PhD Studentship: Integrated Indicators of Ecological Health for Rivers Based on Riverbed Biofilms

Award type: PhD

Application closing date: 01/05/24

Start date:  01/10/24  

Duration of award: 4 years

Eligibility: UK, EU, Rest of World

Studentship funding

Sponsored by Leverhulme doctoral programme, this studentship provides, fees and stipend costs for scholars for up to 4 years paid at UKRI's standard domestic rate, with an additional grant of £10,000 to each student for research expenses.

Type of opportunity

Introductory Paragraph  

Pollution has resurfaced as a critical issue for the health of river ecosystems. Persistent and emerging water quality problems are being highlighted regularly by the media and community groups, pressuring regulators to reassess monitoring and assessment approaches.

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Numerous methods exist for water quality and ecological assessment, but they focus on individual attributes or problems, which can hinder the holistic assessment of water quality and its ecological impacts. This is especially challenging for rivers affected by multiple pressures, such as a modified hydrological regime, altered form and riverbed substrate, invasive and non-native species, climate change, continuous discharge of treated wastewater effluent, and intermittent organic and chemical pollution (e.g. combined sewer overflows). A new approach is needed that builds on existing biomonitoring methods to provide a richer understanding of the impact of these pressures on ecological community structure and function.

In this project, you will advance new indicators of river health that integrate the impacts of water quality pressures, hydromorphological alteration, and ecological degradation. In partnership with key stakeholders, you will design a field survey, collect samples of riverbed biofilms for metagenomic sequencing, and analyse the results in consideration of environmental data collected by other organizations and citizen scientists. You will have the flexibility to expand the interdisciplinary elements that interest you the most, such as the microbiology of riverbed biofilms, the sorption of contaminants to the biofilm matrix, or community perceptions of naturalness and health. An ideal candidate for this position has a BSc and MSc in environmental sciences, physical geography or biology, knowledge of metagenomic analyses, and a passion for the natural environment.

This fully funded studentship is part of the Connected Waters Leverhulme Doctoral Programme, which is funding up to 18 PhD studentships to conduct multidisciplinary research on freshwater ecosystems, across two universities, Cranfield and Roehampton. The programme aims to develop a deeper, holistic understanding of the interactions between humans and the environment to support sustainable solutions to the environmental challenges affecting our river, lake, wetland, and groundwater ecosystems. To find more information on the programme and other research topics, please see the official CONNECT website.

Entry requirements

Applicants should have a first or second class UK honours degree, BSc or equivalent in environmental sciences, physical geography or biology, and knowledge of metagenomic analyses.

Funding

The scholarship award will include fees and stipend costs for scholars for up to 4 years paid at UKRI's standard domestic rate, with an additional grant of £10,000 to each student for research expenses.

How to apply

For informal enquiries please contact: Dr Robert Grabowski

Email: [email protected]

For further information contact us today:

Admissions

T: +44 (0)1234 758082

E: [email protected]