Lead Supervisor (DoS):
Dr Benjamin Ciotti
Second Supervisor: Professor Clive Trueman
Third Supervisor:
Dr Keiron Fraser
Applications are invited for three 3.5 year PhD studentships with the
Marine Institute
at the University of Plymouth. The studentships are due to start on 1 October 2025.
This project is one of nine topics being considered for an anticipated three studentships. Six topics are inviting candidates from open recruitment, with the remaining three following a different route to interview. The studentships will be allocated to the best combinations of candidate and project as they emerge from the interviews across all topics.
Browse all available topics
Plymouth has been at the forefront of global marine research for more than a century, and today it is home to the largest concentration of marine researchers in the UK. Come and join our vibrant community of marine PhD students.
Project description
Partitioning of energy among interlinked processes of growth and metabolism is central to an organism’s performance. Commonly measured in the laboratory, few options exist to quantify growth and metabolic rate in the field, but this is essential for assessing the status of wild populations and therefore identifying approaches to safeguard biodiversity, mitigate climate change and sustainably manage marine resources.
Coastal fisheries are dominated by species that rely on vulnerable inshore habitats (e.g. seagrass, saltmarsh) as juveniles. Despite initiatives to protect and restore nurseries supporting high juvenile abundances, the extent to which different habitats support growth is often unknown. Scientists in Plymouth and Southampton are pioneering novel techniques to measure growth and metabolic rate in wild juvenile fishes. This project is an exciting first opportunity to experimentally validate and integrate these state-of-the-art tools towards an integrated understanding of growth and metabolism in situ, as a solution for identifying fish nurseries.
Working in exceptional aquarium facilities at University of Plymouth’s Brixham Laboratory, trials will be conducted with juvenile turbot (a locally-available, high-value fisheries species) to examine how field indices of growth (muscle RNA content) and metabolic rate (otolith carbon isotope analysis) relate to rates of protein synthesis, oxygen consumption and somatic growth under contrasting food rations and temperatures. Lab results will be synthesised with data from recent experiments in other species to develop general ecophysiological models predicting growth and metabolic rate from chemical analysis of tissues, thus creating universal tools for assessing energy metabolism in wild juvenile fish. These tools will be validated in field applications comparing the quality of turbot nurseries.
Training will be provided in field survey methods, fish husbandry, and advanced laboratory approaches that bridge complementary expertise of supervisors in biochemical growth indices (Ciotti), protein metabolism (Fraser) and otolith geochemistry (Trueman). This project is therefore an unrivalled opportunity to develop a unique, in-demand skillset and the specific expertise to deliver solutions for effective fisheries and ecosystem management.
Eligibility
Applicants should have a first or upper second class honours degree in biological, environmental, marine or related science or a relevant Masters qualification. The project would suit candidates with interests in fisheries and conservation ecology, and enthusiasm for combining field and laboratory approaches.
Non-native English speakers must have an IELTS Academic score of 6.5 or above (with no less than 5.5 in any element) or equivalent.
The studentships are supported for 3.5 years and include full home or international tuition fees plus a stipend at the 2025/26 rate (to be confirmed; compare the 2024/25 UKRI rate of £19,237 per annum). The last 6 months of the four-year registration period is a self-funded ‘writing-up’ period. The studentships will only fully fund applicants with relevant qualifications.
If you wish to discuss this project further informally, please contact
Dr Benjamin Ciotti
The closing date for applications is 12 noon on Monday 3 February 2025.
Shortlisted candidates will be informed as soon as possible after the deadline, with interviews likely to take place in the second half of March. We regret that we may not be able to respond to all applications. Applicants who have not received a response within six weeks of the closing date should consider that their application has been unsuccessful on this occasion.