PhD Studentship: PhD Opportunity Title Taking the pulse: Tracking sediment and water pollution in the headwaters of the Ganges with novel environmental sensors, NERC GW4+ DTP PhD studentship for September 2026 Entry

About the Partnership

This project is one of a number that are in competition for funding from the NERC Great Western Four+ Doctoral Training Partnership (GW4+ DTP).  The GW4+ DTP consists of the Great Western Four alliance of the University of Bath, University of Bristol, Cardiff University and the University of Exeter plus five Research Organisation partners:  British Antarctic Survey, British Geological Survey, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology,  the Natural History Museum and Plymouth Marine Laboratory.  The partnership aims to provide a broad training in earth and environmental sciences, designed to train tomorrow’s leaders in earth and environmental science. For further details about the programme please see http://nercgw4plus.ac.uk/

For eligible successful applicants, the studentships comprises:

• An stipend for 3.5 years (currently £20,780 p.a. for 2026/27) in line with UK Research and Innovation rates
• Payment of university tuition fees
• The budget for project costs is £9,000 which can be used for computer, lab, and fieldwork costs necessary for you to conduct your research.
• There is also a conference budget of £2,000 and individual Training Budget of £1,000 for specialist training

Project Aims and Methods

Mountain rivers are an essential source of water, nutrients and hydropower, yet these resources are threatened by increasing quantities of sediment and pollution along water courses, partly linked to development and climate change. This project will analyse data from innovative motion sensors and a suite of other sensors deployed along the Alaknanda River, a tributary of the Ganges in India, since 2025 to understand the drivers and dynamics of sediment transport along this highly populated and vulnerable river. Additionally, it will explore the use of prototype water quality sensors (Hydrobeans) to understand the interaction between sediment mobilisation and water quality, generating evidence to help manage mountain river systems.  

The student will be based in Geography at the University of Exeter, where they will receive training in environmental sensors and in earth and water systems from the Sustainable Hydrological Systems group and Centre for Resilience in Environment, Water and Waste (CREWW). They will benefit from proximity to supervisors at Universities of Bristol and Plymouth and being part of an international research team on NERC funded Superslug project, with the option to join the team on fieldwork in Spring 2027. There is additional funding to attend conferences and workshops.

Useful recruitment links:  

For information relating to the research project please contact the lead Supervisor via: g.l.bennett@exeter.ac.uk 

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