Engineering and The Built Environment PhD

Overview

The wide range of research activities in our School, together with the mix of academic staff, post-doctoral research fellows and visiting professors, allows us to offer a stimulating and diverse environment.

Research themes

Research in the area of engineering and the built environment is carried out by specialist centres. Most academic staff belong to one or more of these and research students can expect to join a small team working on particular problems. Research themes include:

• Acoustics
• Transport Engineering
• Refrigeration and Air Conditioning
• Efficient and Renewable Energy in Building

Research areas where we are able to offer supervision include:

• Passive low energy design and building physics, climate change impact and adaptation of existing buildings
• Building services, energy efficient and renewable energy technologies
• Refrigeration, air conditioning, heating, cooling, and energy storage technologies
• Electrical building services including lighting, power and control
• Environmental and architectural acoustics
• Life cycle assessment, maintenance and asset management.
• Structural engineering, structural analysis and simulation,
• Transport engineering
• Water systems and management
• Sustainability development
• Urban resilience
• Ageing research in the built and human environments
• Green construction
• Energy and resource efficiency
• Monitoring energy demands
• Energy assessment, measurement and performance of buildings
• Renewable energy in cities, communities and districts
• Disaster resilience

Employability

All research students are required to participate in a Key Skills Development programme aimed at developing transferable skills in addition to those employed in carrying out research. Training in research methods is available through frequent research seminars.

When necessary the research student can follow, in part, relevant Masters courses available within the School and in particular units on research methodology. In some cases, research students are encouraged to follow other courses available within the University or externally aimed at improving their general expertise in their chosen areas.

In addition, they may be encouraged to follow language courses aimed at improving their oral and written skills - both essential in their future careers.

Transferable skills

A research degree will equip you with many transferable skills. The self-discipline, the demand for clear analytical thinking, and the ability to turn criticism of others work into something constructive of your own, all constitute a unique training for almost any kind of career. The excitement and satisfaction of finding new facts, a new idea, or a new way of looking at something can be highly rewarding.