PhD opportunities in Sustainable Plastics

Join leading experts on behaviour change, public health protection, resource and waste management, governance aspects and sustainability design as we uncover sustainable solutions to plastic pollution.

Our group combines the strengths of social scientists in the Department of Social and Political Sciences with colleagues working in the area of plastic pollution from Environmental Sciences, Global Challenges, Design, Business & Marketing, Materials Processing and Engineering. 

Conduct research including, and not limited to understanding and communicating risks of plastics; engaging society with plastic problems, and assessing the sustainability of circular economy solutions.

Work with us to investigate:

• the transboundary movements of plastics and plastic waste,
• smart tracking of plastic waste 
• global challenges and inequalities surrounding ‘waste’, and
• interactions between media, policy and publics.

If you are passionate about making a change, we want you to join forces with our international experts:

• to attract research income through successfully applying for resources and funding (e.g., UKRI, Newton Fund, GCRF)
• to develop/evolve/employ cutting edge methodological tools to explore the challenge of plastic production-consumption-management
• to engage with policy makers in communicating and shaping research
• to establish high quality international academic partnerships
• to establish high quality industry partnerships
• to engage our student community in the challenge of plastic production-consumption- management and plastic pollution through research informed teaching and related student experience activities.

Research journey

Doctoral research programmes (PhDs) take a proud place in the world-class research environment and community at Brunel. PhD students are recognised and valued by their supervisors as an essential part of their departments and a key component of the university's overall strategy to develop and deliver world-class research.

A PhD programme is expected to take 3 years full-time or 6 years part-time, with intakes starting in January, April or October.

The general University entrance requirement for registration for a research degree is normally a First or Upper Second Class Honours degree (1st or 2:1) or an international equivalent. A Masters degree is a welcome, but not required, qualification for entry.

Find out how to apply for a PhD at Brunel

Research support

Excellent research support and training

The Graduate School provides a range of personal, professional and career development opportunities. This includes workshops, online training, coaching and events, to enable you to enhance your professional profile, refine your skills, and plan your next career steps as part of the Researcher Development Programme. The researcher development programme (RDP) offers workshops and seminars in a range of areas including progression, research management, research dissemination, and careers and personal development. You will also be offered a number of online, self-study courses on BBL, including Research Integrity, Research Skills Toolkit, Research Methods in Literature Review and Principles of Research Methods.

Library services

Brunel's Library is open 24 hours a day, has 400,000 books and 250,000 ebooks, and an annual budget of almost £2m. Subject information Specialists train students in the latest technology, digital literacy, and digital dissemination of scholarly outputs. As well as the physical resources available in the Library, we also provide access to a wealth of electronic resources. These include databases, journals and e-books. Access to these resources has been bought by the Library through subscription and is limited to current staff and students. 

Dedicated research support staff provide guidance and training on open access, research data management, copyright and other research integrity issues.

Find out more: Brunel Library

Careers support

You will receive tailored careers support during your PhD and for up to three years after you complete your research at Brunel. We encourage you to actively engage in career planning and managing your personal development right from the start of your research, even (or perhaps especially) if you don't yet have a career path in mind. Our careers provision includes online information and advice, one-to-one consultations and a range of events and workshops. The Professional Development Centre runs a varied programme of careers events throughout the academic year. These include industry insight sessions, recruitment fairs, employer pop-ups and skills workshops.