Agricultural Technology PhD Projects, Programmes & Scholarships for Self-funded Students in the UK

University of Greenwich Faculty of Engineering and Science

Understanding the soil microbiome under controlled light conditions

Our research group is working within a consortium that is testing semi-transparent solar installations on crop growth-houses, to enhance biological and financial resilience in protected farming. Read more

Supervisors: Dr C.V.S. Supamaniam, Dr E Thompson

24 June 2024 PhD Research Project Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)

University of East Anglia School of Biological Sciences

Controlling greenhouse gas emissions by targeting bacterial G-quadruplex DNA/RNA structures (GATES_U24DTP)

Primary supervisor - Dr Andrew Gates . Secondary supervisor - Dr Yiliang Ding (JIC) . As well as carbon dioxide (CO2), other important climate-active gases are known to drive global warming. Read more

Supervisor: Dr A Gates

9 May 2024 PhD Research Project Competition Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)

Aberdeen University School of Engineering

Control of renewable energy / mechatronic / robotic systems

These projects are open to students worldwide, but have no funding attached. Therefore, the successful applicant will be expected to fund tuition fees at the relevant level (home or international) and any applicable additional research costs. Read more

Supervisors: Dr S S Aphale, Dr V Vaziri

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

MSc by Research: Signaling pathways controlling epidermal development in cereals

Plants living on land face brutal threats from pests, dehydration and temperature. To survive and thrive, land plants evolved a waxy ‘cuticle’ and distinctive epidermal cells such as gas pores and defensive barbs. Read more

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

MSc by Research: Jasmonate control of barley development

From the earliest farmers to modern plant breeders, humans have continually modified the body plan of cereals, sometimes drastically, to generate higher grain yields. Read more

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

MSc by Research: The Generation Gap – understanding tissue communication during grain development

Cereal grain provides more calories than any other source to our diet, making grain production vital to food security. We study grain development in barley, a globally important cereal, and a powerful genetic model system. Read more

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

MSc by Research: Regulation of Architecture in Barley

Plant architecture, or body plan, plays a key role in determining grain yield of crop plants. However, we have little understanding of the molecular genetic basis of architecture in the temperate cereals such as barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), especially in comparison to the warm weather crops such as rice (Oryza sativa). Read more

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

MSc by Research: Targeted protein degradation in plants – developing “Green PROTACs” for functional analysis of lethal genes

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Climate change is one of the biggest threats to global food production, leading to unpredictable weather patterns and geographical migration of pathogens. Read more

Supervisor: Dr P Hemsley

MSc by Research: Feel the tension – how does S-acylation of OSCA ion channels regulate responses to environmental change in plants?

Supervisors: Dr P Hemsley, Prof U Zachariae, Prof M Knight

Plants, being sessile organisms, must sense and respond to environmental change, such as temperature or drought, without being able to move. Read more

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

MSc by Research: Genetic interactions and novel genes that regulate lignin biosynthesis and straw quality in barley

Supervisor: Prof C Halpin

Lignin is a major component of plant cell walls, and has a significant influence on the digestibility and uses of plant biomass. The lignin biosynthesis pathway has been one of the most intensively studied. Read more

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

University of Reading Department of Computer Science

Crop Type Classification Using Optical Remote Sensing

Crop type mapping at the field level is necessary for a variety of applications in agricultural monitoring and food security. In this thesis, the goal is to develop a suitable deep neural network architecture that could detect different crop types in remote sensing images. Read more

Supervisors: Dr M Shahzad, Dr H Wei

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Sheffield Hallam University Department of the Natural and Built Environment

PhDs in Natural and Built Environment

Our research seeks to understand the impact of social, environmental, and economic changes on society, drawing on this understanding to contribute to the better design and planning of spaces and places. Read more

Self-Funded PhD Students Only Social Sciences Research Programme