PhD in Physical Geography
There are many opportunities for carrying out a PhD in Physical Geography in the School of Geographical Sciences, with several different funding routes.
A list of currently available projects is shown below. This list is not exhaustive, so if you have another idea or project in mind, please contact one of the supervisors listed below, other potential supervisors or the postgraduate admissions tutors to discuss and develop further.
NERC GW4+ projects 2018-19 - deadline now passed
| Project title | Supervisor(s) |
|---|---|
|
Ice algae and darkening feedbacks on the Greenland Ice Sheet (DTP Research Theme: Living World) |
Professor Alex Anesio |
|
Re-evaluating 20th Century sea level rise and the tide gauge record (DTP Research Theme: Changing Planet: ) |
Professor Jonathan Bamber |
|
The impact of ocean dynamics on UK coastal sea level (DTP Research Theme: Changing Planet) |
Dr Rory Bingham |
|
Tropical methane hotspots (DTP Research Theme: Changing Planet) |
Dr Anita Ganesan |
|
Land-based climate mitigation, combining multi-data sources to assess potential contribution to the Paris Climate Agreement (DTP Research Theme: Changing Planet) |
Dr Jo House |
|
What is driving rapid changes in Canadian Arctic sea ice thickness? (DTP Research Theme: Changing Planet, Atmospheres, Oceans and Ice) |
Dr Jack Landy |
|
Climate change during the mass extinction 250 million years ago (DTP Research Theme: Changing Planet) |
Professor Dan Lunt |
|
Run-off responses to a changing climate in a dryland basin (DTP Research Theme: Changing Planet) |
Dr Katerina Michaelides |
|
Dangerous European storms at different levels of global warming (DTP Research Theme: Changing Planet) |
Dr Dann Mitchell |
|
Climatic impacts of biodiversity in marine calcifying phytoplankton (DTP Research Theme: Living World, Changing Planet) |
Dr Fanny Monteiro |
|
Microbial life and climate change in drylands (DTP Research Theme: Solid Earth, Living World, Changing Planet) |
Dr Patricia Sanchez-Baracaldo |
|
The enigma of the Western Interior Seaway (DTP Research Theme: Changing Planet) |
Professor Paul Valdes |
Other PhD projects
These are suggested projects for which we currently have no funding. They would be ideal for holders of scholarships, or self-funded students.
| Project title | Supervisor(s) |
|---|---|
| Closing the Ocean Carbon Cycle | Professor Paul Valdes |
| Caves as a window on land-atmosphere coupling in the carbon cycle | Dr David Richards |
|
Evolution and diversity of novel marine nitrogen-fixing organisms and their impact on global climate |
Dr Fanny Monteiro |
| Developing regional scale hydrodynamic models | Dr Jeff Neal |
|
Desert dust and ancient oceans: Implications for climate and atmospheric CO2 |
Professor Dan Lunt |
|
The impacts of land use change on climate, data and model analysis |
Dr Jo House |
|
Using observations from space and the deep ocean to uncover the ocean's role in climate change |
Dr Rory Bingham |
| Atmospheric methane on the rise: investigating the drivers of methane’s abrupt changes | Dr Anita Ganesan |
| Hydrology and hydraulics of the Amazon floodplain | Professor Paul Bates |
| Researching controls of algal mortality on the Greenland Ice Sheet | Professor Alex Anesio |
| Current and future European flood risk | Professor Paul Bates |
| Energy and nutrient transfers at the “nexus of weathering and biology”: the rock-soil interface | Professor Alex Anesio |
| Palaeoenvironmental controls on the accumulation of hydrocarbon source rocks in Paratethys | Dr Rachel Flecker |
| Improved models of water quality behaviour for evaluating monitoring strategies, prediction uncertainties, and to support decision-making. | Professor Jim Freer |
| Developing regional scale hydrodynamic models | Dr Jeff Neal |
| Fractionation of magnesium isotopes during bacterially mediated carbonate precipitation; A new tool for understanding the origins of Mg-rich carbonates | Professor Alex Anesio |
| Exploring the Subglacial Biogeochemical Reactor and its Role in Global Biogeochemical Cycles and Climate | Professor Martyn Tranter |