University of Southampton Microbiology PhD Projects, Programs & Scholarships

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.

Supervisor. Dr Yongqiang Liu. Co-supervisor Prof Sonia Heaven. Project description. Municipal wastewater treatment is moving from energy-intensive conventional activated sludge to more advanced technology for sustainability.

Assessing the effects of microplastics on marine benthic communities

Dr D Mayor, Dr J Godbold, Dr B Thornton, Dr A Horton

Application Deadline: 3 January 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.

Project Rationale. Continental shelf sediments are biogeochemical hotspots. Interactions between benthic invertebrates and bacteria drive the remineralization of organic matter, returning inorganic nutrients to the overlying waters and stimulating primary production.

Global phylo-epidemiology Vibrio parahaemolyticus within a context of climate change

Prof J Martinez-Urtaza, Prof C Hauton, Dr R Marsh

Application Deadline: 3 January 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.

Project Rationale. Vibrio parahaemolyticus (Vp) is a marine bacterium and a natural inhabitant of coastal environments worldwide.

Integrating marine fungi into the structure and function of pelagic ecosystems.

Dr M Cunliffe, Dr B Ward, Prof ME Edwards

Application Deadline: 3 January 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.

Project Rationale. Even though marine fungi have been known to exist since the 19th century, the application of molecular ecology tools has established a foundational understanding of the widespread distribution and diversity of the ocean mycobiome (Amend et al 2019).

Nitrogen cycling in a subsurface serpentinising system – an analogue for early life on Earth

Dr P Lam, Dr J Matter

Application Deadline: 3 January 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.

Project Rationale. The emergence of life on Earth required abiotic syntheses of energy and organic compounds. For this, serpentinization –water-rock reactions coupling oxidation of ferrous iron to the generation of hydrogen –has in recent years been considered a key mechanism[1].

Novel microprobes for the geochemical gradients in diffusive boundary layers around marine calcifiers

Dr G Denault, Prof G Foster, Prof P Smith

Application Deadline: 3 January 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.

Project Rationale. Diffusive boundary layers are common between any two media, e.g. at the sediment-water interface. Indeed, marine organisms, like corals and foraminifera, sense their environment through micron-scale diffusive boundary layers (DBL).

Palaeophysiology: metabolism and metabolic evolution of ammonites and belemnites

Dr C Trueman, Prof R Twitchett

Application Deadline: 3 January 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.

Project Rationale. An animal’s metabolic rate (the sum total of chemical activity powering life) is one of the most powerful predictors of ecological performance, co-varying with life history traits such as growth rate, fecundity, activity levels and, in ectotherms, environmental thermal tolerance.

Phytoplankton nutrient sensing mechanisms: key to thriving in coastal ecosystems?

Dr K Helliwell, Dr J Robidart, Prof C Moore, Dr A Rees

Application Deadline: 3 January 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.

Project Rationale. Marine phytoplankton play vital roles in regulating the global climate, contributing almost half of net primary production.

Plant breeding for food safety

Dr G Taylor, Prof B Keevil

Application Deadline: 3 January 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.

Project Rationale. Food security often focuses on food production, but reduced food waste and enhanced quality and safety are important targets for food resilience.

That sinking feeling - how do marine diatoms actively control sinking rates?

Dr G Wheeler, Prof C Moore, Dr K Helliwell

Application Deadline: 3 January 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.

Project Rationale. Diatoms are one of the most important groups of phytoplankton in our oceans and make a major contribution to the global carbon cycle.