invasive species 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.

Environmental change threatens biodiversity, altering ecosystem processes and provision of ecosystem services. These environmental change pressures are accelerating due to growing human populations and accompanying climate change, land use, pollution and invasive species.

Biology of the invasive Chinese mitten crab in the river Thames

Royal Holloway, University of London
School of Biological Sciences

Prof D Morritt

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.

The Chinese mitten crab, Eriocheir sinensis, is an invasive brachyuran crab species (one of the top 100 most invasive species) that is now well established in the River Thames and tributaries.

Understanding extinction risk in the Anthropocene

University of Reading
School of Biological Sciences

Dr M Gonzalez-Suarez

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.

We live in a humanized world in which even the most remote areas have been affected by the actions of our species. Human impacts have caused a widespread loss of biodiversity, to the point that we have likely entered the sixth mass extinction event on Earth, the first primarily caused by humans.

PhD in Food Web Networks and Environmental Change: Exploring how natural and anthropogenic stress influence the structure and dynamics of communities.

University of Sheffield
Department of Animal and Plant Sciences

Prof A Beckerman

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.

The interactions among species define a food web network. In these networks, species have dynamics (e.g. numbers and biomass), the community has structure (e.g.

Novel, essential genes in lineages of pest insect species

University of Warwick
School of Life Sciences

Dr K Panfilio, Dr D Hebenstreit

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.

Invasive insect pest species are a growing problem that severely impacts agriculture and crop plants. The UK Plant Health Risk Register currently recognizes over 1000 specific pests, with beetles (Coleoptera) and bugs (Hemiptera) among those recognized as high profile pests and those with rapidly changing statuses.

Aerobiology and the Arctic - microbial colonization of remote polar environments.(Ref: SF20/APP/PEARCE3)

Northumbria University
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences

Prof D Pearce

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.

The rate of dispersal to an ecosystem can significantly influence ecosystem dynamics. Aerial transport has also been identified as an important source of biological input to remote locations.

Assessing the risk to plant health in the UK from future Agrilus invasions

Queen Mary University of London
School of Biological & Chemical Sciences

Dr L Kelly, Prof RA Nichols

Application Deadline: 14 June 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.

A fully funded PhD studentship is available to start in September 2020, jointly supervised by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (Dr Laura Kelly) and Queen Mary (Prof.

Nano-hydrogel bandage for non-invasive Raman monitoring of chronic wound healing (Funded by the QUEX Institute)

University of Queensland
The Graduate School

Assoc Prof I Blakey

Application Deadline: 15 June 2020

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.

Chronic wounds (CW), wounds that persist more than 3 months, have been referred to as a major and snowballing public health burden which adversely affects the quality of life.

The role of pore-forming bacterial proteins in pneumonia and meningitis

University of Birmingham
Institute of Microbiology and Infection

Prof T J Mitchell, Dr M Tomlinson

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.

The bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae (the pneumococcus) is carried in the nasopharynx of most children and some adults without causing disease.

PhD Scholarship in Neuroecology - Investigating the neural bases of animal behaviour in the context of its habitat and ecology.

La Trobe University
Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Microbiology

Prof S P Collin

Applications accepted all year round

Funding Type

PhD Type

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 has funding attached, subject to eligibility criteria. Applications for the project are welcome from all suitably qualified candidates, but its funding may be restricted to a limited set of nationalities. You should check the project and department details for more information.

Our Research Laboratory lies at the intersection of two major fields of biology (Neurobiology. the study of the nervous system, and Ecology.

Evaluation of West Nile virus transmission risk in the UK

University of Liverpool
Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences

Prof M Baylis, Dr J Medlock, Dr G Hughes, Dr R Bowden

Application Deadline: 10 June 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.

West Nile disease has been sporadically present in certain parts of mainland Europe for about 60 years, but recently it has spread geographically and has increased dramatically in incidence; the number of human cases in 2018 (over two thousand) significantly exceeded previous years, possibly in response to unusually warm weather.

The relationship between dietary iron and zinc, and the gut microbiota: Can dietary iron and zinc regime be exploited to improve health?

University of Reading
School of Biological Sciences

Prof S C Andrews

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.

"The gut microbiota (100 trillion cells) outnumber human cells by 10 to 1. Its composition of around 500 to 1000 species is specific for each individual and is dynamic, changing with age, health and diet.

Conservation of pollinator biodiversity and sustainable management of pollination services in agroecosystems

University of Reading
School of Agriculture, Policy and Development

Prof S G Potts

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.

Wild and managed pollinators provide a wide range of benefits to society in terms of contributions to food security, farmer and beekeeper livelihoods, social and cultural values, as well as the maintenance of wider biodiversity and ecosystem stability.

Bringing back the ashes – applying metabolomic approaches to save UK ash trees

University of Warwick
School of Life Sciences

Prof M Grant, Assoc Prof L Song

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.

Ash dieback (ADB), caused by the invasive fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus (Hf), has been a destructive disease of European ash (Fraxinus excelsior).