QUARTILES Doctoral Landscape Awards are BBSRC and NERC-funded research and training programmes designed to equip PhD students with the skills, expertise, outlook, and real-world experience needed to become the next generation of scientific leaders capable of addressing pressing environmental grand challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and sustainability. 

Five studentships are being offered by The School of Natural and Built Environment, for the following research projects, commencing 1 October 2025:

1. Deconstructing blanket peatlands in Northern Ireland towards an understanding of their genesis, hydrology and ability to store carbon. Project details
2. IN-PEAT: Impact of Nitrogen deposition on PEATlands in Northern Ireland. Project details  
3. Shallow subsurface analyses of glaciated environments and implications for the energy transition. Project details
4. The Impact of Hetereogeneity on Geothermal Resources of the Sherwood Sandstone Formation. Project details  
5. Bayesian estimates of birth ages from radiocarbon dating of human bones. Project details  
   

FindaPhD Project List

The Future Planners bursary is now open and available in Scotland and Northern Ireland for postgraduate students starting in autumn 2021 – contact the university at which you are applying to study to register your interest early and find out more.

The RTPI Future Planners Bursary programme is open to graduates from any discipline who enrol on a fully accredited planning Master's degree at an RTPI-accredited Planning School in Scotland or Northern Ireland.

The Evelyn Orbinson Bursary in Planning & Development is funded to encourage the best candidates to consider converting to a career in planning from any previous undergraduate degree. The award is open to all applicants, and it is decided by the overall quality of the personal statements in relation to the candidate's motivation to study planning.