Projects

2027 Studentships:

On this page please find the list of the projects that are part of our DLA competition for next academic year 2027/28. All projects listed below are for October 2027 entry. For more information, please see our How to Apply page, candidate resources, and associated FAQs.

Equal Opportunities:

Within our programme, we are dedicated to diversifying our community. As part of our ongoing work to improve Equality, Diversity and Inclusion within the NERC YES•DTN, we are able to ringfence 10% of our interviews and at least 2 of our full DLA studentships for the following identified underrepresented groups in our PhD programmes: UK Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, those from a disadvantaged socio-economic background, and disabled people. More detail on eligibility and how to apply for the studentships will be available soon – please watch this space!

Important information:

Applications Open: November 12th, 2026
Application deadline: 13:00 GMT on 12th January 2027
Shortlisting: Early February, 2027
Open day: all applicants invited to interview will have the opportunity to visit their host institution on an open day before the interviews (23-24th February, 2027 )
Interviews: to be held over several weeks from March 1st to March 12th, 2027

Projects marked CASE have the possibility becoming an industry-partnered project which includes an external industry partner with additional research training and support grant (RTSG) funding and a placement. Please see the NERC CASE page for more information. Some projects from partners that are not CASE-eligible or do not offer the full CASE support can be collaborative.

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YES-27-G-02: Building Climate-Resilient Landscapes: Ecohydrological Recovery of Peat and Organo-Mineral Soils

Theme(s): Hydrology
Primary Supervisor: Steph Bond <[email protected]>
Institution: University of Leeds (School of Geography)

YES-27-D-20 – Earth’s Great Oxidation: Redox and nutrient controls on the transition to a permanently oxygenated atmosphere

Theme(s): Chemistry of the Earth, Palaeoenvironments and Palaentology
Primary Supervisor: Simon Poulton <[email protected]>
Institution: University of Leeds (School of Earth and Environment)

YES-27-D-19: How do Slow Earthquakes work? Using field, microstructural and -chemical evidence in combination with targeted experiments to gain a deep understanding of Slow Earthquakes

Theme(s): Tectonics, Volcanology and Solid Earth Geophysics
Primary Supervisor: Sandra Piazolo <[email protected]>
Institution: University of Leeds (School of Earth and Environment)

YES-27-D-09: The inner workings of the earthquake cycle: New insight from integrating Quaternary fault activity, microstructures, and geophysics

Theme(s): Dynamic Earth & Natural Hazards, Tectonics, Volcanology and Solid Earth Geophysics
Primary Supervisor: Laura Gregory <[email protected]>
Institution: University of Leeds (School of Earth and Environment)

YES-27-A-13: From Heat to Hazard: How Climate Extremes Affect Coastal Rock Slope Stability

Theme(s): Applied Geoscience, Climate Impacts, Dynamic Earth & Natural Hazards
Primary Supervisor: Ryan Kromer <[email protected]>
Institution: University of Leeds (School of Earth and Environment)

YES-27-A-10: Understanding polar aerosols and improving their representation in climate models

Theme(s): Atmospheric Physics, Climate
Primary Supervisor: Daniel Grosvenor <[email protected]>
Institution: University of Leeds (School of Earth and Environment)

YES-27-D-11: The Quaternary is the key to our future: using outcrop analogues to reduce uncertainties in offshore windfarm developments

Theme(s): Sedimentology, geomorphology and basin analysis
Primary Supervisor: David Hodgson <[email protected]>
Institution: University of Leeds (School of Earth and Environment)

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