Fellowships and Studentships
Fellowships and Studentships which organising and funding bodies have asked the Society to publicise are listed below. If you want to get a Fellowship or Studentship listed on this page, please contact Sara Anders.
Closure of Tethys ocean, collision of India and Asia, and subsequent evolution of the Himalaya was a multistage process involving the accretion of more than one terrane. It has been proposed that the Paleogene Liuqu Conglomerates, which crop out discontinuously for many kms along strike along the Yarlung-Tsangpo suture zone between the Indian and Asian plates record the history of collision between India and an intra-oceanic arc. The timing of this collision can be constrained by the age of the conglomerate, which is thought to contain detritus from both the Indian plate and intra-oceanic arc, thus providing a minimum age to collision. The suggested absence of detritus from the Asian plate to the north suggests that the Tethys ocean was still in evidence at that time, and that final India-Asia collision had not yet occurred. However, the age of the Liuqu Conglomerate is poorly known and its provenance has not been assessed in detail, other than by conglomerate clast identification. The finer-grained sandier component of the unit may have been derived from more distal Asian terranes to the north and thus alternative geological histories of Asia-arc-India collision may be viable.
This project will better constrain the age and provenance of the conglomerates using single grain isotopic techniques such as U-Pb dating on detrital zircons, analysing mineral grains extracted from the sandier fractions of the conglomerate unit. From this information, a better picture of the multistage process of the India-Asia collision can be built up. The student will be trained in sedimentological field techniques in Tibet, and petrographic, geochemical and isotopic lab techniques. The student will be part of the Environmental Geoscience Group, and will carry out isotopic analyses at NERC’s Isotopic Geoscience Laboratories, a state-of-the-art National Facility at BGS Keyworth in Nottingham.
Academic Requirements: First-class or 2.1 (Hons) degree, or Masters degree (or equivalent) in an appropriate subject.
Application Deadline: Midnight Sunday 26 Feb 2012. Provisional Interview Date: Fri 16 March. Start Date: TBC summer 2012 or later.
Application process: Please send a CV and a covering letter outlining your background and suitability for this project, along with two references (www.lec.lancs.ac.uk/docs/LECPG/PG_Reference_Form_LEC.docx) to Andy Harrod, lec.pg@lancaster.ac.uk, Lancaster Environment Centre, Postgraduate Admissions. Please pass the reference form to your two referees and ask them to send their completed reference direct to Andy Harrod. Due to the limited time between the closing date and the interview date, it is essential that you ensure references are submitted by the closing date or as soon as possible. For further information please contact the supervisors or for application details please contact Andy Harrod, lec.pg@lancaster.ac.uk.
Full studentships (fees and maintenance grant (£13,590 ( 2011/12) tax free, per year) are available to UK and EU candidates who have been ordinarily resident in the UK throughout the 3-year period immediately preceding the date of an award. EU candidates who have not been ordinarily resident in the UK for the last 3 years are eligible for "tuition fees-only" awards (no maintenance grant). Unfortunately this studentship is not available to non-UK/EU applicants.
NERC-funded PhD project at Lancaster University : 'Investigating the closure of the Tethys Ocean as recorded by the Liuqu Conglomerate, Tibet'
Closure of Tethys ocean, collision of India and Asia, and subsequent evolution of the Himalaya was a multistage process involving the accretion of more than one terrane. It has been proposed that the Paleogene Liuqu Conglomerates, which crop out discontinuously for many kms along strike along the Yarlung-Tsangpo suture zone between the Indian and Asian plates record the history of collision between India and an intra-oceanic arc. The timing of this collision can be constrained by the age of the conglomerate, which is thought to contain detritus from both the Indian plate and intra-oceanic arc, thus providing a minimum age to collision. The suggested absence of detritus from the Asian plate to the north suggests that the Tethys ocean was still in evidence at that time, and that final India-Asia collision had not yet occurred. However, the age of the Liuqu Conglomerate is poorly known and its provenance has not been assessed in detail, other than by conglomerate clast identification. The finer-grained sandier component of the unit may have been derived from more distal Asian terranes to the north and thus alternative geological histories of Asia-arc-India collision may be viable.
This project will better constrain the age and provenance of the conglomerates using single grain isotopic techniques such as U-Pb dating on detrital zircons, analysing mineral grains extracted from the sandier fractions of the conglomerate unit. From this information, a better picture of the multistage process of the India-Asia collision can be built up. The student will be trained in sedimentological field techniques in Tibet, and petrographic, geochemical and isotopic lab techniques. The student will be part of the Environmental Geoscience Group, and will carry out isotopic analyses at NERC’s Isotopic Geoscience Laboratories, a state-of-the-art National Facility at BGS Keyworth in Nottingham.
Academic Requirements: First-class or 2.1 (Hons) degree, or Masters degree (or equivalent) in an appropriate subject.
Application Deadline: Midnight Sunday 26 Feb 2012. Provisional Interview Date: Fri 16 March. Start Date: TBC summer 2012 or later.
Application process: Please send a CV and a covering letter outlining your background and suitability for this project, along with two references (www.lec.lancs.ac.uk/docs/LECPG/PG_Reference_Form_LEC.docx) to Andy Harrod, lec.pg@lancaster.ac.uk, Lancaster Environment Centre, Postgraduate Admissions. Please pass the reference form to your two referees and ask them to send their completed reference direct to Andy Harrod. Due to the limited time between the closing date and the interview date, it is essential that you ensure references are submitted by the closing date or as soon as possible. For further information please contact the supervisors or for application details please contact Andy Harrod, lec.pg@lancaster.ac.uk.
Funding Notes
Full studentships (fees and maintenance grant (£13,590 ( 2011/12) tax free, per year) are available to UK and EU candidates who have been ordinarily resident in the UK throughout the 3-year period immediately preceding the date of an award. EU candidates who have not been ordinarily resident in the UK for the last 3 years are eligible for "tuition fees-only" awards (no maintenance grant). Unfortunately this studentship is not available to non-UK/EU applicants.EMpower Scheme
The EMpower scheme gives Environmental, Earth and other Science MSc students, who would not necessarily consider employment in the industry, exposure to the Nuclear Sector through research project placements and other activities such as lecture days, visits and other networking opportunities.
Visit the EMpower Scheme page for further details.