Bee biodiversity in a warming world: Tracing functional change through time with AI and natural history collections
- Primary Supervisor: Dr Madeleine Ostwald
- Co-supervisor(s): Dr Tom Fayle
- Studentship Funding: Awaiting CSC Funding Decision
- Application Deadline: 28th January 2026
- PhD Programme: PhD Biological Sciences
Project Overview
Climate change is reshaping biodiversity and the functional diversity that underpins ecosystem stability. However, our ability to detect and interpret these changes has been limited by scarce and fragmented trait data. Advances in digitisation and AI-based approaches are transforming our ability to mine trait data from historic collections. Bees, a diverse and ecologically important group of more than 20,000 species, offer an exciting system to explore these effects. The aim of this studentship is to investigate how bee biodiversity and functional ecology are shaped by past and future climates, at local and global scales. The student will work with entomological collections (Natural History Museum, London) and growing biodiversity datasets to establish historic baselines and uncover signatures of change in bee functional traits and communities. One focus of the project will be specimen imaging and the curation of image datasets, as well as the development of scalable computer vision (AI) pipelines to automate trait analysis from images. This research combines functional ecology, biodiversity informatics, and computational biology, offering opportunities to develop transferrable skills in data science and AI in a conservation context. There will also be opportunities to conduct local fieldwork, depending on the student’s interests. This project will yield novel insights into the functional drivers of pollinator declines and help to advance AI methods for biodiversity research.
Research Environment
The student will be part of a new, collaborative research group led by Dr. Madeleine Ostwald and the Network and Community Ecology Lab led by Dr. Tom M. Fayle, both in the Biology Department at Queen Mary University. The student will conduct a large part of their research at the Natural History Museum in London, where they will have the unique opportunity to work with the world’s oldest entomology collection, containing over 30 million specimens. The student will also have the opportunity to engage with QM’s Digital Environment Research Institute. The student will receive training in ecological research methods, biodiversity informatics, specimen-based research, imaging and digitization, and computer vision (AI) for biodiversity research.
https://www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/services/collections/entomology.html
Find out more about the School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences on our website.
Keywords: insects, global change, images, natural history collections, biodiversity.
Funding & Eligibility
Queen Mary University of London has partnered with the China Scholarship Council (CSC) to offer a joint scholarship programme to enable Chinese students to study for a PhD programme at Queen Mary. Under the scheme, Queen Mary will provide scholarships to cover all tuition fees, whilst the CSC will provide living expenses and one return flight ticket to successful applicants.
Applicants must:
- Be applying for CSC funding.
- Be a citizen and permanent resident of the People’s Republic of China and hold a Chinese passport.
- Satisfy all eligibility criteria set out by the CSC and must refer to the CSC website for full details.
- Apply to QMUL by 28th January 2026. Late applications will not be considered.
- Submit ALL required documentation, including evidence of their English Language ability ahead of the CSC application deadline.
CSC application rules differ slightly for domestic applicants (students applying from China) and overseas applicants (students applying from overseas). Therefore, ALL applicants are advised to see the CSC website for full details on eligibility and conditions on the scholarship.
Entry Requirements
We are looking for candidates to have or expecting to receive a first or upper-second class honours degree and a Master’s degree in an area relevant to the project such as Biology, Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, or Data Science.
Knowledge of insect ecology, specimen-based research, image analysis and/or machine learning would be highly advantageous but are not required.
You must meet the IELTS requirements for your course and upload evidence before CSC’s application deadline, ideally by 1st March 2026. You are therefore strongly advised to sit an approved English Language test as soon as possible, where your IELTS test must still be valid when you enrol for the programme.
Please find further details on our English Language requirements page.
How to Apply
Formal applications must be submitted through our online form by 28th January 2026 for consideration. Please identify yourself as a ‘CSC Scholar’ in the funding section of the application.
Applicants are required to submit the following documents:
- Your CV
- Personal Statement
- Evidence of English Language e.g.) IELTS Certificate
- Copies of academic transcripts and degree certificates
- References
Find out more about our application process on our SBBS website.
Informal enquiries about the project can be sent to Dr Madeleine Ostwald
Admissions-related queries can be sent to sbbs-pgadmissions@qmul.ac.uk
Shortlisted applicants will be invited for a formal interview by the supervisor. If you are successful in your QMUL application, then you will be issued an QMUL Offer Letter, conditional on securing a CSC scholarship along with academic conditions still required to meet our entry requirements.
Once applicants have obtained their QMUL Offer Letter, they should then apply to CSC for the scholarship with the support of the supervisor.
For further information, please go to the QMUL China Scholarship Council webpage.
Apply online