PhD Studentship - Process Industries: Net Zero. Whole System Optimisation of Bioresources

Award Summary

100% fees (UK home only), a minimum tax-free annual living allowance of £19,237 (2024/25 UKRI rate), and a research training support grant of £20,000.

Overview

This PhD project is part of the CDT in Process Industries: Net Zero. The successful PhD student will be co-supervised by academics from the Process Intensification Group at Newcastle University.

NWL operates two Advanced Anaerobic Digestion Plants (AAD), one on Teesside and one on Tyneside. These plants process more than 70,000 tonnes of biosolids, generating 160GWh of biofuels. Most of the biosolids are collected by road from across the North East of England – from the Scottish Border to the North York Moors. The biosolids have a high water content – meaning NWL transfers around 750,000 tonnes of material each year into the two sites and following treatment, the residual product is deposited to land as fertiliser – a further 100,000 tonnes of material moved. This haulage activity uses approximately 1.6million litres of diesel each year.

This project will build on existing optimisation work by Newcastle University and NWL and will aim to define the ideal operational strategy for the whole bioresources system. Key areas of focus will be:

• Biosolids movements (optimisation/minimisation of road movements);
• Fleet transition (from diesel to electric/alternative fuels);
• AAD optimisation (building on existing optimiser platform); and
• Land deposit optimisation in a changing regulatory environment.

Number Of Awards: 1

Start Date: 15th September 2025

Award Duration: 4 years

Application Closing Date: 26th January 2025

Sponsor: EPSRC

Supervisors: Dr Chris O’Malley 

Eligibility Criteria

• A degree in Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related field.
• Experience of data analysis, optimisation and/or GIS systems is advantageous.
• Proven experience in handling and analysing large datasets. (An emphasis on energy or carbon reporting data is advantageous but not essential).
• Experience in presenting complex data and analysis to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Effective communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to effectively collaborate with cross-functional teams and stakeholders.

 This studentship is available to home students only.

How To Apply

You must apply through the University’s Apply to Newcastle Portal. Once registered select ‘Create a Postgraduate Application’.

Use ‘Course Search’ to identify your programme of study:  

• Search for the ‘Course Title’ using the programme code: 8856F
• Leave the 'Research Area' field blank
• Select ‘PhD in Process Industries; Net Zero (PINZ’) as the programme of study

You will then need to provide the following information in the ‘Further Details’ section:  

• A ‘Personal Statement’ (this is a mandatory field) - upload a document or write a statement directly in to the application form  
• The studentship code PINZ07-25 in the ‘Studentship/Partnership Reference’ field  
• ‘Research Proposal’ - when prompted for how you are providing your research proposal –select ‘Write Proposal’. You should then type in the title of the research project from this advert. You do not need to upload a research proposal.

You must submit one application per studentship, you cannot apply for multiple studentships on one application.

Contact Details: pinz.cdt@ncl.ac.uk

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