The University of Aberdeen's research in Engineering and Physical Sciences is founded on strong academic disciplines, and ranges from fundamental research to applied projects, working closely with industry. We have funded opportunities in Engineering, Computing Science, Chemistry, Geography and Mathematical Sciences, based in our College of Physical Sciences. There are links between disciplines, and several research themes span disciplines across the College, namely in Energy, Environmental Science, and the Digital Economy. It is the intention that several of the studentships will be cross-disciplinary, between Engineering and Chemistry, and between Computing Science and Geograpy.
Our areas of increased priority are in:
(1) Materials & Chemical Engineering, which links a.o. to the EPSRC research areas of Water Engineering, Carbon Capture and Storage, Fuel Cell Technologies, Catalysis, and Materials Engineering - Composites
(2) Environmental & Industrial Fluid Mechanics, which links a.o. to the EPSRC research area Coastal & Waterway Engineering
(3) Digital Economy which links a.o. to EPSRC areas Energy Efficiency (End User Energy Demand), Artificial Intelligence, Human-Computer Interaction, Natural Language Processing, and Information Systems.
Doctoral research opportunities are advertised on FindAPhD and via our PhD vacancies link on the Graduate School website www.abdn.ac.uk/cops/graduate. Students are provided with an extensive range of development opportunities to support them in developing their skills and competencies, and build their CV to succeed in an increasingly competitive global environment. Additionally, a comprehensive programme of activities is provided to support students to deliver societal and economic impact in a global environment - for example in enterprise, entrepreneurship, creativity and commercialisation, teaching and self-management. A researcher-led initiative fund allows students to propose their own ideas for cross-disciplinary training. A progressive approach to skills development uses the opportunities offered by public engagement. Students are assigned career mentors to focus on career aspirations and planning, who will come from a range of backgrounds and disciplines including industry partners and collaborators. All staff in the College of Physical Sciences will be notified as soon as the final allocation has been announced by EPSRC, and asked to produce short PhD project descriptions with a deadline of mid Nov, with a specific mention of our priority areas and the priority that will be given to early career staff and new appointees. A subset of these projects (selected by Heads of School and Head of Graduate School) will be advertised (by mid Dec) to prospective students as having potentially DTP funding associated with them. This set will be substantially larger than the number of funded places available, and will also be advertised to international students who may have other sources of funding. The set will provide a good coverage of the identified research priority areas. Applicants will be made aware that funding may be available (using the DTP conditions) on a competitive basis. Applicants will need to apply by 1 March. For each project topic, a panel will select the best candidate. The students' applications will be used for shortlisting, and an interview used for shortlisted candidates. The best eligible candidates across topics will be offered funding, whilst taking into account the intended distribution of funding across priority areas. If the first student in a particular area does not accept their funding, it is offered to the second choice (if outstanding) and so on. Funding decisions will be made by end of April. This process will be repeated in 2016.
To be eligible applicants must normally hold or have an expectation of a first class degree (the award can be made conditionally on achieving that outcome) or a 2:1 degree and an MSc with commendation or distinction.