PhD Studentship: Promoting Coral Recovery After Bleaching Events (CASE Project with Tropical Marine Centre)

Funding for: UK Students, EU Students, International Students

Funding amount:  Fully-funded ARIES studentship covering Home fees, maintenance stipend (£21,805 p.a. for 2026-27) and a research training and support grant (£2,500). Limited number of studentships available for international applicants, with the difference between ‘Home’ and ‘International’ fees being waived by the registering university. ARIES funding does not cover additional costs associated with relocation to, and living in, the UK.

Hours: Full-Time or Part-Time

Closes: 16 December 2026

Background

Coral reefs, one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on Earth, support millions of livelihoods worldwide. However, they are the first ecosystem to have crossed their thermal tipping point due to climate change. Even under optimistic warming scenarios, most reefs are projected to experience repeated bleaching events by the end of the century. Bleaching, the loss of symbiotic algae from coral tissue, kills corals in large numbers and rapidly transform reef ecosystems. What many people do not realise, however, is that bleaching is not always a death sentence: under certain circumstances, corals recover and reefs survive. Understanding how recovery works will help us better predict the outcomes of bleaching and develop new strategies to boost future reef resilience.

The project

Working in the Essex Coral Reef Research Unit aquarium and in collaboration with Tropical Marine Centre (a leading UK company in coral husbandry), you will investigate what makes corals more or less likely to recover after bleaching. You will use advanced, non-invasive imaging methods including light-sheet microscopy and optical coherence tomography to study symbiont dynamics inside coral tissue, developing your own imaging pipeline to track recovery over time. Using optical and chemical microsensors, you will measure how environmental conditions inside coral tissue influence symbiont growth, building an understanding of the external and internal factors that drive recovery. You will apply your findings to design new approaches to boost coral health following bleaching.

You will gain exposure to the commercial marine industry and receive training in coral husbandry from a leading company. You will learn how to design and perform experiments in a research aquarium and work with experts to apply and optimise live imaging methods and microsensor techniques for challenging organisms. You will gain experience analysing complex datasets, including 3D imaging data, and communicating science to academic and non-academic audiences.

For queries about the studentship, please contact the Supervisor, Dr Elena Bollati, at elena.bollati@essex.ac.uk.

Person specification

We seek a candidate with a passion for marine biology and mechanistic research, with the ability to learn new methods rapidly and an interest in developing new ones. Experience in coral husbandry and/or microscopy is advantageous but not essential, as full training will be provided.

Acceptable first degree subject(s): Any biological sciences degree, other scientific disciplines will be considered.