Frans de Vries

This funded PhD opportunity at the University of Glasgow offers a unique chance to address the complex challenge of managing land predators across Scotland’s diverse landscapes. Predators play a vital role in ecosystem health and biodiversity, but their changing abundance and distribution can lead to conflicts with human activities such as farming, game management, and urban development. The project aims to formalize the ecological and economic trade-offs involved in predator management, with the goal of promoting whole-ecosystem biodiversity while balancing the needs of people, livestock, and land. Students will develop and apply spatially explicit ecosystem models, integrating data on land use, predator populations, and socio-economic factors. The research will use advanced statistical and computational tools, including approximate Bayesian computation, to fit models to historical and contemporary datasets. Key case studies include the impact of white-tailed eagles on sheep farming in the west coast, gamebird-driven predator dynamics in Fife/Borders, and the rise of urban predators in peri-urban areas around Glasgow and Edinburgh. These scenarios will help students build expertise in scenario analysis, forecasting, biodiversity net gain assessment, and evidence-based land management design. The project is ideal for candidates with interests in quantitative ecology, ecological modelling, conservation science, land-use planning, environmental economics, or human–wildlife interactions. Applicants should be comfortable with coding, working with large datasets, and integrating ecological and socio-economic information. The PhD is supervised by leading experts in ecology, environmental economics, and remote sensing, and is co-developed with NatureScot, ensuring strong policy relevance and opportunities for stakeholder engagement. Funding is guaranteed for four years at the UKRI national rate, including a tax-free stipend of £20,780 (2025/26), tuition fees at the Home rate, extensive research support funding, and support for an external placement of up to six months. Both home and international students are eligible to apply, though international fee waivers are limited and applicants are encouraged to contact the primary supervisor before applying. Part-time study is available at a minimum of 50%, with funding provided pro rata. The application deadline is January 30, 2026. Prospective students should apply online via the University of Glasgow portal and prepare to submit a CV, academic transcripts, and a statement of research interests. For further details, refer to the project link provided.