PhD Opportunities
This page details PhD projects of which we are aware. This list is by no means exhaustive and the institutions listed, and others, may well be offering additional projects. Further details for many of these projects are already available on institutional websites. For UK PhD programmes, note that application deadlines can be as early as January, and interviews usually take place during the period January-April.
This list relies on supervisors submitting details of their projects. If you are advertising a PhD currently, please submit it using the form linked below:
The origin of animals: Building a precise timeline from the geological record
The Ediacaran–Cambrian transition saw the evolutionary appearance of complex macroscopic life and animal-dominated ecosystems. Yet basic questions on the timing and sequence of evolutionary events during that period remain unresolved, due to the challenge of correlating a geological record that straddles multiple continents. Signatures of ocean chemistry, such as stable carbon isotopes (δ13C), in principle allow for the correlation of fossil-bearing sedimentary sections from different locations. However, such chemostratigraphic signals are typically aligned by visual inspection, and may not exclusively represent a global oceanic signature. As such, this inherently subjective approach often produces multiple possible alignments, and gives no rigorous way of determining the most likely alignment, or quantifying uncertainty.
This project will use the StratoBayes correlation software to produce an objective stratigraphic framework of late Ediacaran–early Cambrian deposits, which will provide a definitive timeline of early animal evolution at an unprecedented temporal resolution. StratoBayes is a novel tool developed by members of the supervisory team; it uses innovative Bayesian models to derive correlations between stratigraphic sections based on the geochemical signatures they record.
The evolution of reptile brains, senses, and intelligence
Reptiles have a long evolutionary history, with many modern lineages stretching back to the Triassic Period over 200 million years ago. Although there has been considerable work on the anatomy and genealogy of fossil reptiles, less is known about their brains, sensory systems and intelligence. Most work in this area has focused on highly derived groups such as crocodiles and dinosaurs (including birds). Over the last few decades, computed tomographic (CT) scanning of fossil skulls has unlocked the potential to study neuroanatomy, by building digital models of soft tissue structures such as brains and inner ears that leave bone proxies of their former presence, but which do not normally fossilize. Yet, this is difficult if the bones surrounding these sensory structures (the braincase) are not completely ossified or are poorly preserved, as is the case in many fossil lepidosaurs (the group containing lizards, snakes, and tuataras). Thus, most studies on lepidosaur neurosensory evolution have been incremental. There has yet to be a systematic effort to predict the size and shape of the brain and other sense organs in modern species with incompletely ossified braincases based on bony proxies. And there has yet to be a systematic analysis of brain size and shape over time and across the phylogeny of all reptiles. This leaves several fundamental questions unanswered: how did reptile (particularly lepidosaur) brains and senses develop over time and space, were some species brainier or endowed with better senses than others, and what were the key drivers of reptilian neurosensory evolution? Such work has recently been conducted for mammals, and is in progress for dinosaurs, by our research group and others. We will now use these techniques—CT and phylogenetic statistical methods—to study modern and fossil lepidosaurs, and potentially other reptiles (turtles, crocodiles).
The main research questions are the following. 1) What bony proxies may predict aspects of the size and shape of the brain and brain regions in reptiles with incompletely ossified braincases? 2) What is the variation in the size and shape of the brain, and of sensory regions, across reptile history? 3) Are there trends in reptile encephalization (brain size relative to body size) over time and across the family tree, and are these mostly controlled by body size, brain size, and/or phylogeny? 4) How did reptile brain size relate to aspects of their biology (physiology, locomotion, diet) and environments, and might there have been a predator-prey ‘arms’ race in brain size over time and space? 5) What are the closest modern counterparts—in terms of intelligence and sensory abilities—to fossil reptiles?
How did the closure of the Tethys Ocean impact global marine biodiversity?
The closure of the Tethys Ocean during the Miocene represents one of the most profound reorganisations of Earth’s surface systems in the Cenozoic. Once a vast marine corridor linking the Indo-Pacific with the Atlantic and Mediterranean, the progressive narrowing and final disappearance of the Tethys dramatically altered ocean circulation, climate, and the dispersal opportunities available to marine organisms. While the geological processes of closure are increasingly well understood, its ecological and biogeographic consequences for global biodiversity remain less clearly resolved.
This PhD project will investigate how the restriction and closure of the Tethys Seaway shaped global marine biodiversity patterns, with a particular focus on dispersal and diversification dynamics. The research will ask: (1) How did changing gateway geometries influence dispersal pathways and connectivity among marine provinces? (2) Did diversification events coincided with key phases of seaway restriction? (3) Did biodiversity hotspots shift in response to declining connectivity? (4) How did coral assemblages reorganise ecologically in response to declining dispersal opportunities and habitat fragmentation?
Synthesis of fossil occurrence records will track how marine biodiversity changed through space and time in response to the closure of the Tethys Ocean. Dispersal modelling using palaeogeographic reconstructions and ocean circulation simulations will quantify potential connectivity between regions. Macroevolutionary analyses will test for links between seaway restriction and diversification pulses. Ecological comparisons across the Indo-Pacific, Mediterranean, Paratethys, and Atlantic will reveal how communities reorganised under declining connectivity. This research will provide new insights into how large-scale earth system changes reshape marine biodiversity.
The effects of climate cooling on the evolution of Antarctic Eocene seafloor ecosystems
The Eocene (56-34 mya) was a time of immense global climate change. This project will determine the
effects of this change on Antarctic seafloor evolution, answering questions such as ‘how did climate change
affect community ecology?’ and ‘did organisms react to changing temperatures?’.
Mid-late Eocene fossils from Seymour Island provide the dataset, deposited over 12 million years. The
student will develop research areas potentially including, but not limited to: size analysis, seasonality,
growth, functional analysis, and foodweb evolution, providing the most detailed assessment of the effects
of cooling on Antarctic seafloor ecosystems so far.
Training opportunities at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) (where the student will be based), with lead
supervisor Dr Whittle, include invertebrate taxonomy and Southern Hemisphere evolutionary history. They
will carry out outreach activities and join the BAS student community. Professor Schmidt (Earth Sciences,
University of Bristol) will offer training areas such as: bivalve growth, seasonality, mineralogical changes,
trace element mapping, and/or working with climate modellers. The student can be a Bristol palaeobiology
group member and may choose to supervise a master’s student.
Other project supervisors (Drs Dunhill, Witts and Dutta) bring expertise on ecological modelling, community
ecology and isotopic analysis for determining palaeoclimate.