PhD Projects 2018

University of Aberdeen

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

  • Calibrating Geothermometers: integrating field, laboratory and well data for appraising thermal maturation of organic matter  (Supervisors: Dr David Muirhead, Dr Alex Brasier)  Student: Alexander O’Donnell
  • How responsive are coastal carbonate depositional systems to relative sea-level change?  (Supervisors: Prof. Rob Butler, Prof John Howell, Dr Rosanna Maniscalco (University of Catania), Dr Agata di Stefano (University of Catania))
  • ‘Overthickening’ of the Cretaceous along the NE Atlantic Margin by Igneous Intrusions (Supervisors: Dr Nick Schofield, Dr David Muirhead, Dr Simon Holdford (University of Adelaide)) Student: Lucinda Layfield
  • Reducing uncertainty in the subsurgace interpreation of fold-thrust structures – machine learning from outcrop  (Supervisors: Prof. Rob Butler, Dr Clare Bond, Prof. John Howell)   Student: Ramy Abdallah

University of Birmingham

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

  • Automated Image Analysis for Rapid Biostratigraphic Data Collection  (Supervisors: Dr Tom Dunkley-Jones, Dr Stephan Lautenschlager, Prof. Alessandro Leonardis, Dr Manuel Vieria (Shell))  Student: Emma Hanson
  • Twenty years on: the Paleocene Planktonic Foraminiferal Atlas re-imagined  (Supervisors: Dr Kirsty Edgar, Dr Tom Dunkley-Jones, Prof. Bridget Wade (UCL))
  • Development of an in-situ oil conversion process to generate clean hydrogen  (Supervisors: Prof. Joe Wood, Prof. Sean Rigby (University of Nottingham)   Student: Tom Lopeman

Cardiff University

1 approved project.  No appointment

  • A regional analysis of caprock integrity in the North Sea  (Supervisors: Dr Tiago Alves, Dr Davide Gamboa (BGS), Dr John Williams (BGS))

University of Dundee

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

  • New insight into the internal structure of turbidites from physical modelling of relevant erosion and deposition processes during their formation  (Supervisors: Dr Alan Cuthbertson, Dr Sue Dawson, Dr Karl Stephen (Heriot-Watt University), Prof. Dorrik Stow (Heriot-Watt University))   Student: Jonathan Wilkin
  • Effect of Marine Growth on Offshore Civil Engineering Structures  (Supervisors: Prof. Rod Jones, Dr Sue Dawson, Dr Tom Dyer, Prof. Geoff Gadd, Dr Saverio Spadea)

University of Durham

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

  • Modelling Immersion Enthalpies and Contact Angles for Improved Multiscale Enhanced Oil Recovery Simulation  (Supervisors: Prof. Chris Greenwell, Dr M. Degiacomi, Prof. I. Collins (BP), Dr R. Anderson (STFC, Dr E. Pyzer-Knapp (IBM))
  • The role of redox in Ferruginous clay mineral and iron nanoparticle mobilisation during enhanced oil recovery  (Supervisors: Prof. Chris Greenwell, Dr A. Neumann (University of Newcastle), Prof. I Collins (BP), Dr Kate Dobson)   Student: Christos Vasilopanagos

University of Exeter

1 PhD award (highlighted in blue)

  • Biostratigraphic and geochemical investigation of Jurassic source rocks of the UK and Norwegian North Sea  (Supervisors: Dr Sev Kender, Erik Anthonissen (Equinor), Melanie Leng (BGS), Philip Copestake (Merlin EnergyResources Ltd.), Dr Ken Miller (Rutgers University, USA))    Student: Thomas Gibson

Heriot-Watt University

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

  • Assisted geological interpretation based on human-like creative computing  (Supervisors: Dr Dan Arnold, Dr Alison Pease (University of Dundee), Prof. Simon Coulton (University of Exeter, Prof. Vasily Demyanov)   Student: Athanasios Nathanail
  • Machine learning enhanced Subsurface Mapping  (Supervisors: Prof. Vasily Demyanov, Dr Dave McCarthy (BGS), Dr Dan Arnold)    Student: Quentin Corlay
  • An Artificial Intelligence Approach to Revisit History Matching  (Supervisors: Dr Romain Chassagne, Dr Hamed Amini, Prof. Colin Macbeth)  Student: Chao Sun
  • De-risking unconventional hydrocarbon exploration and production through novel biogeochemical approaches: Towards a systematic understanding of organic matter processes in the subsurface environment   (Supervisors: Dr Ryan Pereira, Dr Julia de Rezende, Prof. Tom Wagner, Dr Onoriode Esegbue)
  • Critically evaluating the geological case for shale gas extraction in the UK   (Supervisors: Prof. John Underhill)
  • Tectonic and Stratigraphic Controls on Petroleum Systems of the Faroe Shetland Basin  (Supervisors: Prof. John Underhill, Dr Rachel Jamieson)
  • Mesozoic-Recent sediment routing and reservoir distribution in the offshore basins of the Falkland Islands using a source-to-sink approach  (Supervisors: Dr Uisdean Nicholson, Prof. Dorrik Stow, Dr Dave McCarthy (BGS))

Imperial College London

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

  • Pushing Mature Basins into the AI revolution: Using Neural Networks to Extract Quantitative Information from Core and Thin Section Images  (Supervisors: Dr Cedric John, Prof. Oliver Dubrule)    Student: Harriet Dawson
  • Techno-economic and environmental optimisation of combined Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) and Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) production and transport with CO2 capture and storage/CO2-EOR deployment in Brazil  (Supervisors: Prof. Anna Korre, Dr Zhenggang Nie, Edmilson dos Santos (Institute of Energy and Environment, University of Sao Paolo))  Student: Denis Fraga
  • Origins of deepwater anoxia in Lower Carboniferous basins of northern England  (Supervisors: Prof. Mark Sephton, Prof. Alastair Fraser)   Student: Michael Sims

University of Keele

1 PhD position awarded (highlighted in blue)

  • The development of lake margins, their interactions with contemporaneous continental environments and the implications for their reservoir potential  (Supervisors: Dr Stuart Clarke, Prof. Phil Richards)    Student: Amy Regis

University of Manchester

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

  • Controls of mass wasting on sedimentation processes and heterogeneity in slope mudstonce reservoirs  (Supervisors: Dr Rhodri Jerrett, Dr Ian Kane, Prof. Kevin Taylor, Dr Matthew Watkinson (University of Plymouth))    Student: Ashley Ayckbourne
  • Evolution of the West Africa Margin: seismic-stratigraphic study of the Mauritania-Senegal-Guinea Bissau Basin  (Supervisors: Prof. Jonathan Redfern, Prof. Mads Huuse)
  • Impact of provenance on syn-rift fluvial reservoir distribution and quality: Assessing the controls and contribution of local versus regional drainage systems, Upper Triassic fluvial deposits, Morocco  (Supervisors: Prof. Jonathan Redfern, Prof. Stefan Schroeder, Dr Shane Tyrell (UC Galway))   Student: James Lovell-Kennedy

University of Nottingham

1 PhD position awarded (highlighted in blue)

  • Microwave-assisted in-situ catalytic upgrading of Heavy Oil, an add-on to the Toe to Heel Air Injection THAI Process (Supervisors: Prof. Sean Rigby, Prof. Joe Wood (University of Birmingham), Dr John Robinson)    Student: Hossein Anbari

Royal Holloway, University of London

1 PhD position awarded (highlighted in blue)

  • Granular Rock-Analogue Materials (GRAM) for simulation of multi-scale fault-fracture processes (Supervisors: Prof. Jurgen Adam, Dr Nicola Scarselli)    Student: Luigi Massaro

University of Strathclyde

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

  • Constraining the role of faults as seal-bypass systems  (Supervisors: Dr Joanna Renshaw, Prof. Zoe Shipton, Dr Becky Lunn, Dr Liz Petrie (Western Colorado University), Dr Jim Evans (Utah State University), David Ritchie (Anadarko))  Student: Robert Winwood
  • Using long-range probabilistic forecasts to support cost-effective offshore decommissioning  (Supervisors: Dr Chris White, Prof. Vernon Phoenix, Dr Frederick Wetterhall (ECMWF), Prof. Daniela Domeisen (ETH Zurich))