Applications are sought for a PhD studentship within the Centre for Sustainable Manufacturing and Recycling Technologies (SMART), http://www.lboro.ac.uk/smart, in the Wolfson School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, one of the largest Engineering Schools devoted to this subject area in the UK.

Following the award of a substantial grant, the Centre for SMART is building its research activities in sustainable food manufacturing and requires a number of PhD students to work on its ‘Grand Challenge’ projects of Eco-Production of Food, Sustainable Food Supply Chains and Distributed Manufacturing of Food.

Project Description: One of the most prominent challenges acknowledged by modern manufacturing industries is ‘how to produce more with less resources’. Nowhere is this more true than in the food sector. A common misconception is that ‘Global Food Security’ is about growing more crops. However, scarcity of key resources (ingredients, energy, and water), population growth, changing lifestyles and dietary requirements have introduced complex challenges for food manufacturers. The traditional approach to supply chain management has been based on the assumption of infinite resources. Can we assume that vital ingredients for many food products (milk, rice, potatoes, and oil) will continue to be available and accessible as and when required globally? This PhD programme aims to develop new tools and strategies for a ‘resource-constrained food supply chain’ in which the production volumes and schedules are dictated by the availability and access to various resources.

Although based within the Centre for SMART at Loughborough, this position will work within an EPSRC National Research Centre in Food Manufacturing, in collaboration with the Universities of Nottingham and Birmingham as well as a large food manufacturing companies and retailers including AB Sugar, Cargill, Mars, McCain Foods, PepsiCo, Premier Foods, Nestle, Unilever, Marks and Spencer and J Sainsbury. It is expected that the successful student will spend some time working within these other organisations during their study.

Applicants must be expecting, or have already obtained a first degree (1^st class or high 2:1 honours or equivalent) in manufacturing engineering, food science, mechanical engineering or any other relevant field. Good communication skills are essential as well as an interest in environmental impact assessment and sustainable development.

The studentship will start in July or October 2015, is for three years, and is valued at £13,863 p.a. plus tuition fees at the UK/EU rate. Non UK applicants must meet the minimum English language requirements, details of which are available on the Loughborough University website.

Please apply through the following web page: http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/mechman/pg-research/howtoapply/ .  Applicants seeking additional information are invited to contact Professor Shahin Rahimifard (e-mail S.Rahimifard<στο>lboro.ac.uk) to discuss this project in more detail.

Interviews are planned to take place in May.

Please quote the reference SR010415 on all correspondence and especially on the application form.