Student Training and PhD Opportunities

There are currently over 100 PhD students associated with our organisation and nearly half of these students work full time at our offices and labs in Cambridge. Students have full access to our state of the art research facilities and some have the opportunity to carry out research in the polar regions. We strongly encourage the pursuit of interdisciplinary projects, and there is the opportunity to work with teams at the forefront of global change and exploration science in both polar regions.

Since 2014 our studentships have been funded through NERC Doctoral Training Partnerships (DTPs) and Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs). From 2025, DTPs and CDTs will be replaced by NERC Doctoral Landscape Awards (DLAs) and Doctoral Focal Awards (DFAs). We are delighted that our partnerships will continue in the new era of DLAs, namely ARIES, CREATES, GW4+ Doctoral Training Landscape Partnership (DLTP), Iapetus and IGNITE.

Here are the BAS projects or supervisor research areas within our DLA partnerships for 2025. Each partner has a separate application process, which is often through the university at which the project is linked. Please read and follow the instructions carefully before applying to ensure your application can be fully considered. More information can be found on each of the DLAs’ websites.

If you would like to know more about applying for a PhD, here are some short videos on Preparing your application, Tips on meeting your potential supervisor and Preparing for a PhD interview and presentation

INSPIRE DTP also have some Top Tips and Student Testimonies for prospective students for more insight into PhDs

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion – We are fully committed to the UKRI EDI principles and policies. We strive to recruit and support a diverse and inclusive cohort of students.

Eligibility: UK students will be eligible for a full NERC studentship. More information is available in the UKRI Training Grant Guide. A full studentship will include the cost of fees, stipend, and research funding allowance. DLAs may have funding for only a very limited number of international students.

Projects or supervisor research areas starting October 2025 are listed below.

ARIES

Closing date for applications: Wednesday 8^th January 2025 @ 2359 GMT

How to apply: Enquiries in the first instance should be made to the BAS supervisor. To apply, please follow the instructions on the ARIES website.

The impact of sea ice, glaciers and icebergs on carbon cycling in Antarctic waters – Prof Kate Hendry

Modelling future Southern Ocean ecosystems – Dr Simeon Hill

CREATES

Closing date for applications: 12:00 (noon) Tuesday 7^th January 2025

Browse the list of topics and supervisors to find those that particularly interest you. Finalised project titles are not listed as the intention is that you express interest in a topic and develop the final project with your supervisory team in the first term of your studies. You are strongly advised to contact prospective supervisors before applying, to further explore your mutual interests and get additional advice and information. Further information on how to apply can be found on the CREATES website.

BAS supervisors looking to develop projects are listed below.

Polar physical oceanography with a focus on observations – Dr Alex Brearley

The hydrological cycle over polar regions – Dr Alison McLaren

Southern Ocean circulation and properties, and their impact on the Antarctic and global climate – Dr Andrew Meijers

The processes responsible for climate change and variability in the Antarctic, Arctic and Himalayan region – Dr Andrew Orr

Icebergs as critical components of coupled ice sheet-ocean-climate systems – Dr Ben Evans

Reconstructing Antarctic ice sheet and Southern Ocean changes from marine sediments – Dr Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand

Ocean circulation and ocean carbon storage with an emphasis on the Southern Ocean and long-term climate change from the Eocene to present day – Dr Dave Munday

Antarctic ice cores, using records preserved in Antarctic ice to reconstruct past environmental changes – Dr Dieter Tetzner

Polar oceanography with an interest in machine learning and advanced modelling techniques – Dr Emma Boland

Development of ice core analytical methods and proxies for palaeoclimate and climate change research – Dr Jack Humby

Reconstructing past climate and environmental change over decadal to millennial time scales using chemical, isotopic and particulate material from ice cores – Dr Liz Thomas

Earth system dynamics during current and past warm climates – Dr Louise Sime

Cloud interactions and climate impacts of aerosol from sea ice and polar oceans – Dr Markus Frey

The ecology, life history and conservation of seabirds – Prof Richard Phillips

Carbon cycle dynamics and climate change from ice core gases –

Dr Thomas Bauska

Constraining the climate impact of a newly identified polar aerosol source using the UK Earth System Model – Dr Xin Yang

Climatologist and numerical modeler with broad interests in abrupt climate changes and earth system dynamics – Dr Xu Zhang

GW4+ DLTP

Closing date for applications: Monday 13^th January 2025 @ 2359 GMT

How to apply: Specific information is contained under each project – please ensure you follow the instructions carefully so that your application can be considered.

Future changes to rainfall over Antarctica and the Southern Ocean – Dr Andrew Orr

To submit an application, you will need to apply via the University of Bristol application page as the registered university for the project. It is important that you follow the detailed instructions provided when applying for the project and be sure to read the prospectus carefully. We advise you download the ‘Admissions Statement’ for Physical Geography from the prospectus and follow the instructions. When applying please include in your application the NERC GW4+ DLTP personal statement (Office document, 194kB) version of a personal statement. There is an additional ‘applicants questionnaire‘ that the DLTP require, so please complete this at the time of application as well. When applying for projects in the School of Geographical Sciences please choose ‘Geography- PhD’ in the ‘find a programme’ box.

Antarctic Eocene sea-floor ecosystem structure in response to environmental change – Dr Rowan Whittle

To submit an application, you will need to apply via the University of Bristol application page as the registered university for the project. It is important that you follow the detailed instructions provided when applying for the project and be sure to read the prospectus carefully. We advise you download the ‘Admissions Statement’ for Bristol and follow the instructions. When applying please include in your application the NERC GW4+ DLTP personal statement (Office document, 194kB) version of a personal statement. There is an additional ‘applicants questionnaire‘ that the DLTP require, so please complete this at the time of application as well. When applying for projects in the School of Earth Sciences please choose ‘Geology- PhD’ in the ‘find a programme’ box.

Iapetus

Closing date for applications: Friday 3rd January 2025

How to apply: In the first instance please contact the BAS supervisor if you have any questions about the research project. Full guidance on how to submit an application can be found on the Iapetus website.

IAP2-23-084 Drivers and impacts of extreme high temperature events over coastal Antarctica – Dr Hua Lu

IAP-24-006 The tactics of rheotaxis: movements of higher vertebrate predators in relation to Southern Ocean currents – Dr Norman Ratcliffe

IAP-24-027 Holocene Antarctic Peninsula Tephrochronology (HolAP-Tephra): Using Antarctic Peninsula ice core records to assess Holocene volcanic activity climate impacts – Dr Dieter Tetzner

Research outputs