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University of Exeter - A Russell Group university with world-class research and high student satisfaction
At the University of Exeter, we offer exciting study opportunities in beautiful and historic surroundings in South West England. We are a member of the prestigious Russell Group of top UK research universities, having been ranked 137th in the world according to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2023. We are proud that in the National Student Survey 2022 we were ranked first amongst Russell Group universities for overall student satisfaction.
Exeter is committed to encouraging new ideas and nurturing talent, and as such we boast an extremely high number of early career researchers. Studying a PhD at the University of Exeter will give you the opportunity to become an expert in your field, develop excellent research skills and help you build the foundations for your career.
World-class research that makes a difference across the world
The Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021 review showed that we are doing more research, of better quality, with a bigger impact on the world than ever before. Our world-leading research impact grew more than any other Russell Group university. More than 99 percent of our research was rated of international quality* and 12 of our subjects were in the Top 10 for world-leading impact.**
Our ambitious Strategy 2030 aims to use our outstanding education, research and global connections to lead meaningful action against the climate emergency and ecological crisis; make key breakthroughs to transform human health and wellbeing; and lead the progress towards creating a fair, socially just and inclusive society.
* Research rated 4* + 3* + 2* in REF 2021
** Based on ranking for 4* impact in REF 2021
Outstanding support for postgraduate and early career researchers
The University of Exeter Doctoral College provides support, training and guidance to all our postgraduate and early career researchers. We offer a wide-ranging training and development programme, access to skills training and resources from across the GW4 Alliance, a range of collaborative events, interactive workshops and engagement opportunities, a dedicated careers coach and lots more.
Scholarships and funding
We attract funding to support postgraduate study and research from all major research councils through a number of high profile funded centres, and via a multitude of philanthropic sources, as well as investing heavily ourselves. Visit our PhD funding page for more information.
Beautiful campuses in amazing locations
We welcome over 30,000 students from more than 150 countries to our four friendly campuses: Streatham and St Luke’s in Exeter, Devon, and Penryn and Truro in Cornwall.
We’re lucky to have some of the most beautiful, green campuses in the UK, providing plenty of areas to socialise with friends and enjoy green landscapes and outside space. Explore our website to learn more about our campuses.
Open days and ways to get in touch
Visit our website to find out more about in person and virtual open days, campus tours and various ways to speak with our staff and students.
Academic Units
The College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences at Exeter is based at both the Streatham Campus in Exeter and Cornwall Campus near Falmouth. Both campuses provide exemploray teaching and research facilities.
The College supports an interdisciplinary research environment and provides collaborative projects across the University and with industrial partners. Research is undertaken across our constituent subject specialisms: computer science, engineering, geology, mathematics, mining and minerals engineering, physics and astronomy, and renewable energy.
Project List:
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(PhD Supervisor: Dr Changxu Liu)Artificial-intelligence-Enabled Active Metamaterials
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(PhD Supervisor: Prof Callum Roberts)Convex Seascape Survey – Effects of seabed disturbances and protection on uptake and storage of seascape carbon
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(PhD Supervisor: Prof T Mallick)Development of Semitransparent AgroPhotovoltaic Integrated Hydrogen system
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(PhD Supervisor: Dr S Crowley)From recovery to coexistence: future scenarios for British carnivores
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(PhD Supervisor: Dr Xijin Hua)New-generation neuromusculoskeletal computational modelling for digital patient
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(PhD Supervisor: Dr P Thies)Physical testing and numerical modelling for submarine power cables [Reliability Engineering, FEA modelling, Mechanical engineering, Component testing, Offshore Engineering]
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(PhD Supervisor: Dr Steven Hepplestone)The Link in Quantum Mechanics between Breakdown and Permittivity (CDT in Metamaterials, PhD in Physics/Engineering)
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(PhD Supervisor: Prof E Hendry)THz and mm-wave detection through silicon luminescence
Exeter is one of the UK’s most popular and respected universities - it attracts high quality students and staff to a beautiful part of the world and an enviable working environment. A research-led institution, Exeter maintains the traditional British university values of scholarship and high quality teaching, alongside new technology and innovation.
The College has a lively and innovative research environment at campuses in both Exeter and Cornwall, which supports a diverse postgraduate community of around 650 taught and research students. As a postgraduate student in the College you will be part of this thriving community, benefiting from quality research-led teaching or supervision and access to outstanding facilities.
Key features
* Research excellence across our disciplines including world-leading research in many fields
* Wide ranging supervision for PhD study across our core disciplines and exciting areas of interdisciplinary research
* Masters programmes providing discipline-specific and generic skills sought by employers
* Numerous funding opportunities, including PhD studentships funded by a variety of research councils and partners
* Exemplary facilities for all subjects, including recent major investments in new and refurbished facilities, providing a fantastic learning environment
* Excellent support for postgraduate students including research skills training and dedicated postgraduate facilities
Project List:
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(PhD Supervisor: Dr B Temperton)Developing biocontained, trackable phage therapeutics for aquaculture
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(PhD Supervisor: Dr A Bhinge)Investigating the interaction of APOE4 with TDP43 proteinopathy in driving neurodegeneration
Project List:
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(PhD Supervisor: Prof Alastair Hibbins)Metamaterials PhD Studentship - 2023/24 entry
Project List:
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(PhD Supervisor: Dr Gemma Sharp)“You must be on your period”: using smartphones and wearables to study changes in mental wellbeing throughout the menstrual cycle. MRC GW4 BioMed DTP PhD studentship 2024/25 Entry, PhD in Psychology.
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(PhD Supervisor: Dr Abby (Abigail) Russell)Assuming associations from old data- the case of ADHD and drug use. MRC GW4 BioMed DTP PhD studentship 2024/25 Entry, PhD in Public Health and Sports Sciences.
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(PhD Supervisor: Prof M Kelson)Award details Using modelling approaches to reduce inequality in physical activity interventions. MRC GW4 BioMed DTP PhD studentship 2024/25 Entry, PhD in Mathematics & Statistics
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(PhD Supervisor: Dr Paul Weightman Potter)Can nutritional intervention unlock better outcomes after traumatic brain injuries? Investigating brain blood flow and cellular metabolism regulation by ketones following head impacts. MRC GW4 BioMed DTP PhD studentship 2024/25 Entry, PhD in Clinical and Biomedical Sciences
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(PhD Supervisor: Dr A Higginson)Can online games be indicators of mental health issues? MRC GW4 BioMed DTP PhD studentship 2024/25 Entry, PhD in Psychology.
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(PhD Supervisor: Dr S Schlopp)Cell communication in gastric cancer. MRC GW4 BioMed DTP PhD studentship 2024/25 Entry, PhD in Biosciences
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(PhD Supervisor: Dr J Witton)Characterising a novel neuroimmune pathway to treat neurodegenerative disease. MRC GW4 BioMed DTP PhD studentship 2024/25 Entry, PhD in Clinical & Biomedical Sciences
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(PhD Supervisor: Dr Alex Shaw)Developing computational models of psychosis to explore the impact of schizophrenia-associated CNVs on cortical microcircuitry. MRC GW4 BioMed DTP PhD studentship 2024/25 Entry, PhD in Psychology
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(PhD Supervisor: Dr Thomas Piers)Effect of Alzheimer’s disease risk variants on microglial cell state transitions in response to pathology. MRC GW4 BioMed DTP PhD studentship 2024/25 Entry, PhD in Clinical and Biomedical Sciences.
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(PhD Supervisor: Dr A Migdalska-Richards)Epigenetic profiling in Parkinson’s disease: novel mechanisms and drug targets. MRC GW4 BioMed DTP PhD studentship 2024/25 Entry, PhD in Clinical and Biomedical Sciences.
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(PhD Supervisor: Dr Hans-Wilhelm Nützmann)Epigenetic signatures in fungal host adaptation. MRC GW4 BioMed DTP PhD studentship 2024/25 Entry, PhD in Biosciences
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(PhD Supervisor: Prof M Schrader)Exploiting lipid binding proteins to tackle neurological disorders. MRC GW4 BioMed DTP PhD studentship 2024/25 Entry, PhD in Biology/Biosciences
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(PhD Supervisor: Dr C J Scotton)Genetic predisposition to accelerated ageing: targeting telomeres using sex hormone supplementation in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis. MRC GW4 BioMed DTP PhD studentship 2024/25 Entry, PhD in Genetics and Genomics
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(PhD Supervisor: Prof E Westra)Genetics underpinnings of antibiotics-phage synergy. MRC GW4 BioMed DTP PhD studentship 2024/25 Entry, PhD in Ecology and Conservation
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(PhD Supervisor: Prof Soojin Ryu)In vivo analysis of stress system dynamics. MRC GW4 BioMed DTP PhD studentship 2024/25 Entry, PhD in department of Clinical and Biomedical Sciences.
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(PhD Supervisor: Prof M Frontini)Integrative analysis of whole genomes and transcriptomes from multiple cell types in rare disease patients. MRC GW4 BioMed DTP PhD studentship 2024/25 Entry, PhD in Clinical & Biomedical Sciences
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(PhD Supervisor: Dr Emma Dempster)Investigating the epigenetic component of insulin secretion disorders. MRC GW4 BioMed DTP PhD studentship 2024/25 Entry, PhD in Clinical and Biomedical Sciences
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(PhD Supervisor: Dr Leigh Jackson)Investigating the penetrance of cancer susceptibility genes in a population cohort and the influences of family history and rare and common genetic modifiers. MRC GW4 BioMed DTP PhD studentship 2024/25 Entry, PhD in Clinical and Biomedical Sciences
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(PhD Supervisor: Dr J Tyrrell)Metabolic psychiatry – Understanding ethnic and global differences in the inter-relationships between obesity and mental health. MRC GW4 BioMed DTP PhD studentship 2024/25 Entry, PhD in Genetics and Genomics
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(PhD Supervisor: Dr V Gold)The bacteriophage revolution: unlocking their potential to expand applicability. MRC GW4 BioMed DTP PhD studentship 2024/25 Entry, PhD in Biosciences
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(PhD Supervisor: Dr S Richardson)The crosstalk between the duodenum and the pancreas: Profiling the immune system to identify the role of the gut in the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes. MRC GW4 BioMed DTP PhD studentship 2024/25 Entry, PhD in Clinical and Biomedical Sciences
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(PhD Supervisor: Dr Nicholas Clifton)The synapse in schizophrenia: molecular impacts of genetic variation. MRC GW4 BioMed DTP PhD studentship 2024/25 Entry, PhD in Clinical and Biomedical Sciences
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(PhD Supervisor: Dr Sarah Price)Understanding and addressing inequalities in the cancer diagnostic pathway for people with anxiety and/or depression. MRC GW4 BioMed DTP PhD studentship 2024/25 Entry, PhD in Medicine.
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(PhD Supervisor: Dr R Freathy)Understanding how ethnic differences may influence diabetes diagnosis and control in pregnancy. MRC GW4 BioMed DTP PhD studentship 2024/25 Entry, PhD in Clinical and Biomedical Sciences
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(PhD Supervisor: Dr B Housden)Understanding motor neuron disease using a powerful combination of model systems. MRC GW4 BioMed DTP PhD studentship 2024/25 Entry, PhD in Clinical and Biomedical Sciences.
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(PhD Supervisor: Dr Doretta Caramaschi)Using molecular and clinical data to predict outcomes to treatments for depression. MRC GW4 BioMed DTP PhD studentship 2024/25 Entry, PhD in Psychology
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(PhD Supervisor: Prof Albert Basson)Using multidisciplinary approaches to understand and develop treatments for neurodevelopmental disorders. MRC GW4 BioMed DTP PhD studentship 2024/25 Entry, PhD in Clinical and Biomedical Sciences.
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(PhD Supervisor: Prof N Vaughan)Virtual Reality Toolkit for Diabetes. MRC GW4 BioMed DTP PhD studentship 2024/25 Entry, PhD in Clinical and Biomedical Sciences
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(PhD Supervisor: Dr Daniel Padfield)Will climate change worsen the problem of antibiotic resistance? MRC GW4 BioMed DTP PhD studentship 2024/25 Entry, PhD in Biosciences
The University of Exeter Business School (www.exeter.ac.uk/business-school) is a research-led institution that is ranked in the Times top ten subject rankings. It places a high importance on postgraduate research and has a vibrant postgraduate research community comprising over 120 doctoral students.
The University of Exeter Business School excelled in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), which assesses the quality of research in universities and colleges in the UK. 94 per cent of our research was classified as being of international quality: Accounting and Finance ranked 2nd, and Management 16th, in the UK for world leading and internationally excellent research; and 75 per cent of Economics research was classified as world leading or internationally excellent.
All of our research training programmes are accredited by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). In 2008, Exeter was chosen by the ESRC to host its capacity building cluster in Sport, Leisure and Tourism, which is led by the University of Exeter Business School. As one of a kind in this area, this £1.5 million investment, with 15 PhD studentships attached, is the national centre for doctoral training and research for the UK ahead of the 2012 Olympics.
The School's capacity to supervise research in specialist areas is considerably enhanced by the existence of the Centre for Finance and Investment (Xfi), Centre for Sport, Leisure and Tourism Research (CSLTR), Centre for Leadership Studies (CLS), the Exeter Centre for Research in Strategic Processes and Operations (XSPO), the Finance and Economics Experimental Laboratory at Exeter (FEELE), and the Centre for Service Research (CServ).
Project List:
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(PhD Supervisor: Prof Nav Mustafee)An Exploration of Data-driven Analytics and Digital Twins for Sustainable Manufacturing in Industry 4.0
