SUPER Studentships

A 3.5 year (42 month) studentship includes:
• Home (UK) rate tuition fees each year*;
• A yearly stipend based on RCUK rates (currently £15,609 for the 2021/22 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 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.

SUPER PhD projects now looking for students 

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. Following our fourth call for PhD studentship proposals we are pleased to announce that the following projects are looking for students. Click on the titles to find out more and apply. The start date for projects is Monday 3 October 2022.

Hosted at Edinburgh Napier University

• Evaluating the landscape-scale benefits of Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems for freshwater biodiversity. PI: Rob Briers. Applications close tbc.

Hosted at Heriot Watt University

• Molluscan fishery sustainability in a complex and changing environment: past and present perspectives. PI: Mike Bell.

Hosted at the University of Aberdeen

• Water quality risks from soil structure degradation in Scotland. PI: Paul Hallett. Applications CLOSED.
  
• Developing effective agricultural wetland management to reduce predation and improve wader breeding outcomes. PI: Thomas Bodey. Applications CLOSED.
  
• Oil change: Adaptation and plasticity of anemones in response to hydrocarbon pollution and climate stress. PI: David Fisher. Applications CLOSED.
• The impact of environmental change on the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of symbiotic sponge communities. PI: Cecile Gubry-Rangin. Applications CLOSED.
• Optimising the long-term control of invasive American mink from catchment to coast: how many mink is too many? PI: Xavier Lambin. Applications CLOSED.
• Impact of multiple climate stressors on microbial processes and carbon sequestration in peatlands. PI: Ashish Malik. Applications CLOSED.

Hosted at the University of the Highlands and Islands

• Impacts of Floating Offshore Wind infrastructure on the distribution and behaviour of fish & marine mammals. PI: Benjamin Williamson. Applications close 31/01/22
• An oceanic species in coastal habitats: Risso’s dolphin distribution in Scottish waters and implications for conservation management. PI: Nienke van Geel. Applications close 31/01/22
• Investigating methods for a multi-faceted approach to determine distribution and habitat use of harbour porpoises to inform management. PI: Rachel Schucksmith. Applications close 31/01/22
• Climate change adaptation: Evaluating long-term resilience of the Scottish Marine Protected Area network. PI: Steven Benjamins. Applications close 31/01/22

Hosted at the University of St Andrews

• How do recreational activities alter spatiotemporal species interactions networks, and can this knowledge assist in promoting pro-environmental behaviour? PI: Chris Sutherland. Applications close 14/02/2022
• Jellies in the deep: quantifying siphonophore abundance and biodiversity in the mesopelagic (200-1,000 m depth) and how siphonophores bias acoustic estimates of mesopelagic fish biomass. PI: Andrew Brierley. Applications close 21/02/2022
  
• Harnessing the power of machine learning algorithms for the detection of marine mammal species in large acoustic datasets. PI: Luke Rendell. 

Hosted at the University of Strathclyde

• Climate change, marine fisheries and conservation in West Greenland. PI: Mike Heath. Applications close tbc.
• Developing operational spatial models for Scottish fisheries. PI: Douglas Speirs. Applications close tbc.

Hosted at the University West of Scotland

• Investigating the impacts of environmentally relevant microplastic exposures on iconic wetland biota in a multi-stressor context. PI: Frances Orton. Applications close 02/02/2022
  

Call for SUPER PhD proposals from HEI PIs

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

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 fourth 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 here.

We are grateful to have received outline project suggestions from NatureScot (view here) and from Marine Scotland Science (view here). Keep checking back as other organisations may also have suggestions to contribute.

Applications should be submitted on the Year 4 SUPER-project-proposals-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 superdtp@st-andrews.ac.uk by 17.00 on Friday 24 September 2021. Late applications will not be accepted.