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School of Earth and EnvironmentFACULTY OF ENVIRONMENT

Research Degrees

in the

School of Earth and Environment


Why do research degree study?

• Personal pleasure and passion for subject

• Training to become highly skilled independent

researcher

• Employability in competitive jobs marketo Corporate - higher entry level

o Entrepreneurial

o Academic


The School offers the following research degrees also

offered for part-time study:

• Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) – 3 years FT

(4 year time limit to submit thesis) (most common)

• Master of Philosophy (MPhil) – 2 years FT

(3 year time limit to submit thesis)

• MSc by Research – 12 months FT INCLUDING

submission of the thesis *** 100% research *** and

no taught element therefore must already possess

good research skills


Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) – 3 years FT or 5 years PT + OT

• 100,000 words (300 pages) thesis

• Examined by viva voce with normally one Internal Examiner

and one External Examiner

• Must demonstrate:• own work

• originality

• critical ability

• work of publishable quality


Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) – 3 years FT or 5 years PT + OT

Two option of formats for PhD thesis: 1. Standard thesis:

Normally between 6-9 chapters including introduction, methodology, discussion, results chapters, conclusions and future work, references.

2. Alternative format thesis:To include journal publications – minimum of 3, to be bound between and linked together by an extensive Introduction and summary and conclusions chapter.


Master of Philosophy (MPhil) – 2 years FT or 4 years PT + OT


• Examined by viva voce with one Internal Examiner and one

External Examiner

• Must demonstrate:• own work

• contribution to knowledge and scholarship

• publishable quality


Master of Science by Research (MSc by Research) – 12

months FT or 24 months PT (including writing of thesis/no OT)


• Examined by viva voce with one Internal Examiner and one

External Examiner

• Examiners are asked to comment on:• quality of research

• whether work is of publishable quality

NOTE: A Taught MSc is often more appropriate because if offers modules in

research training as well as a large independent research project.


Entry requirements (all courses):

Minimum 2.1 UK Bachelors (or equivalent); but

Additional skills and qualifications often desirable

with intense competition for funding, eg, Masters with

appropriate research element.


Cost of studentship:

UK/EU Tuition Fees: £4,250 per annum; ~£13.5K for 3 years

Overseas Tuition Fees: £19,750 per annum; ~£60,000 for 3 years

Stipend/living expenses: UK Research Council stipends currently

~£14,000 pa tax free. Recommend no less than ~£12Kpa for living costs.

Research Training and Support Grant

Conference funds


UK Research Councils:

7 Councils but 3 relevant to School of Earth and Environment:

• Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)

• Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)

• Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)


Research Council – Doctoral Training:The School is currently involved in the following Centres for Doctoral

Training Excellence:

• ESRC White Rose DTP

• NERC SPHERES Leeds/York DTP

• EPSRC Technologies for a Low Carbon Future

• EPSRC Fluid Dynamics

• EPSRC Bioenergy

• EPSRC Nuclear Fuel Cycle


UK Research Councils Scholarships

(UK/EU)

Types of awards:

• NERC and ESRC Doctoral Training Partnerships / Centres (DTPs / DTCs / CDTs)

• NERC and ESRC Industrial CASE / Collaborative / Network

• NERC and EPSRC Project awards (tied to a grant)

IMPORTANT: Applications are made through the department and not the

research council.


Other funding sources:• Charities, foundations, trusts, overseas governments, employers

• University scholarships:

• China Scholarships Council-Leeds Partnership

• URS (University Research Scholarships)

• Endowed scholarships (eg, Frank Stell, Frank Parkinson)

• Leeds Doctoral Awards

• Professional and Career Development Loans. You can apply to borrow up to

around £10K for courses of up to 2 years and sometimes 3 years duration.

Interest payable upon completion of course.

• Government Student Loans: Up to ~£9K for Master’s degrees but expected to roll

out for PhDs from around 2018. Loan starts 1 August each year. Interest payable.

• Leeds Alumni Bursary: Up to 10% reduction in tuition fees for Leeds graduates.


About the School

• Admits ~60 postgraduate researchers (PGRs) each year

• Currently has ~240 PGRs in School

• 30% currently international and EU (non-UK)

• Currently over 125 research-active staff members


About the School

Rated as one of the best for research

power in Earth and Environmental

Science for REF2014


Evidence of breadth and impact identified for REF 2014

submission (5 year period) includes:• publishing 1603 ISI-listed research outputs, attracting 15,394 citations

• publishing 62 articles in prestigious journals (Science and Nature group)

• publishing 66 articles among the top 1% of all cited in geosciences

• winning £56.8M of research funding, including £36.6M from RCUK & Royal Society

• hosting prestigious centres for research (eg, NCAS and CCCEP)

• hosting a cluster of established industry-facing research consortia

• forming a strategic partnership with the UK Met Office (UKMO)

• providing 5 Lead Authors on all 3 working groups of the 5th IPCC Assessment Report

• having staff named in 586 unique news stories about our research

• being ranked 12th in the World (3rd in UK) by QS for Academic Reputation in Earth

Science


Evidence of breadth and impact identified for REF 2014

submission (5 year period) includes:

Supporting our success in the last 5 years, the School has:

• seen a major investment in infrastructure and facilities, including spending £23.5M to

unify the School in a new state-of-the-art building for Earth and environmental research

(development and investment is ongoing)

• seen growth in the number of regular academic staff by 26% from 72 to 91 FTEs (now

increased to 118 FTEs)

• annual research income has risen by 70% (from £8.3M to £14.1M)

At the heart of this strategy is an ambition to increase the quantity of world-leading research

outputs and societal impacts. The number of SEE journal papers increased from 209 in 2007

to 270 in 2012; these papers are having much greater impact, with the citation rate

increasing from 2.9 to 4.7 cites per paper in the calendar year after publication,

compared to a disciplinary average of less than 2.0 cites per paper per year.


About the School

Leader for the

NERC SPHERES Leeds/York DTP

– one of 15 Doctoral Training

Partnerships for the UK’s

£100m investment


5 Research Institutes within the School

• Institute for Climate and Atmospheric Science (ICAS)

• Earth Surface Science Institute (ESSI)

• Institute of Geophysics and Tectonics (IGT)

• Sustainability Research Institute (SRI)

• Institute of Applied Geoscience (IAG)


Institute for Climate and Atmospheric

Science (ICAS)Aims to understand the physical and chemical processes that govern the behaviour of

the Earth’s atmosphere.

• Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols

• Climate change and impacts

• Dynamics and clouds

• Hosts the Priestley International Centre for Climate Change


Earth Surface Science Institute (ESSI)Examines past and present environmental climatic conditions and the

processes that produce them.

• Sedimentology

• Geochemistry of the modern and ancient

environments

• Palaeontology, palaeoenvironments, and

palaeoclimates

• Engineering and hydrogeology


Institute of Geophysics and Tectonics (IGT)Dedicated to understanding the structure and evolution of the Earth from the core to

the surface.

• Deep Earth

• Volcanology

• Geodynamics and tectonics

• High temperature geochemistry


Institute of Applied Geoscience (IAG)Researches fundamental geoscience with application and impact towards energy,

environmental, industrial and infrastructural problems.

• Applied Geophysics

• Basins and Structural Geology

• Geomechanics, Engineering and Petrophysics

• Minerals and Ore Geology

• Sedimentology


Sustainability Research Institute (SRI)Studies climate change, biodiversity, water resources, land cover, agriculture,

environmental risks and social responsibility.

• Economics and policy for sustainability

• Environment and development

• Social and political dimensions of sustainability

• Business and organisations for sustainable societies

• Energy and climate change mitigation


For the latest newsletters and videos

for our Research Institutes visit:

http://www.see.leeds.ac.uk/research/


Training and Support

Our PGRs are continuously monitored/supported -

• Oral presentations

• Written reports

• Regular meetings with supervisors



• Commitment to ‘supplying’ employable graduates

• Wide range of Faculty and University courses providing

generic and research-specific skills

• Publications Masterclass to develop full potential and

recognition through annual Publications Prizes

• PGRs agree a training plan each year with supervisors



Support

Academic: Supervisor(s)

Pastoral: Supervisor(s), Postgraduate Research Tutor,

Deputy Tutors, Administrator

Training: Industrial collaborators, Faculty Skills Training

Hub, Health & Safety, University


Careers• The University runs a ‘Town or Gown’ event each year

• The Faculty runs courses for PGRs who want to stay in academia, in

writing grant proposals, networking, etc. and PGRs also get support from

supervision teams, conference attendance, etc.

• The Career Service holds 1-2-1 meetings upon request

• The Faculty has put together a working group to focus on careers for

UGs, PGTs, and PGRs

• The School employs an Employability Officer, Linda Hartland.


Careers

Our PhD graduates have entered the following professions in recent

years:

• Academia (Post Doctoral Research Assistants, Lecturer, etc) in

overseas institutions (USA, Australia, Europe) as well as the UK

• Government (NNL, Met Office)

• Industry – management

• Media

• Teaching – senior positions


Our Future…. REF 2020

(Research Excellence Framework)

Seeking to be in the top 3 for Earth and Environmental

Sciences nationally for 2020


IF INTERESTED:

First steps:

• Talk to members of staff in research topic areas that

are of interest to you

• Look at proposed projects on School web pages.

• Note deadlines/timescales: study application

deadline is normally dictated by Scholarship

Competition deadline.


APPLICATION PROCEDURE:

• Formal study application on-line

• Supporting documents: statement of motivation (funded or

advertised projects) OR research proposal (generally, if you have

your own sponsorship), transcripts, certificates, CV (curriculum

vitae/resumé), 2 academic references

• School will check qualifications and seek supervisor(s)

• University will make the offer of a study place


IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER:

The offer of a study place from the University will always

be conditional upon funding.

Funding/sponsorship is a separate procedure.

BUT

You will often need the offer of a place to be eligible for

any scholarship/funding award.


Web addresses:

http://www.see.leeds.ac.uk (click ‘research degrees’ under ‘Study here’)

http://www.nercdtp.leeds.ac.uk/

http://wrdtc.ac.uk/

http://www.see.leeds.ac.uk/research/

http://scholarships.leeds.ac.uk

http://www.leeds.ac.uk/foe/skills

Questions?

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