Currently closed for 2025 intake
The Central England NERC Training Alliance (CENTA) is a partnership involving the universities of Birmingham, Leicester, Loughborough, Warwick, Cranfield, and the Open University, together with the British Geological Survey, the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, and the National Centre for Earth Observation. CENTA has received fresh funding from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) under the Doctoral Landscape Award scheme (previously Doctoral Training Partnerships). With additional support from partners, this award will offer 130 PhD studentships over five years and support work with 17 external partner research organisations spanning industry, government and the charitable sector, training the next generation of Environmental and Earth Scientists.
The Â鶹ÊÓƵ has expertise in a number of areas where the CENTA Partnership has particular research strength. These are:
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Climate and Environmental Sustainability: key areas of strength include pollutants in the atmosphere and aquatic environments, and satellite-based observations of the climate system.
- Organisms and Ecosystems: key areas of strength include modern and ancient ecosystems, responses to environmental change, vertebrates (living and fossil), exceptional preservation of fossils and their evolutionary implications, microfossils and how they link to climate change studies, and hydrocarbon exploration.
- Dynamic Earth: key areas of strength include magma dynamics, tectonic and Earth surface processes, rates and timescales of geological processes, palaeoenvironments and palaeoclimates, all underpinned by cross-cutting excellence in chemical analysis of rocks, fossils and geological processes.
As a CENTA student, you will belong to a consortium well-resourced to provide you with extensive training to give you confidence in all aspects of your research. The partnership draws together relevant expertise from a complementary set of research organisations to train scientists capable of making outstanding contributions to their discipline, and able to apply their knowledge to the challenges facing the UK economy, the quality of life of its citizens, and the state of the global environment.
Advice
Select your preferred project from the list below, download and complete the CENTA Studentship Application and upload it to your online PhD application. The PhD application link is at the bottom of this web page.
Refer to the how to apply section below before starting your application.
Projects - You may only apply for one CENTA project at the Â鶹ÊÓƵ
Chemistry
- Dr Philip Ash:
- Dr Sandy Kilpatrick:
- Dr Fabrizio Ortu:
- Dr Patricia Rodriguez Macia:
Genetics
- Dr Roberto Feuda:
- Dr Robert Hammond:
- Professor Eamon Mallon:
- Dr Hollie Marshall:
- Dr Celia May:
Geology
- Dr Anna Joy Drury
- Professor Gawen Jenkin:
- Dr Andrew Miles:
- Dr David Unwin:
- Professor Mark Williams:
- Professor Jens Zinke:
- Jan Hennissen:
NCEO (based in Physics)
- Dr Darren Ghent:
- Dr Jeremy Harrison:
- Dr Robert Parker:
- Dr Adam Povey:
- Dr Tim Trent:
Physics
