Summer 2026

Projects are listed below for study commencing in October 2026. Click on the titles to load a PDF with more details of each project. Some projects are “CASE” awards, with close collaboration with an industrial partner, providing internship opportunities and enhanced training budgets.

The closing date for applications is 12th July 2026 and interviews anticipated to be the week commencing 10th August 2026. See the ‘How to apply’ page for how to apply via the University of Leicester applications portal.

Each project is fully funded for UK applicants, with fees fully paid, a budget for training and research, and stipend to be paid at the UKRI 2026/7 rate. 

Each project will have a primary supervisor to provide guidance and training and at least one other supervisor from a second institution to provide access to a broad range of expertise.

Themes	Title (click for full project details)	Host University	Lead Supervisor	CASE Partners
Discovery, Strategy	Developing a mineral systems framework for North East Scotland using new geological and geophysical data	University of Aberdeen	Dr Amy Gilligan	Aberdeen Minerals
Discovery, Strategy	The importance of faults, fractures and fluid flow for mineralisation	University of Aberdeen	Prof. Clare Bond
Discovery, Recovery	Mineral prospect imaging and mining environment monitoring using innovative seismological deployments and data processing	University of Aberdeen	Dr Dave Cornwell	SmartSolo
Recovery, Sustainability	Local monitoring of low-enthalpy geothermal resources in flooded mines using hydrogeophysical and citizen science methods to foster energy citizenship (UKGEOS observatory, Glasgow)	University of Aberdeen	Dr Jean-Christophe Comte
Discovery, Recovery	The Duluth Complex: Helium exploration in a world-class Ni-Cu-PGE magmatic sulphide system	University of Aberdeen	Dr Joe Armstrong	Pulsar Helium
Recovery, Sustainability	Exploring CCUS for Enhanced Lithium Recovery from Subsurface Brines	University of Aberdeen	Dr Roozbeh Rafati
Discovery	Petrogenesis of V-Ti rich magnetite layers in the Upper Zone of the Bushveld Complex, South Africa	Cardiff University	Prof. Wolfgang Maier	Ivanhoe
Discovery, Recovery	Revealing the ‘hidden’ source of lithium brines in the Northern Pennines	University of Exeter	Dr Kathryn Moore	Arup International
Sustainability, Strategy	Digital Twinning for Post-Mining Environmental Transitions	University of Exeter	Dr Kathryn Moore
Recovery, Sustainability	Selective recovery of green technology metals from acid mine drainage	University of Exeter	Dr Rich Crane	Mining Remediation Authority/Environment Agency
Recovery, Sustainability	Application of large language models to develop an ESG digital twin for mining operations	University of Exeter	Dr Rich Crane	KMO Fleet
Recovery, Sustainability	Tracing the sources of deep and legacy metals in Cornish waters: lithium, strontium and neodymium isotope applications for mine-water remediation and geothermal resource assessment	University of Exeter	Dr Sev Kender	Geothermal Engineering Ltd
Discovery	Integrated Geochemical, Geophysical, and Geodynamic Source-to-Sink Analysis of Critical Metal Mineralisation	Imperial College	Dr Fred Richards
Discovery, Recovery	From Source To Sink: Experimental and modelling constraints on copper mobilisation and deposition in sedimentary basins	Imperial College	Prof. Matt Jackson	Deep Optica
Sustainability, Strategy	Building Climate-Resilient Critical Mineral Supply Chains in the Philippines	Imperial College	Dr Pablo Brito-Parada
Sustainability, Strategy	A Quantitative Strategic Framework for Critical Minerals Value Capture in the Philippines	Imperial College	Dr Pablo Brito-Parada
Discovery	Importance of pegmatite and mineral vein segmentation for ore deposits	University of Leeds	Dr Craig Magee
Discovery, Sustainability	Creative Destruction: sub-critical stress corrosion cracking and the formation of critical mineral deposits	University of Leeds	Prof. Dave Healy
Discovery, Recovery	Optimising lithium-bearing reactive fluid flow in rough fractures using geomechanical measurements and modelling	University of Leeds	Prof. Paul Glover
Discovery	The antimony-gold mineralisation in Newfoundland and Ireland: a large-scale magmatic-hydrothermal system?	University of Leeds	Dr Taija Torvela	Conroy Gold and Natural Resources
Sustainability	Characterising vibrational landscapes around mineral extraction sites: accelerating knowledge regarding noise and soil-associated biota	University of Liverpool	Dr Louise Roberts
Discovery, Recovery	Carbonatite exsolution from Nepheline Syenite: The Lillebukt Nepheline Syenite-Carbonatite Complex, Northern Norway	University of St Andrews	Prof. Adrian Finch	Sibelco Nordic
Discovery, Sustainability	Isotopically fingerprinting the source to Orange River rare metal pegmatites	University of St Andrews	Dr Nicholas Gardiner
Sustainability	Acid rock impacts on the green transition: Quantifying the scale of the problem and developing solutions	University of St Andrews	Dr Luke Bridgestock	Plan B CO2 BV