PhD opportunities
SRUC is a unique institution founded on world-class research. We offer excellent opportunities for research leading to a higher degree, usually Doctor of Philosophy (PhD).
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Our impact-focused research aims to address the major challenges of growing global demand for food and nutrition security, climate change and dwindling natural resources. This covers a wide range of scientific disciplines, along with economics, business and resource management.
Postgraduate research (PGR) students make a valuable contribution to SRUC’s research programmes. Thanks to close ties with industry, our students benefit from building important networks and enjoy many varied employment opportunities after completing their studies with us. Discover more about our research outputs by visiting our research hub, SRUC’s Pure Portal.
SRUC PhD opportunities
These are SRUC PhD opportunities in conjunction with Doctoral Training Partnership EASTBIO.
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This 3.5 year PhD studentship is open to UK and international students, providing funding to cover UKRI level stipend and UK level tuition fees.
The project will be supervised by: Dr Alistair Hamilton, Dr Simon Gibson-Poole & Dr Caroline Nichol (Edinburgh University)
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 3.5 years, full time
Salary: £17668 per annum
Location: Edinburgh
Closing date for applications: 05 January 2023
Description:
There is a growing need to map and monitor peatland condition in an effort to preserve vital ecosystem services and mitigate climate change. Large-scale, frequent and robust monitoring is essential to enable the calculation of greenhouse gas inventories, planning and evaluation of restoration projects, and understanding and mitigating the effects of climate change and other drivers on peatland condition.
However, there is no standardised remote sensing methodology for monitoring peatland condition which is applied on either UK or multinational levels, and although there are field-based methods (e.g., IUCN Peatland Code), these are not feasible at the spatio-temporal scales required. Remote sensing techniques, driven by sensor and data processing developments, have the potential to overcome the spatio-temporal limitations of conventional field surveys while providing a robust and repeatable methodology for peatland condition monitoring.
Recent peatland remote sensing research has primarily focused on monitoring individual aspects of peatland condition (i.e., subsidence, vegetation cover, erosion features) from single sensors. Though beneficial, these singular metrics can limit the ability to compare data across peatland sites and can be highly specific to individual datasets, decreasing the overall robustness of the methodology. This approach also limits the ability to fit peatland sites into pre-existing classification categories, inhibiting the ability for comparison and validation between sites and datasets.
A multi-sensor approach, involving multiple sensor types (i.e., LiDAR, Optical, Radar) and sensor resolutions, can assist in avoiding the barriers associated with the use of a single sensor. For instance, a monitoring framework utilising Synthetic Aperture Radar would allow for peat elevation and volume change identification under cloud cover, whilst ultra-high resolution imagery and LiDAR can assist in identifying small drainage and erosion features which would otherwise be missed.
Using such methods, a standardised framework for monitoring peatland condition needs to be developed to map peatlands, that can incorporate the monitoring of all these key individual aspects, whilst allowing comparisons of change over time (and between sites) and analysis of factors such as site biodiversity, ecosystem services and greenhouse gas emissions.
The aims of this PhD are therefore to develop a multimodal approach, utilising remote sensing and other available data for different peatland metrics. These data would be analysed and modelled using a Machine Learning approach in order to identify the optimum analyses methods, and to develop usable workflows for real-world application. The developed approach would aim to be easily replicable, robust, and low cost.
Download:
Complete:
- Equal opportunities Survey - please note the completion reference
- Send the Application including your Equal opportunities reference with your Degree Academic Transcripts and Certificates to - pg.research@sruc.ac.uk quoting reference SRUC/AH.
- Send the Academic Reference form to 2 academic/professional referees requesting they submit by the deadline date to pg.research@sruc.ac.uk.
For additional information or discuss the project please contact Alistair.hamilton@sruc.ac.uk
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This 3.5 year PhD studentship is open to UK and international students, providing funding to cover UKRI level stipend and UK level tuition fees.
The project will be supervised by: Dr Emma Baxter, Dr Alistair Lawrence & Dr Sarah Brown (Edinburgh University)
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 3.5 years, full time
Salary: £17668 per annum
Location: Edinburgh
Closing date for applications: 05 January 2023
Description:
Pigs exhibit the most severe naturally occurring intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) among livestock species where there is impaired growth and development of the embryo/foetus or its organs during pregnancy. IUGR has been exacerbated by selection pressure for very large litter sizes (hyperprolificacy) further impacting growth, development and survival of fetuses. IUGR piglets that survive to term are known to have impaired physical functions including their growth, reproduction and stress reactivity. There are varying degrees of IUGR (mild/moderate/severe) presenting with different pathologies. Recent evidence suggests that severe IUGR can result in significant effects on the inflammatory state of the brain with implications for neuropathology in affected pigs. This project aims to better quantify the extent of these pathologies, understand their impacts and the pathways that lead to them, as well as determine if there is a genetic component. The studentship will also develop and test mitigation strategies against IUGR impacts, providing practical insight for farmers and improving the welfare and production value of these piglets.
The studentship will investigate the robustness and resilience of piglets with varying degrees of IUGR, thus determine the sustainability of breeding for hyperprolificacy. It will provide important new information on the impacts of hyperprolificacy on pig welfare and productivity to inform both future policy and practice. Applying an interdisciplinary mix of bioscience skills will assess the impacts of hyperprolificacy on neuroinflammation, neurodevelopment and behavioural phenotypes in the pig. This interdisciplinarity will be achieved by the cross-institutional partnership between SRUC and the Roslin Institute (University of Edinburgh). SRUC is renowned for its work on pig behaviour and welfare whilst Roslin is a world leader in bioscience applied to large animals. The project will also benefit from wider collaborations with industry and other academic partners.
This studentship will provide excellent training in both fundamental and applied aspects of animal welfare science. The student will be trained in laboratory skills relating to assessment of neuroinflammation, neuro- and behavioural development in neonatal pigs as well as how to perform non-invasive techniques and participate in refining data collection. They will have opportunities to work in high-welfare systems for pigs to test practical strategies to mitigate IUGR effects, improving robustness and resilience of pig herds. The area of work has both considerable scientific novelty and is practically relevant as indicated by support from industry. Our industry and academic networks will offer many opportunities for knowledge transfer and exchange including access to relevant on-campus and online resources.
Application Process:
Download:
Complete:
- Equal opportunities Survey Please note the completion reference
- Send the Application including your Equal opportunities reference with your Degree Academic Transcripts and Certificates to - pg.research@sruc.ac.uk quoting reference SRUC/EB.
- Send the Academic Reference form to 2 academic/professional referees requesting they submit by the deadline date to pg.research@sruc.ac.uk.
For additional information or discuss the project please contact emma.baxter@sruc.ac.uk
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This 3.5 year PhD studentship is open to UK and international students, providing funding to cover UKRI level stipend and UK level tuition fees.
The project will be supervised by: Dr Farina Khattak, Prof Jos Houdijk, Dr Salvatore Galgano & Prof Dominic J Campopiano (Edinburgh University)
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 3.5 years, full time
Salary: £17668 per annum
Location: Edinburgh
Closing date for applications: 05 January 2023
Description:
This exciting, timely and multidisciplinary PhD project elucidates exogenous protease action through both in-vitro and in-vivo systems, and its application to a wide range of alternative, plant-based protein sources for poultry. Developing such alternatives is crucial in order to reduce farmers' dependence on traditional sources of protein (soya bean meal) and help tackle the two biggest challenges the poultry industry currently faces, i.e., exceptionally high feed ingredient prices and environmental challenges from manure nitrogen excretion. The overall hypothesis is that strategic use of exogenous protease in poultry feed can help unlock the hidden potential of underutilised protein sources and thus help to maintain and improve diet quality, reduce the feed cost by maximising the available nutrient level of poultry diet and improve gut health.
The study's main objectives would be 1) to determine the capacity of protease to hydrolyse protein while using alternative plant-based protein sources in-vitro 2). To quantify the nitrogen and amino acid digestibility of selected protein sources with and without protease when fed to broilers as the sole source of protein while using semi-purified diets, and 3) to determine the optimum level of protease sufficient to optimise growth and promote gut health in vivo.
The student will be registered at the University of Edinburgh and based at the Monogastric Science Research Center (MSRC) of Scotland's Rural College (SRUC; near Edinburgh, UK). In-vivo studies will be conducted at the SRUC's poultry research facility, which is the UK's largest facility dedicated to fostering world-leading research to promote sustainable future farming by trialling innovative ideas under near-commercial conditions.
The project will partner with Kemin Animal Nutrition and Health – EMENA, a global ingredient manufacturer that delivers products and services that help to achieve optimal nutrition, feed quality, gut health and pathogen control. The student will work closely with Kemin, including an industrial placement of up to 6 months at their research lab in Belgium. During their placement, the student will be trained to carry out the in-vitro work investigating the mode of action of protease, specifically looking into peptide production, cleavage sites and synergy between different proteases, etc., which is further facilitated through being part of the Campopiano Biocatalysis group in the SoC at the UoE.
Additionally, at SRUC and University of Edinburgh, skills training will be provided in personal effectiveness, communication skills, networking, team working, and career management.
This project is multidisciplinary and combines nutritional, enzymology, chemistry, molecular and classic microbiology, genomic and statistical science to provide insight into protease's effect on improving protein digestion, catabolism and improved gut health. The supervisory team brings the necessary complementary expertise in each of these fields and will support the student in developing academic skills within each discipline. The combination of on-farm training, lab skills, and exposure to world-leading companies will ensure that the student is well prepared for a career in academia or industry.
Application Process:
Download:
Complete:
- Equal opportunities Survey Please note the completion reference
- Send the Application including your Equal opportunities reference with your Degree Academic Transcripts and Certificates to - pg.research@sruc.ac.uk quoting reference SRUC/FK.
- Send the Academic Reference form to 2 academic/professional referees requesting they submit by the deadline date to pg.research@sruc.ac.uk.
For additional information or to discuss the project please contact farina.khattak@sruc.ac.uk
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This 3.5 year PhD studentship is open to UK and international students, providing funding to cover UKRI level stipend and UK level tuition fees.
The project will be supervised by: Dr John Newbold, Dr Richard Dewhurst & Prof Alastair Macrae (Edinburgh University)
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 3.5 years, full time
Salary: £17668 per annum
Location: Dumfries
Closing date for applications: 05 January 2023
Description:
Methane from rumen fermentation is the largest contributor to the carbon footprint of dairy farming. Measurement and modelling of methane are key to its management.
Factors affecting methane emissions, such as diet ingredient composition and nutritional quality, cow phenotype, breed and genotype and farm management system, remain imperfectly understood. With a focus on dairy farming systems in south-west Scotland and northern England, this project will add to this understanding by measuring methane under a range of farm conditions and in response to selected dietary interventions. Specifically, the project will include a comparison of methane emissions from cows grazing a conventional versus a multispecies pasture.
The project will utilise an accepted methodology (‘GreenFeed’) to measure methane emissions from individual cows, but also brings opportunities to evaluate proxy measurements such as the spectral analysis of milk.
Relatively simple models are currently used by nutrition advisors to predict effects of diet change on methane emissions per cow and the consequences of those emissions for carbon footprint at the farm level. Data generated in this project will be used to evaluate existing models and are expected to provide opportunities to develop improved models.
Models also have value when they fail. During the project, any observations of unexpectedly low methane emissions (from specific cows offered specific diets) will be of particular interest. Such observations, if confirmed, are opportunities for further investigation (for example, of the rumen microbiome) seeking to propose and test explanations.
Application Process:
Download:
Complete:
- Equal opportunities Survey Please note the completion reference
- Send the Application including your Equal opportunities reference with your Degree Academic Transcripts and Certificates to - pg.research@sruc.ac.uk quoting reference SRUC/JN.
- Send the Academic Reference form to 2 academic/professional referees requesting they submit by the deadline date to pg.research@sruc.ac.uk.
For additional information or discuss the project please contact john.newbold@sruc.ac.uk
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This 3.5 year PhD studentship is open to UK and international students, providing funding to cover UKRI level stipend and UK level tuition fees.
The project will be supervised by: Dr Jolanda van Munster, Dr Tessa Moses (Edinburgh University)
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 3.5 years, full time
Salary: £17668 per annum
Location: Edinburgh
Closing date for applications: 05 January 2023
Description:
Sustainable ruminant farming is required to ensure global food security while mitigating environmental impacts. Ruminant performance, including greenhouse-gas emission, is critically impacted by activity of the microbiome.
The microbiome contains bacteria, archaea, fungi and protozoa, who’s joint metabolism converts animal feed to nutrients. Primary degraders, including anaerobic gut fungi (AGF), break down feed polysaccharides to soluble sugars, consumers grow on such sugars, and cross-feeders rely on metabolites (e.g. acetate) produced by the others. Importance of metabolic interactions across trophic levels is exemplified by how hydrogen, produced by AGF and protozoa, drives production of GHG methane by archaea. Other metabolic interactions of AGF remain largely unknown.
This project aims to uncover metabolic pathways that enable a recently discovered fungal-bacterial cross-feeding interaction, and to explore the existence of other fungal-bacterial interactions.
Project objectives are:
- Establish a data analysis workflow for stable isotope-based labelled untargeted metabolomics.
We identified a novel fungal-bacterial cross-feeding interaction. To understand the fate of the responsible metabolite in AGF, stable isotope labelled metabolite will be traced during fungal metabolism. Ion mobility mass spectrometry-based untargeted metabolomics methods, including data analysis workflows, are established within EdinOmics. You will develop a data analysis workflow that enables deployment of the current methods for stable isotope-based labelled untargeted metabolomics.
- Elucidate bacterial and fungal metabolic pathways that enable a novel cross-feeding interaction mechanism.
You’ll offer stable isotope labelled metabolite to AGF, detect breakdown products and thereby elucidate fungal metabolic pathway(s) underlying consumption of this compound. In a complementary approach, assessing gene expression in AGF and the bacterial partner will elucidate their (metabolic) activity during cross-feeding interaction.
- Explore other fungal-bacterial cross-feeding interactions during lignocellulose degradation.
You’ll screen for cross-feeding interactions employing synthetic co-cultures of AGF and bacteria under rumen-mimicking conditions. You will isolate responsible bacteria, identify candidate metabolites, and test if these support microbial growth.
This project builds on expertise in fungal biology and rumen microbiology at Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), and untargeted metabolomics at University of Edinburgh (UoE). You’ll benefit from training across microbiology, biochemistry, mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography. You will develop skills in univariate and multivariate statistics, experimental design for ‘omics and interpretation of complex biological datasets.
You will be registered at UoE, based at SRUC and work closely with EdinOmics, at King’s Buildings Campus, Edinburgh. The supervisory team is committed to, and expects your active contribution to, an inclusive work environment and professional development of all research team members.
Application Process:
Download:
Complete:
- Equal opportunities Survey Please note the completion reference
- Send the Application including your Equal opportunities reference with your Degree Academic Transcripts and Certificates to - pg.research@sruc.ac.uk quoting reference SRUC/JVM.
- Send the Academic Reference form to 2 academic/professional referees requesting they submit by the deadline date to pg.research@sruc.ac.uk.
For additional information or discuss the project please contact Jolanda.van-munster@sruc.ac.uk
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This 3.5 year PhD studentship is open to UK and international students, providing funding to cover UKRI level stipend and UK level tuition fees.
The project will be supervised by: Dr Neil Burns, Prof Eileen Wall, Dr Regnier (Marine Scotland Science & Dr David Bailey (Glasgow University)
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 3.5 years, full time
Salary: £17668 per annum
Location: Edinburgh
Closing date for applications: 05 January 2023
Description:
While seeking to protect and recover our natural environment, marine industries are also expected to play an important role in a green recovery globally. Balancing use of marine resources with ecosystem recovery is challenging. Meeting this challenge to manage our use of ecosystems and improve conservation efforts requires protection of the most beneficial locations.
Essential Fish Habitats (EFH) are waters and seabed habitats necessary to support critical life stages for spawning, breeding, feeding and growth to maturity. Protecting EFH is recognised as an important component of sustainable fisheries management and is essential to develop effective conservation measures. Most EFH for demersal species is identified by considering the distribution of fish over certain types of seabed. It is also recognised that different habitat types and combinations of habitats in a seascape are important1. However, the influence of EFH and different seascape arrangements on fish growth, survival and ultimately contribution to adult populations is not well understood.
This PhD will develop state-of-the-art understanding of the relationship between EFH and growth rate, by studying demersal fish on the west coast of Scotland. These are productive seas with a long and history of fishing. Following intense fishing pressure species abundance and diversity has changed substantially, particularly of cod, haddock and whiting2. By developing knowledge of the effects different habitat combinations have on the growth of juvenile gadoids this studentship will improve our understanding of fish nursery quality and support better selection of locations to protect EFH.
The main approach to be used will be the analysis growth increments in gadoid otoliths. Otoliths are calcareous structures in the ear of fish that accrete daily and annual increments. Additionally, the shape of otoliths can be used to discriminate between fish populations3. Linking the influence of different habitat mosaics to fish growth rate and subsequently the effects this has on the shape of otoliths is of scientific interest and practical benefit.
Together these methods will help build a picture of the growth of early life stage demersal fish and ultimately inform our understanding of growth-dependent survival, size related-fecundity and the contribution of nurseries to adult populations. You will provide an important demonstration of the practical benefit of considering seascapes in ecosystem-based approaches to fisheries management and biodiversity restoration.
For additional information or discuss the project please contact Application Process:
Download:
Complete:
- Equal opportunities Survey Please note the completion reference
- Send the Application including your Equal opportunities reference with your Degree Academic Transcripts and Certificates to - pg.research@sruc.ac.uk quoting reference SRUC/NB.
- Send the Academic Reference form to 2 academic/professional referees requesting they submit by the deadline date to pg.research@sruc.ac.uk.
For additional information or discuss the project please contact neil.burns@sruc.ac.uk.
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This 3.5 year PhD studentship is open to UK and international students, providing funding to cover UKRI level stipend and UK level tuition fees.
The project will be supervised by: Prof Jos Houdijk, Dr Ruth Morgan & Dr Natalie Homer (Edinburgh University)
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 3.5 years, full time
Salary: £17668 per annum
Location: Edinburgh
Closing date for applications: 05 January 2023
Description:
This exciting and unique project addresses the overall hypothesis that lean fast growing pigs have a blunted glucocorticoid (stress hormone) response compared to that of fatter and slower growing pigs in response to a high-calorie diet challenge. Glucocorticoids, regulated by the hypothalamic-pituitary axis (HPA), are essential in energy balance and adaptation to stress.
A dynamic and sensitive glucocorticoid response enables an animal to adapt well to stress and be more resilient but glucocorticoids also favour adipose tissue (fat) deposition and the breakdown of muscle. Since modern pig production requires that animals be lean and fast growing with minimal fat and maximum muscle mass, this has resulted in changes in their glucocorticoids which may impact their resilience.
These changes are not well characterised or understood and as such their impact cannot be quantified or, if so desired, reversed with new breeding strategies. The overall hypothesis will be addressed using a comparison of Large White x Landrace pigs (lean and fast growing) with Iberian pigs (fat and slow growing) in a longitudinal in vivo study.
Working with a comparative endocrinologist, research nutritionist and clinical chemist, the candidate will attempt to pinpoint the exact mechanism for breed differences in glucocorticoid profiles through investigating the dynamics of the HPA axis, the circadian rhythm of glucocorticoid secretion, the transport of glucocorticoids around the body, the metabolism and excretion of glucocorticoids and possible involvement of gut microbiome in the two breeds in response to high-calorie over baseline feeding.
The candidate will quantify glucocorticoids in blood, tissues, urine and faeces using state-of-the-art mass spectrometry technology, determine tissue glucocorticoid response by transcriptomic analysis and interrogate faecal 16S microbiome data to develop a whole-animal glucocorticoid profile. This is a novel area of research offering a broad range of training opportunities for the candidate.
Application Process:
Download:
Complete:
- Equal opportunities Survey Please note the completion reference
- Send the Application including your Equal opportunities reference with your Degree Academic Transcripts and Certificates to - pg.research@sruc.ac.uk quoting reference SRUC/RM.
- Send the Academic Reference form to 2 academic/professional referees requesting they submit by the deadline date to pg.research@sruc.ac.uk.
For additional information or discuss the project please contact ruth.morgan@sruc.ac.uk.
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This 3.5 year PhD studentship is open to UK and international students, providing funding to cover UKRI level stipend and UK level tuition fees.
The project will be supervised by: Dr Steve Hoad, Dr Alistair Hamilton & Dr Simon Gibson-Poole & Dr Stace Fairhurst (Edinburgh University)
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 3.5 years, full time
Salary: £17668 per annum
Location: Edinburgh
Closing date for applications: 05 January 2023
Description:
The aim of this studentship is to couple changes in winter wheat physiological development with multi-spectral imaging to support a new generation of crop management tools and technologies for use on farm and in crop improvement. This will be achieved by integrating ground-based physiological measurements with multi-spectral imaging data in wheat grown in at different scales, including plots and whole fields.
SRUC is at the leading edge in applying spectral sensing in agriculture, including prediction of livestock and crop traits. Combined advanced technologies in multi-spectral imaging supported by process modelling have been used by SRUC to create phenotype signatures that indicate health and performance in animals and to predict yield in crops. This studentship will gather high quality and high-volume growth, developmental and physiological signatures for wheat using ground-based and unmanned aerial systems (UASs) to inform on crop health and nutrient status at key growth phases towards prediction of crop yield and quality.
The student’s experimental programme will consider how spectral imaging can be used to monitor physiological change at key crop growth phases, including yield creation and grain filling and ripening, as influenced by cultivar and crop growing conditions. Phenotype signatures will be determined by variation in leaf canopy textural and physical properties among wheat genotypes as they change in leaf area, leaf health, nitrogen content and leaf canopy temperature. Measurements will also include precise monitoring of crop moisture content during grain filling and ripening to improve estimates of crop maturity as harvest approaches.
The project will consider the role of these imaging technologies in crop genetic improvement by utilising wheat resources such as a diverse MAGIC wheat population, and a breadth of wheat cultivars, to link phenotypic expression in physiological change with existing trait and marker data. This will allow imaging technology to be coupled with quantitative analysis of crop physiological traits, as well as yield, with application to crop breeding and variety testing.
Application Process:
Download:
Complete:
- Equal opportunities Survey Please note the completion reference
- Send the Application including your Equal opportunities reference with your Degree Academic Transcripts and Certificates to - pg.research@sruc.ac.uk quoting reference SRUC/SH.
- Send the Academic Reference form to 2 academic/professional referees requesting they submit by the deadline date to pg.research@sruc.ac.uk.
For additional information or discuss the project please contact steve.hoad@sruc.ac.uk.
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This 3.5 year PhD studentship is open to UK and international students, providing funding to cover UKRI level stipend and UK level tuition fees.
The project will be supervised by: Dr Scott Lawton, Dr Toby Landeryou & Dr Sarah Marley, Prof Neil Matt Berriman (Glasgow University)
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 3.5 years, full time
Salary: £17668 per annum
Location: Inverness
Closing date for applications: 05 January 2023
Description:
Disentangling mechanisms of parasitism in large predator definitive hosts is crucial in understanding the transmission of parasites in marine environments especially, to assess the full influence parasites may have more broadly within the marine ecosystem.
The trematodes (flukes) within the family Brachycladiidae are known to have considerable impact on their fish intermediate hosts and known to cause significant pathology on their definitive hosts particularly baleen whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Interestingly, there have been increased reports of the fatal infection loads of such parasite infections in stranded marine mammals from the UK and Europe causing concerns over a suspected increase in infection rate potentially associated with human activity restricting feeding grounds for these animals as well as warming seas which increase cercarial out puts from marine snails because of climate change.
This is particularly true for Campula oblonga one of the most common and ubiquitous trematodes of marine mammals in the Northern Hemisphere. However, to date there have been no studies that have attempted to disentangle the adaptations of C. oblonga, or any other member of the Brachycladiidae, with no understanding of the genetic basis of the mechanisms employed by the parasites to take advantage of their host.
The application of genomic and molecular genetic approaches has provided a significant insight into other flukes such as those within the genera Schistosoma and Fasciola. An understanding genetic adaptation in C. oblonga would reveal how such parasites interact with their hosts in marine environments and provide a wider perspective of how trematodes have evolved to take advantage of multiple hosts in a wide range of environments.
This project will focus on archived populations of adult C. oblonga collected from stranded harbour porpoise carcasses from the coastline of the Netherlands and using both genomic and molecular genetic approaches the following questions will be addressed
- Does oblonga share similar genes to other trematodes in order to interact with its definitive host or does it have unique gene families which may be specific to parasitising cetaceans?
- Are there particular antigen protein coding genes or gene families in oblonga?
- What is the genetic variation of oblonga between hosts and is this reflected in the antigen protein coding genes?
The successful candidate will receive training in molecular evolutionary biology, genomics, bioinformatics, in silico antigen identification, parasitology, and there may be the opportunity for field work with collaborators overseas.
Application Process:
Download:
Complete:
- Equal opportunities Survey Please note the completion reference
- Send the Application including your Equal opportunities reference with your Degree Academic Transcripts and Certificates to - pg.research@sruc.ac.uk quoting reference SRUC/SL.
- Send the Academic Reference form to 2 academic/professional referees requesting they submit by the deadline date to pg.research@sruc.ac.uk.
For additional information or discuss the project please contact scott.lawton@sruc.ac.uk.
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This 3.5 year PhD studentship is open to UK and international students, providing funding to cover UKRI level stipend and UK level tuition fees.
The project will be supervised by: Dr Sarah Marley, Dr Nick Littlewood, Dr Hannah Grist & Prof Alex Ford (Portsmouth University)
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 3.5 years, full time
Salary: £17668 per annum
Location: Aberdeen
Closing date for applications: 05 January 2023
Description:
Grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) have shown an increasing population trend across the UK since the 1960s, leading to growing overlap between seal occurrence and human activities. In the UK, long-term monitoring of seals is important for meeting various conservation legislation and management requirements. However, in a more applied sense, monitoring is also important for the mitigation of mounting anthropogenic threats in the form of fisheries bycatch, vessel traffic, marine pollution, renewable energy, and tourism activities. Understanding seal abundance, behaviour, and habitat-use at a national, regional, and local level is necessary to support effective management and conservation at a range of scales.
The Ythan Estuary in Aberdeenshire is home to a recently-established grey seal haul-out. Believed to be the fastest-growing seal haul-out in mainland Scotland, over 5,000 animals have been counted at this site, representing ~26% of grey seals in the East Coast of Scotland Seal Management Area.
However, this site is also growing in popularity with tourists. Since the appearance of the seal-watching point in 2008, this area has become a hotspot for nature-based recreational activities, with over 63,000 visitors in 2020 alone. Concerns are frequently raised about the potential for seals to be disturbed by visitors and past incidents have resulted in hundreds of seals stampeding into the water. Such events have received considerable public interest and news coverage.
In 2017, the Scottish Government designated the Ythan Estuary as a seal haul-out site to provide additional protection for the seals from harassment. Other management interventions have tried to mitigate disturbance (e.g. fencing, signage), with varying levels of success. Discussions are currently underway about creating additional viewing platforms and a visitor centre to help with public education and visitor management.
Yet, despite growing seal numbers at this site and on-going concerns over the impact of human disturbance, relatively little is known about the Ythan Estuary seals. There is a need to better understand how both seals and people are using this site to inform effective management.
This project aims to examine the sustainability of seal tourism in the Ythan Estuary. This will be achieved by: (i) determining seal haul-out patterns and environmental drivers, (ii) quantifying disturbance events, (iii) investigating the socio-economics of current and future seal tourism, and (iv) exploring potential mitigation scenarios for reducing seal disturbance.
Prospective students should have relevant fieldwork experience, strong data analysis skills, and be able to liaise confidently and sensitively with rural stakeholders.
Application Process:
Download:
Complete:
- Equal opportunities Survey Please note the completion reference
- Send the Application including your Equal opportunities reference with your Degree Academic Transcripts and Certificates to - pg.research@sruc.ac.uk quoting reference SRUC/SM.
- Send the Academic Reference form to 2 academic/professional referees requesting they submit by the deadline date to pg.research@sruc.ac.uk.
For additional information or discuss the project please contact sarah.marley@sruc.ac.uk.
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This 3.5 year PhD studentship is open to UK and international students, providing funding to cover UKRI level stipend and UK level tuition fees.
The project will be supervised by: Dr Simon Turner, Dr Kenny Rutherford & Dr Bernadette Earley (Teagasc) & Prof Alastair Macrae (Edinburgh University)
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 3.5 years, full time
Salary: £17668 per annum
Location: Edinburgh
Closing date for applications: 05 January 2023
Description:
Around 6% of beef calves die early in life. Calf morbidity and mortality represent significant welfare, economic, environmental and reputational costs. Calving difficulty and poor calf vigour are key determinants of a failure-to-thrive. Both of these could be affected by the mother’s body condition (fat reserves) during gestation and at birth. This project aims to understand the effect of poor body condition on cow hunger, calving ease and calf vigour. It will also test a method to predict which cows will lose too much condition and a method to prevent the worst effects of poor condition.
It is currently recommended that spring calving beef cows lose body condition during pregnancy to minimise winter feed costs, but 30% of cows lose more condition than recommended. SRUC data from 40 UK farms showed that cow body condition affects the size of the calf at birth and its subsequent growth, suggesting that condition may affect calf vigour. Economic analysis shows that the financial benefits of mitigating poor body condition outweigh the associated feed costs. The project will survey Scottish and Irish farmer uptake of condition scoring (Objective 1). It will quantify the biological effects of absolute body condition, or changes in condition over time, on cow hunger (feeding motivation) (Objective 2) and subsequent calving ease and calf vigour (Objective 3). It will also test the efficacy of predicting condition loss using easily implemented measures of temperament previously linked to growth (Objective 4). Lastly, reactive treatment of calves with poor vigour occurs too late to prevent impacts on immunity and development. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) administered following calving can improve cow welfare and calf weight gain in early life. Objective 5 will test the effectiveness of targeting NSAIDs towards cows (and/or calves) whose condition profile puts their calf at risk of poor vigour.
The project will provide basic biological understanding of the effects of inappropriate body condition and better prediction and treatment of these effects to improve animal welfare, production efficiency and the large climate impact of beef production. The studentship is a collaboration between SRUC, the University of Edinburgh and Teagasc in the Republic of Ireland. The project will be based at SRUC near Edinburgh and include short periods of data collection in Ireland. The student will gain first-hand experience of two farm-based and academic teams. They will be mentored in engaging with industry and will play an active part in knowledge exchange.
Application Process:
Download:
Complete:
- Equal opportunities Survey Please note the completion reference
- Send the Application including your Equal opportunities reference with your Degree Academic Transcripts and Certificates to - pg.research@sruc.ac.uk quoting reference SRUC/ST.
- Send the Academic Reference form to 2 academic/professional referees requesting they submit by the deadline date to pg.research@sruc.ac.uk.
For additional information or discuss the project please contact simon.turner@sruc.ac.uk.
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This 3.5 year PhD studentship is open to UK and international students, providing funding to cover UKRI level stipend and UK level tuition fees.
The project will be supervised by: Dr Vijai K Gupta, Prof Vijay Thakur & Dr Diego A Oyarzun (Edinburgh University)
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 3.5 years, full time
Salary: £17668 per annum
Location: Dumfries
Closing date for applications: 05 January 2023
Description:
Bifidobacteria are one of the most important probiotics and have a wide range of hydrolase activities. This study has been planned to focus on the glycosyltransferase activities (α-glucosidase, β-glucosidase, α-galactosidase, β-galactosidase, β-fructosidase) of crude enzyme preparation from bifidobacteria.
Both monosubstrates and bisubstrates systems together with TLC and HPLC techniques, will be applied. Additionally, its transglycosylation activities will be analysed on lactose, lactulose, maltose and sucrose substrates to characterise the two or three types of generated oligosaccharides. It is expected that both glucooligosaccharides and galactooligosaccharides will be detected in the reaction mixtures leading to galactosyltransferation.
Newly synthesized oligosaccharides will then utilized by probiotic bifidobacteria only. The proposed work will apply novel low-cost production technologies to produce prebiotic oligosaccharides efficiently. In conclusion, glycosyltransferase activities the crude enzyme from probiotic Bifidobacterium strains results new types of oligosaccharides with high prebiotic potentials. This work will have both UK and International impacts.
Application Process:
Download:
Complete:
- Equal opportunities Survey Please note the completion reference
- Send the Application including your Equal opportunities reference with your Degree Academic Transcripts and Certificates to - pg.research@sruc.ac.uk quoting reference SRUC/VG.
- Send the Academic Reference form to 2 academic/professional referees requesting they submit by the deadline date to pg.research@sruc.ac.uk.
For additional information or discuss the project please contact Vijai.gupta@sruc.ac.uk.
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This 3.5 year PhD studentship is open to UK and international students, providing funding to cover UKRI level stipend and UK level tuition fees.
The project will be supervised by: Prof Vijay Thakur, Dr Vijai K Gupta & Dr D Roy (Edinburgh University).
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 3.5 years, full time
Salary: £17668 per annum
Location: Dumfries
Closing date for applications: 05 January 2023
Description:
The technology-based on synthetic plastics has played a vital role in various applications in numerous industries, including packaging to automotive. The use of plastics in the modern world has been increasing rapidly due to the relative ease of production and specific set of properties of polymers employed in producing these materials compared to traditional metallic and ceramics-based materials.
However, some critical disadvantages of these materials regarding human and environmental ecology, including being unsafe to handle and posing health risks when inhaled, non-biodegradability, corrosiveness, and non-recyclable, have raised several apprehensions in the community. In recent years, the use of renewable biomass as raw material to produce fuels and chemicals to displace fossil resources has been the focus of many research activities.
These activities have been motivated by the possibility of positive contributions to a sustainable resource supply, enhanced national security, and macroeconomic benefits for rural communities and society all around the globe.
Undoubtedly, there is an urgent need to develop new sustainable materials from biorenewable resources. Essentially all materials used in the production of synthetic plastics are derived from the petroleum-based feedstock. Additionally, a few synthetic materials contain some biobased components in actual industrial applications.
Indeed, we are faced today with unique opportunities to further the effective and efficient use of biorenewable resources like agricultural biomass waste (e.g. hemp fibres). The increased usage of synthetic polymers and related appliances at home and in industries has raised significant concern for a sustainable environment.
Little attention has been directed towards utilising bio-renewable resources like agricultural biomass waste (e.g. hemp/flax; sugar cane/ beet) combined with bio-derived carbon nanomaterial for value-added materials and their industrial applications.
Adding value to waste biomass production from biorenewable resources and finding sustainable alternative sources for existing petroleum-based products will have a substantial and long-term impact on the economy, the environment and energy independence and security of the Scotland and UK.
This research explores the transformation of agricultural biomass sourced waste materials into value-added nanoproducts, taking full advantage of the incredible structural richness and diversity of the agricultural materials for packaging and automotive, to name a few.
This research will result in breakthrough step-changes in the effective utilisation of biorenewable resources leading to sustainable materials with new and improved properties, lower cost, more environmentally friendly, and thus more acceptable to consumer markets. It will also generate advanced technologies enabling new market opportunities for biorenewable resources while reducing the environmental footprint relative to synthetic materials from petroleum feedstock.
Application Process:
Download:
Complete:
- Equal opportunities Survey Please note the completion reference.
- Send the Application including your Equal opportunities reference with your Degree Academic Transcripts and Certificates to - pg.research@sruc.ac.uk quoting reference SRUC/VT.
- Send the Academic Reference form to 2 academic/professional referees requesting they submit by the deadline date to pg.research@sruc.ac.uk.
For additional information or discuss the project please contact Vijai.thakur@sruc.ac.uk.
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This 4 year PhD studentship is open to UK and international students, providing funding to cover UKRI level stipend and UK level tuition fees.
The project will be supervised by: Dr B Li, Prof G Banos, Prof M Coffey
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 4 years, full time
Salary: £17,668 per annum
Location: Edinburgh
Closing date for applications: 05 December 2022
Description: Please see full description and how to apply here:
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This 4 year PhD studentship is open to UK and international students, providing funding to cover UKRI level stipend and UK level tuition fees.
The project will be supervised by: Dr A Boerlage, Dr S Lawton, Dr S Monaghan (Stirling University), Prof J Bron (Stirling University)
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 4 years, full time
Salary: £17,668 per annum
Location: Aberdeen
Closing date for applications: 05 December 2022
Description: Please see full description and how to apply here:
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This 4 year PhD studentship is open to UK and international students, providing funding to cover UKRI level stipend and UK level tuition fees.
The project will be supervised by Prof B Rees, Dr S Jones, Prof L Baggs (Edinburgh University)
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 4 years, full time
Salary: £17,668 per annum
Location: Edinburgh
Closing date for applications: 05 December 2022
Description: Please see full description and how to apply here:
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This 4 year PhD studentship is open to UK and international students, providing funding to cover UKRI level stipend and UK level tuition fees.
The project will be supervised by: Prof G Banos & Dr Bingjie Li & Dr Enrique Sanchez-Molano (Edinburgh University)& Prof J Newbold.
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 4 years, full time
Salary: £17,668 per annum
Location: Edinburgh
Closing date for applications: 05 December 2022
Description: Please see full description and how to apply here:
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This 4 year PhD studentship is open to UK and international students, providing funding to cover UKRI level stipend and UK level tuition fees.
The project will be supervised by: Dr I Dawson, Dr G Gorjanc (Edinburgh University), Dr R Sharma, Dr C Yang.
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 4 years, full time
Salary: £17,668 per annum
Location: Edinburgh
Closing date for applications: 05 December 2022
Description: Please see full description and how to apply here:
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This 4 year PhD studentship is open to UK and international students, providing funding to cover UKRI level stipend and UK level tuition fees.
The project will be supervised by: Prof I Mackay, Prof P Doerner (Edinburgh university), Dr R Sharma, Dr C Yang.
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 4 years, full time
Salary: £17,668 per annum
Location: Edinburgh
Closing date for applications: 05 December 2022
Description: Please see full description and how to apply here:
-
This 4 year PhD studentship is open to UK and international students, providing funding to cover UKRI level stipend and UK level tuition fees.
The project will be supervised by: Dr J Eze, Dr S Lawton, Dr C S Jones (Aberdeen University), Dr P Skuce (Moredun), Dr S Tongue.
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 4 years, full time
Salary: £17,668 per annum
Location: Aberdeen
Closing date for applications: 05 December 2022
Description: Please see full description and how to apply here:
-
This 4 year PhD studentship is open to UK and international students, providing funding to cover UKRI level stipend and UK level tuition fees.
The project will be supervised by: Dr J Nale, Dr M Moseley (Aberdeen University), Dr N Holden, Dr G Foster
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 4 years, full time
Salary: £17,668 per annum
Location: Aberdeen
Closing date for applications: 05 December 2022
Description: Please see full description and how to apply here:
-
This 4 year PhD studentship is open to UK and international students, providing funding to cover UKRI level stipend and UK level tuition fees.
The project will be supervised by Dr K Topp, Prof J Smith (Aberdeen University), Prof C Watson, Dr F Fraser
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 4 years, full time
Salary: £17,668 per annum
Location: Edinburgh
Closing date for applications: 05 December 2022
Description: Please see full description and how to apply here:
-
This 4 year PhD studentship is open to UK and international students, providing funding to cover UKRI level stipend and UK level tuition fees.
The project will be supervised by: Prof M Coffey, Prof R Mrode
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 4 years, full time
Salary: £17,668 per annum
Location: Edinburgh
Closing date for applications: 05 December 2022
Description: Please see full description and how to apply here:
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This 4 year PhD studentship is open to UK and international students, providing funding to cover UKRI level stipend and UK level tuition fees.
The project will be supervised by: Prof M Hutchings, Dr N Fox, Dr D Bartley (Moredun Research Institute), Mr G Marion, Dr J Hillier (Edinburgh University)
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 4 years, full time
Salary: £17,668 per annum
Location: Edinburgh
Closing date for applications: 05 December 2022
Description: Please see full description and how to apply here:
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This 4 year PhD studentship is open to UK and international students, providing funding to cover UKRI level stipend and UK level tuition fees.
The project will be supervised by: Dr N Holden, Dr M Baldassarre (Aberdeen University), Dr Rob Graham.
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 4 years, full time
Salary: £17,668 per annum
Location: Aberdeen
Closing date for applications: 05 December 2022
Description: Please see full description and how to apply here:
-
This 4 year PhD studentship is open to UK and international students, providing funding to cover UKRI level stipend and UK level tuition fees.
The project will be supervised by: Dr Richard Armitage, Dr Sarah Woodin (Aberdeen University), Prof Alison Hester (James Hutton) & Prof Christine Watson
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 4 years, full time
Salary: £17,668 per annum
Location: North Faculty Aberdeen
Closing date for applications: 05 December 2022
Description: Please see full description and How to apply here:
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This 4 year PhD studentship is open to UK and international students, providing funding to cover UKRI level stipend and UK level tuition fees.
The project will be supervised by: Dr R Bergero & Dr G Norton (Aberdeen University)
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 4 years, full time
Salary: £17,668 per annum
Location: Edinburgh
Closing date for applications: 05 December 2022
Description: Please see full description and how to apply here:
-
This 4 year PhD studentship is open to UK and international students, providing funding to cover UKRI level stipend and UK level tuition fees.
The project will be supervised by: Dr R Davidson, Mr G Marion (BioSS), Dr A Corbishley (Edinburgh University), Prof M Hutchings.
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 4 years, full time
Salary: £17,668 per annum
Location: Edinburgh
Closing date for applications: 05 December 2022
Description: Please see full description and how to apply here:
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This 4 year PhD studentship is open to UK and international students, providing funding to cover UKRI level stipend and UK level tuition fees.
The project will be supervised by: Dr R Graham, Dr Elisa Fuentes-Montemayor, Dr N Littlewood.
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 4 years, full time
Salary: £17,668 per annum
Location: Aberdeen
Closing date for applications: 05 December 2022
Description: Please see full description and how to apply here:
-
This 4 year PhD studentship is open to UK and international students, providing funding to cover UKRI level stipend and UK level tuition fees.
The project will be supervised by Dr R Sharma, Dr M Neacsu (Aberdeen University), Dr C Yang, Dr R Walker.
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 4 years, full time
Salary: £17,668 per annum
Location: Edinburgh
Closing date for applications: 05 December 2022
Description: Please see full description and how to apply here:
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This 4 year PhD studentship is open to UK and international students, providing funding to cover UKRI level stipend and UK level tuition fees.
The project will be supervised by Dr R Walker, Dr M Neacsu (Aberdeen University), Prof W Powell, Dr C Yang
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 4 years, full time
Salary: £17,668 per annum
Location: Aberdeen
Closing date for applications: 05 December 2022
Description: Please see full description and how to apply here:
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This 4 year PhD studentship is open to UK and international students, providing funding to cover UKRI level stipend and UK level tuition fees.
The project will be supervised by: Dr S Athanasiadou, Dr N.J. Westwood (St Andrews University) & Dr C Mayer (BioSS).
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 4 years, full time
Salary: £17,668 per annum
Location: Edinburgh
Closing date for applications: 05 December 2022
Description: Please see full description and how to apply here:
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This 4 year PhD studentship is open to UK and international students, providing funding to cover UKRI level stipend and UK level tuition fees.
The project will be supervised by: Dr S Buckingham, Prof B Rees, Dr P Alexander (Edinburgh University).
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 4 years, full time
Salary: £17,668 per annum
Location: Edinburgh
Closing date for applications: 05 December 2022
Description: Please see full description and how to apply here:
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This 4 year PhD studentship is open to UK and international students, providing funding to cover UKRI level stipend and UK level tuition fees.
The project will be supervised by Dr S Hoad, Prof M Coffey, Dr A Richardson (Edinburgh University), Dr A Hamilton.
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 4 years, full time
Salary: £17,668 per annum
Location: Edinburgh
Closing date for applications: 05 December 2022
Description: Please see full description and how to apply here:
-
This 4 year PhD studentship is open to UK and international students, providing funding to cover UKRI level stipend and UK level tuition fees.
The project will be supervised by: Dr S Lawton, Dr C S Jones, Prof N Foster, Dr P Skuce, Dr T Landeryou.
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 4 years, full time
Salary: £17,668 per annum
Location: Inverness
Closing date for applications: 05 December 2022
Description: Please see full description and how to apply here:
-
This 4 year PhD studentship is open to UK and international students, providing funding to cover UKRI level stipend and UK level tuition fees.
The project will be supervised by: Dr V Eory, Dr P Alexander (Edinburgh University)
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 4 years, full time
Salary: £17,668 per annum
Location: Edinburgh
Closing date for applications: 05 December 2022
Description: Please see full description and how to apply here:
-
This 4 year PhD studentship is open to UK and international students, providing funding to cover UKRI level stipend and UK level tuition fees.
The project will be supervised by: Dr V Gupta, Prof V Thakur, Prof L Horsfall (Edinburgh University).
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 4 years, full time
Salary: £17,668 per annum
Location: Dumfries
Closing date for applications: 05 December 2022
Description: Please see full description and how to apply here:
-
This 4 year PhD studentship is open to UK and international students, providing funding to cover UKRI level stipend and UK level tuition fees.
The project will be supervised by Prof V Thakur, Dr V Gupta, Dr D Roy (Edinburgh University).
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 4 years, full time
Salary: £17,668 per annum
Location: Dumfries
Closing date for applications: 05 December 2022
Description: Please see full description and how to apply here:
-
This 4 year PhD studentship is open to UK and international students, providing funding to cover UKRI level stipend and UK level tuition fees.
The project will be supervised by: Prof W Powell, Prof K Halliday(Edinburgh University), Dr R Sharma, Dr C Yang.
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 4 years, full time
Salary: £17,668 per annum
Location: Edinburgh
Closing date for applications: 05 December 2022
Description: Please see full description and how to apply here:
-
This 4 year PhD studentship is open to UK and international students, providing funding to cover UKRI level stipend and UK level tuition fees.
The project will be supervised by: Dr Neil Havis, Prof Gary Loake (Edinburgh University), Dr Luis Novo, Dr Nicola Holden.
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 4 years, full time
Salary: £17,668 per annum
Location: Edinburgh
Closing date for applications: 05 December 2022
Description: Please see full description and how to apply here:
-
This 4 year PhD studentship is open to UK and international students, providing funding to cover UKRI level stipend and UK level tuition fees.
The project will be supervised by: Prof Rainer Roehe, Dr Gregor Gorjanc (Edinburgh University), Prof Richard Dewhurst, Dr Matthew Cleveland (Genus plc).
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 4 years, full time
Salary: £17,668 per annum
Location: Edinburgh
Closing date for applications: 05 December 2022
Description: Please see full description and how to apply here:
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The project will be supervised by Dr L Novo, Prof M Graham (Edinburgh University), Prof M Heal (Edinburgh University), Dr J Carfrae.
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 4 years, full time
Salary: £17,668 per annum
Location: Edinburgh
Closing date for applications: 05 January 2023
Description: Please see full description and how to apply here:
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The project will be supervised by Dr L Toma, Dr P Alexander (Edinburgh University), Dr Raluca Bunduchi (Edinburgh University)
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 4 years, full time
Salary: £17,668 per annum
Location: Edinburgh
Closing date for applications: 05 January 2023
Description: Please see full description and how to apply here:
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The project will be supervised by Dr J Van-Munster, Dr M Wear (Edinburgh University), Dr L Glendinning (Edinburgh University)
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 4 years, full time
Salary: £17,668 per annum
Location: Edinburgh
Closing date for applications: 05 January 2023
Description: Please see full description and how to apply here:
-
The project will be supervised by Dr V Eory, Dr P Alexander (Edinburgh University
Start date is 1 October 2023.
Duration: 4 years, full time
Salary: £17,668 per annum
Location: Edinburgh
Closing date for applications: 05 January 2023
Description: Please see full description and how to apply here:
How it works
We offer excellent opportunities for research leading to a higher degree, usually Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) at SRUC. Our research students are registered with a partner university (the Awarding Institution), which oversees the progression and examination processes and awards the final degree. Students have a university supervisor from the Awarding Institution, as well as supervisors based with SRUC. If there are other academic or industry partners involved in the research programme, there may be one or more additional supervisors from these too.
Completing a research degree programme successfully requires scientific and technical knowledge, project planning, time and resource management. You will also need good communication skills, critical thinking and analysis. We work with you to create a plan, based on a detailed analysis of training needs, that is updated regularly throughout the programme of study.
Research students are encouraged to participate fully in the academic life at SRUC and, whenever possible, of their Awarding Institution. Studying will forge connections and experiences that will be of benefit whether you continue to work in an academic or industrial research environment or elsewhere.
The Doctoral College
The Doctoral College is responsible for the administration, development and support of our postgraduate research programme. It provides guidance for PGR students on all aspects of the research journey, from application to completion.
As well as being the first point of contact for PGR students, The Doctoral College helps our postgraduate research community forge connections with networks of peers, academics and professional services. We strongly believe in promoting inter-disciplinary and entrepreneurial thinking, and this reflects the collaborative ethos across SRUC and our partners.
In more practical terms, the Doctoral College can fund support for research student skills development through the Small Grant Competition. Students can apply for funds to support research-relevant activities or to buy small items of equipment.
The Doctoral College also organises the annual Postgraduate Research Conference. This provides an opportunity for research postgraduates to present various stages of their work publicly and to engage with those from other centres who may be carrying out a project in a similar, or a more diverse, subject area.
To contact the Doctoral College please email pg.research@sruc.ac.uk.
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You can access our research outputs, learn more about our research team, see our current and past research projects and much more on SRUC Pure.
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