QUARTILES Doctoral Landscape Awards are BBSRC and NERC-funded research and training programmes designed to equip PhD students with the skills, expertise, outlook, and real-world experience needed to become the next generation of scientific leaders capable of addressing pressing environmental grand challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and sustainability. 

Five studentships are being offered by The School of Natural and Built Environment, for the following research projects, commencing 1 October 2025:

1. Deconstructing blanket peatlands in Northern Ireland towards an understanding of their genesis, hydrology and ability to store carbon. Project details
2. IN-PEAT: Impact of Nitrogen deposition on PEATlands in Northern Ireland. Project details  
3. Shallow subsurface analyses of glaciated environments and implications for the energy transition. Project details
4. The Impact of Hetereogeneity on Geothermal Resources of the Sherwood Sandstone Formation. Project details  
5. Bayesian estimates of birth ages from radiocarbon dating of human bones. Project details  
   

FindaPhD Project List

Delivering Doctoral Training in the Social Sciences 

The Northern Ireland and North East Doctoral Training Partnership (“NINE DTP”) is a new and exciting collaborative enterprise between seven Universities across Northern Ireland and the North East of England. Funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, with support from the Department for the Economy Northern Ireland (DfENI), we provide outstanding students with fantastic opportunities to conduct their Doctoral studies and develop core research skills in an exciting and creative environment. 

Each year, we award in excess of 50 studentships to exceptional social scientists across our seven partner Universities, providing funding to support Doctoral studies on three year (PhD), three-and-a-half year (PhD with Research Methods) or four year (Masters and PhD) programmes. We are committed to working with our award-holders, partners and collaborators to deliver an innovative and engaging experience, allowing our students to deliver real-world impact whilst developing into the next generation of social scientists. 

The Future Planners bursary is now open and available in Scotland and Northern Ireland for postgraduate students starting in autumn 2021 – contact the university at which you are applying to study to register your interest early and find out more.

The RTPI Future Planners Bursary programme is open to graduates from any discipline who enrol on a fully accredited planning Master's degree at an RTPI-accredited Planning School in Scotland or Northern Ireland.

The Evelyn Orbinson Bursary in Planning & Development is funded to encourage the best candidates to consider converting to a career in planning from any previous undergraduate degree. The award is open to all applicants, and it is decided by the overall quality of the personal statements in relation to the candidate's motivation to study planning. 

For over 75 years, Arup has been a place where creative people can develop their talents, collaborate with likeminded colleagues and produce incredible work. Arup’s primary goal is to develop a truly sustainable built environment. This means that in all their work, they aim to identify a balance between the needs of a growing world population and the finite capacity and health of our planet. As part of that Arup are committed to reducing global carbon emissions to net-zero by 2050.

To support this aim, Arup has agreed to sponsor the Arup Net-Zero Carbon Design Prize. This prize will be awarded to the student group/team that demonstrates the greatest awareness of and commitment to radically reducing carbon emissions in the Design & Communications 4 module at Stage 4.

These scholarships were first established in 1985 by the family, former students and colleagues in the University in memory of Arthur Holden Naylor, Professor of Civil Engineering 1938-63.

Scholarships to a value of £1,000 per year may be awarded biennially (alternating with the Victor Milligan Scholarship) to students planning to start any undergraduate engineering degree in Civil Engineering or Structural Engineering.  Selection for the scholarships will be based on students' academic performance at school and, optionally, on an interview.

The prize was established in 2001, by the Institution of Wastes Management. The prize, currently to the value of £100, is awarded to the student on any undergraduate Civil or Structural Engineering degree programme with the highest marks in a project dissertation on a topic relevant to sustainable waste management.

A prize, first established in 2000, of £100 is awarded annually to the Stage 4 student on the MEng in Environmental and Civil Engineering course who is adjudged to have the best performance in Stages 2, 3 and 4 of the course or to the student with the second best performance if the student with the top performance in the MEng in Environmental and Civil Engineering is also the top student of all MEng courses within the School.

The Civil Engineering Fund was established in 1980 from external funds generated through research and short courses related to research.  The income from this fund will be used to provide scholarships for high quality undergraduate MEng students.

A prize, first established in 1983, of £250 is awarded annually to the Stage 4 student on the MEng in Civil Engineering course who is adjudged to have the best performance in Stages, 2, 3 and 4 of the course, or to another student with exceptional performance if the student with the top performance in the MEng in Civil Engineering is also the top student of all MEng courses within the School.

A further prize, also first established in 1983, of £250 is awarded annually to the Stage 3 student on any MEng course within the School who is adjudged to have the best performance in Stages 2 and 3.

The award will be made by Construction Employers' Federation on the recommendation of the Head of Civil Engineering in consultation with the Undergraduate Board of Examiners.

The McCall Foundation Scholarship was set up in 2017 by The McCall Foundation to encourage and reward students in Civil Engineering at Queen’s. Mervyn McCall, the donor, is a Queen’s graduate in Civil Engineering and, although he feels he is considered a success by most standards, he is very aware and grateful for the help he got along the way. He is from a working class family, but graduated in the days of grants and wants to help students today.  

This prize was set up by the company in 1999. A cheque of £100 is awarded to the student in Stage 2 with the highest mark in Project Management and Coding. 

Founded by a gift in 1953 from Hugh Turtle, Esq, LLD, two prizes or more prizes to a total value of approximately £600 will be awarded annually for the best projects/dissertations by BEng students and MEng students in the School.

A prize, instituted in 1972, of £250 plus a Certificate of Merit is awarded annually to the Stage 4 Civil Engineering student in the School who is adjudged to have put up the best performance in the last two years of a JBM-accredited civil engineering degree.

First established in 1961 a prize (currently to the value of £100) is awarded to the Stage 4 student on the MEng in Structural Engineering with Architecture course, who is adjudged to have the best performance in Stages 2, 3 and 4 of the course, or to the student with the second best performance if the student with the top performance on the MEng in Structural Engineering with Architecture is also the top student of all MEng courses within the School.

These scholarships were established in 2001 through funds donated by graduates, friends of the University and Golder Associates, Canada, in 1994 in recognition of the immense contribution to engineering made by Victor Milligan, President of Golder Associates, 1974- 1984, and through a donation by Victor Milligan in 2001.

The Basil Wilson Prize was established in June 1990 by the friends and colleagues of B.C.S. Wilson who, before his death in 1986, held a named post in Mediterranean and South West Asian Archaeology, to commemorate his academic interests in the material culture of that area.

The prize, of a value of approximately £200, will be awarded annually to the student who, in the opinion of the Board of Examiners in Archaeology and Palaeoecology, has produced the highest overall mark in the final examination in Archaeology and Palaeoecology.

This prize derives from a fund established in 1978 by the parents of Dr Holland to commemorate her great love of geography and her happy association with the Department of Geography of the University.

These two prizes were established in 1972 by the friends and colleagues of Professor Estyn Evans to commemorate his long and distinguished service in the University and the affection in which he was held by his colleagues, students and friends.

The Jack Kerr Bequest was established in 2006 and currently comprises 10 students awards and the hosting of an annual lecture.

This prize was established in 1987 by Mr Mitchel and Dr Common, members of the academic staff of the Department of Geography from 1961-1987 and 1958-1987 respectively.

The Concrete Society Prizes for the Imaginative Use of Concrete are given by the Northern Ireland Region of the Concrete Society. The awards were established in 1989.

First awarded in 2018.  The student group which, in the view of the internal and external examiners within Civil Engineering, produced the best performance in Structural Engineering design as part of the Design & Communications 4 module at Stage 4 will be recommended to Creagh Concrete for the award. The prize is presented each year subject to confirmation of funding by Creagh Concrete.

On his retirement, Professor Adrian Long set up an annual prize for students from any of the Civil Engineering degree programmes, for either:

• the best third year project on innovation; or
• the individual student who demonstrated exceptional innovative flair in a structural design project in the final year of the MEng course.

First awarded in 2016, the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (CIHT) Prize is awarded annually to the student with the best performance in highways engineering.

The Northern Ireland Geotechnical Group (NIGG), a special interest group of the Institution of Civil Engineers, sponsors an annual award for the best performance in Geotechnics 3.

Isaac Gregg Doran was born in 1923 and educated at Methodist College, Belfast. In 1941 he was awarded University Scholarships by Queen’s University and Belfast Corporation and entered QUB to study Civil Engineering. He received a 1st class honours BSc degree in 1944 and his MSc in 1945. He was awarded the Millar Prize by the Institute of Civil Engineers and completed a PhD on The Settlement of Foundations. Prof Doran founded his consulting practice in 1953, which became a partnership in 1972. He was Senior Partner until his retirement in 1992.

In 1981 he was awarded an OBE for services to the construction industry and he was made Honorary Professor in the School of the Built Environment at QUB in 1991. Prof Doran continued to contribute significantly to research and teaching in Geotechnics until his death in 2006.  The scholarship was set up in 2007 by his widow, Mrs Ainslie Doran, to commemorate his memory.

These prizes were first established in 2022 by the School of Natural and Built Environment Sustainable Practices Committee for undergraduate dissertations/ projects from all disciplines in the School.

First awarded in 2018, this prize was established by CIWEM in recognition of the relevance of the Masters course to industry, to foster stronger links with QUB and to encourage students to progress their professional qualifications through the Institution.

In 1980 a fund was set up from external funds generated by the Wave Power Research Group, initially funded through the Wolfson Foundation. The income from this fund will provide scholarships for research students and may also be used to support research projects in Civil Engineering.

The Soulby Research Fund was established in 1983 as a result of a bequest to the University by Mr D.E.S. Soulby. This award will be utilised to support the fieldwork endeavours of any student registered for a postgraduate research degree within the discipline of Geography in the School of Natural and Built Environment, and whose work is connected directly with the Physical Environment.

The 75th Anniversary Fieldwork Prize was set up in 2006 by the School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology.  The Award was created following the success of the Royal Geographical Society /Institute of British Geographers’ Annual International Conference in January 2002.

This scholarship was founded in 1923 by the Trustees of Hugh Wisnom, for the encouragement of scientific research.

This award will be utilised to support the field work/research travel endeavours of any student registered for a Geography related postgraduate research degree within the School of Natural and Built Environment.

The Masters Program Scholarship, of a value of £500, will be awarded to the Masters student (full-time) entering an Archaeology/Palaeoecology-based Masters Program who, in the judgement of the Kerr Bequest Committee, has achieved the highest degree results in their final undergradsouluate degree program, preceding entry to Masters program.

David Orr, a graduate of Queen’s University Belfast assumed office as President of the Institution of Civil Engineers in November 2007. In his Presidential Address he spoke of the profession's "unsung heroes … who work in teams and partnerships, often unrecognized, to create and maintain the essential fabric of our society”. He chose the little known William Bald, who, between 1832 and 1842, engineered the 38 km Antrim Coast Road that provided an invaluable trading link for the people of the Antrim Glens, to illustrate this theme.  

This scholarship was set up by David’s civil engineering colleagues from industry and government as a tribute to the work of the ‘unsung heroes’ who have done so much in building and maintaining the infrastructure essential to Northern Ireland.

In 1994, four researchers from Queen’s won the highly prestigious Royal Society ESSO Energy Award.  The four researchers were Professor Whittaker, Professor Long, Professor Raghunathan and Dr Wells.  All four agreed to donate their prizes to the University so that annual student prizes could be established within the Faculty of Engineering. ESSO agreed to match the prize money.

The scholarship was set up in 2007 by Dr Gordon Stopford Millington OBE as a tribute to the work of the Irish Academy of Engineering and to support students, particularly those who might face financial constraints, to further their studies to Masters level.  Gordon Millington graduated from Queen’s University in 1957 with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering.   He was a senior partner in Kirk, McClure and Morton and received a Doctor of Science Honorary Degree from the University in 2001.   During his working life he was involved with the structural design of the Waterfront Hall, the Ashby Building at Queen’s and the restoration of the Grand Opera House.

The fund was set up in 2007 by the son, daughter and grandson of William Allan Hill to commemorate his contribution to engineering.

William Allan Hill graduated from Queen’s University in 1925 with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and in 1934 with an MSc. His career as a Civil Engineer began with the London Midland & Scottish Railway first in Belfast, then London, and continued with the Belfast & County Down Railway and the Ulster Transport Authority before his retirement in 1968.   He retained his interest in all aspects of civil engineering until his death in 2007 at the age of 102.

The fund is established to provide bursaries to facilitate travel and/or attendance at conferences in the field of structural engineering.   Preference will be given to bridge engineering. Conferences may be interpreted to include visits to gain technical experience. Registration fees for virtual/online conferences may also be considered.

These scholarships were first established in 1985 by the family, former students and colleagues in the University in memory of Arthur Holden Naylor, Professor of Civil Engineering 1938-63.

One or more travel scholarships to a total value of £800 may be awarded annually to undergraduate or postgraduate students in Civil Engineering, Structural Engineering or Environmental Engineering for the purpose of travel outside Britain and Ireland to enable them to extend their knowledge in these disciplines.

Travel scholarships were established in 1994 through funds donated by graduates, friends of the University and Golder Associates, Canada, in recognition of the immense contribution to engineering made by Victor Milligan, President of Golder associates, 1974-1984, and through a donation by Victor Milligan in 2001.

The scholarships to a total value of £600 may be awarded annually to undergraduate or postgraduate students in Civil Engineering, Structural Engineering or Environmental Engineering for the purpose of travel outside Britain or Ireland to enable them to extend their knowledge in these disciplines.

These travel scholarships were set up by Queen’s University Alumni Professor Jim Dornan and his wife Dr Samina Dornan in recognition of the support and material sacrifices made by their parents in encouraging them to achieve their academic goals.

The scholarships are intended to provide students with the opportunity to benefit professionally, socially and academically from travel.