MPhil/PhD Programmes

MPhil/PhD in Environmental Economics and Environmental Management

Interdisciplinary research across economic and ecological sciences is concentrated in the following key areas:

  • Economics of the environment
  • Ecology and environmental management, with emphasis on marine systems, tropical and temperate forest systems, and agro-ecosystems
  • The nature and impacts of environmental pollution
  • Sustainable use of terrestrial, marine and freshwater resources
  • Economic growth and environmental health outcomes
  • Environmental health, migration and socio-economic change

MPhil/PhD in Environmental Science

Research in this programme is focussed on:

  • Prediction of water quality from catchment characteristics
  • Pollution effects upon soil/plant/water ecosystems
  • Evaluation of critical loads and levels of pollutants
  • Modelling of atmospheric chemistry processes
  • Biogeochemical cycling and sustainability
  • Indoor and outdoor exposure to air pollution
  • Environmental impacts of volcanoes
  • Pathways and impacts of agricultural pollutants
  • Tropical ecosystem response to environmental change
  • Reconstructing Quaternary environments and sea levels
  • Managing consequences of climate change

Requirements for Admission

Students wishing to enter the MPhil/PhD programme must complete an MPhil/PhD application form. This requests details of their qualifications or those being obtained, and a short research proposal. We prefer it if people applying for a MPhil/PhD in Environmental Economics and Environmental Management have a relevant Masters degree. Those without should consider taking an MSc in EE, EEEM, MEM or the Environment/Biology MRes rather than applying direct for the MPhil/PhD programme. A pass in any of the above MSc courses would satisfy the minimum entry requirement for the MPhil/PhD in Environmental Economics and Environmental Management.

Students wishing to register for a MPhil/PhD in Environmental Science must hold at least an upper second class Honours degree (or equivalent) in a subject relevant to their proposed area of study.

The Department can only accept students for a MPhil/PhD if an appropriate member of staff is available to supervise them. Initial informal enquiries can be made to individual staff directly, or to the MPhil/PhD co-ordinator or the MPhil/PhD Admission Officer. Potential applicants may be useful to review the staff research interests page.

Supervision

Students can have one or more supervisors, with joint supervision able to involve staff from other University departments. Normally, these would be from Biology, Chemistry or Economics and Related Studies, but other combinations are possible, such as Politics, or Social Policy.

All students enrolled on the MPhil/PhD programme will be assigned a Thesis Advisory Committee (TAC), which will normally comprise of three members of staff including the student's supervisor. The TAC meets at least once a year and is designed to assist students with ideas and to critically assess their progress. It is responsible for upgrading the student's registration from the MPhil to the PhD.

Research workshops

All students registered either wholly or jointly in the Environment Department have to present one research workshop every academic year, and all MPhil/PhD students are expected to attend all of these workshops.

Ancillary research skills

Training in ancillary research skills is provided in the Research Methods module. This is compulsory unless students have completed something equivalent in a Master's degree.

Research away from Campus

Students undertaking fieldwork away from the University campus must comply with the Department's Health and Safety guidelines. Arrangements for undertaking fieldwork abroad will be tailored to the student's specific requirements but must involve affiliation to a local institution or individual which/who can facilitate contact between the student and their supervisor.

Taught modules available to MPhil/PhD students

Students can enrol for any module offered by the Environment Department. See Appendix A of the .

Upgrading from MPhil to PhD

All students entering the MPhil/PhD programme are initially enrolled for an MPhil and must upgrade to a PhD during the course of their studies. To do this they need to satisfy an Upgrading Committee that their current work together with that planned for the future will produce a PhD thesis. The Upgrading Committee will help the student to achieve this, but if ultimately it does not prove possible, the student can submit for an MPhil instead.

Duration of MPhil/PhD programme

Ideally a full-time PhD should be completed in three years. A thesis cannot be submitted before a student has been registered for this time. The minimum registration for a part-time PhD is 12 consecutive terms. Full-time students are allowed a fourth year to complete their thesis, during which time they have full access to department facilities. Providing the University is willing to extend their registration and students pay the appropriate fees, they can extend writing their thesis for a fifth year or even beyond whilst having continued access to Library and computing facilities.

Examination of the PhD thesis

A PhD thesis must not exceed 80,000 words in length (excluding copied material or raw data in appendices). All students have an oral examination (viva), conducted by at least one external expert, together with an examiner from the University of York.