Current IPhD Opportunities

PhD Title:  B4Box Retrofit IPhD

The studentship is with University of Salford and B4Box Ltd

Academic Supervisor: Professor Will Swan

Academic Co-Supervisor: Professor Richard Fitton

Industrial Supervisors: Michael Dickinson

The studentship is fully funded and includes:

• A fee waiver
• A stipend of £17,668 p.a. for three and a half years
• All bench fees and consumable costs
• Funds specifically allocated for conference travel

Final date for applications: Wednesday 22 March 2023 at 23:59

Interviews will be held on: week commencing 27 March 2023

The candidate must be in a position to register by: May 2023

Description:

Energy House Laboratories (EHL) at the University of Salford is a leading research facility dedicated to delivering net zero homes. EHL is home to the award-winning research facilities, Energy House 1 and Energy House 2.0, allowing controlled experimentation with whole houses under controlled conditions. The team have expertise in building physics, building performance, systems, and digital solutions to address net zero, fuel poverty, and healthy homes.

These unique research facilities have given the University of Salford an internationally competitive, high-impact research centre that has worked with major industry partners and policy makers in the UK and internationally.

B4Box is a private commercial construction company with a track-record of crafting and executing pioneering capabilities that can be honed for expanded retrofit delivery, including: Speed and flexibility of whole-house refurbishment; Profitable productivity development of new entrant trainees;  Integrated on-and-off-site training in practical, craft-based, multi-skills; Maximisation of social and economic value through building works.

About the project:

The UK's 28 million homes must be retrofitted to high levels of energy performance within 27 years to deliver the UK’s 2050 legal commitment to zero emissions.  Locally, there are only 15 years remaining to meet Greater Manchester’s ambitious target year of 2038.  However, delivery of retrofitting has, to date, been constrained through:

• A lack of supply chain capacity and practical technical skills.
• Small-scale, one-off construction projects, piecemeal activities, and single measures.
• High project costs, including up to the value of houses retrofitted, and therefore proving economically unviable.
• Long time frames to complete works.
• Inconsistent quality of works that have frequently created defects requiring rectification.

The delivery of retrofitting is therefore ready for innovation to scale-up capacity, reduce retrofit production costs, increase speed of project completion, and ensure quality.  Most retrofit R&D and innovation activity has focused on retrofit materials and technologies to date.  However, such product innovations will not be deployed at a significant scale unless they are complemented by innovation in related domains, including business strategy, workforce development, site practices, and the process of retrofit.  The design and integration of innovative approaches across these mutually dependent domains is vital to delivering retrofit projects successfully and at scale. 

The goal of the PhD is to scale-up and speed-up B4Box’s delivery of high-quality retrofit, through the following objectives:

1. Design and testing of new materials and processes to deliver retrofit with greater efficiency and quality.  This includes scope to consider property pipelines, retrofit assessment, design, construction, handover, and post-works monitoring phases.
2. Design and testing of novel combinations of new and existing retrofit materials to expedite B4Box’s retrofit delivery.
3. Design and testing of new site practices and installation processes for retrofit materials, with attention to building system interfaces and whole-home effects to ensure quality.
4. Technical verification of B4Box’s retrofit delivery including evaluation of outcomes post-works to enable proof-of-principle and continuous improvement of B4Box’s innovative market offer.
5. Development of data systems for the long-term monitoring of retrofitted dwellings that generates a feedback loop into B4Box’s continuous improvement and creates new routes to market for ongoing maintenance and improvement works.

Candidates:

The iPhD with B4Box is focused on the problem of scaling up the delivery of retrofit. It will involve working with multiple external stakeholders, including designers, site personnel, academics and the B4Box management team. We will need a candidate who demonstrates excellent academic skills as well as a capacity to work with construction teams and industry partners.

• Candidates should have a degree qualification, or equivalent, and will have to demonstrate technical competence in their chosen field, such as construction management, sustainable construction or architectural design technology. Experience working in energy and buildings-related projects will be desirable.
• Candidates should demonstrate high-quality writing and communication skills, and an ability to work well with people inside and outside the university.
• Candidates should have good project management skills and be able to manage the different aspects of the project.

The candidate has an exciting opportunity to learn new skills, engage with world-leading research and build networks in both academia and industry in a unique research environment. The FoEH2 Scholarship represents an opportunity for an individual to start their research career in a high impact environment.

Funding eligibility: This studentship is only available to students with settled status in the UK, as classified by EPSRC eligibility.

Informal enquiries may be made to Professor Will Swan by email: w.c.swan@salford.ac.uk

Curriculum vitae and supporting statement explaining their interest should be sent to: j.j.sanders1@salford.ac.uk

Note to applicant: In addition to applying for this role the successful candidate will also be required to complete the University application process which applies to all students wishing to study at The University of Salford. Find out how to apply for research studies.

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University of Salford 

PhD in Acoustics

Research Topic: Blast noise control

The studentship is with the University of Salford and DNV Spadeadam Research and Testing

Academic Supervisor: Professor David Waddington

Academic Co-Supervisors: Dr Olga Umnova and Dr Andy Elliott

Industrial Supervisor: Daniel Allason / Gethin Manuel

The studentship is fully-funded and includes:

• Full tuition fee waiver
• Enhanced stipend of £17,668.00 p.a. for 3½ years, plus paid accommodation at Spadeadam for years 2 and 3
• Bench fees and consumable costs
• Funds specifically allocated for conference travel

Final date for applications: 5 June 2023

Interviews will be held on: 12 and 13 June 2023

The candidate must register by: 18 September 2023

Introduction:

Acoustics and audio research has been conducted at Salford University for over 60 years. It is funded by research councils, national and international government bodies, and industry. Our research has fed into products that companies make and sell worldwide, as well as regulations and standards used in the UK, Europe and internationally. We currently have about twenty research active staff and a lively community of PhD students. Staff and students have won numerous awards for their research.

We have world-class acoustics laboratories: listening rooms, reverberation rooms, anechoic chambers, an accredited calibration laboratory and state of the art equipment and instrumentation. Through the laboratories we are able to bring much of our fundamental research into real life applications. The Acoustics Research Centre is the primary partner for Acoustics research in the BBC Audio Research Partnership.

Description:

We are looking for a PhD candidate to work on developing methods for the control of noise from explosions used in industrial processes. The successful candidate will be expected to develop analytical theory and numerical simulations of the suppression of blast noise, and perform laboratory and field experimental trials to develop and validate the solutions. The candidate will spend the initial proportion of their time at the University of Salford for research skills development and laboratory pilot studies, and will then will be located at the DNV Spadeadam Research and Testing site.

Background:

Part of the DNV Group, the Spadeadam Research and Testing site conducts a wide variety of fire, explosion and blast testing for the maritime, energy and renewables industries, the results of which are used to develop products, protect people and infrastructure. Their strategic aim is to make Spadeadam Research & Testing a world-leading test facility, and to achieve this it is necessary to ensure that the business is not put at risk by adverse impacts of noise to personnel or the environment. This research follows on from a PhD funded by DNV on managing environmental impacts of noise from on-site testing.

Better control of on-site testing noise should provide:

• Reduced risk to hearing from short duration, high-level explosive noise to best protect employees, visitors and clients
• Improved scheduling of trials, reducing costs from potential delays.
• Extension of the testing day and season, potentially increasing the number of trial slots to be conducted without generating adverse noise impacts.

Existing models for the control of noise from these types of operations are few and far between. This means that the systems developed to control explosive noise may be the first of their kind in the world.

Candidates:

We are looking for high quality candidates with an expertise in the following areas;

• Cognate acoustics, mathematical, physics, or engineering background
• Experience of experimental design and measurement, preferable noise
• Multi-Channel data acquisition systems and transducers (desirable)
• Good computer programming skills (e.g. MATLAB/PYTHON)
• Highly numerate with experience of data analysis
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to work independently and within teams

Funding eligibility:

To be eligible for the full maintenance grant, students must be a UK/EU National or be able to demonstrate a relevant connection with the UK, usually through being ordinarily resident for a period of 3 years immediately prior to the date of application for an award. Member states of NATO will also be considered.

Note to applicants:

In addition to applying for this role all shortlisted applicants will also be required to complete the University application process which applies to all students wishing to study at The University of Salford.  Find out more on how to apply for research studies on our postgraduate research page.

Enquiries:

Informal enquiries to Professor David Waddington: d.c.waddington@salford.ac.uk

CV and supporting statement to: m.watts@salford.ac.uk

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