Centre for Doctoral Training in Quantitative and Modelling Skills in Ecology and Evolution (QMEE)

It is hard for me to say confidently that, after fifty more years of explosive growth of computer science, there will still be a lot of fascinating unsolved problems at peoples' fingertips, that it won't be pretty much working on refinements of well-explored things. Maybe all of the simple stuff and the really great stuff has been discovered. It may not be true, but I can't predict an unending growth. I can't be as confident about computer science as I can about biology. Biology easily has 500 years of exciting problems to work on, it's at that level"

Donald Knuth

Eminent mathematician and computer scientist


The NERC Centre for Doctoral Training in Quantitative and Modelling Skills in Ecology and Evolutionwill train a cohort of PhD students to solve real-world ecological and evolutionary problems by connecting theory, data, and practice.

Director of the CDT Professor Tim Barraclough explains: “we have  assembled a world-leading set of research organisations who develop new ecological and evolutionary theory, new statistical and computational methods, and translate research findings into real-world impacts. Our aim is to bring students together from multiple disciplines to tackle big problems facing the natural world”. 

Are you from a biological background and wish to develop high-level quantitative skills? Or are you from a non-biological discipline such as maths or physics and wish to tackle ecological and evolutionary problems? The CDT will bring together students from multiple backgrounds and supervisors from multiple departments to deliver innovative PhD training, research opportunities and experiences working with a wide range of stakeholders.

Recruitment for the 2018/19 cohort of students is now Closed. However, there are 2 studentships available.  For a list of available projects, please click here.