Internship and PhD opportunities

ACCE+ DLA (Adapting to the Challenges of a Changing Environment)

ACCE's vision is to develop motivated, confident & multi-skilled PhD students, undertaking cutting-edge research & tackling environmental science questions of global significance. Studentships are offered between the Universities of Sheffield, Liverpool, York & UKCEH in a multi-disciplinary environment including biologists, mathematicians, analytical chemists & policy experts. See all ACCE projects here.

2026 opportunities with UKCEH

• Ecological and geomorphological drivers of salt marsh flood protection in a changing environment (co-supervisor Tarun Bisht, UKCEH)

CENTA DLA (Central England NERC Training Alliance)

CENTA research spans six universities (Birmingham, Leicester, Loughborough, Warwick & The Open University) and research institutes (UKCEH & BGS). A critical mass of researchers in climate & environmental sustainability, organisms & ecosystems & the dynamic earth provide a range of training & facilities. Training is supported by end-users from industry to non-governmental organisations & government agencies. See all CENTA projects here.

2026 opportunities with UKCEH

• From smoke to sustainability: reducing wood burning for cleaner air and healthier lives (based at University of Reading, co-supervised by Chiara Di Marco, UKCEH)
• Are fungicide residues in compost increasing AMR in environmental opportunistic fungi? (lead supervisor Isobel Stanton, UKCEH)

CROCUS is a newly awarded DLA led by the University of Reading and Swansea University, in partnership with the British Geological Survey, the Institute of Zoology, the National Oceanography Centre, the Natural History Museum, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. Projects will be considered across the NERC remit. See all CROCUS projects here.

2026 opportunities with UKCEH lead supervisors

• Upscaling soil moisture from field to catchment scale: integrating ground sensors, satellite data, and drone surveys for hydrological applications (lead supervisor Ponnambalam Rameshwaran, UKCEH)
• Environmental impact and dissemination of antimicrobial resistance in biosolid-amended soils (lead supervisor Holly Tipper, UKCEH)
• Rooted resilience: the role of mycorrhizal fungi in mitigating drought and flood stress in upland soils (lead supervisor Sabine Reinsch, UKCEH)
• Monitoring pollinating insects: building ecological evidence for UK biodiversity policy (lead supervisor Francesca Mancini, UKCEH)
• Species in a changing world: working with communities to model species responses to past and future landscape changes (Emma Gardner, UKCEH)

UKCEH co-supervisors

• SiSafe: Harnessing plant silicon to safeguard natural pest control under air pollution (led by University of Reading, co-supervised by Ben Langford, UKCEH)
• Biodiversity restoration strategies to benefit multiple species (led by Swansea University, co-supervised by James Bullock, UKCEH)

• The role of antipredator colour strategy in conservation (led by Swansea University, co-supervised by David Roy, UKCEH)

• Monitoring and protecting biodiversity across all its dimensions – taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic (led by University of Reading, co-supervised by Rob Cooke, UKCEH)

• C-SCAN: Characterisation of soil carbon using applied geophysics in natural and restored saltmarshes (led by Swansea University, co-supervised by Annette Burden, UKCEH)

• Decoding the seagrass microbiome under climate change: molecular insights into coastal resilience (led by Swansea University, co-supervised by Joe Taylor, UKCEH)

• Beneath the canopy: multiscale drivers of woodland ground beetle populations in a changing world (led by University of Reading, co-supervised by Chris Andrews, UKCEH)

• Securing farm business economic resilience to wild pollinator losses (led by University of Reading, co-supervised by John Redhead, UKCEH)

E5 DLA (Edinburgh Earth, Ecology & Environment)

Edinburgh has one of the highest concentrations of NERC-remit research in the UK. The clustering of environmental research around Edinburgh means that E4 students are part of a vibrant community of researchers & professionals that extends to many opportunities in science, policy, charity & business activities. See all E5 projects here.

2026 opportunities with UKCEH

• Functioning in Forest Recovery: the role of traits and belowground interactions in determining future forest communities in SE Asia (lead supervisor Lindsay Banin, UKCEH)

Humanity faces urgent challenges from global environmental change, and exascale computing offers powerful new tools to tackle them. ExaGEO’s mission is to harness this potential by linking advanced models of Earth systems such as the atmosphere, oceans, ice, ecosystems, and solid Earth with human impacts including economic and political decisions. Meeting these challenges requires both cutting edge computing and innovative approaches across physical, ecological and social sciences. See all ExaGEO projects here.

2026 opportunities with UKCEH

• A number of PhD projects with UKCEH co-supervisors are available at this link: Available PhD Projects – ExaGEO DLA.

GW4+ DLTP (Great Western Four)

GW4+ identifies areas of complementary expertise across the universities of Bristol, Bath, Cardiff and Exeter to develop research communities at scale, to address major global and industrial challenges. The collaborative research & innovation of GW4+ recognises and builds on the industrial and research strengths of the South West, working across the natural sciences and encouraging collaborative projects between the universities, research institutes and industrial and public sector partners. See all GW4+ projects here.

2026 opportunities with UKCEH

• Evaluating bathing water quality indicators as proxies for antimicrobial resistance: implications for public health risk assessment (lead supervisor Holly Tipper, UKCEH) 
• Understanding selective concentrations of antimicrobials in different microbial populations (lead supervisor Isobel Stanton, UKCEH)
• Understanding the role of land-atmosphere interactions for extreme tropical thunderstorms under global warming (lead supervisor Cornelia Klein, UKCEH)
• Conserving and assessing ecosystem processes though species’ traits (lead supervisor James Bullock, UKCEH)

UKCEH co-supervisors

• Environmental dimensions of multidrug resistance exploring ecology, evolution and human exposure risks (based at University of Exeter, co-supervised by UKCEH)

Iapetus DLA (Training the next generation of leaders in the science of the natural environment)

Named after the ancient ocean that closed to bring together England and Scotland, Iapetus is a partnership that joins the leading research universities of Durham, Glasgow, Heriot Watt, Newcastle, St Andrews & Stirling, together with UKCEH, BAS & BGS, in a united approach to doctoral research & training the next generation of leaders in the science of the natural environment. See all Iapetus projects here.

2026 opportunities with UKCEH 

• Understanding how a threatened seabird moves across complex ocean energyscapes (lead supervisor Charlotte Regan, UKCEH)
• Modelling vector control for Aedes-borne arboviruses (lead supervisor Steven White, UKCEH)
• Weathering vs. climate change: Quantifying recent silicate weathering using novel isotope tracers (co-supervisors Jade Hatton and Maud van Soest, UKCEH)

ILESLA DLA (Interdisciplinary Life and Environmental Science Landscape Award)

The world faces unprecedented challenges, from climate change and food security to infectious diseases, biodiversity declines and sustainability. The Interdisciplinary Life and Environmental Science Landscape Award (ILESLA) will train a new generation of creative, collaborative and entrepreneurial researchers who are equipped to meet these complex, cross-disciplinary challenges. These future leaders will have the knowledge and skills to generate innovative solutions that integrate science across BBSRC and NERC remits, and to conduct curiosity-led research that generates far-reaching insight into biological and environmental systems, and their interactions. ILESLA is the successor to the BBSRC Interdisciplinary Bioscience and the NERC Environmental Research DTPs and builds on their success. This new programme will cover the full remit of both preceding programmes. 

UKCEH may partner in some of the PhDs offered in this DLA.

AI INTERVENE is a new Doctoral Focal Award funded by NERC. The DFA program’s goal is to prepare a new generation of researchers skilled in both artificial intelligence (AI) and biodiversity to help address the global biodiversity crisis. AI-INTERVENE aims to train PhD students to be adaptable, skilled in real-world applications, entrepreneurial, and driven by sustainability and inclusivity.

2026 opportunities with UKCEH

• Restored saltmarsh trajectories (Restored SMART) - A machine learning evaluation of in situ saltmarsh restoration methods (based at University of Reading, co-supervised by UKCEH)

ECOSOLUTIONS is a new Doctoral Focal Award focusing on solutions to the issues of chemical pollution. It will combine cutting-edge environmental science with approaches from other disciplines (natural, health and social sciences, engineering) to deliver systems-based approaches which minimise wider socio-environmental impacts of the manufacture and fate of chemicals.

2026 opportunities with UKCEH 

• Farming Futures: comparing regenerative and conventional practices on soil, chemical use, and ecosystems in a changing climate (lead supervisor Sam Harrison, UKCEH)
• Future projections and sustainable scenarios for UK agricultural systems (lead supervisor Steve Lofts, UKCEH)
• Forever chemicals in agricultural food systems (lead supervisor Elma Lahive, UKCEH)

The ECOWILD Centre for Doctoral Training programme has been designed to deliver the next generation of innovative researchers and conservationists needed to protect some of the Earth’s most vulnerable and valuable ecosystems. ECOWILD is a unique partnership that brings together research expertise and innovation across various fields including environmental toxicology, ecology, multiple stressor theory and modelling, wetland conservation and restoration, socioeconomics, community engagement, management and governance; and involves some of the leading UK experts in these fields. See all ECOWILD projects here.

2026 opportunities with UKCEH 

• Tracking ecosystem recovery and pollution risks in restored saltmarshes (lead supervisor Richard Cross, UKCEH)
• Impacts of multiple stressors (pollutants and disease) on beavers in England. (lead supervisor Glória dos Santos Pereira, UKCEH)
• Blurring the edges: assessing impacts from the spread of non-native conifers on birds, plants and hydrology in Scottish open blanket bog habitat mosaics (based at University of the Highlands and Islands, co-supervised by Hannah Clilverd, UKCEH)
• Temperature, precipitation and chemical gradient impacts on the ecology and dynamics of AMR in engineered and natural wetlands (based at University of York, co-supervised by UKCEH)

The vision of FLOOD-CDT is to train the next generation of research practitioners, who will have both: (1) the multidisciplinary skills and knowledge required to address key sector needs and research questions across all drivers of flooding, and; (2) the ability to bridge gaps that currently exist between the evidence base and flood risk management approaches, policy, regulation and community engagement. See all FLOOD projects here.

2026 opportunities with UKCEH

• Assessing the eco-hydrological and geomorphic effects of floodplain restoration (based at University of Newcastle, co-supervised by Hannah Clilverd, UKCEH)
• Habitat dependence of tipping points in upland soils and implications for natural flood management (co-supervisors David Robinson and Alejandro Dusaillant, UKCEH)

The RED-ALERT CDT will train a new generation of leaders to transform how we manage aquatic environmental health via Real-Time Digital Water-Based Systems. Red-ALERT convenes private, government, regulatory/public sector organisations with world-leading researchers in genetics, ecotoxicology, sensor technology, Internet of Things, autonomous real-time data collection, mathematical modelling & data analytics. See all RED ALERT projects here.

2026 opportunities with UKCEH

• Optimising passive sampling of contaminants to assess environmental risk (based at Cardiff University, co-supervised by 
  

  Ponnambalam Rameshwaran, UKCEH)

• Understanding the impact of chemical mixtures on AMR in freshwater ecosystems (lead supervisor Isobel Stanton, UKCEH)
• Impact of sewage on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and pathogens in river environments (lead supervisor Holly Tipper, UKCEH)
• An integrated approach to assess microbial water quality and health risks in wastewater-impacted catchments (based at University of Exeter with UKCEH co-supervisors)