SUPER Studentships

A 3.5 year (42 month) studentship includes:
• Home (UK) rate tuition fees each year*;
• A yearly stipend based on RCUK rates (£17,668 for the 2022/23 academic year); and 
• Separate funding for research training and professional development.

*for International students, there may be funding available to cover the full international tuition fee through the respective institution and this should be discussed with the Principal Investigator (PI). If funds are not available, the candidate will be required to cover the difference in fees each year (this may be in excess of £10,000 per annum). 

Part-time study is an option, with a minimum of 50% of full-time effort (7 years; 84 months). Funding will be provided pro-rata.

In general, applicants to the SUPER DTP are expected to have a minimum of a 2:1 honours degree (or equivalent). Institutions may have more stringent or further eligibility requirements, please see adverts below for more information.

Have you secured an interview for a project? Read our top doctoral interview tips!

SUPER PhD Projects 

The SUPER remit supports the holistic study of the ecological dynamics of systems from headland rivers and catchments through lowland regions and riparian systems to estuarine and coastal waters and marine ecosystems. 

Projects are hosted at one of our partner institutions with a Principal Investigator (PI) plus one or more supervisors and start on Monday 2 October 2023. Please find more information about each project in the adverts below:

Edinburgh Napier University

• Pollination ecosystem service support by sustainable urban drainage systems. PI: Gavin Ballantyne. Apply by Monday 13 March 2023.

Heriot-Watt University

• Inclusion of the ‘youth voice for nature’ in regional marine planning. PI: Karen Alexander. Apply by Tuesday 28 February 2023.
• The effect of offshore windfarms on the distribution, behaviour, and abundance of fish. PI: Paul Fernandes. Apply by Friday 10 February 2023.
• The combined impacts of climate change induced environmental variation (salinity and temperature) and pollutant mixtures on stress response in a typical estuarine species (Mytilus sp). PI: Mark Hartl. Applications CLOSED.

The University of Aberdeen

• Further development of the ECOSSE-model for quantifying and mapping the impacts of degraded and restored Scottish peatlands on net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions under climate change. PI: Mohamed Abdalla. Applications CLOSED.
• The molecular basis of daily and seasonal migration behaviour in the copepod Calanus finmarchicus in the face of climate change. PI: Marius Wenzel. Applications CLOSED.
• Populations at the edge: range dynamics and conservation of the Great Crested Newt under global change. PI: Greta Bocedi. Applications CLOSED.
• The interaction of waves with seaweed farms: wave attenuation and intra-farm hydrodynamics. PI: Dominic van der A. Applications CLOSED.

The University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI)

UHI Shetland

• Interactions between biology, environmental and anthropogenic factors on the exploitation of pelagic species by the Scottish fleet. PI: Chevonne Angus. Applications CLOSED.

The Scottish Association for Marine Science

• Deep connections: how do changes in deep sea faunal communities relate to surface physics and biology. PI: Bhavani Narayanaswamy. Applications CLOSED.
• Lighting up zooplankton – mapping marine light using robotics. PI: Finlo Cottier. Applications CLOSED.
• Multi-stressor impacts on coastal Antarctic and temperate sea urchins. PI: Helena Reinardy. Applications CLOSED.
• An environmental evaluation of deep-sea mine tailings placement (DSTP). PI: John Alexander Howe. Applications CLOSED.
• Optimising marine image capture and analysis from autonomous underwater vehicles (MICA). PI: Tom Wilding. Applications CLOSED.

The University of St Andrews

• Mad, bad and dangerous: Multiple stressors in coastal ecosystems. PI: Julie Anne Hope. Apply by Tuesday 7 February 2023.
• Linking predator and prey dynamics: spatio-temporal trends in seals, seabirds and fish around Shetland. PI: Debbie Russell. Apply by Monday 6 February 2023.
• Predicting physiological impacts of disturbance on marine mammals: Implications for population-level effects. PI: Carol Sparling. Apply by Friday 17 February 2023.

The University of the West of Scotland

• The role of recreational marinas in facilitating the impacts of invasive non-native species. PI: Mhairi Alexander. Apply by Friday 24 February 2023.

Call for SUPER PhD proposals from HEI PIs

Our fifth call for PhD studentship proposals for academic supervisors is now closed.

The SUPER remit supports the holistic study of the ecological dynamics of systems from headland rivers and catchments through lowland regions and riparian systems to estuarine and coastal waters and marine ecosystems. The fifth call under the SUPER DTP remains broad in scope, and we invite applications across the full SUPER remit, which embraces terrestrial, freshwater, and all marine habitats.

Find out more about the call and associated terms and conditions.

We are grateful to have received outline project suggestions from Aquatera, NatureScot, and Marine Scotland Science. We may receive further suggestions from other organisations who have been asked to contribute.

Applications should be submitted via this application form (you may need to use a web browser other than Chrome to access this Word document, or download the Chrome ‘Office editing‘ extension) and returned to [email protected] by 4.00 pm on Friday 16 September 2022. Late applications will not be accepted.