Royal Holloway is a member of two NERC (Natural Environment Research Council) consortia offering doctoral scholarships: the NERC ARIES DTP and the London NERC Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP). Note that NERC funding is subject to UKRI eligibility criteria.
NERC Aries Doctoral Landscape Awards
ARIES is awaiting confirmation of funding under the BBSRC-NERC DLA award scheme, which is expected shortly. Funding for the studentships listed below are subject to this confirmation and UKRI terms and conditions.
The ARIES (Advanced Research and Innovation in the Environmental Sciences) DLA will open in October 2025 subject to confirmation of funding under the BBSRC-NERC DLA award scheme. Royal Holloway is among five universities an several research centres with the aim of training postgraduate research students to become 21st Century leaders in the sciences and sustainable business of the natural environment. The following projects are now open to application for entry in October 2025:
| Title | Supervisor |
| Climate resilience and sustainable development of cultural heritage parks & gardens, CASE project with Sheffield Park, National Trust | Professor Jurgen Adam, Dr Jonathan Paul, & Dr Adrian Palmer |
| Contamination dynamics of streams and soils in rural-urban catchments, CASE project with South-East Rivers Trust | Dr Nathalie Grassineau, Dr Jonathan Paul, & Jurgen Adam |
| Investigating the "Near-Field" Effects on Mie Scattering in Aerosols: Is there really a near-field effect? CASE project with the Laser Science Facility | Professor Martin King & Dr Rebecca Fisher |
| Quantifying emissions of hydrogen to the atmosphere, CASE project with Environmental Defense Fund Europe | Dr Rebecca Fisher, Dr Dave Lowry, & Dr Grant Forster |
| Source attribution of atmospheric contamination using non-traditional isotopes, CASE project with the National Physical Laboratory | Professor Alex Dickson, Dr Christina Manning, & Professor Martin King |
Further information and how to apply can be accessed from the Earth Sciences department webpage here: Earth Sciences - Postgraduate research (royalholloway.ac.uk)
All applicants will be requested to complete an EDI form for NERC ARIES as part of their application.
London NERC DTP
The London NERC Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) is a collaborative body that brings together nine of the world’s leading research centres in environmental science. These include Birkbeck, Brunel, Kew, King’s College, the Natural History Museum, Queen Mary, UCL and the Institute of Zoology. The Royal Holloway Departments involved in the London NERC DTP are: Biological Sciences, Earth Sciences and Geography.
The next round of applications for September 2025 entry will open in November 2024. The partnership currently funds over 140 PhD students in the natural sciences.
- Biodiversity, Ecology & Conservation
- Earth, Atmosphere & Ocean Processes
- Environmental Hazards & Pollution
- Environmental Physics & Mathematics Modelling
- Evolution & Adaptation
- Natural & Biological Hazards
- Pan-disciplinary
- Past Life & Environments
- Solid Earth Dynamics.
For a description of each theme and a regularly updated list of potential PhD projects, visit the London NERC DTP website. However applications may be made to London NERC DTP programme and not to a specific project.
The programme commences with research skills training in terms 1 and 2. Students are registered initially at UCL then students transfer to their chosen institution based on the project proposals submitted at the end of Term 1.
