PhD studentship - Development of Biophotovoltaic Prototypes for Architectural Integration

Award summary

The funded PhD studentship covers home tuition fee rates and an annual stipend of £18,622 (2023-24 UKRI rates) for 3 years.

Overview

Newcastle University is ranked 1st in the UK and 18th globally in the QS World University Rankings for Sustainability (2023). This studentship is a unique opportunity to investigate the design, scalability and artificial ecology of biofacade prototypes for clean energy generation. 

Photosynthetic microorganisms (hereafter algae) have the potential to transform building facades into ecospheres where energy can be harvested and consumed in a closed loop. Photosynthesis harvests and utilises light energy to split water and fix CO2 for autotrophic growth and in this process, algal cells release some electrons extracellularly. Biophotovoltaics (BPV’s) harness such electrogenesis of oxygenic photosynthesis to generate a small amount of electricity in the light as well as in the dark.

The research project will uniquely investigate the design of a BPV in early stages of use-inspired research. This project responds to timely interest in biofacades from both architecture and algal biotechnology for a net-zero society.

The successful candidate will benefit from the supervisor’s earlier work on bioelectricity-generating wallpaper (Sawa M, Fantuzzi A, Bombelli P, Howe CJ, Helgardt K & Nixon PJ (2017) Electricity generation from digitally printed cyanobacteria. Nature Commun. 8, 1327).

Number of awards: 1

Start date: May 2024

Award duration: 3 years

Sponsor

Co-funded by the Newcastle University’s NUAcT scheme and the Hub for Biotechnology in the Build Environment (HBBE). 

Supervisors

Dr Marin Sawa (Main supervisor) 

Prof Grant Burgess (Second supervisor) 

Eligibility Criteria

Home and international students are eligible to apply. International students would need to demonstrate they can pay the difference between the home and international fee level.

Candidates must have:

• An excellent master’s degree related to algal biotechnology
• Experience of laboratory experiments
• Demonstrable interest in the intersection of biology and design

Applicants whose first language is not English require an IELTS 6.5 overall (6.5 in writing and minimum 6.0 in all others).

You’ll develop understanding and skillsets in design-led approaches to BPVs. The research will broadly involve methods of algae/cyanobacteria cultivation, prototype design and bio/fabrication, electrochemical characterisation, bioimaging and ecological analysis.

We are committed to promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion and encourage applications from under-represented groups.

How to apply

1. Contact Dr. Marin Sawa – marin.sawa@newcastle.ac.uk

2. Email the following to Marian Kyte – marian.kyte@newcastle.ac.uk – (CC Marin Sawa) quoting the code APL037 in the heading:

• CV
• Master’s thesis
• Degree transcripts and certificates and, if applicable, a copy of the IELTS result.

3. You should also apply through the University’s Apply to Newcastle Portal: ‘complete an online application’.

• Select academic year 2023 for May 2024 start date
• Insert programme code 8160F (programme of study section)
• In the ‘Research Area’ field select ‘Planning’
• Select ‘PhD School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape – Planning’ as the programme of study

In the ‘Further Details’ section please provide:

• A ‘Personal Statement’ - upload a document or write a statement directly into the Portal 
• The studentship code APL037 in the ‘Studentship/Partnership Reference’ field  
• A 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: Dr. Marin Sawa

Advert information