PhD Studentship in Renewable Energy: Enhancing the circular economy of subsurface green energy projects through improved treatment and valorisation of waste

Award Summary

100% fees covered, and a minimum tax-free annual living allowance of £17,668 (2022-23 UKRI rate). 

Overview

The EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Renewable Energy Northeast Universities (ReNU) is a collaborative doctoral training programme run by the Universities of Northumbria, Newcastle and Durham. In addition to undertaking an individual scientific research project described below at one of the three partner Universities, doctoral candidates will engage with added value training opportunities for example in business, innovation and internationalisation through a 4-year training programme that has been designed to maximise the benefits of a cohort approach to doctoral training. 

UK’s drive to be carbon neutral by 2050 includes carbon capture and sequestration, and hydrogen storage. Both require the handling and treatment of large volumes of subsurface brines to free pore space. At the surface, the brines will require treatment before they can be discharged. While primarily enriched in salt like sodium chloride they can also potentially be enriched in critical elements (CE) (e.g. lithium cobalt, rare earth elements) and potentially toxic elements (PTE) (e.g. cadmium, lead, arsenic).

This project aims to:

1) Determine the subsurface water chemistry and variation at UK’s Industrial Clusters Decarbonization: Black Country, Grangemouth, Merseyside, and Teesside.

2) Develop selective reusable sorbents for CE extraction and removal of PE.

Number Of Awards

1

Start Date

18 Sept 2023

Award Duration

4 years

Application Closing Date

6 Mar 2023

Sponsor

EPSRC

Supervisors

Shannon Flynn (Newcastle University), Chris Greenwell (Durham University), Mark Ireland (Newcastle University), Dr Annabel Dale (BEIS)

Eligibility Criteria

You must have, or expect to gain, a minimum 2:1 Honours degree or international equivalent in a relevant subject or subject relevant to the proposed PhD project. Enthusiasm for research, the ability to think and work independently, excellent analytical skills and strong verbal and written communication skills are also essential requirements. 

Home and international applicants (inc. EU) are welcome to apply and if successful will receive a full studentship. Applicants whose first language is not English require an IELTS score of 6.5 overall with a minimum of 5.5 in all sub-skills. 

International applicants may require ATAS (Academic Technology Approval Scheme) clearance.

How To Apply

You must apply through the University’s Apply to Newcastle Portal  

Once registered select ‘Create a Postgraduate Application’.   

Use ‘Course Search’ to identify your programme of study:  

• search for the ‘Course Title’ using the programme code: 8208F
• select ‘PhD Energy Materials (full time)' as the programme of study 

You will then need to provide the following information in the ‘Further Questions’ section:  

• a ‘Personal Statement’ (this is a mandatory field) - upload a document or write a statement directly in to the application form  
• the studentship code renu2305 in the ‘Studentship/Partnership Reference’ field  

when prompted for how you are providing your research proposal - select ‘Write Proposal’. You should then type in the title of the research project from this advert. You do not need to upload a research proposal. 

Contact Details

Shannon.Flynn@newcastle.ac.uk

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