Iapetus Doctoral Training Partnership

13+ funded 3.5 year PhD Studentships

Iapetus is a Doctoral Training Partnership that joins the leading research universities of Durham, Glasgow, Newcastle, St Andrews, Stirling and Heriot-Watt together with the British Geological Survey, the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and the British Antarctic Survey. It is a multidisciplinary DTP, funded and accredited through the Doctoral Landscape Awards by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), offering PhD students a world-class environment in which to study, encompassing:

• A range of attractive fully funded PhD studentships;
• Supervision and support from academics and researchers who are world-leaders in their fields;
• Tailored training and development programmes, leading to an accredited Postgraduate Certificate qualification
• Placements and internship opportunities with a wide range of end-users;
• Access to a vast range of high-quality laboratories, facilities and resources across the partnership.

Iapetus students benefit from collaboration and knowledge exchange with industry, policy-makers and other non-academic organisations, which is at the heart of our activities. Over 30% of our studentships are CASE awards, which involve students working in close partnership with a non-academic organisation throughout their PhD. We already have approximately 50 external partners supporting Iapetus’s research, ranging from BP, to the Natural Trust for Scotland, to the Ordnance Survey.

All applicants need to meet NERC’s eligibility criteria to be considered for an Iapetus studentship and these are detailed in the current UKRI studentship terms and conditions.

In order to address historical imbalances in the higher education sector, Iapetus is committed to recruiting a diverse, representative community of researchers in Environmental Science. The DTP has developed an Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion policy to further this. This includes the Widening Participation Scheme, which identifies Home applicants from underrepresented groups. The DTP aims to give up to 30% of interview places to those eligible for this scheme. Also, we are pleased to introduce the Iapetus Diversifying Talent Scholarship Scheme, a separate competition designed for those from underrepresented groups. For more, please see the Iapetus website.

How to Apply

Prospective Home students (i.e., those who are a UK National (meeting residency requirements), have settled status, have pre-settled status (meeting residency requirements), or have indefinite leave to remain or enter) should apply directly to Iapetus via the forms on our website by the DTP deadline of Friday 3rd January 2025 at 12pm (GMT). You are strongly encouraged to contact the supervisor of the proposed project to find out more. International Students must contact the relevant supervisor by no later than Monday 9th December 2024 to express an interest in the project, and to determine whether the supervisor would like to sponsor their application.

The Iapetus application form is designed to provide us with the information we need to evaluate your application. We know that successful PhD students come from a wide range of backgrounds and with widely differing experiences. By using the form, we can best evaluate your past achievements and potential for PhD research in the context of any past opportunities or barriers you may have faced. Our aim is to help you demonstrate your potential and make the best possible case for your future career in the environmental sciences.

For more on the application process, please see: www.iapetus2.ac.uk/how-to-apply.

For the full list of projects for this year’s studentship competition, please see: www.iapetus2.ac.uk/studentships.

Key Dates

Monday 9^th December 2024 – Deadline for International Students to contact the supervisor of the project

Friday 3^rd January 2025, 12pm – Deadline for prospective students to apply for a studentship

Tuesday 25^th - Wednesday 26^th February 2025 – Interviews for shortlisted candidates

Friday 28^th February 2025 – Award notifications sent to all shortlisted candidates.