PhD Projects 2017

University of Aberdeen

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

  • Deformation localisation in thrust-stacked carbonates – an investigation of the relative roles of mechanical stratigraphy and thermal maturity  (Supervisors: Dr Clare Bond, Dr David Muirhead)   Student: Lauren Kedar
  • Good, bad and ugly: microbial mineralisation around hydrocarbon seeps and spills  (Supervisors: Dr Alex Brasier, Dr Stephen Bowden, Prof. Graeme Paton (Biological Sciences – University of Aberdeen))
  • Determining the main controls on fault-associated dolomitisation and their influence on reservoir quality distribution  (Supervisors: Dr Enrique Gomez-Rivas, Dr Joyce Neilson, Dr Juan D. Martin-Martin (University of Barcelona))   Student: Elliot Humphrey
  • Towards the quantitative prediction of sandstone body connectivity within distributive fluvial systems through numerical modelling and field studies  (Supervisors: Prof. John Howell, Prof. Adrian Hartley, Dr Amanda Owen)  Student: Swiad Worms
  • Enhancing sand injectite resolution using diffraction seismic imaging methods  (Supervisors: Dr David Iacopini, Prof Andrew Hurst, Dr Evgeny Landa (University of Tel Aviv))
  • Submarine Landslides and Mass Transport Deposits from Geohazards to Georesources: An integrated field-numerical approach  (Supervisors: Dr Mehrdad Manzari, Dr Vittorio Maselli, Prof Benjamin Kneller, Dr Fabiano Gamberi (ISMAR-CNR))
  • Sediment dynamics and destabilization of continental margins: predicting shelf and slope instability under a changing climate  (Supervisors: Dr Vittorio Maselli, Alex Sharples (BP), Dr Brice Rea, Dr Mads Huuse (University of Manchester))
  • High-resolution imaging of structures beneath active mud volcanoes: reconstructing fluids emission and assessing future hazards  (Supervisors: Dr Davide Oppo, Dr Luca De Siena, Dr Andrew Revil (University of Savoie Mont-Blanc), Patrice Imbert (Total))
  • The social-ecological impacts of decommissioning – exploring pathways through multi-disciplinary geo-spatial modelling, visualisation and stakeholder engagement  (Supervisors: Dtr Tavis Potts, Dr David Green)

University of Birmingham

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

  • Microfossil records of basin evolution  (Supervisors: Dr Ian Boomer, Dr Kirsty Edgar, Dr Sev Kender (BGS)) 
  • New Paleogene bio- and chemo-stratigraphies from key exploration areas in the equatorial Atlantic Ocean  (Supervisors: Dr Kirsty Edgar, Dr Tom Dunkley-Jones, Dr Carina Hoorn (University of Amsterdam), Dr Farid Chemale Junior (Universidade de Brasilia)   Student: Mike McKnight

Cardiff University

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

  • Jurassic Oceanic Gateways of the North Atlantic (Supervisors: Dr Tiago Alves, Prof Steve Hesselbo (University of Exeter))        Student: Olivia Walker
  • The reservoir potential of submarine slide blocks and associated deposit  (Supervisors: Dr Tiago Alves, Dr Davide Gamboa)

University of Dundee

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

  • Effects of soil erosion and vegetation on the installation of buried Oil & Gas pipelines  (Supervisors: Dr Glyn Bengough, Dr Andrew Black (School of Social Science – Dundee), Dr Anthony Leung)  Student: Kayleigh Kats
  • Future Liability for Abandonment Failures  (Supervisors: Prof. Colin Reid, Prof. Andrea Ross, Dr Tom Dyer)

University of Durham

4 PhD positions awarded (highlighted in blue) from 10 approved projects

  • Leakage Risks in Petroleum and CO2 Storage Reservoirs: Shale Petrophysics  (Supervisors: Prof. Andy Aplin, Dr Nicola De Paola)
  • Geomechanics in Digital Rock Analysis  (Supervisors: Dr Will Coombs, Prof Gary Couples (Heriot-Watt University), Dr Ed Llewellin)
  • Reactivated basement shear zones – the influence of lattice preferred orientation on brittle fracture propagation and Seismic anisotropy  (Supervisors: Dr Eddie Dempsey, Prof. Bob Holdsworth, Dr Stefan Nielsen, Dr Jonathan Imber)
  • Diagenetic evolution of the geomechanical properties of shales  (Supervisors: Dr Nicola De Paola, Dr Mo Rouainia (University of Newcastle), Prof. Andy Aplin, Dr Pablo Cubillas)
  • Pore-Scale Imaging of Cross Fault Flow in High Porosity Sandstones using High Pressure-Temperature Fluid Tomography (Supervisors: Dr Kate Dobson, Dr Thomas Seers (Texas A&M University, Qatar), Dr Branko Bijelic (Imperial College London))
  • Understanding Enhanced Oil Recovery in UK reservoirs  (Supervisors: Prof. Chris Greenwell, Dr Anke Neumann (University of Newcastle), Dr Cedric Carteret (University of Lorraine))   Student: Nikolaos Apeiranthitis
  • The nature, consequences and controls of deformation during superimposed rifting: the Inner Moray Firth Basin  (Supervisors: Prof. Bob Holdsworth, Prof. John Underhill (Heriot-Watt University), Dr Jonathan Imber, Dr Eddie Dempsey, Prof. David Selsby)     Student: Alexandra Tamas
  • Fracturing and fluid-flow in an exhumed Jurassic basin: an integrated field, microstructural, geochronological and isotopic study of vein mineralisation within mudstone-dominated successions  (Supervisors: Prof. Andy Aplin, Prof. Bob Holdsworth, Dr Nick Roberts (BGS) Dr Cedric John (Imperial College London), Dr Richard Haslam)   Student: Jack Lee
  • Minimising fugitive emissions from gas transfer network by in situ characterisation of infra-structure properties  (Supervisors: Prof. Fred Worral, Prof. Richard Davies (University of Newcastle), Keith Owens (Northern Gas Networks)
  • Statistical characterisation of fluvial sandbodies: Implications for complex reservoir models  (Supervisors: Dr Stuart Jones, Dr Ian Jermyn (Mathematics – University of Durham), Prof. Ken McCaffrey, Prof. Mark Allen)  Student: Maximilian Franzel

University of Exeter

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

  • Improved understanding of borehole instability mechanisms through development of an enhanced visualization-numerical modelling approach  (Supervisors: Prof. John Coggan, Dr Matthew Eyre)   Student: Abraham Audu 
  • An integrated remote sensing-numerical modelling approach for evaluation and optimization of hydrocarbon reservoir performance  (Supervisors: Prof. John Coggan, Dr Matthew Eyre)
  • A rapid assessment toolkit for screening the ecological impact of spilled oil  (Supervisor: Prof. Tamara Galloway)
  • Middle to Late Jurassic global palaeoenvironmental events in the Arabian Gulf region: chemostratigraphy, cyclostratigraphy, and sedimentology  (Supervisors: Prof. Steve Hesselbo, Dr Aisha Al Sawaidi (Petroleum Institute, Abu Dhabi), Dr Micha Ruhl (University of Oxford))
  • Unravelling the contributions of source terrains, palaeoclimate, and diagenesis through formation-scale changes in clay mineralogy of shale  (Supervisors: Prof. Steve Hesselbo, Dr Kate Littler)
  • A fully coupled XFEM model for hydraulic fracturing in multi-phase porous media  (Supervisors: Prof. Akbar Javadi, Prof. John Coggan, Dr Tim Harper (Geosphere Ltd.))   Student: Matteo Gemignani

Heriot-Watt University

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

  • Resilience of coralline algae to oil contamination via intricate microbial associations  (Supervisors: Dr Heidi Burdett, Prof. Tony Gutierrez, Dr Lynda Webster (Marine Scotland Science), Louise O’Hara Murray (Oil & Gas UK))
  • The Distribution and Origin of the Silica in the Non-Marine Carbonates of the Purbeck Formation, Dorset and Comparison to Silica Occurrences in Analogues in Brazil and Angola  (Supervisors: Prof. Patrick Corbett, Dr Jim Buckman)
  • Prediction of flow through fractures and maximising recovery under geological uncertainty and geomechanical constraints  (Supervisors: Dr Vasily Demyanov, Prof. Gary Couples, Dr Dan Arnold)  Student: Bastian Steffens
  • Marine oil snow (MOS) formation and its role in the fate of crude oil in NE Atlantic waters  (Supervisors: Dr Tony Gutierrez, Dr Martin Jones (University of Newcastle), Dr Alejandro Gallego (Marine Science Scotland))
  • Controls on Mesozoic-Recent sediment routing in the Falkland Basins: implications for reservoir distribution in a frontier exploration setting  (Supervisors: Dr Uisdean Nicholson, Prof. Dorrik Stow, Dr David Macdonald (University of Aberdeen), Dr Dave McCarthy (BGS), Prof. John Underhill)
  • Internal architecture and external geometry of sand waves and contourite-influenced deposits offshore Senegal  (Supervisors: Dr Uisdean Nicholson, Prof. Dorrik Stow, Dr John Clayburn (Cairn Energy), Prof. John Underhill, Dr Dan Arnold)  Student: Amanda Gray
  • Quantifying the biological effects of precursory fluids leakage from Carbon Capture and Storage sites to optimize early warning indicators for CO2 leakage  (Supervisors: Dr Andrew Sweetman, Dr Mark Hartly, Prof. Teresa Fernandes)   Student: Milena Wales
  • Evaluating the geological case for carbon dioxide gas storage capacity in depleted fields and saline aquifers  (Supervisors: Prof. John Underhill, Dr Rachel Jamieson)  Student: Sam Head
  • Tectono-Stratigraphic Development of the Rona Ridge, Faroe-Shetland Basin  (Supervisors: Prof. John Underhill, Dr Rachel Jamieson, Dr Caroline Gill (Shell))

Imperial College London

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

  • Do numerical models produce realistic fault evolution patterns?  (Supervisors: Dr Rebecca Bell, Prof. Chris Jackson, Dr John Naliboff (University of California, Davis)   Student: Sophie Pan
  • Full-waveform inversion of industry data from the South Atlantic (Supervisors: Dr Jenny Collier, Dr Jo Morgan, Dr Lidia Lonergan, Brian Horn (ION-GX))
  • The effects of Salt Tectonics in the evolution of a Fold and Thrust Belt  (Supervisors: Prof. Rodney Graham, Dr Lidia Lonergan, Dr Jean-Claude Ringenbach (Total) Prof. Jean-Paul Callot (University of Pau), Prof. Rob Butler (University of Aberdeen))                Student: Lajos Adam Csicsek
  • Salt welds; subsurface characterisation and importance  (Supervisors: Prof. Chris Jackson, Dr Maria Nikolinakou (University of Texas, Austin, Dr Mahdi Heidari (University of Texas, Austin))
  • Relay zone kinematics during continental extension; implications for rift physiography, sediment supply and reservoir deposition  (Supervisors: Prof. Chris Jackson, Dr Rebecca Bell, Dr Joanna Faure Walker (UCL), Prof. Gerald Roberts (Birkbeck))                    Student: David Redpath
  • Prediction of optimum brine composition for controlled salinity waterflooding  (Supervisors: Prof. Matthew Jackson, Prof. Eric Mackay (Heriot-Watt University), Dr Jan Vinogradov (University of Aberdeen), Prof. Sebastian Geiger (Heriot-Watt University))
  • Fold growth in the South Caspian Sea Basin: Mechanisms and Interaction with deep-water lacustrine sediments  (Supervisors: Dr Lidia Lonergan, Prof. Mike Mayall, Dr Simon Grant (BP))  Student: Andrew Procter
  • Continental Uplift and Erosion From Drainage Patterns: Predicting Sedimentary Flux to Passive Margins  (Supervisor: Dr Gareth Roberts)

Keele University

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

  • Structural, stratigraphic and geodynamic controls on the evolution of the Carboniferous succession of northern England and southern Scotland  (Supervisors: Dr Stuart Egan, Dr Stuart Clarke)  Student: Louis Howell
  • Developing protocols to construct high-resolution 3D petroleum reservoir outcrop analogues  (Supervisors: Dr Jamie Pringle, Dr Dominic Tatum (Heriot-Watt University))

University of Manchester

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

  • Geological Uncertainty of CO2-EOR in North Sea Tertiary Oil Fields  (Supervisors: Dr Masoud Babaei, Prof. Jonathan Redfern, Dr Mads Huuse, Martyn Quinn (BGS))
  • Application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for pattern recognition and reconstruction in petroleum reservoir modelling          (Supervisors: Dr David Hodgetts, Dr Emma Finch)
  • Integrated subsurface characterization of a basin-scale carbon reservoir target  (Supervisors: Dr Mads Huuse, Prof. Jonathan Redfern, Dr Margaret Stewart (BGS))   Student: Christopher Lloyd
  • Basin-scale variability of mudstone in structurally-controlled basins  (Supervisors: Dr Rhodri Jerrett, Dr Steven Flint, Dr Julian Mecklenburgh)
  • Spatio-temporal evolution of petrophysical properties of carbonate rocks during water flooding – multiscale modelling and experiments  (Supervisors: Dr Vahid Jeokar-Niesar, Dr Cathy Hollis, Prof. Sebastian Geiger (Heriot-Watt University))
  • Discerning halokinetic from autocyclic sequences in deep-marine sedimentary systems  (Supervisors: Dr Ian Kane, Prof. Steven Flint, Prof. Chris Jackson (Imperial College London), Prof. David Hodgson (University of Leeds) Dr Emma Finch)                                 Student: Zoe Cumberpatch
  • Linking permeability and seismic properties of shales  (Supervisors: Dr Julian Mecklenburgh, Prof. Ernest Rutter, Dr Andrey Jivkov)
  • Diagenesis and reservoir potential of continental carbonates: Cretaceous of the South Atlantic rift  (Supervisors: Dr Stefan Schroeder, Dr Cathy Hollis, Dr Richard Dixon (BP), Dr Ian Sharp (Statoil))  Student: Edoardo Fiordalisi
  • Removing organic contaminants from oil/gas waste waters  (Supervisors: Dr B. Van Dongen, Dr S. Boult, Dr R Wogelius, N. Brown (Arvia Techn. Ltd), A. Nabeerasol (Arvia Techn. Ltd.))

Newcastle University

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

  • The role of asphaltenes in emulsion stabilisation formed by ocean oil spills  (Supervisors: Dr Geoffrey Abbott, Dr Nicholas Parker)
  • How depositional properties dictate the early diagenetic pathways and reservoir quality – integrating outcrop examples, modern analogues to pore-scale observations  (Supervisors: Dr Sanem Acikalin, Prof. Richard Worden (University of Liverpool), Dr Cees van der Land)   Student: Claire McGhee

University of Nottingham – University of Birmingham partnership

1 PhD position awarded from 1 approved project

  • Unlocking Natural Catalysis in Subsurface Oil Recovery  (Supervisors: Prof. Joe Wood (University of Birmingham), Dr Sean Rigby (University of Nottingham), Prof. Lynne Macaskie (University of Birmingham))   Student: Matthew Parker

University of Oxford

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

  • Exploiting sparse structures in seismic modelling and inversion  (Supervisors: Prof. Tarje Nissen-Meyer, Prof. Karen Sigloch, Dr James Rickett)  Student: Claudia Haindl
  • Calcite-Aragonite Seas and porosity prediction: A New Approach  (Supervisors: Dr Rosalind Rickaby, Dr Hugh Jenkyns, Dr Andy Gale (University of Portsmouth))
  • Determining the age of oils using flowering plant biomarkers  (Supervisors: Prof. Stuart Robinson, Dr Erdem Idiz)

Royal Holloway University of London

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

  • Impact of early salt tectonic processes on Post-Permian Basin Evolution and Mesozoic Petroleum Systems in the Southern North Sea  (Supervisors: Dr Jurgen Adam, Dr Nicola Scarselli)  Student: Christopher Brennan
  • Sedimentary response of shallow- and deep-marine depositional systems developed in tectonically controlled elongate/narrow basins, based on outcrop and subsurface data  (Supervisors: Dr Domenico Chiarella, Dr Javier F. Hernandez-Molina, Dr Sergio G. Longhitano (University of Basilicata))
  • Integrated assessment of the hydrocarbon potential of fault-degradation complexes  (Supervisors: Dr Nicola Scarselli, Prof. Ken McClay, Martin Insley (Tullow Oil), Dr Oriol Ferrer (University of Barcelona))

University of Southampton

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

  • Controlled source electromagnetic data analysis to evaluate potential fluid flow pathways associated with carbon capture and storage sites  (Supervisors: Dr Romina Gehrmann, Prof. Tim Minshull, Prof. Jon Bull)
  • Optimising the value of near-surface seismic reflection data  (Supervisors: Prof. Tim Henstock, Dr Mark Vardy)  Student: Callum Clay
  • Full Waveform Inversion of the Atlantic Seafloor from 0-80 My  (Supervisors: Prof. Catherine Rychert, Dr Nicholas Harmon)

University of Strathclyde

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

  • How likely is high-amplitude earthquake shaking for UK oil and gas installations?  (Supervisors: Dr John Douglas, Prof. Zoe Shipton)  Student: Christopher Brooks
  • Alternative anti-biofouling strategies: selecting the path of least resistance  (Supervisors: Prof. Vernon Phoenix, Prof Bob Kalin, Dr Charles Knapp)  Student: Felix Nicol
  • Structural and passive seismic data fusion for the detection of fluid migration pathways in the overburden  (Supervisors: Dr Stella Pytharouli, Prof. Rebecca Lunn, Prof. Zoe Shipton)