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University of East Anglia

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PhD in Grassland Fungal Recovery After Disturbance at University of East Anglia University of East Anglia in United Kingdom

Degree Level

PhD

Field of study

Microbiology

Funding

Competition funded PhD project for students worldwide. The post is funded; no stipend amount is stated in the text.

Deadline

Dec 16, 2026

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Country

United Kingdom

University

University of East Anglia

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Keywords

Microbiology
Ecology
Environmental Science
Agriculture
Biology
Soil Science
Biodiversity
Systems Biology
Fungal Biology
Genomic
Bioinformatic

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About this position

PhD opportunity at the University of East Anglia on grassland fungi recovery after disturbance, with a strong focus on fungal ecology, biodiversity, microbiology, bioinformatics, genomics, soil science, and environmental biology.

The project asks how long it takes fungal communities in unimproved, sensitively grazed lowland grasslands to recover after disturbance such as ploughing. These habitats are important for plant health, nutrient cycling, and carbon storage, but their fungal communities are still poorly understood. The student will work across three UK grassland sites: Rothamsted Research long-term experiment sites in Hertfordshire and Devon, and the Holkham Estate in Norfolk.

Research will combine field sampling, soil chemistry, metabarcoding sequencing, and comparative bacterial sequencing to study how disturbance history shapes fungal and bacterial communities. The project also includes a finer-scale root/rhizosphere/bulk soil study on a shared grass species to examine recruitment of fungal partners across sites.

Training includes field ecology, laboratory methods, fungal taxonomy, biogeochemistry, coding, and data science, with access to Earlham Institute bioinformatics expertise and long-term experiment datasets through Rothamsted Research.

Eligibility: a degree in ecology, microbiology, environmental science, or a related field; at least UK-equivalent 2:1; enthusiasm for field, lab, and computational work. English requirement: IELTS 6.5 overall with 6.0 in each category.

Funding: competition-funded PhD project for students worldwide. Full funding is indicated, but no stipend amount is given.

Location: Norwich, United Kingdom.

Deadline: 16 December 2026.

How to apply: register your interest via the FindAPhD enquiry form on the project page. The university will contact you directly after submission.

Funding details

Competition funded PhD project for students worldwide. The post is funded; no stipend amount is stated in the text.

What's required

Applicants should have at least a UK-equivalent Bachelors (Honours) 2:1 in ecology, microbiology, environmental science, or a related field. Enthusiasm for fieldwork, laboratory work, and computational/bioinformatics work is essential. English language requirement is IELTS 6.5 overall with 6.0 in each category.

How to apply

Register your interest through the FindAPhD enquiry form on the page. The university will respond directly after you submit your details.

More information can be found here

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