How to Apply:
Applications will need to be submitted via our Good Grants portal. This will go live w/c 1st December.
The application deadline is Monday 12 January 2026. Further information on how to apply can be found here.
Crocus Disciplines:
Projects advertised by the Crocus DLA span across multiple disciplines and research areas, including: Atmospheres, Oceans and Aquatics, Cryosphere, Ecology and Biodiversity, Hydrology and Soils.
Further information on our application pathways can be found here.
Eligibility based on Academic Performance and/or Relevant Previous Experience
1st or upper 2nd class degree is required in a subject appropriate to the PhD projects applied for (see the project description for more info). Candidates with a lower class of Bachelors degree, but a good performance at the Masters level (“merit” or above) will also be considered.
We will also consider candidates with different academic paths but with experience acquired from a research position, or equivalent, that is relevant to the topic of the PhD project.
Many applicants will still be studying for their undergraduate or Masters degree, so it is fine to provide a projected or target grade for your current degree course – offers are then generally made conditional on the class of the degree actually achieved.
International candidates
(Information updated 3 December 2025)
UKRI funding only covers Home fees which increase annually. International students may still apply to any of our projects.
For projects where Reading is the degree-awarding institution, international students will be required to meet the difference between the International and Home student fees themselves (please check the following page for details on the fees: https://www.reading.ac.uk/doctoral-researcher-college/funding/fees/fees-new-students)
For projects where Swansea is the degree-awarding institution, the difference in Home fees and international fees will be covered and international students will not be required to meet the difference themselves.
Please check the individual project information to see whether fees are covered or not.
Available projects for 2026 entry
| ID | Title | Lead supervisor | Department | Host Institution | Co-sponsorship |
| CR2026_01 | Upscaling Soil Moisture from Field to Catchment Scale: Integrating Ground Sensors, Satellite Data, and Drone Surveys for Hydrological Applications | Dr Ponnambalam Rameshwaran | UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology | ||
| CR2026_02 | MOVE: Mechanisms and Origins of Vertebrate collective movEment | Andrew King | Biosciences | Swansea University | |
| CR2026_03 | Seed predation by insects and its implications for tropical plant diversity | Sofia Gripenberg | School of Biological Sciences | University of Reading | |
| CR2026_04 | Eruption triggers and timescales at ‘hyperactive’ subduction zone volcanoes | Katie Preece | Geography | Swansea University | |
| CR2026_05 | Biodiversity, biogeography and ecology of red calcified coralline algae of Britain | Professor Juliet Brodie | Natural History Museum | ||
| CR2026_06 | SiSafe: Harnessing Plant Silicon to Safeguard Natural Pest Control under Air Pollution | James Ryalls | School of Agriculture, Policy and Development | University of Reading | This project includes a 1-month placement at UKCEH’s Edinburgh Research Station. |
| CR2026_07 | Environmental Impact and Dissemination of Antimicrobial Resistance in Biosolid-Amended Soils | Dr Holly Tipper | UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology | This project will receive a CASE award from UK Water Industry Research. The project will also be applying for co-sponsorship from the British Geological Survey University Funding Initiative. | |
| CR2026_08 | Understanding the mechanisms linking the solar wind and terrestrial lightning | Christopher Scott | Department of Meteorology | University of Reading | This project will be looking to apply for a CASE award with the UK Met Office and includes a placement opportunity with the Met Office. |
| CR2026_09 | Biodiversity restoration strategies to benefit multiple species | Dr Konstans Wells | Biosciences | Swansea University | |
| CR2026_10 | Migration strategies and activity in a wide-ranging tropical seabird | Dr. Malcolm Nicoll | Institute of Zoology, London | This project will receive a CASE award from the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust. | |
| CR2026_11 | Quantifying trends in global wetland-associated biodiversity loss | Clare Duncan | Institute of Zoology, London | This project will receive a CASE award from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL). | |
| CR2026_12 | Restoring tidal wetlands in the upper estuary | Dr Jonathan Dale | Department of Geography and Environmental Science | University of Reading | The project will receive co-sponsorship from the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust. This will be in the form of a placement and collaborative visits. |
| CR2026_13 | Remote Sensing of Solar Induced Fluorescence in Forests | Prof Tristan Quaife | National Centre for Earth Observation | The project will receive a CASE award from Forest Research. | |
| CR2026_14 | Tackling tropical timber illegality: forensic timber identification using dendrochemistry and bioinformatic analsyis of Merbau (Intsia sp.) | Professor Mary Gagen | Geography | Swansea University | The project will receive co-sponsorship from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). This will be in the form of a placement and collaborative visits. |
| CR2026_15 | Predicting highways in the sky; from animal movement to meteorological forecasting | Prof. Emily Shepard | Biosciences | Swansea University | This project will be looking to apply for a CASE award with the UK Met Office and includes a placement opportunity with the Met Office. |
| CR2026_16 | Beneath the surface: hidden topsoil–subsoil interactions driving grassland ecosystem services and sustainability | Prof. Liz Shaw | Department of Geography and Environmental Science | University of Reading | This project will receive a CASE award from the AgriFood and Biosciences Institute. |
| CR2026_17 | Determining the vertical distribution of mineral dust in the atmosphere for aviation applications | Dr Claire Ryder | Department of Meteorology | University of Reading | This project will receive co-funding from Rolls Royce and includes a placement opportunity with Rolls Royce. |
| CR2026_18 | Climate impacts of volcanic eruptions under stabilisation and overshoot pathways | Andrea Dittus | Department of Meteorology | University of Reading | |
| CR2026_19 | The role of fire adaptations in ecosystem resilience under climate change | Sandy Harrison | Department of Geography and Environmental Science | University of Reading | This project will receive a CASE award from Assimila Ltd. |
| CR2026_20 | The role of antipredator colour strategy in conservation | Dr William Allen | Biosciences | Swansea University | |
| CR2026_21 | Deep Heat – root-microbe interactions under combined heat and drought stress | John P. Hammond | School of Agriculture, Policy and Development | University of Reading | |
| CR2026_22 | Simulating Melt Rates in Oceanic Cavities of the Antarctic Ice Sheet | Ryan Patmore | National Oceanography Centre | ||
| CR2026_23 | Monitoring and protecting biodiversity across all its dimensions – taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic | Manuela Gonzalez-Suarez | School of Biological Sciences | University of Reading | This project will receive a CASE award from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and includes a placement opportunity at the BirdLife International headquarters. |
| CR2026_24 | Investigating the relationships between key environmental and socio-economic variables affecting peatland biogeochemistry and hydrology in the Peruvian Andes. | Prof Nicholas Branch | Department of Geography and Environmental Science | University of Reading | |
| CR2026_25 | Integrating land surface and groundwater models to assess the impacts of land use change on the British water cycle | Dr Marco Bianchi | British Geological Survey | ||
| CR2026_26 | A process-based approach to understanding the compounding impacts of climate variability on the lifecycle of the common toad (Bufo bufo) | Vicky Boult | School of Biological Sciences | University of Reading | This project will receive a CASE award from FrogLife. |
| CR2026_27 | Identifying physically-consistent worst case scenarios for extreme regional precipitation in Southeast Asia and improving prediction | Tom Frame | Department of Meteorology | University of Reading | This project will receive a CASE award from the UK Met Office. |
| CR2026_28 | From Fossils to Future: Understanding Biodiversity in a Changing Ocean | Professor Chris Venditti | School of Biological Sciences | University of Reading | |
| CR2026_29 | Optimising planting strategies to build domestic gardens for climate resilience, ecosystem service delivery and sustainability | Martin Lukac | School of Agriculture, Policy and Development | University of Reading | This project will receive a CASE award from the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). |
| CR2026_30 | C-SCAN: Characterisation of Soil Carbon using Applied geophysics in Natural and restored saltmarshes | Cai Ladd | Geography | Swansea University | This project will receive a CASE award from the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust. |
| CR2026_31 | Fungal communication in competitive ecosystems | Claudio Greco | Biosciences | Swansea University | |
| CR2026_32 | How will warm ocean water intrusions shape the fate of Cook Glacier, East Antarctica? | Dr. Jim Jordan | Geography | Swansea University | This project includes a placement at NOC. |
| CR2026_33 | Exploring synergies between thermal and optical properties of the Urban Green Infrastructure – urban surfaces system for better assessing microclimate dynamics in the built environment | Dr. Christos Halios | School of the Built Environment | University of Reading | This project includes a placement of 4 weeks in the Foundation of Research and Technology Hellas (FORTH), Heraklion, Crete, Greece. |
| CR2026_34 | CAPE — Cuticle-Active Phyllosphere Enzymes Bioprospecting microbial enzymes on leaf cuticles for sustainable plastic depolymerisation | Prof. Dr. Irina Druzhinina | Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew | This project will receive a CASE award from Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. | |
| CR2026_35 | How and why is the timing of egg laying changing in UK wild birds? | Professor Ken Norris | Natural History Museum | The project will receive co-sponsorship from the British Trust for Ornithology. This will be in the form of a placement and collaborative visits. | |
| CR2026_36 | New insights into the timing and scale of past Mediterranean volcanism and climate change from Lake Ohrid (Macedonia/Albania) | Dr Paul Albert | Geography | Swansea University | |
| CR2026_37 | Order and chaos beneath the trees: exploring the Anna Karenina Principle in mycorrhizal communities to understand forest resilience under climate change | Rodica Pena | School of Agriculture, Policy and Development | University of Reading | The project will receive a CASE award from Forest Research. |
| CR2026_38 | Biodiversity from space: integrating in situ phytoplankton image data, satellite ocean colour and AI to advance our view of surface ocean ecology. | Dr Sophie Clayton | National Oceanography Centre | This project includes an opportunity for the student to participate in one of the annual research expeditions to the Porcupine Abyssal Plain Sustained Observatory (PAP-SO), which is fundedthrough the NERC National Capability AtlantiS programme. | |
| CR2026_39 | Reconstructing the trophic ecology of Caribbean mammals: new baselines to understand island evolution, extinction and conservation | Professor Samuel Turvey | Institute of Zoology, London | This project will receive a CASE award from the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust. | |
| CR2026_40 | Decoding the seagrass microbiome under climate change: molecular insights into coastal resilience | Prof Eva Sonnenschein | Biosciences | Swansea University | This project includes a placement opportunity at the seagrass nursery in Pendine. |
| CR2026_41 | Molecular ecology of seagrass associated meiofauna, in healthy, declining, and restored meadows | Christopher Laumer | Natural History Museum | This project will receive a CASE award from Project Seagrass. | |
| CR2026_42 | New radar observations of clouds using the “G-band” | Chris Westbrook | Department of Meteorology | University of Reading | This project includes placement opportunities at the Chilbolton Observatory and at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. |
| CR2026_43 | The evolutionary rise of dragonflies as efficient hunters through changing climates | Dr Manabu Sakamoto | School of Biological Sciences | University of Reading | |
| CR2026_44 | Understanding the risk of extreme U.S. winter weather | Andrew Charlton-Perez | Department of Meteorology | University of Reading | This project will receive a CASE award from AXA XL. |
| CR2026_45 | Rooted Resilience: The Role of Mycorrhizal Fungi in Mitigating Drought and Flood Stress in Upland Soils | Sabine Reinsch | UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology | ||
| CR2026_46 | Monitoring Pollinating Insects: Building Ecological Evidence for UK Biodiversity Policy | Francesca Mancini | UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology | This project includes a placement opportunity at the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC). | |
| CR2026_47 | Medicinal plants in trade | Julie Hawkins | School of Biological Sciences | University of Reading | |
| CR2026_48 | Machine Learning Prediction of Urban Canopy Flows | Omduth Coceal | Department of Meteorology | University of Reading | This project will receive a CASE award from the UK Met Office. |
| CR2026_49 | Discerning tidal flow characteristics from Distributed Optical Fibre Sensing (DOFS) at a tidal turbine site | Carl Spingys | National Oceanography Centre | This project will receive a CASE award from the MeyGen. | |
| CR2026_50 | Developing a global, weather-aware electricity demand model for Low- and Middle-Income Countries | Kieran Hunt | National Centre for Atmospheric Science | ||
| CR2026_51 | Species in a changing world: working with communities to model species responses to past and future landscape changes | Emma Gardner | UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology | This project will receive a CASE award from ARG UK. | |
| CR2026_52 | Investigating Earth-like responses to the Solar Wind in Gas Giant Upper Atmospheres | James O’Donoghue | Department of Meteorology | University of Reading | |
| CR2026_53 | Stopping pollution at the kerb: road runoff and engineered biochar for microplastic and metals filtration | Dr Iain Robertson | Geography | Swansea University | This project will receive a CASE award from TerrAffix Soil Solutions. |
| CR2026_54 | Marine heatwave likelihoods inferred from sea surface temperature distribution changes | Jules Kajtar | National Oceanography Centre | ||
| CR2026_55 | Deep learning and prediction of compound extreme floods in coastal areas for a sustainable future | Dr Yunqing Xuan | Faculty of Science and Engineering | Swansea University | This project includes a 3-month placement opportunity at IHE Delft. |
| CR2026_56 | Human impact on climate through changes in aerosol emissions, 1995-2025 | Peter North | Geography | Swansea University | |
| CR2026_57 | Windstorms in a changing climate | Oscar Martínez-Alvarado | National Centre for Atmospheric Science | ||
| CR2026_58 | Beneath the canopy: multiscale drivers of woodland ground beetle populations in a changing world | Chris Foster | School of Biological Sciences | University of Reading | This project will receive a CASE award from Forest Research. |
| CR2026_59 | Securing farm business economic resilience to wild pollinator losses | Jake Bishop | School of Agriculture, Policy and Development | University of Reading | This project is part funded through the Edith Mary Gayton Bequest. |