PhD studentships

PhD studentships  

The Centre is delighted to offer two funded (home rate) PhD studentships (fees, stipend, and research expenses) as part of its expanding research activity.

Potential Projects

• Diversity and Inclusion in Engineering with topics ranging from attraction/recruitment through inclusive curriculum developments, to retention, professional development, and career progression.
• Project Based Learning and Innovations in the engineering curriculum development
• Responsible Innovation in Engineering, including ethics, sustainability, global responsibility, and topics relating to the education of responsible innovators.

In addition, we are specifically looking to recruit for a PhD project in the area of skills for Industry 4.0. The gradual development and embedding of AI in workplaces is transforming the nature of work and skills, and by extension occupational specialisation and the skills-sets required by graduate engineers. The implications of emergent AI-based work practices for education, both within the higher education sectors as well as in the workplace needs urgent investigation.

Projects may be based in either the Faculty of Engineering (Electronic and Electrical Engineering) or the Department of Education, Practice and Society in the UCL Institute of Education depending on the specific project topic. If the former, the assigned first supervisor will be Professor John Mitchell, and if the latter, the assigned first supervisor will be Professor David Guile. Students will also benefit from strong links to the Centre for Engineering Education (see more below).

How to Apply: In the first instance, prospective students should email a covering letter outlining the research proposal (max 2 pages) and CV to centreforengedu@ucl.ac.uk

After emailing a proposal you may be invited to interview, and if successful asked to apply on the application portal. Applications would be made to the relevant department (Faculty of Engineering, Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, or the Department of Education, Practice and Society in the UCL Institute of Education).

Closing Date: Applications will be considered as they arrive until the posts are filled.

Start Date: Ideally September 2022 (although January 2023 start is also possible).

What is covered by this studentship?

A stipend (currently £17,983 pa) and fees at the home rate (£5,690 pa if based in Engineering, £7,580 pa if based in the Institute of Education) for a period of 3 years. Funding to cover a 3.5 or 4 - year period will be considered once on the programme, on an individual basis. This studentship also covers the cost of consumables and travel expenses to attend conferences during the same period. Although the fees are only covered at home rate (and not international rate), overseas candidates are still welcome to apply. However, they would need to fund the difference between home and overseas fees themselves and specify this in their application.

Applications for part-time students will also be considered.

More details about the stipend and fees can be found here:  https://www.ucl.ac.uk/research-innovation-services/studentship-budgets-202122

Person specification:

• Should have at least an upper second-class honours degree (2:1 or equivalent qualification) and a Master’s degree in a social science appropriate discipline or equivalent professional experience
• Have experience in engineering education or research in STEM education
• Ability to think independently, interpret data, and knowledge of statistics (e.g. basic data clustering and classification methods).

For informal enquiries please contact Professor John Mitchell (j.mitchell@ucl.ac.uk) and/or Prof David Guile (d.guile@ucl.ac.uk).

For further information on admissions entry requirements please see here: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/graduate/research-degrees/electronic-and-electrical-engineering-mphil-phd

And here: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/graduate/research-degrees/education-practice-and-society-mphil-phd  

About UCL and the Centre for Engineering Education (CEE):

University College London (UCL) was founded in 1826 as the third university in England, after Oxford and Cambridge.  UCL is the first university in England to admit students of any race, class, or religion, and the first to welcome women on equal terms with men. UCL is organized into 11 constituent faculties, within which there are over 100 departments, institutes, and research centres. UCL has 983 professors and more than 7000 academic staff who are dedicated to research and teaching of the highest standards. Its student community is over 42,000, the largest in the UK. There are 29 Nobel Prize winners and three Fields medallists amongst UCL’s alumni and current and former staff. UCL is the top-rated university in the UK for research excellence (REF2014). It has a strong tradition and large knowledge base in medical research with a dedicated institute on Healthcare Engineering and 10+ hospitals. UCL has world-class support for researchers and has been voted the best place for postdoctoral researchers to work for consecutive years by The Scientist magazine. The main campus of UCL is located in central London, close to the British Museum, West-End and Thames River.

The UCL Centre for Engineering Education is a joint venture between UCL Engineering and the UCL Institute of Education (IoE) and supports the Faculty of Engineering’s leadership in educational practice in engineering.  The remit of the centre ranges from early years education through secondary, FE and HE to professional development and practice. Through research and active engagement, it aims to encourage the study of engineering and allied subjects and drive curriculum innovations to help create the next generation of engineering graduates needed to address complex global challenges. The Centre Co-Directors are Professor David Guile and Professor John Mitchell. The Centre has an active research portfolio, with a broad range of research projects, a regular researchers’ meeting, research fellows and visiting researchers and professors.

Further information regarding UCL may be found at:  www.ucl.ac.uk  

Information about the Centre for Engineering Education may be found at: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/centre-for-engineering-education/  

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