Skip to main content

PhD by Research

The Dept of Earth Sciences welcomes applicants for those wishing to conduct research in many aspects of the Earth Sciences. For research interests of our staff please see:

For discussions about possible research projects please contact the member of academic staff.

For questions about the application process please contact: Louise Bowron, Department of Earth Sciences, Durham University, Durham, DH1 3LE. earthsci.pgadmissions@durham.ac.uk.

Tel. no. +44 (0)191 334 2198.

Fully funded studentship for 4 years

Nuclear Waste Services fully funded studentship for 4 years

Host Institutions and supervisors:
Jointly supervised by Dr. Catriona Menzies (University of Durham) and Dr Nick Roberts (BGS Keyworth), PhD will be awarded from Durham University with the majority of laboratory work and training undertaken at BGS Keyworth.

Details can be found here. Constraints on palaeohydrology of Lower Strength Sedimentary Rocks (LSSR) using a novel analytical toolkit. 

The closing date for applications is 9th February 2024.

2 Fully-funded Marie Curie PhD Fellows

The Department invites applications for 2 Marie Curie PhD Fellows in 2023. This post is funded by UKRI through a scheme intended to promote international mobility of researchers. As a result, we can only consider candidates who have resided and carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) outside the UK for at least 24 months in the 36 months immediately before their recruitment date. Candidates must not have previously completed a doctoral degree.

There are 2 posts to be considered -

One to work with Dr Andrew Valentine on the topic of “Physics-informed super-resolution imaging of the Earth’s interior”. The successful candidate will become an employee of Durham University and will simultaneously be registered as a PhD student. They will become part of the MCSA Doctoral Network “EarthSafe”, and benefit from a range of training and networking activities – as well as opportunities for secondments at other partner organisations.

More information on the post, its research and its facilities can be found here.

The other is to work with Prof. Jeroen van Hunen on the topic of “Investigating Craton Dynamics and Ore Deposit Formation for Sustainable Critical Minerals Supply”. The successful candidate will become an employee of Durham University, and will simultaneously be registered as a PhD student. They will become part of the MCSA Doctoral Network “EarthSafe”, and benefit from a range of training and networking activities – as well as opportunities for secondments at other partner organisations. 

More information on the post, its research and its facilities can be found here.

For questions about the application process please contact: Louise Bowron, PGR Coordinator earthsci.pgadmissions@durham.ac.uk

 

The Dept. of Earth Sciences participates in several Centre for Doctoral Training that offer fully-funded PhD studentships to eligible candidates.

NERC IAPETUS-2 Earth Science Studentships for October 2024

Durham is the lead partner for the NERC funded IAPETUS2 partnership including the Universities of Glasgow, Newcastle, St Andrews, Heriott-Watt and Stirling along with the British Geological Survey and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.

Further information on the IAPETUS 2024 partnership is now available at: https://www.iapetus2.ac.uk/studentships/

In the first instance, applicants should contact the project supervisors or Louise Bowron at (earthsci.pgadmissions@durham.ac.uk).

These PhD studentships will provide for UK tuition fees and a full stipend at UK Research & Innovation recommended levels for each year of study. 

Applications will open in November 2023

Projects details are available on the IAPETUS2 website.