PhD study

I am happy to advise PhD students who are interested in addressing the kinds of process glaciological issues that I engage with, as summarised on some of the other pages on this web site. Candidates need to be strongly motivated and always eager to develop. Since field-based research programmes are generally expensive and have long lead-in times, it is often difficult to advertise PhD projects with fieldwork guaranteed to be affiliated to a specific project - by the time an application to support such a project has been approved, it is often too late for a PhD student to apply, for that application to be evaluated and for that person to be appointed. If you are interested therefore, please do contact me directly (why not use the Email button at the base of this page...?) and we can discuss funding support and what might be practicable in terms of project timing.

The application process

There are two elements to undertaking PhD study at a host institution. First, an applicant must be accepted, in principle, for study. Second, a successful applicant will need to secure funding to cover the cost of fees and living expenses during their PhD study. The latter is generally referred to as a PhD studentship, scholarship or bursary. In some cases, students may be in a position to fund themselves, but often partial or complete financial support is needed. This support can come from anywhere, but Aberystwyth University awards several 'AberDoc Scholarships' to its highest ranked applicants each year. The complete process is outlined here but, in short, any applicant should contact me in the first instance. Upon doing so, we can discuss interests and logistics and work together towards producing a short proposal. This, along with a factual application form, then needs to be submitted to Aberystwyth University Postgraduate Admissions shortly before the end of January of the year in which the PhD is to commence, generally on September 1st.

The next such application deadline is likely to be ~31 January, 2024, for start on 01 September, 2024. It's never too early to get planning though (and my Email button is just below...)