Energy Resilience and the Built Environment: Fully funded PhDs

Recruitment for the October 2023 intake is now open .

The programme of study:

The ERBE Centre for Doctoral Training provides four-year (FT) PhD training at either Loughborough or UCL:

1. Flexibility and resilience: the interaction between buildings and the whole supply system, through new generation and storage technology.
2. Technology and system performance: demand reduction and decarbonisation of the built environment through design, construction methods, technological innovation, monitoring and regulation.
3. Comfort, health and well-being: buildings and energy systems that create productive work environments and affordable, clean, safe homes.

Funded students will receive a tax-free stipend, plus UK fees for four years (conditions apply). Part-time study is also possible.

Further information about the ERBE CDT is here.

Who we are looking for:

Applications are invited from graduates with a good first degree (first or 2:1) in one of the following areas: physics, mathematics, engineering, chemistry, natural sciences, materials science, data analytics, computer science, statistics, social science, architecture or other building and energy-related disciplines.

Applicants with other relevant qualifications or extensive relevant industry experience who can show evidence of a scientific and engineering research capability may also apply.

Loughborough University and UCL offer a stipend and fees to all eligible students with the above or equivalent qualifications.

Full or partial funding is available for international applicants with an exceptional academic record.

How and when to apply

Applying to Loughborough:

We have up to three fully funded studentships available. Due to funding restrictions, the studentship is only open to home students. You are welcome to apply with a research proposal based on a self-generated project idea, or you can write a research proposal based on one of the project ideas here. Submit your application, including an outline research proposal, by Midnight on 20 August 2023 through the application portal here. When prompted, select the programme ‘Energy Resilience and the Built Environment’, then ‘EPSRC CDT Energy Resilience in the Built Environment’ and quote advert reference ERBE23. For help see here. Informal enquiries to abce.pgr@mailbox.lboro.ac.uk.

Applying to UCL:

Recruitment at UCL is now OPEN for the following 8 projects:

• Developing an open access tool to generate synthetic occupant profiles from smart meter data for building stock modelling
• Well performing heat pumps for the mass market
• Exploring Pathways for Decarbonising and Improving Resilience of NHS Healthcare Facilities in England
• Data-driven techniques for healthy, energy resilient housing
• Transforming our energy system: Energy demand flexibility from smart meter data
• Improving building performance through better feedback: understanding the effectiveness of Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE)
• The crow and the pitcher: towards decarbonisation and energy resilience of the museum sector
• 4-year UCL PhD studentship: 'Exploring the performance gap between real buildings and their energy labels'

Deadline for all projects: Wednesday 31 May 2023 @23:59 (UK time)

For all UCL enquiries please email bseer.erbecdt@ucl.ac.uk and see our website https://erbecdt.ac.uk/

Available projects

Loughborough University:

You are welcome to apply with a research proposal based on a self-generated project idea, or you can write a research proposal based on one of the project ideas below:

• Improving the modelling of overheating in UK homes
• Closing the energy performance gap
• Reducing the energy demand of UK housing: moisture risk
• Ventilation effectiveness and Indoor Air Quality
• Passive heat exchanges in natural ventilation
• Grey-box building energy modelling
• Digital Twins for Building Energy Performance
• Empirical modelling of domestic energy demand, storage and production
• Suitability of existing UK dwelling stock for heat pumps
• A socio-technical evaluation of external shading to mitigate summertime overheating in UK homes
• The role of the built environment in response to temperature changes in challenging populations
• Flexible working patterns and occupant’s well-being
• Exploring the sociotechnical interface of energy metrics and energy demand
• Evaluating the performance of 3D Concrete Printing for buildings
• Reliable calculation of infiltration rate
• Assessing the accuracy of in-use measurements and the potential to reliably assigning EPC bands
• The Electric Home and its Role in a Net Zero Carbon Economy
• Digital twin for building energy performance of the LU campus