UCL Earth Sciences

Available PhD Topics






ES Funded projects open for applications

If you are interested in applying to do a specific PhD project in our Department(self-initiated, self-funded or through a non-DTP studentship), you should direct your initial enquiry to the named supervisor (or co-supervisor) who can guide you further. In cases of uncertainty, you may also direct your enquiry to the Graduate Tutor. Once a supervisor has agreed in principle to supervise your project, or if you are applying for a specific funded studentship, you must complete a formal UCL PhD application.

TOPIC

SUPERVISOR

CO-SUPERVISOR

FUNDING BODY
The formation mechanism of long run-out landslides on planetary bodies. Project details.
Application Deadline:14th October 2016
 Tom Mitchell Peter Grindrod, Harrison Schmitt, Liran Goren, Ben-Gurion & Gerald Roberts
  STFC
 P-V-T equations of state of low-density geofluids and industrial materials using novel in situ
techniques. Project details
Application Deadline: until filled 		David Dobson
  Simon MacLeod (AWE)  STFC - Industrial Case
Volatiles, Geodynamics and Solid Earth Controls on the Habitable Planet. Project details
Application Deadline: until filled
John Brodholt
  
NERC
Impact melting and vaporization of Earth. Project details (pdf)
Application Deadline: until filled 		Lars Stixrude Carolina Lithgow-Bertelloni MoltenEarth 
ERC Project
The Martian Core Project Details
Lidunka Vocadlo
Ian Wood and David Dobson
 STFC


The London NERC Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP).

The PhD topics shown here are representative examples of projects offered by our department that are eligible for funding through the London NERC Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP). The London DTP offers between 30-40 studentships per year covering all aspects of earth and environmental science, hosted by one of nine different London-based academic institutions including UCL.

If you are interested in any topic below, please contact the named supervisor for more information in the first instance. To apply for a DTP studentship, please do not apply to UCL directly but instead follow the DTP instructions. Whilst the topics illustrate a cross-section of active research within the Department of Earth Sciences at UCL, the list is not exhaustive and we also welcome enquiries from students who wish to formulate their own topics.

Biodiversity and Ecology

TOPIC (PDF DOCUMENTS)

SUPERVISOR

CO-SUPERVISOR
Topic: A multi-disciplinary approach to the analysis of crocodylian phylogeny, diversity and biogeographic history in ‘Deep Time’ Paul Upchurch Julia Day


Earth, Atmosphere and Ocean Processes

TOPIC (PDF DOCUMENTS)

SUPERVISOR

CO-SUPERVISOR
Topic: Ice shelf dynamics. Peter Sammonds  
Topic: Towards improving thickness retrievals from CryoSat.
Julienne Stroeve
Michel Tsamados
Topic: Using comples networks to advance our understanding of the polar climate system.
Michel Tsamados
 Peter Sollich, KCL
Topic: Flow of sea ice through Nares Strait: reconciling sateleitte observations, models and theory.
Michel Tsamados
 Peter Sammonds


Environmental Pollution

TOPIC (PDF DOCUMENTS)

SUPERVISOR

CO-SUPERVISOR
Topic: Groundwater salinity and drinking water supply in coastal Bangladesh
 Mohammad Shamsudduha, IRDR
 William Burgess


Natural and Biological Hazards

TOPIC (PDF DOCUMENTS)

SUPERVISOR

CO-SUPERVISOR
Topic: Reassessing the volcanic hazard of unusual lavas in the East African rift. Adrian Jones Chris Kilburn
Topic: Temporal and spatial strain accumulation within the Italian Apennines from modelling and laboratory experiments. Joanna Faure Walker, IRDR Peter Sammonds
Topic: A long-term stress map of the Italian Apennines from long-term strain-rates and palaesiesmic records.
Joanna Faure Walker, IRDR
 Gerald Roberts, Birkbeck
Topic: Ca isotopes as a potential tracer for CO2 in magmatic systems. Christina Mannin, RHUL Phillip Pogge Von Strandmann

Topic: Terrestrial water storage in the Bengal Basin - piezometric monitoring to validate and compliment GRACE observations.

William Burgess

Mohammad Shamsudduha, IRDR


Past Life and Environments

TOPIC (PDF DOCUMENTS)

SUPERVISOR

CO-SUPERVISOR
Topic: Plankton evolution and the Paleogene/Neogene transition. Paul Bown  
Topic: Architecture and stacking patterns of deep-marine lobe and related deposits, Eocene Hecho Group, Jaca basin, Spanish Pyrenees: Depositional processes, sandbody geometry and stacking patterns Kevin Pickering
 Paul Bown
Topic: The Neoproterozoic Luoquan/Fengtai glaciation on the North China craton. Graham Shields Daniel Le Heron, RHUL
Topic: The Neoproterozoic nitrogen cycle. Graham Shields  
Topic: The ecology of microbial communities through the oxygenation of the atemosphere.
Dominic Papineau
 


Solid Earth Dynamics

TOPIC

SUPERVISOR

CO-SUPERVISOR
Topic: Global seismic imaging of the Earth's mantle Ana Ferreira

  
Topic: Evolution and significance of fault damage structures on plate boundary faults: the southern San Andreas fault system
Tom Mitchell
  
Topic: Nature of the link between tectonics and volcanism in the Central and Southern Andes.
Tom Mitchell
Andy Carter
Topic: Pre-melting in the Earth’s core.

 Lidunka Vočadlo Ian Wood
Topic: Physics of creeping crustal rocks. 

Nicolas Brantut

 

Topic: The structure of the lithosphere and the state of stress of the Earth.


Caroline Lithgow-Bertelloni

Lars Stixrude

Topic: Mutliscale characterisation of seismic scattering, diffraction and anistropy in the lithosphere/asthenosphere system.
Teh-Ru Alex Song
Vincent Tong

Topic:Towards a comprehensive understanding of transition zone seismic discontinuities.
Teh-Ru Alex Song
  
Topic: Ground truthing thermochronology.
Pieter Vermeesch
 Andy Carter
Topic: Permeability anisotropy in stressed rock.
Philip Meredith
Tom Mitchell


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