Ecology PhD

Our Faculty of Natural Sciences is internationally renowned for research exploring the relationship between human behaviour, technology and the environment. We offer PhDs supervised by expert staff, and are proud of the key contributions made by research students to our achievements.

PhD students in Ecology will join a vibrant research environment in which we seek to understand the fundamental processes driving the evolution and maintenance of biodiversity, from the molecular to the ecosystem level. We look at how environments and ecosystems have changed over annual to millennial timescales to predict and mitigate the future impacts of anthropogenic change and natural hazards. We consistently attract major research grant support from the Natural Environment Research Council, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the Leverhulme Trust, charitable trusts and industrial sponsors.

You can find out more about our PhD opportunities in Biological and Environmental Sciences.

We are also happy to support students from the UK and abroad who have their own funding sources for a PhD, or who wish to develop proposals to apply for their own scholarships etc. In the list below you will find examples of topics for which our staff are especially keen to host research students. However, this list does not describe all the research activities in Biological and Environmental Sciences: you can find out more on our research pages and by browsing the webpages of our staff. Staff members would be pleased to receive enquires from prospective research students.

An upper second class honours Bachelors degree or higher qualification. For some studentships and programmes of study a suitable masters degree may be specified.