Research profile
The Energy Efficient and Sustainable Technologies area is well established and has major research projects at its heart focusing on sustainable energy use in food chains and energy and the built environment. Other research strengths of the theme include renewable energy technologies, particularly solar thermal and PV technologies, advanced heat and mass transfer, environmental control of buildings heat recovery and heat to power generation. Our researchers make contributions in a number of fundamental and applied areas including:
- Optimal ways for reducing energy use in food chains
- Heating, cooling and refrigeration
- Microclimate and environmental design
- Single and two-phase heat transfer and thermal systems
Members of the Energy Efficient and Sustainable Technology group served on the Government’s Steering Committee for the development of decarbonisation roadmaps for the food sector to 2050. This work has progressed to the second stage and involves the development of decarbonisation action plans in consultation with key stakeholders.
Find out about the exciting research we do in this area. Browse profiles of our experts, discover the research groups and their inspirational research activities you too could be part of. We’ve also made available extensive reading materials published by our academics and PhD students.
Learn more about research in this area.
Browse the work of subject-relevant research groups
- Aerospace Research Centre
- Assessment of Structures and Materials under Extreme Conditions
- Biomedical Engineering
- Circular Metals
- Digital Manufacturing
- Equitable Development and Resilience
- Flood, Coastal and Water Engineering
- Geotechnical and Environmental Engineering
- Harm and Justice Research Group
- Institute of Communities and Society
- Liquid Metal Engineering Hub
- National Structural Integrity Research Centre
- Non-traditional Manufacturing Technologies
- Organ-on-a-Chip
- Pollution Research and Policy
- Quality Engineering and Smart Technology
- Religion research group
- Resilient Structures and Construction Materials
- Robotics and Automation
- Social Justice
- Sustainable Energy Use in Food Chains
- Two Phase Flow and Heat Transfer
Find a supervisor
Our researchers create knowledge and advance understanding, and equip versatile doctoral researchers with the confidence to apply what they have learnt for the benefit of society. Find out more about working with the Supervisory Team.
You are welcome to approach your potential supervisor directly to discuss your research interests. Search for expert supervisors for your chosen field of research.
PhD topics
While we welcome applications from students with a clear direction for their research, we are providing you with some ideas for your chosen field of research:
- A systems approach to plastic waste valorisation, supervised by Kok Siew Ng
- Additive manufacturing and sustainability, supervised by Eujin Pei
- AI (Artificial Intelligence) enabled autonomous robots for non-disruptive inspection of utility and sewage systems, supervised by Md Nazmul Huda
- Ambient Vibration-Based Calibration of Finite Element Models of Bridges, supervised by Michael Rustell
- Antimicrobial resistance in marine mammals (seals) from polluted waters, supervised by Gera Troisi and Ashley Houlden
- Automatic computational fluid-dynamics, supervised by James Tyacke
- Autonomous Drone Surveys and Convolutional Neural Networks for Bridge Maintenance: A Predictive Approach Using Finite Element Analysis, supervised by Michael Rustell
- Autonomous robots for non-disruptive inspection of utility and sewage systems, supervised by Md Nazmul Huda
- Bridging the Gap: Integrating Neural Radiance Fields and Micro-drones for Enhanced 3D Volumetric Finite Element Analysis, supervised by Michael Rustell
- CFD modelling of plasma flow control, supervised by James Tyacke
- Crystal Plasticity Modelling of Hexagonal Closed-Pack (HCP) Materials for Manufacturing, supervised by Rui Ramos Cardoso
- Developing a device for marine life and water quality monitoring, supervised by Gera Troisi
- Development of a miniature capsule robot for capsule endoscopy, supervised by Md Nazmul Huda
- Development of an Optical Shape Sensing Method Using Optoelectronic Sensors for Soft Flexible Robotic Manipulators in Minimally Invasive Surgery, supervised by Yohan Noh
- Development of resilient hospitals through enhanced built environment design and research, supervised by Kangkang Tang
- Dynamics of seawater intrusion in heterogeneous coastal aquifers, supervised by Ashraf Ahmed Mohamed
- Fracture assessment of large-scale structural components, supervised by Marius Gintalas
- Intelligent, Interpretable and Adaptive Design of Steel Structures using Deep Learning and NLP, supervised by Michael Rustell and Tatiana Kalganova
- Large Language Models (LLM) for Automated Finite Element Analysis, supervised by Michael Rustell and Tatiana Kalganova
- Life cycle assessment and circular economy for built environment, supervised by Muhammad Shafique
- Machine learning for sustainable transportation systems, supervised by Muhammad Shafique
- Optimisation of geothermal energy extraction, supervised by James Tyacke
- Precision control of Nano-fuel production, supervised by Yang Yang
- Prediction of early-age cracking in structural concrete, supervised by Kangkang Tang
- Reliability Analysis of Adhesively Bonded Fibre Reinforced Polymer Composites, supervised by Sadik Omairey and Mihalis Kazilas
- Study of stray current induced corrosion in railway construction, supervised by Kangkang Tang
- Sustainable products & processes - help industry ditch the plastic and toxic chemicals!, supervised by Gera Troisi
- The sustainability of hydrogen production for future energy uses, supervised by Colin Axon and Peter Hewitson
- Use of Large Language Models (LLM) as a Structural Engineering Design Assistant, supervised by Michael Rustell and Tatiana Kalganova
- Using Machine Learning to Simulate Macroscopic phenomena for Fluid Dynamics, supervised by Nadine Aburumman
Research journey
This course can be studied 3 years full-time or 6 years part-time, starting in January. Or this course can be studied 3 years full-time or 6 years part-time, starting in October. Or this course can be studied 3 years full-time or 6 years part-time, starting in April.
Research support
UK entry requirements
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).
An interview will be required as part of the admissions process and will be conducted by at least two academic staff members remotely via MS Teams, Zoom, or face to face.
Applicants will be required to submit a personal statement and a research statement.
Please contact your proposed supervisor, where possible, to receive feedback and guidance on your research statement before submitting it. Learn how to prepare a research statement here.
EU and International entry requirements
English language requirements
- IELTS: 6.5 (min 6 in all areas)
- Pearson: 59 (59 in all subscores)
- BrunELT: 63% (min 58% in all areas)
- TOEFL: 90 (min 20 in all)
Fees and funding
2024/5 entry
International
£23,615 full-time
£11,805 part-time
UK
£4,786 full-time
£2,393 part-time
