PhD Studentship – Development and validation of sustainability and resilience indicators for the built environment

Applications are invited for a PhD studentship funded by the Loughborough University’s Graduate School to start in October 2016. The project will be based in the Civil and Building Engineering at Loughborough University.

Whilst being one of the largest CO2 emissions contributors, buildings are vulnerable to the effects of climate change. These issues emphasise the importance of energy and emissions reduction going hand in hand with resilience, without reducing the security, function and sustainability of the built environment. Although sustainability and resilience are widely discussed, it is not always clear to what extent these are interrelated (if at all).This project aims to develop objective measurements of the sustainable and resilient built environment.

The set of indicators, which are currently lacking, will allow two-fold measurement of the level of sustainability and the level of resilience for energy systems in relation to the connected built environment. This will provide a generic set of indicators that can be employed by practitioners and be easily adjusted for different contexts. The successful candidate will be expected to draft a more detailed PhD research proposal on appointment.

This studentship will be supervised by Dr Ksenia Chmutina and Prof Andrew Dainty.

The studentship is for three years and is intended to start in October 2016. The studentship provides a tax-free stipend of £14,057 per annum (2015-16 value) plus tuition fees at the UK/EU rate for up to three years. International (non EU) students may apply but will need to find the difference in fees between those for a ‘UK/EU’ and ‘international’ student themselves.

Students will normally need to hold, or expect to gain, at least a 2:1 degree (or equivalent) in a built environment or relevant engineering discipline. A relevant Master’s degree and/or experience in one or more of the following will be an advantage: sustainable construction, civil/building engineering, renewable energy, social science, development studies.

The successful candidate will be joining a lively community of research students and staff at Loughborough, where doctoral students are given great academic and administrative support and are an integral part of the University’s research culture. General information about the School of Civil and Building Engineering can be found at: http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/civil-building/

For informal enquiries about this studentship, please contact Dr Ksenia Chmutina ([Email Address Removed] or 01509 228526). For enquiries about the application process only, please contact our Research Administrator, Berkeley Young, on 01509 222611 or email [Email Address Removed].

To apply, please complete the online application using the following link: https://lucas.lboro.ac.uk/web_apx/f?p=100:1
The closing date for applications: Friday 26th of February
Interviews will take place week commencing 7th of March.

Please quote the following reference when applying: GSNS2015-KC