3.5 yr PhD position, Nature recovery in the European palaeoecological record - Plymouth, UK
Director of Studies: Professor Ralph Fyfe
2nd Supervisor: Dr Jessie Woodbridge
3rd Supervisor:
Professor Stephen Shennan, University College London, Institute of Archaeology
Applications are invited for a 3.5 years PhD studentship starting on 1 October 2025. Funding for this studentship is subject to confirmation under the BBSRC-NERC DLA award scheme. Successful candidates who meet UKRI’s eligibility criteria will be awarded a fully-funded ARIES studentship of fees, maintenance stipend (£19,237 p.a. for 2024/25), and research costs. A limited number of ARIES studentships are available to International applicants, but note that ARIES funding does not cover additional costs associated with relocation to, and living in, the UK. The studentship is supported for 3.5 years of the four-year registration period, with a subsequent 6 months of registration being a self-funded ‘writing-up’ period. ARIES is committed to equality, diversity, widening participation, and inclusion in all areas of its operation. We encourage applications from all sections of the community regardless of gender, ethnicity, disability, age, sexual orientation, and transgender status. Academic qualifications are considered alongside non-academic experience, with equal weighting given to experience and potential. Description The recovery of nature is a pressing global issue. Nature recovery is difficult to predict, and different recovery strategies are implemented from tree planting to diverse forms of rewilding. Across Europe, humans transformed the vegetation of the continent through forest clearance for agriculture over millennia. However, within that long-term transformation, multiple major population collapses occurred, in prehistory and the historic period. These collapses offer unparalleled opportunities as ‘long term’ experiments to understand natural nature recovery: reductions in population and land use pressure should result in ecological change. This PhD project will develop detailed long-term data using palaeoecology and archaeology to assess past ecological recovery, using pandemics as disrupters to past human systems. The project will focus on two time periods: the early Neolithic and the medieval Black Death. The first has been characterised by “boom-and-bust” cycles of population growth and collapse, likely driven by plague. The Black Death removed up to 50% of the population of Europe, with different impacts across the continent. This project will provide a critical assessment of how ecosystems adapted and responded to associated reductions in land-use pressure, focusing on recovery and resilience, temporality, and stability. Tasks The supervisory team will provide training in pollen analysis, multivariate statistics, and demographic modelling using archaeological radiocarbon dates. You will attend training courses on vegetation, climatic and modelling. You will learn to use a range of programmatic approaches to integrate and analyse diverse datasets. The project will involve analyses of existing databases, and training will be provided in working with open palaeoecological and archaeological data. Requirements Applicants should have a first or upper second class honours degree in Archaeology, Geography, Earth, Environmental, or Biological Science or a relevant Masters qualification. If your first language is not English, you will need to meet the minimum English requirements for the programme, IELTS Academic score of 6.5 (with no less than 5.5 in each component test area) or equivalent. Applications The closing date for applications is on 8 January 2025. It is important that you follow the instructions at
this link
or your application for this studentship may be missed and therefore will not be considered. Before applying, please ensure you have read the Doctoral College’s general information on applying for a postgraduate research degree. For more information on the admissions process please contact
research.degree.admissions@plymouth.ac.uk . Shortlisted candidates will be invited for interview after the deadline. The employer regrets that they may not be able to respond to all applications. Applicants who have not received a response within six weeks of the closing date should consider their application has been unsuccessful on this occasion. View the full job advert at:
this link . If you wish to discuss this project further informally, please contact Professor Ralph Fyfe.
#J-18808-Ljbffr
Director of Studies: Professor Ralph Fyfe
2nd Supervisor: Dr Jessie Woodbridge
3rd Supervisor:
Professor Stephen Shennan, University College London, Institute of Archaeology
Applications are invited for a 3.5 years PhD studentship starting on 1 October 2025. Funding for this studentship is subject to confirmation under the BBSRC-NERC DLA award scheme. Successful candidates who meet UKRI’s eligibility criteria will be awarded a fully-funded ARIES studentship of fees, maintenance stipend (£19,237 p.a. for 2024/25), and research costs. A limited number of ARIES studentships are available to International applicants, but note that ARIES funding does not cover additional costs associated with relocation to, and living in, the UK. The studentship is supported for 3.5 years of the four-year registration period, with a subsequent 6 months of registration being a self-funded ‘writing-up’ period. ARIES is committed to equality, diversity, widening participation, and inclusion in all areas of its operation. We encourage applications from all sections of the community regardless of gender, ethnicity, disability, age, sexual orientation, and transgender status. Academic qualifications are considered alongside non-academic experience, with equal weighting given to experience and potential. Description The recovery of nature is a pressing global issue. Nature recovery is difficult to predict, and different recovery strategies are implemented from tree planting to diverse forms of rewilding. Across Europe, humans transformed the vegetation of the continent through forest clearance for agriculture over millennia. However, within that long-term transformation, multiple major population collapses occurred, in prehistory and the historic period. These collapses offer unparalleled opportunities as ‘long term’ experiments to understand natural nature recovery: reductions in population and land use pressure should result in ecological change. This PhD project will develop detailed long-term data using palaeoecology and archaeology to assess past ecological recovery, using pandemics as disrupters to past human systems. The project will focus on two time periods: the early Neolithic and the medieval Black Death. The first has been characterised by “boom-and-bust” cycles of population growth and collapse, likely driven by plague. The Black Death removed up to 50% of the population of Europe, with different impacts across the continent. This project will provide a critical assessment of how ecosystems adapted and responded to associated reductions in land-use pressure, focusing on recovery and resilience, temporality, and stability. Tasks The supervisory team will provide training in pollen analysis, multivariate statistics, and demographic modelling using archaeological radiocarbon dates. You will attend training courses on vegetation, climatic and modelling. You will learn to use a range of programmatic approaches to integrate and analyse diverse datasets. The project will involve analyses of existing databases, and training will be provided in working with open palaeoecological and archaeological data. Requirements Applicants should have a first or upper second class honours degree in Archaeology, Geography, Earth, Environmental, or Biological Science or a relevant Masters qualification. If your first language is not English, you will need to meet the minimum English requirements for the programme, IELTS Academic score of 6.5 (with no less than 5.5 in each component test area) or equivalent. Applications The closing date for applications is on 8 January 2025. It is important that you follow the instructions at
this link
or your application for this studentship may be missed and therefore will not be considered. Before applying, please ensure you have read the Doctoral College’s general information on applying for a postgraduate research degree. For more information on the admissions process please contact
research.degree.admissions@plymouth.ac.uk . Shortlisted candidates will be invited for interview after the deadline. The employer regrets that they may not be able to respond to all applications. Applicants who have not received a response within six weeks of the closing date should consider their application has been unsuccessful on this occasion. View the full job advert at:
this link . If you wish to discuss this project further informally, please contact Professor Ralph Fyfe.
#J-18808-Ljbffr
