Are you passionate about solving complex environmental challenges? Interested in creating non-toxic spaces that benefit society and nature alike? This exciting PhD project, part of the NERC-funded ECOSOLUTIONS Doctoral Focal Award, offers the opportunity to help tackle the problem of rural landscapes and food systems
About the Project
Synthetic nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) fertilisers have been crucial to increasing the yield of food crops during the twentieth century, but manufacturing processes are not sustainable: production is extremely energy intensive (N) or relies on dwindling finite resources (P). There are further downstream ecological problems following application of fertiliser, including emissions of the powerful greenhouse gas (GHG) nitrous oxide (N2O) from the soil and eutrophication of waterways.
Bio-fertiliser, developed by businesses such as NPK, re-uses nutrients in urine sewage collected from, among other sources, festival toilets, to replace conventional fertiliser and provide a compelling recycling ‘solution’ to conventional fertiliser problems.
On the plus side, yields in field trials of bio-fertiliser matched conventional synthetic fertilisers. However, the bio-fertiliser also contains antibiotics, antifungal medications and other drugs. Many of these compounds are known to impact on soil microbial communities responsible for the function of micro- and macro-biology in the soil. These soil microbial communities are hypothesised to have effects on plant productivity, nitrogen cycling, soil GHG emissions and other aspects of ecosystem function. These effects can depend upon the type and host-specificity of plant–soil microbe interactions and the capacity for persistence and accumulation in the soil, soil organisms and crops.
This PhD aims to employ mathematical modelling to develop generalised theory about whether and how mixtures of N/P and pharmaceutical compounds from bio-fertiliser drive microbial community-plant productivity – farmland biodiversity relationships. The PhD will develop mathematical ‘soil microbial-aboveground community ecology’ models that allow the partitioning of the relative effects of N/P vs. pharmaceuticals on soil biodiversity, productivity and biodiversity relationships and extend to ecosystem function including biomass/yield, C/N flux and energy flux. Students will develop skills in applied mathematical modelling alongside understanding of agricultural productivity and modern regulatory risk assessment.
The ECOSOLUTIONS DFA
Led by the Universities of Sheffield and York and the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, ECOSOLUTIONS is a cutting-edge, transdisciplinary initiative. This innovative programme combines science, policy, and societal engagement to transform chemicals policy and management, enabling a safe, sustainable chemicals sector and non-toxic environments. This project is one of 16 projects that are available for the second ECOSOLUTIONS cohort who will work together to begin to understand and solve the problems of rural landscapes and food systems
What You will Gain
As an ECOSOLUTIONS PhD student, you will work with world-leading experts across diverse fields such as ecology, chemistry, geography, psychology, environmental engineering, policy, and law. You will learn to tackle the risks posed by chemicals while enabling their societal benefits, adopting a whole-systems and solutions-focused approach.
You will receive 3 years and 9 months of funding and take part in a dynamic training and development programme, including:
Induction course: Connect with fellow students, supervisors, and the ECOSOLUTIONS team while exploring the programme’s mission.
Primer course: Gain foundational knowledge on chemical impacts, policy landscapes, and sustainable chemical innovation.
Transferable skills workshops: Master data management, big data methods, research practices, communication, and more.
Systems-solutions workshops: Collaborate across disciplines to address pollution in rural landscapes and food systems and develop actionable solutions
Three-month secondment: Work with NPK Recovery
International conferences: Share your findings and network with global experts.
The skills you will need:
To do this project you will need the following essential skills:
Theoretical ecology or ecotoxicology and experience with programming in R, Python, C++ or Matlab for mathematical modelling as well as statistics and visualisation.
Eligibility:
To be considered for the ECOSOLUTIONS DFA, you will need at least an upper 2nd class honours degree or equivalent in a relevant discipline.
As a collaboration of international research-led universities, we welcome students from all walks of life and from across the world. Within our programme, we are dedicated to diversifying our community.
As part of our ongoing work to improve Equality, Diversity and Inclusion we strongly encourage applications from UK/Home candidates from identified underrepresented groups: Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, those from a disadvantaged socio-economic background, and disabled people.
Start Your Research Career with ECOSOLUTIONS:
This PhD is part of the ECOSOLUTIONS Doctoral Focal Award (DFA), a prestigious NERC-funded program dedicated to training the next generation of environmental practitioners. For more details and a full list of other PhD projects under this programme, visit: https://ecosolutions.sites.sheffield.ac.uk/
Funding Notes
This is a full scholarship which will cover tuition fees for Home students and provide an annual stipend in line with UKRI recommended levels (£20,780 in 2025-26) for the 45 months duration.
Due to CDT funding rules and Institutional policies, there is a cap on the number of scholarships that can be awarded to international students. Once this limit has been reached, ECOSOLUTIONS DFA scholarships will only be awarded to students who are eligible for Home fee status.
For more information on how to apply, please visit the ECOSOLUTIONS website: View Website
Project specific enquiries: Prof Andrew Beckerman, a.beckerman@sheffield.ac.uk
Register your interest for this project here: https://www.findaphd.com/phds/project/ecosolutions-dfa-quantifying-pharmaceutical-effects-on-microbial-and-aboveground-trophic-ecology-using-food-web-models/?p189386
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