PhD and postgraduate research opportunities in the College of Arts, Environment and Technology
Join a thriving and expanding postgraduate research community.
What are my study options?
Studentships
Our offered studentships are in specific subject areas required by industry, and occasionally the project itself will already be defined. Your tuition fees and living expenses are usually covered for three years and applications need to be submitted by a set deadline.
Self-funded opportunities
If you already know what you want to study (and it fits within one of our areas of expertise), then you have the choice to self-fund your studies, providing more flexibility in what it is you research. Some of our current students are sponsored by their employers, so this can be another option.
Our research expertise
We welcome applications for full and part-time PhD study in topics that reflect and enhance the research interests of the University.
Air Quality Management Resource Centre
Find out about expertise and teaching at the Air Quality Management Resource Centre, which undertakes a continuous and extensive programme of research around air quality and carbon management.
For further information about AQMRC research opportunities, please email AQMRC (aqmrc@uwe.ac.uk).
Bristol Centre for Linguistics
The current research within the Bristol Centre for Linguistics (BCL) comprises four main strands and our researchers explore a variety of disciplines of language research – from psycholinguistics to sociolinguistics, looking at the language of the past, to the here and now, investigating writing, speech and the nonverbal.
For further information about BCL postgraduate research opportunities, please contact Minna.Kirjavainen-Morgan@uwe.ac.uk.
Bristol Photography Research Group
Find out more about postgraduate opportunities at Bristol Photography Research Group, a multidisciplinary network that is dedicated to exploring a broad understanding of photographic practices and the complex role photography plays in contemporary society.
For further information about research opportunities, please email John House (john.house@uwe.ac.uk).
Bristol Robotics Laboratory
Find out more about postgraduate opportunities at Bristol Robotics Laboratory, the most comprehensive academic centre for multi-disciplinary robotics research in the UK. BRL is a collaborative partnership between UWE Bristol and the University of Bristol.
For further information about research opportunities, please email BRL (info@brl.ac.uk).
Centre for Architecture and Built Environment Research
View all our postgraduate opportunities in the Centre for Architecture and Built Environment Research across a range of built environment themes.
For further information about CABER research opportunities, please contact Professor Lamine Mahdjoubi (Lamine.Mahdjoubi@uwe.ac.uk).
Centre for Machine Vision
Find out more about the Centre for Machine Vision. Part of the Bristol Robotics Laboratory (BRL), we solve real-world practical computer vision problems. Our particular excellence lies in 3D reconstruction and surface inspection.
For further information about research opportunities, please email Professor Lyndon Smith (Lyndon.Smith@uwe.ac.uk).
Centre For Print Research
The Centre For Print Research (CFPR) is a unique, multidisciplinary research centre that finds creative solutions for the future of printmaking.
For further information about postgraduate research opportunities, please email cfprinfo@uwe.ac.uk.
Centre for Sustainable Planning and Environments
View all our postgraduate opportunities in the Centre for Sustainable Planning and Environments. Join projects which are focused on creating places that are environmentally sustainable, socially just and economically competitive.
For further information about SPE research opportunities, please email Danielle Sinnett (Danielle.Sinnett@uwe.ac.uk).
Centre for Transport and Society
View all our postgraduate opportunities in the Centre for Transport and Society across our seven strategic theme areas, from promoting low carbon travel to supporting sustainable mobility strategies.
For further information about CTS research opportunities, please email Professor Graham Parkhurst (Graham.Parkhurst@uwe.ac.uk).
Centre for Water, Communities and Resilience
View all our postgraduate opportunities in the Centre for Water, Communities and Resilience. Join established inter-disciplinary teams working on different national and international water security initiatives at UWE Bristol.
For further information about CWCR research opportunities, please email Professor Lindsey McEwen (Lindsey.McEwen@uwe.ac.uk).
Computer Science Research Centre
Find out more about the Computer Science Research Centre and our research activities that cover many of the facets of 21st century computer science, from artificial intelligence to graphene sensors for Internet of Things applications.
For further information about research opportunities, please email Professor Larry Bull (Larry.Bull@uwe.ac.uk).
Creative Technologies Laboratory
Find out more about the Creative Technologies Laboratory, an interdisciplinary research group that spans and intersects computer science and the creative arts, aiming to create and evaluate seamless interfaces between people and technology.
For further information about research opportunities, please email Dr Tom Mitchell (Tom.Mitchell@uwe.ac.uk).
Critical Race and Culture Research Network
The Critical Race and Culture Research Network brings together scholars, students, alumni and independent researchers who are engaged in exploring questions relating to race and culture within their discipline areas.
For further information about postgraduate research opportunities, please email Professor Shawn Sobers (shawn.sobers@uwe.ac.uk).
Digital Cultures Research Centre
Find out about expertise and teaching at the Digital Cultures Research Centre, an open and collaborative network of critical thinkers and doers based at UWE Bristol who interrogate, articulate and create practical approaches to responsible technological futures.
For further information about DCRC postgraduate research opportunities, please email DCRC (dcrc@uwe.ac.uk).
Document and Location Research Group
The Document and Location Research Group investigates how our understanding of place is directly formed through how locations are recorded and subsequently narrated by different disciplines, and how the identity of place is created through its representation.
For more information on postgraduate opportunities, please contact Simon Morrissey (Simon.Morrissey@uwe.ac.uk).
Engineering Modelling and Simulation Group
Find out more about the Engineering, Modelling and Simulation Group, which brings academics and researchers together to carry out high-quality research in key engineering fields by applying modern and advanced modelling and simulation techniques.
For further information about research opportunities, please email Professor Yufeng Yao (yufeng.yao@uwe.ac.uk).
Global and Transnational History Group
The Global and Transnational History Group consists of historians conducting research across a broad geographic span, largely in the modern period.
For further information about postgraduate research opportunities, please email Dr Mike Richards (michael.richards@uwe.ac.uk).
Institute of Bio-Sensing Technology
Find out more about the Institute of Bio-Sensing Technology, which collaborates within industry and academia to develop novel bio-sensing technologies together.
For further information about research opportunities, please email Associate Professor Tim Cox (Timothy.Cox@uwe.ac.uk).
Mathematics and Statistics Research Group
Find out more about the Mathematics and Statistics Research Group, which aims to deliver internationally excellent mathematics research, including real-world impact, develop research collaboration, apply its research to outstanding learning and generate income.
For further information about research opportunities, please email Dr Vadim Zverovich (Vadim.Zverovich@uwe.ac.uk).
Moving Image Research Group
Read more about the Moving Image Research Group, which focuses on historical, theoretical and practice-based research into film cultures, production and education.
For more information on postgraduate opportunities, please contact Dr Mark Bould (mark.bould@uwe.ac.uk) or Dr Charlotte Crofts (charlotte.crofts@uwe.ac.uk).
Regional History Centre
The Regional History Centre promotes research about the history of Britain's South Western counties and in the understanding of regionalism as a dynamic force in the shaping of the domestic and international past.
For further information about postgraduate research opportunities, please email Professor Steve Poole (steve.poole@uwe.ac.uk).
Robotic Engineering And Computing for Healthcare
Find out more about Robotics Engineering And Computing for Healthcare, which researches robotics technologies, intelligent sensors and machine learning to realise person-focused innovative healthcare solutions.
For further information about research opportunities, please email Dr David Western (david.western@uwe.ac.uk).
Science Communication Unit
Find out more about postgraduate research opportunities at the Science Communication Unit, which is internationally renowned for its diverse and innovative activities, designed to engage the public with science.
For further information about research opportunities, please email SCU (science.communication@uwe.ac.uk).
Unconventional Computing Laboratory
Find out more about the Unconventional Computing Laboratory, which employs complex dynamics in physical, chemical and biological media to design novel computational techniques, architectures and working prototypes of non-linear media-based computers.
For further information about Unconventional Computing Laboratory research opportunities, please email Professor Andrew Adamatzky (andrew.adamatzky@uwe.ac.uk).
Visual Culture Research Group
The Visual Culture Research Group is a group of cross-disciplinary art and design practitioners, historians and theorists interested in visuality and visual culture.
For further information about postgraduate research opportunities, please email Dr Jenny Rintoul (jenny2.rintoul@uwe.ac.uk.
WHO Collaborating Centre for Healthy Urban Environments
The WHO Collaborating Centre promotes healthy and sustainable settlements through research, knowledge exchange and publications, working closely with municipalities, planning consultancies and health authorities in the UK as well as the wider WHO European Healthy Cities network.
For further information about postgraduate research opportunities, please email Dr Michael Buser (michael.buser@uwe.ac.uk).
What funding support is available?
Find out more about fees and funding for PhDs and postgraduate opportunities from the UWE Bristol Doctoral Academy.
How to apply
To apply, please contact one of the relevant Centre contacts from the drop down list above, or visit the how to apply section of the UWE Bristol Doctoral Academy.
Support during your degree
Support from the Doctoral Academy available to postgraduate researchers at UWE Bristol, including useful contacts.
Skills development for postgraduate researchers
UWE Bristol offers a comprehensive range of workshops which aim to help you complete your doctorate on time, feel part of UWE Bristol’s researcher community and consider your postdoctoral options.
Our facilities
Architecture
Spaces and facilities to inspire tomorrow's architecture.
Art and Design
Develop your skills in traditional and contemporary crafts, processes and digital technologies.
Computer Science and Creative Technologies
Collaborate, create and turn ideas into reality in labs designed to emulate a real-world software development environment.
Construction, Property and Surveying
Develop and hone your practical skills with the support of experts using the latest industry-standard equipment.
Design studios
Our state-of-the-art Design Studios at Bower Ashton are helping to shape the future of the creative industries.
Drama, Acting and Music
Make the most of exciting facilities at Bower Ashton Studios, Frenchay Campus, Arnolfini (Bristol's International Centre for Contemporary Arts) and our Centre for Music.
Engineering
Be in good company with Rolls Royce, Airbus and others, as you build your engineering skill-set at UWE Bristol.
English, History and Writing
Take a personalised virtual tour of our creative teaching spaces, such as our dedicated Resource Centre or S Block Atrium.
Fashion
You can access facilities across the whole of Bower Ashton Campus whilst studying fashion, exploring fabrication, print and digital design to produce incredible work.
Filmmaking, Animation and Photography
Get skilled, practiced and inspired in one of the UK's hottest spots for animation, filmmaking and photography. Whether you're inspired by the BBC or Aardman, find facilities to match your creativity at UWE Bristol.
Geography and Environmental Management facilities
Enjoy first-class facilities including specialist laboratories, social learning spaces and computer laboratories equipped with the latest professional software.
Journalism and Media
Passionate about discovering the truth and telling the world about it? From newsroom and radio labs to mobile media on the go, gain the craft and master the tools to get your stories out there.
Planning
Immerse yourself in collaborative, practical skill-building workshops, model-making facilities, dedicated project room, cartographic resource centre.
You may also be interested in
Research in the School of Architecture and Environment
Our extensive programme of research and consultancy combines academic excellence and policy relevance, and holds a well-established national and international reputation.
Research in the School of Arts
Research in the School of Arts maintains our established reputation, nationally and internationally, across a range of disciplines.
Research in the School of Computing and Creative Technologies
Our research covers a wide range of subjects within the fields of computer science, computer systems and information systems.
Research in the School of Engineering
Our research applies novel engineering, statistical and mathematical techniques to solve problems of direct relevance to industry, society and the environment.