Postgraduate research projects

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+ DLTP 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/.

For information on the application process, please see How to Apply.

NOTE: select 'Geology (PhD)' as the programme in the drop down menu. For Masters by Research, select 'Geology (MSc by Research)'.

Marine and Terrestrial Environments Projects

Deadline to apply:  open until post filled

'Forams as Observers of Anthropogenic Microplastics (FORAMS)': 
ALCOTT Microplastics and forams (MScR) (PDF, 132kB)

There are no bench fees required as part of this project. It is funded by the Cabot Seedcorn grant (FORAMS) and will cover the £1000 of bench fees incurred by the project.

Please note: this is an MScR project.  Please select MScR in Geology as the programme in the online application system. 

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. *More projects may be listed in November. 

Projects available (and primary staff supervisor): 

Prof. Alison Rust Fragmentation of crystal-rich mafic magmas – controls from crystal and vesicle size distributions 

Prof. Alison Rust Explosive-Effusive transitions during the 2.6-2.3ka Pululahua Volcanic Complex   

Prof. Alison Rust Fracture and deformation at active volcanoes: testing a better analogue material for Earth crust 

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 The risk to global shipping industries from volcanic activity 

Dr. Pete Rowley Velocity controls on erosion in analogue pyroclastic density currents 

Dr. Pete Rowley Surface waves in dense granular currents 

Prof. Juliet Biggs Dyke induced graben subsidence 

Prof. Juliet Biggs Satellite-based remote sensing to study lava flow emplacement and development 

Prof. Juliet Biggs Unlocking Volcano Mysteries: Global Volcano Classification for Improved Satellite Monitoring 

Dr. Lewis Alcott Pumice and plastics: Applying volcanology to the distribution of oceanic microplastics 

Prof. Laura Robinson Characterising an unknown eruption in the Galápagos Islands 

Prof. Laura Robinson The Galápagos Deep 2023 Expedition – A geological history in marine sediment cores 

Follow this link for more details on each project and the MScR program cohort:   MSc by Research - Volcanology projects (PDF, 215kB)

More details about the Bristol Volcanology Group can be found here. 

Deadline to apply: Projects may be applied for here by *early August 2025 for September 2025 entry (deferred entry for January 2026 may be possible for some projects but September is encouraged). *NOTE: Overseas applicant deadlines may be a week or two prior to this.  

Fees for academic year 2025-26: 
UK: full-time £4,850 (per year) 
UK: part-time £2,425 (per year) 
Overseas: full-time £26,700 (per year) 

Bench fees: £1000 (per student) – standard 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.