
The neotectonics and seismic hazard of Cyprus  Dr Ian Bastow  Earth Science and Engineering
Advanced numerical methods for groundwater flow  Professor Matthew Jackson  Earth Science and Engineering
Developing interactive tools to support the decision making process surrounding the reduction of domestic energy use  Professor Peter Childs  Dyson School of Design Engineering
Managing risks at the interface of human and natural systems Dr Indranil Pan  Centre for Environmental Policy
Understanding direct and spillover land use change and climate impacts associated with the evolution of telecoupled agricultural systems Dr Jeremy Woods  Centre for Environmental Policy
Electrification of the car fleet in London Professor Helen ApSimon  Centre for Environmental Policy
Developing a classification system for soil quality and its ability to deliver ecosystem services and support food production based on data collected under the OPAL soil and earthworm survey Professor Nick Voulvoulis  Centre for Environmental Policy
Agent based simulation of farmer decision making for land-intensive renewable energy deployment: impacts on livelihoods and ecosystem services Professor Raphael Slade  Centre for Environmental Policy
Assessing the provision and delivery of ecosystem services from second generation bioenergy crops cultivated using vertical farming Dr Zoe M Harris  Centre for Environmental Policy
Sustainability assessment of disruptive innovations in deep-decarbonisation scenarios: A carbon-dioxide removal case study Dr Joana Portugal-Pereira  Centre for Environmental Policy
Using Sustainable Development Goals to guide Integrated Assessment Model development for improved climate policy decision making Dr Raphael Slade  Centre for Environmental Policy
Understanding hydrological uncertainties for adaptive decision making Dr Bhopal Pandeya  Centre for Environmental Policy
Groundwater and conflict in the horn of Africa  Dr Wouter Buytaert  Civil and Environmental Engineering
Real world emissions of greenhouse gases and air quality pollutants from road vehicles  Dr Marc Stettler  Civil and Environmental Engineering
Blue Green urban adaptation framework for sustainable water future  Dr Ana Mijic  Civil and Environmental Engineering
Ecosystems out of equilibrium. An analysis of water and carbon dynamics after disturbances and their importance on low frequency ecosystem fluctuations  Dr Athanasios Paschalis  Civil and Environmental Engineering
Understanding the costs of mitigating climate change  Dr Adam Hawkes  Chemical Engineering
Economic and socio-technological assessment of low carbon and environmental improvements for the automotive manufacturing sector  Dr Christos Markides  Chemical Engineering
Thermochemical system design for waste resource recovery  Dr Miao Guo  Chemical Engineering
Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Livestock  Dr Marcos Millan  Chemical Engineering
Modelling of the water-energy-food nexus via environmentally extended input-output tables coupled with optimisation  Dr Gonzalo Guillen Gosalbez  Chemical Engineering
Study of three-dimensional convective mixing in rocks to predict the fate of carbon dioxide in geological reservoirs  Dr Ronny Pini

 Chemical Engineering
Understanding CO2 Reduction with Heterobimetallic Hydride Complexes Dr Mark Crimmin  Chemistry
The evolutionary history and diversity of the Mickey Mouse plants Dr Iain Darbyshire  Royal Botanical Gardens (Kew)
Surveillance of fungi for management, conservation and policy Dr Martin Bidartondo  Life Sciences
Predicting the evolutionary responses of crop pathogens to climate change Professor Tim Barraclough  Life Sciences
Mapping the hidden arthropod biodiversity of UK soils using high-throughput sequencing Professor Alfried P. Vogler  Life Sciences
Role for developmental modularity and integration in evolution of cranial diversity Dr Arkhat Abzhanov  Life Sciences
Evolution of the enigmatic placoderm group Rhenanida: Early gnathostome relationships and vertebrate sexual reproduction Dr Martin Brazeau  Life Sciences
Comparative genomics and sympatric speciation in palm trees Professor Vincent Savolainen  Life Sciences
The evolution of sexual orientation: is homosexuality a Darwinian paradox? Professor Vincent Savolainen  Life Sciences
Transgenerational effects in a wild passerine bird Dr Julia Schroeder  Life Sciences
Improving sustainable control of mosquito populations in small island ecosystems: investigating behaviour, ecology and population dynamics of Aedes mosquitoes Dr Lauren Cator  Life Sciences
How does deforestation impact orangutan diet and health?: A metagenomic approach Dr Jason Hodgson  Life Sciences
The role of mate choice in adaptive evolution and maintaining genetic variation in the people of Madagascar Dr Jason Hodgson  Life Sciences
Role for developmental modularity and integration in evolution of cranial diversity Dr Arkhat Abzhanov  Life Sciences
General Circulation of the Red Sea Dr Pavel Berloff  Mathematics
Understanding dust-climate interactions in observations and models Dr Alistair Sellar  Met Office
Predicting Agrobiodiversity responses to Land use and Management (PALM) Professor Andy Purvis  Natural History Museum
Reconstructing skull evolution of fossil crown birds Professor Anjali Goswami  Natural History Museum
Pollinator Responses to Land-Use Change Professor Ian Barnes  Natural History Museum
Comparing soil microbiology and rhizosphere microbiome of invasive and native plants on South Georgia Island Dr Anne D. Jungblut  Natural History Museum
Developing tools for the sustainable exploration of epithermal ore deposits: alteration mineral chemistry for targeting and assessment of fertility Dr Jamie Wilkinson  Natural History Museum
NO LONGER AVAILABLE! Monsoon-ocean interactions in a changing climate Dr Michael Byrne  Physics
Estimating and attributing regional methane emissions using innovative atmospheric measurements Dr Heather Graven  Physics
Using machine learning to constrain the atmospheric dynamics contribution to regional climate change Dr Peer Nowack  Physics
Artificial intelligence applied to tropical cyclones forecasts Professor Ralf Toumi  Physics
The impact of coastal ocean waves on land-falling tropical cyclones Professor Ralf Toumi  Physics
Investigating the impact of infra-red surface emissivity on weather predictive skill Dr Helen Brindley  Physics
Predicting, modeling and mitigating extreme space weather Dr Jonathan Eastwood  Physics
A new look at ocean heat uptake Dr Arnaud Czaja  Physics
Exploring endophyte diversity in crop wild relatives Dr Ester Gaya  Royal Botanical Gardens (Kew)
Global fine spatial and temporal scale air pollution models for applications in burden of disease and epidemiological studies Dr John Gulliver  School of Public Health
Evaluating the health benefits of urban wetlands Dr Susan Hodgson  School of Public Health
Developing an evidence base to evaluate dryland fencing interventions Dr Nathalie Pettorelli  Zoological Society of London
The key to controlling infectious diseases in nature: islands in the sea and sky Professor Trenton Garner  Zoological Society of London
PROJECT TO BE ALIGNED: DOC-SWEET - Deep Ocean Circulation during the Super Warm Early Eocene Temperatures Professor Tina van de Flierdt  Earth Science and Engineering
 
List of NPIF Projects