PhDs and Research Degrees

We welcome applicants for our postgraduate research opportunities. Our postgraduate researchers are at the heart of active research teams, challenging boundaries and making real advances. Postgraduate research students are supervised by our expert scientists who outline the research and provide guidance and mentoring throughout the project. You will collaborate closely with other research students, research staff and academics in the School of Environmental Sciences (ENV).

 

Research in ENV addresses four overarching themes:

 

ENV postgraduate researchers work in these areas:

  • Atmospheric and ocean sciences, polar sciences, autonomous vehicles
  • Biological oceanography, marine biology, biogeochemistry, microbial ecology, sediment ecology
  • Climate science and climate change science
  • Climate solutions: decarbonisation and net zero, adaptation and resilience
  • Ecological economics and ecosystem services 
  • Ecology, conservation ecology, tropical ecology, movement ecology, host-parasite co-evolution, land-use change 
  • Environmental biology, conservation biology, genomics
  • Environmental pollution, including impacts, behaviour and fate of plastics and micro-plastics
  • Geology, geophysics, hydrogeology, catchment science, natural hazards and resources
  • Green economy, low carbon energy transitions
  • Hazard risk communication, adaptation and disaster risk management
  • Human and physical geography of the environment 
  • Science, society and sustainability
     

We also host international centres of research excellence spanning these themes as well as state-of-the-art research facilities for exploring the environment. 

Below are some of the recent contributions from ENV postgraduate researchers:

 

Three research degrees are available: PhD, PhD by Publication, Master's by Research. Full- and part-time options are available. Postgraduate research degrees take between one and two years to complete for a Master’s by Research or between three to four years for a full-time PhD. The minimum academic requirement for entry to a PhD and a Master’s by Research is a UK upper second class undergraduate honours degree, or equivalent. Details of the PhD by Publication, including entry requirements, are on our information pages.

Studentships are advertised under the Find a PhD in Environmental Sciences tile on the top of this page, including for projects part of the ARIES, Norwich Research Park Biosciences, and SeNSS Doctoral Training Programmes.
Alternatively, you can apply for a self-funded studentship. In your application you will need to nominate a supervisor. You should make contact with them to discuss the project before you apply. Apply for postgraduate research or use our links in the advertisements for studentships.