PhD Studentships
Knowledge, Awareness and Prediction of Man, Machine, Material and Methods in Manufacturing (KAP)
Three years, full scholarship comprising stipend and UK fees
Applications are invited from well-qualified, highly motivated individuals for a PhD studentship, commencing 01 October 2010.
The successful applicant will join a team from the IESD, at De Montfort University, who are part of an exciting €12.8M project funded by the European Commission, which will develop a new kind of enterprise software for the factory of the future. This software will promote energy awareness of production management decisions and facilitate the management of future factories to make best use of available energy resources. There is an increasing global demand for more environmentally friendly, more customised and higher quality products. This project will help European industry to meet this demand by converting to a demand-driven industry with lower waste generation and energy consumption
The KAP project has 13 partners from the European automotive and semiconductor manufacturing sectors, research organisations and universities who are responsible for a range of work packages leading to the creation and demonstration of the software tool in industry. The main role of the IESD team within KAP is to assist in the creation of a factory-wide hierarchical model of energy consumption and to design an energy monitoring infrastructure that matches this model. The model will include a classification of energy carriers and energy using devices appropriate to the factory of the future.
You will join a large group of higher degree students and work alongside other research staff in the IESD’s excellent self-contained research base in the renowned Queens Building. You will be provided with excellent facilities and funding for travel, eg to present work at conferences. You will be offered bespoke training necessary for your project.
You must have a good first degree, probably in physical science, electrical or manufacturing engineering, and a genuine interest in sustainable manufacturing. Experience of software development would be advantageous. You must be able to work in a self-directed manner but have the interpersonal skills to work effectively with the larger research team and project partners.
The post is for three years and offers a stipend (currently £13,590 per annum) and fees at the UK (Home) rate; overseas applications are welcomed but fees would be charged at the overseas rate and the student will have to pay the balance.
The Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development (IESD) is an internationally leading research institute focussed on energy and sustainability. The scope of its research ranges from the clean and efficient use of energy, to integrated renewable energy technologies and the environmental quality of the built environment. In the most recent Research Assessment Exercise (RAE2008), 65% of the Institute’s research was rated “world leading” or “internationally excellent”.
Closing date: 15 August 2010
Interview date: 02 September 2010
Informal enquires may be made to either:
Dr Rick Greenough Tel: +44 (0)116 2078714 rgreenough@dmu.ac.uk or
Dr Neil Brown Tel: +44 (0)116 2577851 nbrown@dmu.ac.uk
An application form is available from:
The Enquiry Centre
Tel: 08459 45 46 47 or 0116 257 7513
enquiry@dmu.ac.uk
Please quote the studentship title at the head of this advertisement when replying.
PhD Studentships
The "Living Lab" Project (The following 4 posts are now closed)
Three years, full scholarship comprising stipend and UK fees
The Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development (IESD) is an internationally leading research institute focused on energy in the built environment. The scope of its research ranges from the clean and efficient use of energy, to integrated renewable energy technologies and environmental quality. In the most recent Research Assessment Exercise (RAE2008), 65% of the Institute’s research was rated “world leading” or “internationally excellent”.
Applications are invited from well-qualified, highly motivated individuals for one of five PhD studentships currently available on the ‘Living Lab’ (LL) project. The aim of Living Lab is simple: to take the existing Queens Building on the City Campus and transform it into a ‘living example’ of sustainability and energy efficiency that can be achieved through research, creativity, investment and vision. It will be a visible statement of DMU’s commitment to sustainability. A key character of all five PhDs is their interrelationship within the Living Lab programme. It is expected that the students will contribute to taking this new initiative forward and that the value of the work will be greatly enhanced when linkages are promoted and fully utilized.
Topic 1: Strategic management of retrofit of public buildings
This research project will develop a methodology for retrofitting European public buildings in a cost effective manner to deliver significant energy reductions. The ultimate aim is to understand how best to produce low and zero energy buildings. Key features to take into account include not only the building fabric and energy systems but also the stakeholders: end users, facilities and energy managers, IT managers, building owners, etc. Currently there is no clear strategic management and design framework available to the energy management and retrofit community to bring together whole-system approaches involving end users and other key stakeholders, as well as relevant technologies. The project will involve close collaboration with the other four Living Lab PhDs and other ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ solutions to create a robust methodology that achieves best results. It will also explore strategic processes for sharing best practice across the retrofit community.
The ideal candidate will have at least an upper second-class (2:1) degree and a strong management background, in conjunction with an ability to deal with complex and whole system approaches. Familiarity with the construction sector, and construction management and quantity surveying backgrounds will be an advantage.
Informal enquires may be made to:
Prof Marjan Sarshar (Tel: 0116 257 7961; Email: msarshar@dmu.ac.uk)
Topic 2: Renewable technologies
The main objective of this studentship is to develop a zero-carbon / renewable heat strategy for the Queens Building Living Lab project. The project will explore the integration of ground source and air source heat pumps, solar thermal and biomass systems as well as thermal storage, building on the extensive experience of the IESD in these areas. The focus on renewable heat is considered appropriate but the research does not exclude the evaluation of wind or photovoltaic technologies.
The ideal candidate will have at least an upper second-class (2:1) degree, probably in a physical science or engineering subject, and a genuine interest in renewable energy and buildings.
Informal enquires may be made to:
Prof Li Shao (Tel: 0116 257 7975; Email: lshao@dmu.ac.uk) and
Dr Simon Rees (Tel: 0116 257 7974; Email:sjrees@dmu.ac.uk)
Topic 3: Carbon emissions assessment
The main objective of this PhD project is to develop and apply methods for assessing the carbon emissions related to the Living Lab project and so help it to achieve its aims. Emissions related both to embodied energy and to operational energy consumption will be addressed. The latter will take into account potential emissions reductions due to energy efficiency measures, renewable energy generation technologies and behaviour change.
An important feature of the work will be to assign economic costs to different emissions-reducing measures, in such a way that optimum value for money (ie the greatest emissions reductions per pound spent) can be obtained. This will lead to the development of optimization methods for refurbishment projects and an analysis of the “carbon payback” periods of refurbishment versus new build.
The ideal candidate will have at least an upper second-class (2:1) degree in a numerate discipline and an interest in sustainability and carbon accounting.
Informal enquires may be made to:
Dr Simon Taylor (Tel: 0116 207 8836; Email: sctaylor@dmu.ac.uk)
Topic 4: Instrumentation systems
This PhD is concerned with advanced instrumentation for buildings with a primary view to maintaining an acceptable indoor environment, whilst lowering energy use. This PhD will reward the suitable candidate with in-depth knowledge of instrumentation for real world applications, and will facilitate early progression towards chartered status with, eg, IET, InstMC or IMechE. There will also be an opportunity to explore novel techniques in instrumentation and data processing. Areas to consider will include energy analysis, human factors and building physics. While practical implementation of building monitoring will form a significant part of the project, synergistic integration of monitoring systems may be examined through sensor fusion. Innovative data processing, signal processing techniques may also be developed. This studentship will require a student with a strong engineering background with instrumentation knowledge.
The ideal candidate will have at least an upper second-class (2:1) degree in a relevant discipline, eg electronics, engineering (electrical/mechanical/technology) technology or systems engineering, or an appropriate MSc (eg mechatronics or electromechanical). Some background in electronics, some 'hands on' practical experience with apparatus, including building circuits, and programming experience is required in eg C or Matlab.
Informal enquires may be made to:
Dr Neil Brown (Tel: 0116 257 7851; Email: nbrown@dmu.ac.uk)
For all studentships you must be able to work in a self-directed manner but have the interpersonal skills to work effectively with the larger research team and project partners. All five LL PhD students are expected to work in a team and assist in the implementation and day-to-day delivery of the LL. There is an expectation that studying will be full-time and no part-time working during office hours will occur.
Each post offers a stipend of £12k and fees at the UK (Home) rate.
The posts closed on: Monday 19th July 2010
It is anticipated that interviews will occur during late August or early September.
This is a re-advertisement; previous applicants need not re-apply.
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