University of Aberdeen

3 PhD positions awarded (highlighted in blue) from 8 approved projects:

• Quantifying strain partitioning in multi-layers in fold-forelimbs: implications for reservoir quality and connectivity (Supervisors: Dr Clare Bond, Prof John Howell)  PhD student: Adam Cawood
• Investigating rates and processes of travertine deposition and diagenesis (Supervisors: Alex Brasier, Joyce Neilson)
• The influence of recurrent fracture opening and sealing on dynamic permeability (Supervisors: Enrique Gomez-Rivas, David Iacopini, Paul Bons (Tübingen), Albert Griera (Barcelona))
• Quantifying and Reducing the Risk to Offshore Pipelines from Iceberg Gouging (Supervisors: Ana Ivanovic, Andrew Brennan (Dundee))
• Linking Rifting History and Magmatic Cyclicity West of Britain (WoB) (Supervisors: Dr Nick Schofield, Dr Malcolm Hole, Prof Dave Jolley, Dr Simon Holford (Adelaide))  PhD student: Faye Walker
• Thermal stimulation of shale for improved hydrocarbon recovery (Supervisors: Dr Amer Syed, Dr Anna Korre (Imperial), Dr Yukie Tanino)
• Mechanical stratigraphy in carbonate reservoirs: the influence of facies on stylolite and fracture network properties (Supervisors: Enrique Gomez-Rivas, Dave Healy, Paul Bons (Tübingen), Juan D. Martín-Martín (U. Barcelona))
• Seismic imaging without a source: Towards cost effective and low environmental impact hydrocarbon exploration (Supervisors: Prof Nicholas Rawlinson, Dr David Cornwell)  PhD student: Emily Crowder

University of Birmingham

1 PhD position awarded (highlighted in blue) from 3 approved projects:

• Ostracod-based reconstructions of North Atlantic deep-water environments (Supervisors: Ian Boomer, Tom Dunkley Jones, Oliver Friedrich (Universitaet Heidelberg)
• Revealing the internal flow of salt structures (Supervisors: Carl Stevenson, Ian Alsop (Aberdeen), Nick Schofield (Aberdeen), Craig Magee (Imperial))  PhD student: Jack Richardson
• Neogene stratigraphy, palaeogeography and palaeoenvironments of the NW European Shelf (Supervisors: Steve Jones, James Bendle, Tom Dunkley Jones)

Cardiff University

1 PhD position awarded (highlighted in blue) from 2 approved projects:

• Carbonate platforms on Equatorial Margins: Geometry, evolution and importance as hydrocarbon reservoirs (Supervisors: Tiago M Alves, Lesley Cherns, Davide Gamboa)  PhD student: James Van Tuyl
• Megablocks on continental margins and their potential as reservoir units (Supervisors: Tiago M Alves, Davide Gamboa)

Dundee University

1 PhD position awarded (highlighted in blue) from 2 approved projects:

• Understanding hydrocarbon impacts on vegetation and detection with remote sensing (Supervisors: Dr Mark Cutler, Dr Glyn Bengough)
• Underwater landslide geohazard: Investigating the risk to O&G installations in the northern North Atlantic (Supervisors: Dr Sue Dawson, Prof Ping Dong)  PhD student: Zoe Ross

University of Durham

3 PhD positions awarded (highlighted in blue) from 9 approved projects

• Geomechanics in Digital Rock Analysis (Supervisors: Will Coombs, Gary Couples (Heriot-Watt) Ed Llewellin)
• Understanding Enhanced Oil Recovery in UK reservoirs (Supervisors: Dr Pablo Cubillas, Dr Chris Greenwell, Dr Valentina Erastova, (Company Supervisor, BP))
• Nano-scale and interfacial processes during hydraulic fracture stimulation in shale reservoirs (Supervisors: Dr N De Paola, Dr P Cubillas, Dr J Imber, Prof RE Holdsworth)  PhD student: Rosanne Murray
• Diagenetic Controls of Reservoir Quality in Carboniferous Tight Gas Sandstones (Supervisors: Jon Gluyas, Andrew Aplin, Stuart Jones)
• Integrated study of horizontal tensile veins (“beef”) in thick shale successions to inform overpressure prediction (Supervisors: Jonathan Imber, Howard Armstrong, Nicola De Paola, Colin Macpherson)
• Statistical characterisation of fluvialsandbodies: implications for complex reservoir models (Supervisors: Stuart Jones, Mark Allen, Ken McCaffrey, Ian Jerymn (Durham))
• Quantitative Controls of Pore Systems in Carbonate-rich Shales (Supervisors: Andrew Aplin, Mark Thomas (Newcastle), Ruarri Day-Stirrat (Shell), Chris Greenwell)  PhD student: Ilaria Gaiani
• A reservoir-scale structural reappraisal of onshore Devonian analogues of the Clair Group in the Fair Isle-Shetland region (Supervisors: Bob Holdsworth, Ken McCaffrey, Richard Jones (GRL), Andy Conway (ConocoPhillips))  PhD student: Tom Utley
• Developing high-resolution correlation tools for UK Carboniferous shale basins (Supervisors: David Harper, Howard Armstrong (Company Supervisor, IGas/Chemostrat))

University of Exeter (Camborne School of Mines)

2 approved projects:

• Understanding mudrocks using a new heavy mineral approach (Supervisors: Ian Baily, Robin Shail)
• Leaching of shale upon fracking: Prediction of well water quality (Supervisors: Prof Bernd Lottermoser, Dr Keith Bateman (BGS))

University of Glasgow

1 PhD position awarded (highlighted in blue) from 3 approved projects

• Constraining the thermal histories of the Carboniferous Midland Valley of Scotland: a potential resource for unconventional gas and shale oil? (Supervisors: Cristina Persano, Roderick Brown, Brian Bell)
• Understanding the formation and topographic evolution of continental rifts: analysis of the Rukwa-Malawi sector of the East African Rift (Supervisors: Roderick Brown, Daniel Koehn, Cristina Persano, Fin Stuart (SUERC))
• Understanding porosity-permeability evolution of basement faults using 4D computed X-ray tomography (Supervisors: Daniel Koehn, Martin Lee, Andrea Hamilton, Zoe Shipton)  PhD student: Allan Hollinsworth

Heriot-Watt University

3 PhD positions awarded (highlighted in blue) from 9 approved projects:

• Geological realism in microbial carbonate reservoir prediction under uncertainty (Supervisors: Vasily Demyanov, Prof P W M Corbett)
• Controls on and consequences of punctuated passive margin subsidence and structural inversion along Atlantic conjugate margins (Supervisors: Prof J Underhill, Rachel Jamieson, Karyna Rodriguez, Neil Hodgson, Howard Nicholls (Spectrum Geo Ltd)                    PhD student: Stavros Vrachliotis
• Numerical Diagenesis of Reservoir Rocks (Supervisors: Dr Helen Lewis, Dr Jim Buckman, Dr Zeyun Jiang)
• Improving Hydraulic Fracturing Prediction Accuracy: Experiment-Simulation Comparison (Supervisors: Dr David Connolly, Elma Charalampidou, Dr Jingsheng Ma)
• Evaluating the resilience of deepwater systems to recover from oil spills (Supervisors: Dr Tony Gutierrez, Ian Head (Newcastle); Collaborators: Robert Gatliff (BGS), Jeffrey Polton (NOC), Alejandro Gallego, Eileen Bresnan (MSS))  PhD student: Laura Duran
• Development of a SUNTANS Baroclinic Model for 3D Oil Pollution Tracking (Supervisors: Dr David Woolf, Susana Baston, Rob Harris, Karl Stephen, Venki Venugopal (Edinburgh))
• Quantification of hydraulic fracturing induced seismic risks using a probabilistic data assimilation approach (Supervisors: Dr Ahmed H Elsheikh, Prof Gary Couples, Prof Mike Christie)
• Bots in Rocks: Intelligent Rock Deformation for Fault Rock Petrophysical Properties (Supervisors: Dr Helen Lewis, David Flynn, Jim Somerville)
• Deepwater Geo-hazards from Bottom-Currents: High-resolution Geophysics, Geotechnics and the Bedform-Velocity Matrix (Supervisors: Prof Dorrik Stow, Robert Gatliff (Director Energy and Marine Geoscience, BGS)  PhD student: Philip Green

Imperial College London

3 PhD positions awarded (highlighted in blue) from 6 approved projects:

• Combined CO2 storage and Enhanced Oil Recovery in the North Sea (Supervisors: Sam Krevor, Niall MacDowell)                               PhD student: Olivia Sloan
• Constraining reservoir distribution via integrated statigraphic architectural and sediment mass balance analysis (Supervisors: Alex Whittaker, Gareth Roberts
• Diagenetic processes in carbonate reservoirs; from direct investigation to modelling of pore-scale diagenesis (Supervisors: Dr Cédric John, Dr Sam Krevor  PhD student: Claire Veillard
• The impact of scalar geological heterogeneities on rock property measurements of a wave-dominated deltaic reservoir (Supervisors: Peter Fitch, Andrew Kingdon (BGS), Gary Hampson
• Predicting slope reservoir distribution and quality through quantification of tectonic influence and autocyclic processes (Supervisors: Dr Lidia Lonergan, Dr Mike Mayall, Dr. Alex Whittaker  PhD student: Marco Pizzi
• Visualisation and modelling of gas injection processes in 3D (Supervisors: Sam Krevor, Ann Muggeridge (ICL), Tara Laforce (ICL and CSIRO)

Keele University

1 PhD position awarded (highlighted in blue) from 2 approved projects:

• The energetics of hydraulic fracturing: Where does the energy go? (Supervisors: Dr Rachel Westwood, Mr Sam Toon, Prof Peter Styles)
• The influence of halokinesis on shallow-marine sediments in salt basins: The Fulmar Formation, Central North Sea, UK (Supervisors: Dr Ian Stimpson, Dr S Banham (BGS), S Rogers)  PhD student: James Foey

University of Manchester

3 PhD positions awarded (highlighted in blue) from 9 approved projects:

• Mineral precipitation and remobilisation in carbonate-rich unconventional shale plays: implications for pore-structure development (Supervisors: Prof Kevin Taylor, Dr Cathy Hollis)
• Seismic characterisation of fluid flow and thermal regime in deep-water basins (Supervisors: Mads Huuse, Jonathan Redfern, Matt Hornbach (Southern Methodist University, Texas))
• Quantification of carbonate pore networks for improved permeability prediction (Supervisors: Dr Cathy Hollis, Dr Nima Shokri)     PhD student: Michael Lacey
• Sequence stratigraphy and reservoir quality of intra-continental shelf mudstones: the Magoffin Shale,central Appalachian basin, USA (Supervisors: Stephen Flint, Rhodri Jerrett, Kevin Taylor)
• Radionuclide fate in naturally occurring radioactive materials formed during oil and gas extraction (Supervisors: Dr Sam Shaw, Prof Katherine Morris, Prof Kevin G Taylor, Peter Evans (BP))  PhD student: Faraaz Ahmad
• Numerical simulation of braided river systems for improved object and MPS-based reservoir modelling (Supervisors: Dr David Hodgetts, Prof Jonathan Redfern, Dr Emma Finch)  PhD student: David Taylor
• Quantifying fugitive emissions of greenhouse gases from hydraulic fracturing (Supervisors: Dr Grant Allen, Dr Peter Hollingsworth (MACE))
• Pore scale investigation of multiphase flow in carbonate rocks (Supervisors: Dr Cathy Hollis, Dr Nima Shokri)
• Mineral transformations in siliceous mudstones and implications for shale reservoir properties: the Miocene Monterey Formation, California and analogues (Supervisors: Prof Kevin Taylor, Prof Roy Wogelius, Prof Andy Aplin (Durham))

Newcastle University

1 PhD position awarded (highlighted in blue) from 4 approved projects:

• Shale gas in the UK: geochemical mapping of critical shale properties across Carboniferous basins (Supervisors: Prof Thomas Wagner, Dr Martin Jones, Dr Christian März, Prof Andrew Aplin(Durham), Dr Howard Armstrong (Durham), Dr. Jonathan Imber (Durham), Dr Patrick Barnard (Applied Petroleum Technology, APT, Wales-UK)
• Advanced characterisation of high-sulpher source rock-oil systems (Supervisors: Prof Thomas Wagner, Dr Martin Jones, Dr Christian März, Prof Kevin Taylor (Manchester), Dr Rob Newton (Leeds), Prof Simon Poulton (Leeds))
• Fundamentals of hydrocarbon inclusions in carbonate diagenetic cements (Supervisors: Cees van der Land, Martin Jones, Joyce Neilson (Aberdeen))
• The Geochemistry of Carboniferous Maximum Flooding Surfaces in the Bowland Shale Formation  (Supervisors: Dr Sanem Acikalin, Dr Shannon Flynn, Dr Martin Jones, Dr Howard Armstrong (Durham))  PhD student: Jack Walker

University of Nottingham – University of Birmingham partnership

1 PhD position awarded from 3 approved projects:

• In-situ Upgrading of Oil Using Naturally Occurring Clay Minerals and Hydrotalcites (Supervisors: Joseph Wood (Birmingham), Sean Rigby (Nottingham))
• Unlocking Natural Catalysis in Oilsands for Effective Oil Upgrading (Supervisors: Joseph Wood (Birmingham), Sean Rigby (Nottingham), Prof Lynne Macaskie (Birmingham))
• Achieving effective and low-impact production of heavy oil (Supervisors: Sean Rigby, Joseph Wood (Birmingham))                               PhD student: Hosne Jahan

University of Oxford

4 PhD positions awarded (highlighted in blue) from 7 approved projects:

• Authigenic mineral corrosion and the origins of secondary porosity in lacustrine carbonate reservoirs: An experimental approach (Supervisors: Dr Nicholas Tosca, Prof V Paul Wright (PW Carbonate Geoscience & National Museum of Wales))
• Exploring the petroleum potential of a frontier province: Cretaceous stratigraphy and environments of coastal Myanmar (Supervisors: Prof Stuart Robinson, Prof Gideon Henderson)  PhD student: Tin Tin Naing
• Quantifying the role of groundwater in hydrocarbon systems using noble gas isotopes (Supervisors: Chris Ballentine, Barbara Sherwood Lollar (Toronto))  PhD student: Anran Cheng
• Coupled flow of water and gas during hydraulic fracturing in shale (Supervisors: Christopher W MacMinn, Joe Cartwright)              PhD student: Luke Jenkins
• Calcite-Aragonite Seas and porosity prediction: A New Approach (Supervisors: Rosalind Rickaby, Hugh Jenkyns, and Andy Gale (Portsmouth))
• Are non-marine organic-rich shales suitable exploration targets? (Supervisors: Stuart Robinson, Steve Hesselbo (Exeter))                 PhD student: Danielle Kondla
• Efficient local-scale modelling of wave propagation in complex axisymmetric media (Supervisors: Dr Tarje Nissen-Meyer, Prof Johan Robertsson (ETH Zurich))

Royal Holloway University of London

2 approved projects:

• Methane emissions from the UK gas industry (Supervisors: Dr D Lowry, Prof E G Nisbet)
• Developing reservoir presence probability mapping using stratigraphic forward modelling (Supervisors: Peter Burgess, David Waltham)

University of Southampton / National Oceanography Centre (NOC)

3 PhD positions awarded (highlighted in blue) from 9 approved projects:

• Reconstructing the ocean floor shape in turbidite basins using seismic interpretation, forward modelling, and outcrop analogues (Supervisors: Dr Frank Peel, Dr Esther Sumner (UoS), Dr Gillian Apps (BP), David Stanbrook (Murphy Oil) and Dr Doug Paton (Leeds))
• High resolution 3D imaging of Polygonal Fault Systems (Supervisors: Dr Justin Dix, Prof Joe Cartwright (Oxford), Professor Jon Bull)  PhD student: Callum Fry
• Seismic imaging of the crust and mantle beneath Haiti and the Caribbean Sea (Supervisors: Dr Derek Keir, Dr Kate Rychert, Dr Nick Harmon)  PhD student: Daniel Possee
• Full waveform inversion of scattered and surface waves in the Afar Triple Junction (Supervisors: Dr Catherine Rychert, Dr Derek Keir, Dr Nicholas Harmon)
• Understanding sediment suspension in turbidity currents in order to predict hazards to seafloor infrastructure (Supervisors: Dr Esther Sumner, Dr Peter Talling, Dr Matthieu Cartigny, Michael Clare (Fugro))
• Novel use of Chirp sonar technology to image internal dynamics of full-scale turbidity currents (Supervisors: Dr Mark Vardy, Dr Matthieu Cartigny, Prof John Hughes Clarke (Ocean Mapping Group – University of New Brunswick, Canada), Dr Charlie Thompson)
• Does rapid loss of soil structure trigger submarine landslides and what are the implications for hydrocarbon structures? (Supervisors: Dr Antonis Zervos, Dr Peter Talling, Dr Mark Vardy, Michael Clare (Fugro))
• Joint elastic-electrical anisotropy in fractured reservoir rocks (Supervisors: Dr Angus Best, Dr Karen Weitemeyer, Prof Tim Minshull, Dr Mark Chapman (Edinburgh))
• Source Rocks, thermal history and unconventionals in the Weald Basin (Supervisors: Dr I C Harding, Prof John E A Marshall)            PhD student: Tanya Beattie

University of Strathclyde

1 PhD position awarded (highlighted in blue) from 2 approved projects:

• Fracking EcoToxicology (FRACK-ET) (Supervisors: Dr Charles Knapp, Prof Zoe Shipton)  PhD student: Lauren McNally
• Chemical tracer loss during carbon dioxide leakage from carbon storage sites (Supervisors: Dr Christine Switzer, Prof Zoe Shipton, Dr Jennifer Roberts)