Postgraduate research projects
Contact us
If you have any questions, please email earth-postgrad@bristol.ac.uk.
Did you know?
The Bristol School of Earth Sciences currently has around 100 PhD students across all years of study.
PhD and Masters by Research projects within the School of Earth Sciences are published on this page. It will be expected that you contact potential supervisors in advance of submitting an application.
We offer projects eligible for full funding (fees and stipend). Students may be funded from a variety of UK and international industry and government sources, including via our NERC GW4+ postgraduate training award (see below and the GW4+ website for further details). All funded studentships for which we are currently recruiting are advertised below.
General information on postgraduate admissions can be found on the University postgraduate webpages at http://www.bris.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/.
All applications, excluding NERC GW4+, please apply here.
NOTE: select 'Geology (PhD)' as the programme in the drop down menu. For Masters by Research, select 'Geology (MSc by Research)'.
Nuclear Waste Services Funded
Deadline to apply: 3rd May 2024
CORKHILL Underpinning UK vitrified waste disposal in a geological facility (PDF, 195kB)
CORKHILL Radionuclide retention in radioactive waste glass (PDF, 210kB)
COMET-BGS
Deadline to apply: open until post filled
Funding guaranteed.
MSc by Research: Projects in Volcanology
The following projects with a specific interest in volcanology are available for development for the MSc by Research in Earth Sciences. Students undertaking these projects will be part of a cohort of MScR volcanologists involved in Volcanology research group activities and meetings (more details below). Students should discuss projects of interest with the main supervisor when preparing their application. We also welcome co-development of projects with prospective students, with their own ideas. Projects may be available as full-time or part-time MScR; fees vary for those options.
Projects available (and primary supervisor):
- Prof. Jenni Barclay | 4 Explosions and A Lava Dome: The dynamics of the 1979 eruptions of La Soufrière, St Vincent
- Prof. Juliet Biggs | Volcano Deformation – Linking lab-scale models and satellite observations
- Prof. Alison Rust | Explosive-Effusive transitions during the 2.6-2.3ka Pululahua Volcanic Complex
- Prof. Alison Rust | Dynamics and forecasting of rapid, concentrated settling from volcanic ash from umbrella clouds: An experimental approach
- Dr Erica Hendy | Ash in the water: Impact of tephra on light attenuation in seawater and fertilization in the photic zone
- Prof. Jeremy Phillips | Citizen science, lahars and multihazards on St Vincent
- Prof. Jeremy Phillips | From the Volcano to the Sea: Long-range impacts of lahars in Guatemala
- Dr. Pete Rowley | Wetting and buoyancy of volcanic ash and pumice
- Dr. Pete Rowley | Stratigraphic controls on phreatic explosions
- Prof. Alison Rust | Fragmentation of crystal-rich mafic magmas – controls from crystal and vesicle size distributions
- Prof. Alison Rust | Experiments on the flow and trapping of bubbles in magma mush
Follow this link for more details on each project and the MScR program cohort:
MScR Projects in Volcanology (PDF, 187kB)
More details about the Bristol Volcanology Group can be found here.
Application: Apply for projects here Study at Bristol: Earth Sciences. Select the course Geology (MSc by Research) and add the project title as your Research Proposal.
Deadline to express interest with a supervisor: June 15th
Deadline to apply: For *early August 2024 for September 2024 entry and *early December 2024 for January 2025 entry. *NOTE: Overseas applicant deadlines may be a week or two prior to this.
Fees for academic year 2024-25:
UK: full-time £4,758 (per year)
UK: part-time £2,379 (per year)
Overseas: full-time £26,000 (per year)
Bench fees: £1000 (per student) – standardized bench fees will be charged to contribute to research costs.
Other Funding Options
You can explore further funding options for your postgraduate studies in this guide from the Bristol Doctoral College:
https://www.bristol.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/about/research-programmes/funding-and-scholarships/
Opportunity Bristol provides financial support to UK students from Black backgrounds to undertake a research-related master's degree.
Further details are on the the Opportunity Bristol information page.