PhD Studentship: Energy-SuDS: The Potential of Heat Exchange in Sustainable Drainage Systems for Decarbonising Heating and Cooling

Award Summary

This project is part of the Water Infrastructure & Resilience (WIRe) CDT with a tax-free annual living allowance of £24,000 (increased by £300 in years 2, 3 and 4 each), a generous research training support grant + UKRI fees paid.  

Overview

There is no more important challenge in engineering than that presented by climate change. This project is at the cutting-edge of this challenge as it seeks to explore opportunities to both decarbonise our single greatest energy use (space heating and cooling) in combination with sustainable, nature-based solutions to adapt our urban areas to cope with ever-increasing extremes in weather e.g., high intensity rainfall induced flooding, prolonged drought and heat waves. Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) are a form of increasingly widespread Green Infrastructure, offering multiple benefits besides the management of urban runoff. Ground Source Heat is a well-established technology for providing low-carbon heating/cooling that exploits low-grade heat recovery using buried heat exchangers in a variety of forms. Combining these approaches is a potential game-changer in how we can meet the long-term needs of society. Building on previous trials at the UKCRIC National Green Infrastructure Facility (NGIF), based at Newcastle University, this project broadly aims to investigate the untapped potential of co-locating ground source heat exchangers in SuDS to improve efficiency and enhance uptake of both technologies. 

Number Of Awards

1

Start Date

September 2025

Award Duration

4 years

Application Closing Date

Friday 28 February 2025

Sponsor

EPSRC & Mitsubishi Electric R&D Centre Europe B.V.

Supervisors

Dr Ross Stirling Dr Colin Davie Dr Jessica Holmes at Newcastle University & Georgeanna Kawaley Mitsubishi Electric R&D Centre Europe B.V.

Eligibility Criteria

Undergraduate Honours Degree (Minimum 2:1), MSc or international equivalent in a subject relevant to the proposed PhD project. Enthusiasm for research, the ability to think and work independently, excellent analytical skills and strong verbal and written communication skills are also essential requirements.   

Under the 30% UKRI international recruitment policy, Newcastle will pay the international fee difference for International applicants (including EU) awarded a WIRe CDT studentship at Newcastle (limited to 1 PhD student per academic year).

Further information will be provided at application stage. Applicants whose first language is not English require an IELTS score of 6.5 overall with a minimum of 5.5 in all sub-skills.

International applicants may require an ATAS (Academic Technology Approval Scheme) clearance certificate prior to obtaining their visa and to study on this programme. 

How To Apply

You must apply through the University’s Apply to Newcastle Portal via the 'Apply' button above.

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:8209F 
• Select ‘PhD Water Infrastructure & Resilience (WIRe)' as the programme of study 

You will then need to provide the following information in the ‘Further Questions’ 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 WRII2501 in the ‘Studentship/Partnership Reference’ field  

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.

Contact Details

justine.easten@ncl.ac.uk

Advert information