Success in NERC GW4+ Doctoral Training Partnership

Colleagues at Cardiff University School of Biosciences have successfully secured postgraduate studentships as part of the Natural Environment Research Councils NERC GW4+ Doctoral Training Partnership.

The NERC GW4+ DTP brings together 10 of the UK’s leading research institutions in NERC science, including Cardiff University. It is designed to train tomorrow’s leaders in earth and environmental sciences, offering a number of fully-funded PhD studentships each year.

Successful applicants receive funding for a three and a half year research project under one of the three interdisciplinary research themes – Solid Earth, Living World, and Changing Planet.

Of the five candidates chosen for projects by supervisors in BIOSI for this year’s selection process (the maximum allowed), four were successful in securing studentships.

Ewan Stenhouse was awarded the pre-allocated studentship for the project led by Dr Pablo Orozco-ter Wengel in collaboration with the RSPB - Is food availability and choice a limiting factor for declining UK Hawfinch populations?.

The remaining three BIOSI candidates were awarded competition studentships:

• Zoe Deakin - The importance of being small: understanding the movements and foraging requirements of the smallest Atlantic seabird as a bio-indicator for marine conservation(Lead PI, Dr Renata Medeiros with Eco-Explore)
• Rebecca Young - Saving an iconic species from extinction in the UK: interactions between diet, parasites and environmental change. (Lead PI, Prof William Symondson with the RSPB)
• Rhiannon Hunt - Push-pull strategies: combination control of fish pathogens. (Lead PI, Prof Jo Cable with the Environment Agency)

Dr Kerrie Thomas, Director of Postgraduate Studies at the School of Biosciences, congratulated the candidates on their success.

‘I would like to congratulate everyone involved in securing these NERC GW4+ DTP studentships. This year, there were only 15 studentships available, so I think it’s fair to say that, as a School, we have punched significantly above our weight.

Our success in this area highlights that the School of Biosciences is continuing to attract excellent candidates across a number of different specialties.”

“I would also like to thank the University’s College of Biomedical and Life Sciences for their ongoing support of this Doctoral Training Partnership,” she added.

For more information on the NERC GW4+ DTP, or to find out how to apply for next year’s competition, please visit the partnership website.