About the Project
Fully funded PhD studentship available for October 2018 entry, with STARS CDT.
Background: Established to address a shortage of soil scientists, the Soils Training And Research Studentships, Centre for Doctoral Training (STARS, CDT) is seeking to recruit an additional high calibre student to start a research project this October. See our website for further information.
The STARS CDT is an exciting consortium built around a core of 4 universities and 4 research institutes from around the UK, collaborating to offer training to PhD students in soil science. Beyond this core group, STARS has also built up strong links with other collaborating organizations whose involvement further enriches the partnership. Funded by NERC and BBSRC, our STARS College brings together PhD students in soil science with leading experts in the field.
Project description: Unravelling the spatial and temporal dynamics in organic carbon (OC) transport at the land-water interface should be considered as a key domain of research in order to tackle future soil fertility and water quality degradation threats. This project aims to address this challenge by developing a novel framework to assess the impact of erosion induced fluxes of OC on ecosystem services across 2 contrasting catchments in Scotland. In particular, modern large databases, including land use, soil type, vegetation productivity (MODIS satellite imagery) and topography, as well as a novel plant-derived tracing technique based on compound specific stable isotope analyses will be considered. The PhD candidate will be offered the opportunity to work in an interdisciplinary team, crossing the boundaries of biogeochemistry, hydrology and soil science, and is expected to fulfil a diverse portfolio of tasks enabling the development of excellent research skills, such as data analysis, GIS, programming and modelling.
This project will be based at Cranfield University.
Academic requirements: Applicants should hold a minimum of a UK Honours Degree at 2:1 level or equivalent in subjects such as GIS, soil science, remote sensing techniques and statistical analysis. Applicants with aptitude for field work and experience with a programming language (e.g. Matlab, R) and GIS-software package (e.g. ARC-GIS) are particularly welcome. The successful candidate will be expected to cooperate closely with other members of the research team.
Eligibility: This studentship is only available to UK residents, who fulfil the NERC residence requirements. EU residents are eligible for a fees only award. Further details can be found on the RCUK website under “Terms and conditions of training grants” para 37 and 43.
For further information: For further details please contact Jeroen Meersmans, [Email Address Removed]
Funding Notes
The studentships are fully funded for UK residents, with fees paid and a stipend of £14777 (2018/19) tax-free per year. There is also a research training support grant to support the project. Usually a studentship is for three and a half years.
Continue with Facebook
