World-Leading Scholarship in Geography, Earth Sciences and Computer Science

Project

Explosive volcanic eruptions can have profound environmental and societal consequences. The most powerful volcanic events inject gas and ash into the stratosphere which can lead to significant global cooling. However, even relatively small volcanic eruptions (e.g. the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption in Iceland) can have major impacts on our modern, globalised world.

A detailed record of past volcanic events is critical for improving eruption forecasts and preparing society for future eruptions. The discovery of microscopic shards of volcanic ash (tephra) in diverse environmental archives located far from volcanic areas, such as ice-cores, lake sediments, marine cores and peat deposits, has revolutionised our understanding of volcanic hazards, climate change and environmental change.

However, the full potential of volcanic ash to inform us about past, present and future volcanism has yet to be realised. This is because the techniques used to search for, identify and quantify the number of volcanic ash shards have not fundamentally changed for decades. These techniques rely on the laborious manual identification of ash shards using optical microscopy and from looking at scanning-electron microscope images. This severely limits how much of the existing environmental archives we check for the presence of volcanic ash. For example, of the 800’000 year ice-core archive from the polar ice sheets, only a tiny fraction of the available material has been searched in detail. For the vast majority (99 %) of volcanic sulfur deposits identified in these records, we have no idea which volcano was responsible and therefore which regions tend to produce the largest volcanic eruptions. 

In addition, fundamental questions about the preservation of volcanic ash in distal settings remain unanswered as its difficult to process the volume of material required. Without addressing these issues, it is difficult to fully interpret the significance of the presence or absence of volcanic ash which has implications, e.g. for understanding the likelihood of volcanic ash closing airspace in north-western Europe.

This project will apply innovative new approaches in computer vision to directly address these constraints and to massively increase our capacity to look for volcanic ash. Computer vision techniques such as deep classification and segmentation neural networks are now routinely used in healthcare to provide rapid and reliable identification of features, for instance in cancer detection and localisation. We will apply similar techniques to identify volcanic ash in optical and SEM-EDX (Scanning Electron Microscope and Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy) images. Volcanic ash is the ideal candidate for computer vision techniques as it has distinctive morphological and chemical properties which distinguish it from other common particles found in sediments and ice-cores, such as dust and pollen. Developing such a tool can only be achieved through new collaboration and this PhD project unites supervisors with expertise in volcanic ash identification and analysis, with experts in computer vision and deep learning.

The automation of identification of volcanic ash has the potential for generating a step change in the way researchers around the world search for tephra in diverse environmental archives. The increase in research speed this approach promises will allow tephra studies to fully realise its potential in providing critical insights into the hazards generated by volcanic activity and for greatly enhancing our understanding of environmental change.

This project addresses three main challenges:

Component 1: We need to design a protocol for rapidly collecting SEM-EDX images of sufficient quality and in a way that doesn’t affect the geochemistry of tephra shards

Component 2: We need to design and implement a computer vision tool which can reliably identify volcanic ash particles SEM-EDX images, and we need to test that tool against established methods of identification to ensure it is accurate and reliable

Component 3: To demonstrate that this new approach can generate new insights by speeding up identification of tephra in diverse environmental archives (peat and lake sediments, ice cores)

The candidate will receive training in the following areas: Collection of SEM-EDX images, image recognition software development (e.g. using TensorFlow or PyTorch), field sampling of tephra (sediment coring and core processing techniques), EPMA geochemical analysis, statistical training in R and Python, creation of resin stubs for geochemical analysis.

Value of award (per year)

Full-fees award and stipend. The stipend will be paid at the current UK Research Council rate (£19,237 in 2024-2025). The stipend will be paid pro-rata to part-time students.

The scholarships do not cover any continuation, extension, or resubmission period/fees, Visa fees, Immigration Health Surcharge, IELTS fees, costs for travel to and from the UK.

Duration of award

Up to 3.5 years (full-time) or 7.0 years (part-time). Scholarship holders will be expected to have submitted their thesis for examination by the end of that period. The award term excludes the continuation period and any extension periods.

At what stage of my course application can I apply for this scholarship?

Please apply for the scholarship after you have submitted your application for a place at St Andrews.  You do not need to wait until you have received an offer of a place before applying for the scholarship.

Additional criteria

You must have applied for a PhD programme at St Andrews.

You must not already (i) hold a doctoral degree; or (ii) be matriculated for a doctoral degree at the University of St Andrews or another institution.

As part of the scholarship application you will be required to upload a personal statement. This should serve as a cover letter for the research project application as a whole, and should include:

• An outline of your suitability for the project (project criteria can be found in the "Eligibility" and "Project Description" sections above).
• Why the project interests you.
• What you would bring to the project in terms of previous skills and expertise.
• Any ideas that you may have for the realisation of the project.

How to apply

1. Apply for admission as a doctoral student beginning in the academic year 2025-26. Please apply to the School of Geography and Sustainable Development and select the programme ‘PhD Geography (Science). Please see the advice on applying for research programmes. After submitting your PhD application, you must allow at least three working days for processing and issue of your log-in details before you can apply for the scholarship. Once you have received an email confirming your access to the My application portal: 
2. Apply for the scholarship, which is available through the World-Leading Scholarship 4: Unlocking Earth's volcanic record with novel computer vision approaches application form. You can access this application through the Scholarships and funding catalogue in the Scholarships and Funding section of My application. 
• Enter the catalogue by following the instructions in the email, then choosing Scholarships and funding (under 'Useful links') and then clicking View the scholarships and funding catalogue.
• Select 2025/6 as the Academic Year and click ‘Refresh list’.
• Find the World-Leading St Andrews Doctoral Scholarship that you wish to apply for in the list of scholarships (using the filter box if necessary), click Apply and complete the application form.
• You can also use the catalogue to search and apply for other scholarships for which you are eligible. 

Scholarship application form guidance

If you are a current student at St Andrews, you can access Scholarships and Funding through MySaint. However, you should wait until after you have applied for your intended postgraduate programme before doing so, to ensure that the scholarship application is linked to that course.

Terms and conditions

Please read the University of St Andrews scholarships terms and conditions (opens in new tab) 

If you apply to this scholarship, details from your course application may be passed to the selection panel solely for the purpose of merit-based assessment. 

When will I know the outcome?

The outcome of your scholarship application will be available on View or continue my funding applications in the Scholarships and Funding section of My Application within two months of the application deadline.