BISCA PhD Studentships

BISCA PhD students will be hosted within the College and School or Department of their lead supervisor, ensuring strong academic grounding and disciplinary support.

The duration of our PhD Studentships is 3 and a half years. 

These BISCA PhD Studentships provide coverage for Home tuition fees and a UKRI-rate stipend (£20,780 for 2025/26), alongside access to additional funding for training and development opportunities.

International applicants are welcome. However, international candidates will need to secure additional funding to cover the difference between Home and International tuition fees, and potentially other living costs. We strongly advise discussing your full funding requirements with your proposed supervisor as part of your application preparation.

Wednesday 30 July 2025 - expressions of interest and applications open

Friday 22 August 2025 - applications close

Interviews are anticipated to be held from Monday 25 August onwards

September-October 2025 - programmes begin

To be eligible for a BISCA PhD studentship, you are required to have obtained or are expected to obtain at least a 2.1 degree classification from a UK university (or equivalent for a non-UK university) in an area related to the specific PhD project.

The Expression of Interest form closed at midday on Friday 22 August.

If you submitted an Expression of Interest, you will have now received the application details for your selected project.

Applications will close at midnight on Friday 22 August.

Joining BISCA offers a unique opportunity to contribute to critical sustainability and climate action. As a BISCA PhD student, you will:

• Become a Future Leader: Be part of developing the next generation of transdisciplinary sustainability and climate research leaders.
• Drive Impactful Research: Contribute to cutting-edge inter- and transdisciplinary research that supports the University’s commitment to meaningful climate action and delivers real-world sustainability and climate impact.
• Engage Beyond Academia: Benefit from opportunities for training and engagement beyond traditional academic settings, applying your research in practical contexts through collaboration with businesses, policymakers, non-profits, and other external partners.
• Experience Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Work in a vibrant, interdisciplinary research network with co-supervision across different Colleges, engaging with a breadth of expertise and building meaningful connections.
• Thrive in a Supportive Environment: Be part of an inclusive and enabling research culture where collaboration, inclusion, and diversity of thought are central.
• Receive Comprehensive Support: Benefit from coverage of Home tuition fees, a UKRI-rate stipend, and access to funding for training, development, and other project-related opportunities and expenses.

Nature-Inspired Design for Sustainable Textiles: Addressing Waste and Environmental Pollution

Supervisor: Dr Omid Doustdar

Full details of this project can be viewed on the FindAPhD listing.

This project will tackle the critical issue of textile waste and environmental pollution by exploring nature-inspired design and biodegradable materials. It will investigate current governance mechanisms and propose robust new frameworks to drive circularity and pollution prevention in the textile industry. Ultimately, this research aims to provide innovative material, design, and policy solutions for truly sustainable textile systems, aligning with BISCA’s mission.

Express your interest in applying for this PhD Studentship

Greening the creative industries: interdisciplinary solutions to adaptation and sustainability

Supervisor: Prof Adam Ledger

Full details of this project can be viewed on the FindAPhD listing.

This project will offer an opportunity for a truly interdisciplinary enquiry and methodology, working with a nationally significant, Birmingham-based organisation. It will track current adaptation interventions whilst introducing new sustainable creative solutions and business and creative perspectives. The research aims to develop ‘proof of concept’, scalable and transferable models that directly address adaptation as a critical priority for the UK’s creative industries.

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The Democratic Politics of Decarbonisation: Climate and Democratic Breakdown and Resilience in Estonia’s Shale Oil Region

Supervisor: Prof Fiona Nunan

Full details of this project can be viewed on the FindAPhD listing.

This project aims to contribute to emerging literature on democratic resilience and climate change, particularly in relation to decarbonisation. It asks how decarbonisation is reshaping democracy, amidst growing societal polarisation, unreconciled social divides, and increasing demands for participatory policymaking. It focuses on Estonia, an EU member state historically reliant on shale oil, as a critical case study for understanding these dynamics within the context of the EU’s Green Deal.

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Supervisor: Dr Natanael Bolson

Full details of this project can be viewed on the FindAPhD listing.

This project will quantify the critical gap between theoretical potential and practical performance of major carbon capture technologies. It aims to identify key limitations and assess actual energy use, emissions, and costs to inform effective policy and technology priorities. The research will develop decision-support tools for industry and policymakers to evaluate carbon capture options under various carbon and energy scenarios.

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Supervisor: Prof Joy Porter

Full details of this project can be viewed on the FindAPhD listing.

This project addresses the urgent need to conserve, replenish, and understand soil, as agricultural land globally faces micronutrient depletion, declining fertility, and climate change impacts. It offers an interdisciplinary doctoral opportunity to explore how nanomaterials can positively influence soil properties to enhance soil health and resilience. The research will also examine how Indigenous traditional knowledge can inform soil health practices and guide nanotechnology applications in agriculture, while assessing potential risks for responsible solutions.

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Scars of War: Quantifying the Environmental and socio-economic impact of Conflict through AI and Causal Inference

Supervisor: Prof Sami Bensassi

Full details of this project, including how to apply, can be viewed on the FindAPhD listing.

This project aims to generate new empirical evidence on the environmental and socio-economic consequences of armed conflicts over the past three decades. It will quantify the short- and long-term impacts of conflict using advanced AI and causal inference techniques. By integrating satellite imagery and pollution monitoring data, the research will measure environmental damage linked to conflict intensity and weapons production, ultimately supporting climate adaptation and sustainability policymaking in conflict-affected regions.

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Harnessing the power of AI to 'bend the curve' on river biodiversity losses

Supervisor: Dr James C. White

Full details of this project can be viewed on the FindAPhD listing.

This project will apply advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques to environmental data to develop a predictive framework for biodiversity loss in freshwater ecosystems. It aims to quantify multi-stressor impacts on river ecosystem health across England to provide guidance on cost-effective adaptive management solutions. The research seeks to unveil measures capable of “bending the curve” on river biodiversity losses, integrating economic forecasts for holistic environmental management.

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Foundation AI model for assessing human influence on hydroclimatic compound hazards in the UK

Supervisor: Dr Shasha Han

Full details of this project can be viewed on the FindAPhD listing.

This project will develop the first AI-driven framework that integrates multi-modal hydrological data and human impact data in the UK. This enhanced framework is expected to enhance the modelling of hydroclimatic compound hazards and assess the role of human influence on their dynamics. A key objective is to quantify and attribute the extent to which human activities contribute to the occurrence and severity of these complex events.

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AI-Driven Digital Twins for Forecasting Biodiversity Loss in Freshwater Ecosystems

Supervisor: Prof Luisa Orsini

Full details of this project can be viewed on the FindAPhD listing.

This interdisciplinary PhD project will apply advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques to environmental and biodiversity datasets to develop a predictive framework for biodiversity loss in freshwater ecosystems. It aims to build a biodiversity-focused digital twin that simulates how freshwater ecosystems respond to multiple pressures over time. The successful candidate will design a user-friendly analytical dashboard enabling stakeholders to test land-use and restoration scenarios, thereby supporting evidence-based conservation planning and influencing nature-positive policy.

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SOLAR-WASH-AMR: Sustainable and cost-effective clean water to cut antimicrobial resistance in lower- and middle-income hospitals

Supervisor: Dr Dmitri Nepogodiev

Full details of this project can be viewed on the FindAPhD listing.

This project aims to generate decisive clinical, infective, and economic evidence that solar-powered ultrafiltration can significantly reduce in-hospital infections and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in lower- and middle-income country (LMIC) hospitals. It seeks to unlock large-scale finance for Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) upgrades and advance net-zero health systems. The ultimate vision is to provide tangible evidence for policymakers to expand and implement the tools and pathways established in this project.

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Geoengineering impacts on large-scale utilization of renewable energies and on global justice of renewable development

Supervisor: Dr Ying Chen

Full details of this project can be viewed on the FindAPhD listing.

This project will address the critical challenge of geoengineering impacts on renewable energies and global justice, particularly concerning Solar Radiation Management (SRM). It aims to quantify the impacts of SRM approaches on the balance between renewables and energy demand. The research will provide novel insights into climate justice from an SRM and energy perspective, supporting green energy policymaking with real-world influential impacts.

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NANO CLIM: Interactions Between Nanoparticles and Climate Stressors in Allergic Respiratory Disease 

Supervisor: Dr Hanene Ali-Boucetta

Full details of this project can be viewed on the FindAPhD listing.

This project investigates the combined effects of climate-exacerbated environmental stressors and diverse nanoparticles on allergic respiratory disease pathways. It addresses the growing concern of increasing exposure to engineered nanomaterials amidst rising environmental pressures like air pollution and airborne allergens. The research aims to understand how these combined stressors influence respiratory and immune responses, with findings impacting nanomaterial safety assessment and respiratory health risk mitigation.

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Modelling Waterborne Pathogen Transmission in Hydrological Networks: A Higher-Order Approach to Disease Forecasting

Supervisor: Prof Stefan Krause

Full details of this project can be viewed on the FindAPhD listing.

This project pioneers a novel framework to analyse and predict the spread of waterborne infectious diseases by integrating hydrological and epidemiological systems through higher-order network science. It will develop cutting-edge data-science tools to predict higher-order interactions, moving beyond traditional pairwise graph models. The research aims to offer a more realistic and predictive understanding of pathogen movement and persistence in changing water networks, with a focus on high-impact regions like Bihar, India.

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Supervisor: Prof Vincent Gauci

Full details of this project can be viewed on the FindAPhD listing.

This project introduces a groundbreaking methodology to estimate atmospheric methane removal (AMR) by the woody surfaces of trees in reforestation carbon offset projects. It aims to quantify how young, regrowing forests in the tropics contribute more significantly to climate action through this newly identified climate function. By leveraging large language models (LLMs), the research will recalibrate carbon sequestered to include overlooked methane uptake, enhancing the accuracy and perceived quality of forest carbon credits.

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Financing Resilience at the Water–Energy Nexus: Integrating Climate Risk, Green Innovation and Sustainable Investment Strategies in the UK

Supervisor: Prof Karen Elliott

Full details of this project can be viewed on the FindAPhD listing.

This PhD project investigates how finance can be leveraged to enhance systemic resilience at the water–energy nexus in the UK. It aims to develop a robust, climate-adjusted investment framework combining technical insights from climate risk modelling with sustainable and blended finance. The research will quantify resilience gaps, forecast long-term impacts, and propose public–private financing mechanisms tailored to UK infrastructure priorities, ultimately positioning the UK as a leader in climate-resilient nexus finance. The impact is two-fold: changing the investment landscape towards resilience and in recognition of increasing energy demands to develop digital technologies, data centres and super computers that are used in finance.

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Balancing Prosperity and Sustainability: Assessing the Socio-economic-emissions Trade-offs of Global North Investment in Global South Countries

Supervisor: Prof Yuli Shan

Full details of this project can be viewed on the FindAPhD listing.

This project will examine the multi-dimensional impacts of foreign investment from the Global North into the Global South, using the European Union’s Global Gateway initiative as a case study. It aims to quantify the environmental, social, and economic impacts of investment, analysing trade-offs between development goals and ecological sustainability. The research seeks to generate new insights into how different investment strategies can be optimised to promote inclusive growth while minimising ecological harm, thereby achieving sustainability in Global South countries.

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Re-framing sustainability education: lessons from varied perspectives to foster transformative learning in Higher Education.

Supervisor: Prof Julia Myatt

Full details of this project can be viewed on the FindAPhD listing.

This project critically re-frames sustainability education in Higher Education, moving beyond traditional Western models and addressing the 'sea of labels' challenge to foster transformative learning. It aims to develop workable practices by critically reviewing assumptions in existing frameworks and exploring and testing alternative approaches. The research aims to conceptualise a transformative HE learning experience that more effectively captures differing pedagogical and disciplinary approaches and intercultural perspectives.

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