NERC’s research areas are grouped within higher-level research subjects within the UKRI research classification.
If you have any queries about whether your proposed research is within NERC’s remit (especially if it sits at the boundaries between multiple research councils), please contact nercremit@nerc.ukri.org.
The list of research subjects and NERC research areas which are associated with them are listed alphabetically.
Archaeology
Palaeobiology
The study of fossil organisms, their occurrence and modes of preservation. Biostratigraphy and palaeobiogeography. Fossils as a diagnostic and interpretative tool.
Science-based archaeology
The application of physical, chemical and biological techniques to aid scientific archaeological and geoarchaeological investigations. Development and application to archaeology of dating, analytical, statistical and modelling techniques relating to human ecology and evolutionary history; archaeological conservation; archaeological prospecting; materials analysis.
Atmospheric physics and chemistry
Atmospheric kinetics
Reaction rates for atmospheric chemical processes as a function of temperature and pressure. Atmospheric cross-sections and photo-dissociation yields of atmospheric gases.
Boundary layer meteorology
Models of local and regional airflow and dispersion. Understanding of airflow over complex surfaces. Urban meteorology; links to air pollutant formation and dispersion.
Land – atmosphere interactions
Quantification and modelling of the fluxes and transformations of material and energy between the land (including the biosphere) and the atmosphere. Variability of these interactions in time and space.
Large scale atmospheric dynamics and transport
Global circulation of the troposphere and stratosphere, including time variability, wave motions (from small-scale gravity waves to large-scale planetary waves and equatorial waves) and their effect on the radiation balance, large scale transport and mixing processes in the free troposphere and stratosphere.
Ocean – atmosphere interactions
Quantification and modelling of the fluxes and transformations of material and energy between the marine and atmospheric environments. Feedback mechanisms. Coupled ocean/atmosphere models. Variability of these interactions in time and space.
Radiative processes and effects
Observations and modelling of radiation from the ultra-violet to the infrared and microwave. Field, laboratory and modelling studies of radiation and its effects on the environment.
Stratospheric processes
Measurements, analysis, modelling and theoretical understanding of stratospheric physics and chemistry.
Tropospheric processes
Understanding chemical reactions and spatial distribution of tropospheric gaseous constituents, and the formation of secondary pollutants. Tropospheric model validation incorporating chemistry and atmospheric transport.
Upper atmosphere processes and geospace
The physics and chemistry of the upper atmosphere, including the coupling of energy, momentum and chemistry between the mesosphere, thermosphere and ionosphere. NERC funding supports solar terrestrial physics and space weather research where the primary goal is to understand the Earth’s environment from the deep interior to the upper atmosphere.
Further information regarding the distinction between NERC and STFC remit in this area is provided in STFC’s Astronomy awards guidance for applicants.
Water in the atmosphere
The distribution and transport of water in the climate system. Fluxes of momentum, heat and precipitation at or near the Earth’s surface – measurement and model representation. The microphysical properties of clouds.
Climate and climate change
Climate and climate change
Modelling and analysis of current and past climate, variability and causes of change on all timescales. Understanding and modelling future climate change, detection and attribution of past change. Prediction of impacts of climate change on the environment.
Palaeoenvironments
Investigation of past environments and causes of change. Reconstruction of environmental change in the pre-Quaternary past.
Regional weather and extreme events
Studies of weather in the context of environmental impact. Observation, simulation and forecasting of extreme events, such as hurricanes, tornadoes, and dispersion of volcanic plumes.
Ecology, biodiversity and systematics
Behavioural ecology
Behavioural strategies used by organisms in their natural environment to maximise fitness. Foraging, social and reproductive (including parental care, sexual selection and mate choice) behaviour. Behavioural responses to predators, communication, migration and homing.
Community ecology
The structure, composition and dynamics of ecological assemblages. Relationship between species assemblages and their environments, trophic structure; succession, stability, biodiversity, coexistence and competitive exclusion, spatial structure and relative abundance of component species.
Conservation ecology
Science underpinning the restoration and conservation of species and communities and their natural habitat.
Population ecology
Understanding of population dynamics, including trophic interactions. Demography of populations. Extinction processes. Spatial processes and metapopulation dynamics.
Systematics and taxonomy
Morphological, numerical and molecular methods of identifying and classifying living and fossil organisms in projects of ecological relevance. Reconstruction of phylogenies.
Genetics and development
Population genetics and evolution
Speciation and population genetics, gene flow/population structure, hybrid zones, island populations, genetic drift and conservation genetics. Adaptation and the evolution of life histories.
Geosciences
Earth engineering
Engineering geology. Geotechnical aspects of civil engineering, the construction and extraction industries.
Earth resources
Studies of the origins, location, identification, and science underpinning the exploration and exploitation of natural Earth resource materials (other than water).
Geohazards
The prediction, monitoring, environmental effects, risks and mitigation of long-term, extreme and catastrophic natural geological events including landslips, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Assessment of frequency and magnitude of triggers and events.
Glacial and cryospheric systems
Origins, processes of formation, characteristics and impacts of glacial, ice cap, shelf ice and sea ice features. Physical, chemical and biological processes in the cryosphere. Glacial tectonics and ice deformation. Periglacial processes. Determination of glacial events from the geological record. Interactions between the cryosphere and the atmosphere, terrestrial and aquatic environments.
Hydrogeology
The physical, chemical and biological processes which occur at the interface between rock and water at or below the Earth’s surface at all scales. Water-related geological processes beneath oceans. Aquifers and groundwater resources. Response of aquifers to environmental change.
Hydrological processes
Measurement and modelling of the factors influencing the flow of water in and to freshwater, estuarine and coastal environments. Surface water resources. Hydrological extremes including prediction methods for flood forecasting.
Mantle and core processes
Studies of the processes which determine the behaviour and composition of the Earth’s mantle and core.
Physics and chemistry of Earth materials
Physical and chemical characteristics of naturally occurring minerals and Earth materials. Experimental petrology and geochemistry under simulated natural conditions. Origins and transformations of minerals.
Quaternary science
Studies of the environment and environmental change during the Quaternary period.
Sediments and sedimentary processes
Provenance, transport, depositional processes, diagenesis, preservation, erosion and interpretation of modern and preserved sediments in marine, coastal, estuarine, fluvial, lacustrine and terrestrial environments. Stratigraphy. Basin analysis, hydrocarbon reservoirs.
Tectonic processes
Processes affecting the large scale movement and deformation of the Earth’s crust. Orogenesis, faulting, earthquakes and seismicity; neotectonics; tectonic control of sedimentation.
Volcanic processes
Origin of ancient and modern volcanoes and vulcanicity. The location, history and structure of volcanoes, their emissions and deposits. Reconstruction of these characteristics and of Earth history from studies of volcanic materials and their impacts in the geological record.
Marine environments
Biogeochemical cycles
Fluxes and cycling of matter within and between the biosphere and the physical environment.
Ecosystem-scale processes and land use
Large-scale ecology (including marine ecosystems). Catchment and regional studies. Landscape ecology. Interactions between ecology and land use patterns.
Land – ocean interactions
Quantification and modelling of the fluxes and transformations of material and energy between the terrestrial and marine environments. Variability of these interactions in time and space.
Ocean – atmosphere interactions
Quantification and modelling of the fluxes and transformations of material and energy between the marine and atmospheric environments. Feedback mechanisms. Coupled ocean/atmosphere models. Variability of these interactions in time and space.
Ocean circulation
Studies of water circulation in seas and oceans on a variety of temporal and spatial scales based on modelling or observations. Extreme water circulation events.
Medical and health interface
Environment and health
The relationship between environmental variables and human health. Sources, sinks and pathways of potentially harmful chemicals and organisms present in the natural environment that may have an effect on human health.
Microbial sciences
Environmental microbiology
All aspects of environmental influence on, and effects of, microbial systems; bioremediation; microbial diversity.
Omic sciences and technologies
Environmental genomics
Understanding the response of organisms to their natural environment at the level of the genome, proteome and metabolome.
Planetary science
Planetary Surfaces and Geology
Measurement of the Earth and its gravitational field. Techniques and data derived from studying other extraterrestrial bodies specifically to enhance understanding of the Earth System.
Plant and crop science
Environmental physiology
Studies of the physiological responses of plants and animals to the environment; homeostasis, stress and physiological responses; survival strategies.
Pollution, waste and resources
Ecotoxicology
Diagnostics, tolerance and adaption in relation to natural and anthropogenic toxic substances.
Pollution
Production, transport, transformation, interaction and effects of substances which are present at concentrations above those normally expected in a clean environment. Understanding the long-term availability and fate of pollutants and waste materials.
Terrestrial and freshwater environments
Biogeochemical cycles
Fluxes and cycling of matter within and between the biosphere and the physical environment.
Earth surface processes
Evolution of the landscape, landforms and coasts through natural processes. Geomorphology. Physical and chemical weathering.
Ecosystem-scale processes and land use
Large-scale ecology (including marine ecosystems). Catchment and regional studies. Landscape ecology. Interactions between ecology and land use patterns.
Land – atmosphere interactions
Quantification and modelling of the fluxes and transformations of material and energy between the land (including the biosphere) and the atmosphere. Variability of these interactions in time and space.
Land – ocean interactions
Quantification and modelling of the fluxes and transformations of material and energy between the terrestrial and marine environments. Variability of these interactions in time and space.
Soil Science
Physical, chemical, biological properties and processes in soils. Geographical distribution. Decomposition processes, transfer and transport of heat, water, nutrients and contaminants. Soil organisms.
Water quality
Measurement and modelling of processes that control water quality (on or below the surface) in standing and flowing water.
Tools, technology and methods
Environmental biotechnology
Development of sustainable insect pest management strategies. Environmental impacts of GMOs. Understanding and controlling zoonotic diseases. Novel approaches to the identification, quantification and exploitation of disease-related genes in the environment. Biological tools for the monitoring, transformation and amelioration of the environment
Environmental informatics
Research and system development focusing on the environmental sciences relating to the creation, collection, storage, processing, modelling, interpretation, display and dissemination of data and information.
Survey and monitoring
Environmental survey, mapping and monitoring (as the primary purpose of the activity, rather than as a tool).
Technology for environmental applications
Development of new, and the adaption of existing, technology and techniques with actual or potential generic or specific environmental applications.