Interdisciplinary Life and Environmental Science Landscape Award (ILESLA) doctoral training programme deadline - 29 January

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The University of Oxford, in partnership with five leading institutions, has launched the Interdisciplinary Life and Environmental Science Landscape Award (ILESLA). This ambitious doctoral training programme will prepare a new generation of creative, collaborative, and entrepreneurial researchers who are equipped to meet the complex, cross-disciplinary challenges the world faces.

Dr Linda Speight, lecturer in physical geography, is leading the Climate and Earth theme of the programme, which will champion new research across the university on:

Earth Observation
Past and future climates
Volcanology and Seismology
Global biochemical cycles
Hazards and extreme events
Terrestrial and freshwater landscapes
Predictability of weather and climate
Natural resources
The atmosphere, oceans and cryosphere

SoGE academics from across the Climate Systems and Landscape Dynamics research clusters will supervise doctoral students. There are also opportunities in ILESLA for geographical research in nature-based solutions, food systems and ecological climate resilience under the Biodiversity and Sustainability theme.

I am really excited about the opportunities for doctoral students in the ILESLA programme. In a rapidly changing climate there is an urgent need for interdisciplinary research to improve our understanding of earth systems and answer big questions on impacts and resilience. The innovative training programme will prepare future leaders with the skills to address these challenges in both research and non-academic contexts.

Dr Linda Speight, ILESLA Climate and Earth theme lead

The strong interdisciplinary focus of ILESLA means all students on the programme will have the opportunity to work alongside SoGE researchers through rotations and team projects in their first year. Enabling students to find out more about our research, and its real-world applications, as they develop their own DPhil proposals.

Potential applicants looking to start a PhD/DPhil in October 2025 should head to the ILESLA website for more information https://iles.web.ox.ac.uk/. The deadline for applying is midday on Wednesday 29th January.