crop science PhD Projects, Programs & Scholarships

PhD Research Projects are advertised opportunities to examine a pre-defined topic or answer a stated research question. Some projects may also provide scope for you to propose your own ideas and approaches.

This project does not have funding attached. You will need to have your own means of paying fees and living costs and / or seek separate funding from student finance, charities or trusts.

Achieving food security is one of the most important global challenges. Crop production and yield has been increasingly threatened by plant pathogens in a rapidly changing environment.

Developing a sustainable management system for the diamondback moth, a globally important crop pest

University of Warwick
School of Life Sciences

Dr D Chandler, Dr G Teakle

Application Deadline: 7 June 2020

Funding Type

PhD Type

Competition Funded PhD Project (European/UK Students Only)

PhD Research Projects are advertised opportunities to examine a pre-defined topic or answer a stated research question. Some projects may also provide scope for you to propose your own ideas and approaches.

This project is in competition for funding with other projects. Usually the project which receives the best applicant will be successful. Unsuccessful projects may still go ahead as self-funded opportunities.

The diamondback moth (DBM) Plutella xylostella is a brassica-feeding specialist and one of the most important pests worldwide, causing US$5 billion crop losses globally p.a.

Design of Experiments for Network Science

Brunel University London
Mathematics

Dr B Parker

Applications accepted all year round

Funding Type

PhD Type

PhD Research Projects are advertised opportunities to examine a pre-defined topic or answer a stated research question. Some projects may also provide scope for you to propose your own ideas and approaches.

This project does not have funding attached. You will need to have your own means of paying fees and living costs and / or seek separate funding from student finance, charities or trusts.

Design of Experiments (DOE) is a research area within statistics that allows scientists to maximise the amount of information derived from an experiment.

PhD in Plants and Microbes: crop production and protection, the interaction between plants and other plants, pests and pathogens, and soils, and the interactions of ecosystems with global change

University of Sheffield
Department of Animal and Plant Sciences

Dr C Voigt

Applications accepted all year round

Funding Type

PhD Type

PhD Research Projects are advertised opportunities to examine a pre-defined topic or answer a stated research question. Some projects may also provide scope for you to propose your own ideas and approaches.

This project does not have funding attached. You will need to have your own means of paying fees and living costs and / or seek separate funding from student finance, charities or trusts.

Plants underpin life on Earth. In Sheffield, world leading plant research is undertaken across all scales from the molecular level through to the leaf and root, whole plant and ecosystem.

Plant and crop fertility: the evolution and impact of gene control networks

University of Leicester
Department of Genetics and Genome Biology

Research Group: Midlands Integrative Biosciences Training Partnership (MIBTP)

Prof D Twell, Dr R Badge

Application Deadline: 7 June 2020

Funding Type

PhD Type

Competition Funded PhD Project (European/UK Students Only)

PhD Research Projects are advertised opportunities to examine a pre-defined topic or answer a stated research question. Some projects may also provide scope for you to propose your own ideas and approaches.

This project is in competition for funding with other projects. Usually the project which receives the best applicant will be successful. Unsuccessful projects may still go ahead as self-funded opportunities.

Plant fertility is vitally dependent upon sexual reproduction and the differentiation of the male (sperm) and female (egg) gametes.

Rebuilding soil quality and crop performance in arable farming by herbal leys

University of Sheffield
Department of Animal and Plant Sciences

Prof J Leake

Applications accepted all year round

Funding Type

PhD Type

PhD Research Projects are advertised opportunities to examine a pre-defined topic or answer a stated research question. Some projects may also provide scope for you to propose your own ideas and approaches.

This project does not have funding attached. You will need to have your own means of paying fees and living costs and / or seek separate funding from student finance, charities or trusts.

Intensively cultivated arable soils that have been used to grow annual crops for decades often suffer from low organic matter content and weak structure.

The Soil Microbiome in Legume Rotations

University of Cambridge
Department of Plant Sciences

Dr T Wood, Dr Nik Cunniffe

Application Deadline: 31 May 2020

Funding Type

PhD Type

Funded PhD Project (European/UK Students Only)

PhD Research Projects are advertised opportunities to examine a pre-defined topic or answer a stated research question. Some projects may also provide scope for you to propose your own ideas and approaches.

This project has funding attached for UK and EU students, though the amount may depend on your nationality. Non-EU students may still be able to apply for the project provided they can find separate funding. You should check the project and department details for more information.

NIAB invites applications for a four year PhD studentship sponsored by The Morley Agricultural Foundation (TMAF) in the Department of Plant Pathology at NIAB, Cambridge, in collaboration with the department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge.

Characterising Clostridium difficile defence strategies against bacteriophages

University of Leicester
Department of Genetics and Genome Biology

Prof M Clokie, Dr A Millard

Application Deadline: 7 June 2020

Funding Type

PhD Type

Competition Funded PhD Project (European/UK Students Only)

PhD Research Projects are advertised opportunities to examine a pre-defined topic or answer a stated research question. Some projects may also provide scope for you to propose your own ideas and approaches.

This project is in competition for funding with other projects. Usually the project which receives the best applicant will be successful. Unsuccessful projects may still go ahead as self-funded opportunities.

Background. Healthcare associated infections are a major problem for patients and a global health challenge.

Structural and functional analysis of the meiotic synaptonemal complex

University of Leicester
Department of Genetics and Genome Biology

Research Group: Midlands Integrative Biosciences Training Partnership (MIBTP)

Dr J Higgins, Prof E Louis

Application Deadline: 7 June 2020

Funding Type

PhD Type

Competition Funded PhD Project (European/UK Students Only)

PhD Research Projects are advertised opportunities to examine a pre-defined topic or answer a stated research question. Some projects may also provide scope for you to propose your own ideas and approaches.

This project is in competition for funding with other projects. Usually the project which receives the best applicant will be successful. Unsuccessful projects may still go ahead as self-funded opportunities.

Meiotic recombination generates novel allelic combinations and is required for normal fertility in sexually reproducing organisms.

Disease phenomics - quantifying the development of disease symptoms in infected plants

University of Sheffield
Department of Animal and Plant Sciences

Dr S A Rolfe

Applications accepted all year round

Funding Type

PhD Type

PhD Research Projects are advertised opportunities to examine a pre-defined topic or answer a stated research question. Some projects may also provide scope for you to propose your own ideas and approaches.

This project does not have funding attached. You will need to have your own means of paying fees and living costs and / or seek separate funding from student finance, charities or trusts.

Biology is undergoing a revolution as ‘omic technologies allow us to make hundreds or thousands of measurements on large populations of plants.

How does clubroot obtain nutrients from its living plant host?

University of Sheffield
Department of Animal and Plant Sciences

Dr S A Rolfe

Applications accepted all year round

Funding Type

PhD Type

PhD Research Projects are advertised opportunities to examine a pre-defined topic or answer a stated research question. Some projects may also provide scope for you to propose your own ideas and approaches.

This project does not have funding attached. You will need to have your own means of paying fees and living costs and / or seek separate funding from student finance, charities or trusts.

Clubroot is an important pathogen of Brassica crops. The disease is found throughout the world and causes severe economic losses.

Finding the right fungal friends: determining how plant defences against against insect herbivores are impacted by different mycorrhizal fungal communities.

University of Southern Queensland
School of Sciences

Dr A Frew

Applications accepted all year round

Funding Type

PhD Type

Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)

PhD Research Projects are advertised opportunities to examine a pre-defined topic or answer a stated research question. Some projects may also provide scope for you to propose your own ideas and approaches.

This project is in competition for funding with other projects. Usually the project which receives the best applicant will be successful. Unsuccessful projects may still go ahead as self-funded opportunities. Applications for the project are welcome from all suitably qualified candidates, but potential funding may be restricted to a limited set of nationalities. You should check the project and department details for more information.

Background. Almost all plants on the planet are attacked by at least one, if not many, insect herbivores. Many of these insects have become pests of crops and they impact crop productivity.

Strategies for Increasing Crop Stress Tolerance

The University of Manchester
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences

Research Group: Ecology and Evolution

Dr G Johnson

Applications accepted all year round

Funding Type

PhD Type

PhD Research Projects are advertised opportunities to examine a pre-defined topic or answer a stated research question. Some projects may also provide scope for you to propose your own ideas and approaches.

This project does not have funding attached. You will need to have your own means of paying fees and living costs and / or seek separate funding from student finance, charities or trusts.

Humanity is facing a growing food crisis – the “perfect storm” of growing world populations and changing climates mean we urgently need to increase crop productivity, including by increasing environmental stress tolerance.

University of Leicester
Department of Genetics and Genome Biology

Bacteriophages

Dr A Millard, Prof M Clokie

Application Deadline: 7 June 2020

Funding Type

PhD Type

Competition Funded PhD Project (European/UK Students Only)

PhD Research Projects are advertised opportunities to examine a pre-defined topic or answer a stated research question. Some projects may also provide scope for you to propose your own ideas and approaches.

This project is in competition for funding with other projects. Usually the project which receives the best applicant will be successful. Unsuccessful projects may still go ahead as self-funded opportunities.

Bacteriophages are the most abundant entity on the planet and are known to drive the evolution of their bacterial hosts. Bacteriophages are known to convert harmless bacteria into pathogens by a process known as phage conversion.

Cancer evolution: Genomics of the asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma

University of Leicester
Department of Genetics and Genome Biology

Dr E Hollox

Applications accepted all year round

Funding Type

PhD Type

PhD Research Projects are advertised opportunities to examine a pre-defined topic or answer a stated research question. Some projects may also provide scope for you to propose your own ideas and approaches.

This project does not have funding attached. You will need to have your own means of paying fees and living costs and / or seek separate funding from student finance, charities or trusts.

Cancer genome sequences show that cancer is a highly heterogeneous disease, with each patient having a unique mutational profile.