Research opportunities

Programmes are available leading to the degree of MPhil (two years) or PhD (three years). These full-time courses contain an element of taught course work in the first year accompanied by the development of a research programme including reading and discussion. The research develops in the second year (and third year for PhD) with constant contact with a supervisory group and culminates in the submission of a thesis. Opportunities exist for part or all of the experimental work to be conducted away from the University.

PhD Research Studentships

We frequently have studentships available. These will be advertised on this page and FindaPhD.com.

Suggest your own topic

If you already have a topic in mind you should link your ideas to the research interests of a member of staff

If you would like some suggestions for projects, review our lists of suggested topics for Earth Systems and Human Environments

Earth Systems Science Research Group

• Climate change impacts on carbon cycling in organic soils (Dr Joanna Clark)
• Environmental controls on Water colour/dissolved organic carbon (DOC) dynamics in soils and surface waters (Dr Joanna Clark)
• Organic contaminants, risk assessment, nanoparticles (Dr Chris Collins)
• Earthworm ecology, mineral weathering, contaminated soils (Professor Mark Hodson)
• Nutrient cycling, wetlands, phosphorus and arsenic biogeochemistry (Dr Steve Robinson)
• Microbial ecology, organic pollutants, nanoparticles (Dr Liz Shaw)
• Soil-vegetation-atmosphere interactions, heat and gas fluxes (Dr Anne Verhoef)
• The use of high-frequency water chemistry measurements to investigate nutrient cycle coupling in river-systems (Professor Andrew Wade)
• The development of a new process-based model of coupled nutrient (N, P, C) cycles for upland and lowland environments (Professor Andrew Wade)
• A model-based assessment of the impacts of environmental change on riparian vegetation (Professor Andrew Wade)
• Biogeochemical cycling in freshwater systems (Professor Penny Johnes)
• Organic matter characterisation in water supply and wastewater intake (Professor Penny Johnes)
• Monitoring desert oases using remote sensing (Dr Kevin White)
• Modelling landform change using Digital Elevation Models (Dr Kevin White)
• Response of Eurasian glaciers to recent variability and projected climate change (Dr Maria Shahgedanova).
• Influences of variability in atmospheric circulation on the frequency and magnitude of extreme weather events (Dr Maria Shahgedanova)
• Characterisation of extreme daily rainfall, trends and climatological links using the long-term records from central and north-eastern England (Dr Maria Shahgedanova)
• The role of perennial snow patches for sediment transport in high-latitude mountainous regions (Dr Steve Gurney).
• Investigations of the growth and decay of hydraulic pingos in east Greenland (Dr Steve Gurney)
• Landscape ecology and habitat restoration of the UK (Dr Geoffrey Griffiths)
• The development and application of landscape character mapping for biodiversity conservation in Europe (Dr Geoffrey Griffiths)
• Predictive vegetation mapping using spatial models and GIS techniques (Dr Geoffrey Griffiths)
• Assessment of conservation value of tropical forest and Mediterranean ecosystems (Dr Geoffrey Griffiths)
• Human impacts and ecosystem restoration in tropical forest environments, Brazil (Dr Geoffrey Griffiths)
• Historical water quality modelling of the Hudson River (Dr Alan Howard)
• Cyanobacteria (toxic blue-green algae) - modelling bloom development including toxin production modelling (Dr Alan Howard)

Human Environments Research Group

• Factors influencing the success and failure of transition movement initiatives (Dr Giuseppe Feola)
• Resilience and sustainability of agri-food systems (Dr Giuseppe Feola)
• Agricultural adaptation to climate change among smallholders in marginal environments (Dr Giuseppe Feola)
• Street and working children (Dr Ruth Evans)
• The impacts of AIDS on children and families in East/Southern Africa (Dr Ruth Evans)
• Youth identities and transitions (Dr Ruth Evans)
• Child- and youth-headed households and intergenerational relationships in East and Southern Africa (Dr Ruth Evans)
• Geographies of care, health and illness (Dr Ruth Evans)
• Young caregiving and disabled parents in the Global North and South (Dr Ruth Evans)
• Identities and social inclusion/ exclusion of migrant and refugee families (Dr Ruth Evans)
• Culture, gender and development in sub-Saharan Africa (Dr Ruth Evans)
• Devolution and local democracy in the UK and Europe (Dr Steve Musson)
• The geography of government finance (Dr Steve Musson)
• Public-private partnerships and the future of the welfare state (Dr Steve Musson)
• Water and urban life in the MENA (MIddle East and North Africa) region (Professor Rob Potter)
• Globalisation, postmodernity and development in the Caribbean (Professor Rob Potter)
• Social dynamics of return migration to the Caribbean region (Professor Rob Potter)
• Migration, transnationality, and the Caribbean  (Professor Rob Potter)
• Globalisation and the evolution of urban form in developing countries  (Professor Rob Potter)
• Self-help housing, the poor and the state (Professor Rob Potter)
• Geographies of volunteering (Dr Sally Lloyd-Evans)
• Diversity and equal opportunities in the UK labour market (Dr Sally Lloyd-Evans)
• Good governance and children's livelihoods: the rights of the child (Dr Sally Lloyd-Evans)
• Business ethics and corporate social responsibility: local and global perspectives (Dr Sally Lloyd-Evans)
• Political ecologies of water and neoliberalism (Dr Jessica Budds)
• Geographies of urban water and sanitation in the global South (Dr Jessica Budds)
• Extractive industries and development in Latin America (Dr Jessica Budds)
• Customary management of ecosystem services and payment schemes (Dr Jessica Budds)