Applications are invited for a PhD studentship funded by the University and industrial sponsor, the Building Research Establishment (BRE), to start in October 2015. The project will be based principally in the School of Civil and Building Engineering at Loughborough University. It is associated with the prestigious Royal Academy of Engineering Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Building Design, based at Loughborough.

There is a growing industry and policy drive towards better use of resources. This is commonly-termed the circular economy, which is a holistic approach that focuses on effective design and use of construction products and materials, as well as their associated business models to optimise their flow and facilitate their sustainable circulation in the economic system. While the construction industry is accustomed to recycling and waste minimisation, most buildings are not designed taking circularity into account. So, there is a need for new business models for construction projects that take account of sourcing, longevity, embodied energy, designing out waste, and end of life optimisation. This may require innovative processes, technological partnerships, and information flows. This project will focus on how to embed the circular economy into building design – the successful candidate will be expected to draft a more detailed PhD research proposal on appointment.

This studentship will be supervised by Dr Mohamed Osmani and Prof Tony Thorpe at Loughborough.

The studentship is for three years and is intended to start in October 2015. The studentship provides a tax-free stipend of £18,057 per annum (which includes an additional top-up of £4k per annum from the industry sponsor), plus tuition fees at the UK/EU rate for up to three years. International (non EU) students may apply but will need to find the difference in fees between those for a ‘UK/EU’ and ‘international’ student themselves.

Students will normally need to hold, or expect to gain, at least a 2:1 degree (or equivalent) in a built environment or relevant engineering or design discipline. A relevant Master’s degree and/or experience in one or more of the following will be an advantage: construction management; architecture/BIM; design management; resource efficiency; environmental management.

The successful candidate will be joining a lively community of research students and staff at Loughborough, where doctoral students are given great academic and administrative support and are an integral part of the University's research culture. General information about the School of Civil and Building Engineering can be found at: http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/civil-building/

The student will also be expected to spend time at the BRE campus, just outside of Watford; please visitwww.bre.co.uk for details of the organisation and its location. The successful candidate will have regular contact with a nominated supervisor within BRE, plus access to an annual travel, training and conference budget of £3,000 (this includes an allowance for travel to and from BRE). For informal enquiries about this project and the application process, please contact our Research Administrator, Jackie Overton, on 01509 228547, email j.overton<στο>lboro.ac.uk.

To apply, please complete the online application using the following link:https://lucas.lboro.ac.uk/web_apx/f?p=100:1

The closing date for applications is Friday 22 May 2015. Interviews will take place week commencing Monday 8 June 2015.

Please quote the following reference when applying: GS15CBE1/M4