PhD in Glasgow

A PhD studentship in optimization is available at the Dept. of Management Science, University of Strathclyde Business School, Glasgow, UK. Funding is available to cover 3 years of tuition fees plus a tax free stipend (£14,653 for 2017-18, and projected to increase to £15,020 for 2018-19 and £15,395 for 2019-20).

The studentship is open to candidates from any nationality (UK/EU/international), and the project topic is entitled “Optimization of Offshore Renewable Energy Arrays for Minimal Life-Cycle Costs”.

The application deadline is 31st January 2017 Tuesday.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

A fundamental difficulty in developing offshore renewable energy (ORE) sites is that the uncertain environmental conditions make accurately assessing the life-cycle costs of a site a challenging problem. In particular, logistical operations throughout the life of a site are subject to uncertain operating conditions, and it is therefore difficult to plan and schedule these operations, and to estimate the resulting durations and costs. Similarly, the generating potential throughout the operation of a given site is dependent on the realised weather as well as the availability of each asset, and uncertainties in each of these make it difficult to accurately predict the profits to be gained from energy production. Decisions on aspects such as the size, layout and composition of a site are therefore difficult to accurately quantify and compare.

This project will aim to develop optimisation models to identify the best strategy for designing an ORE site. A complimentary PhD project in the Dept. of Naval Architecture, Ocean and Marine Engineering at Strathclyde will take an alternative approach to the problem, and as both projects progress in parallel, mutual developments will feed into both projects. This will provide a cross-disciplinary approach to a challenging research problem with potential industry impact.

FUNDING AND ELIGIBILITY

Funding is available to cover 3 years of tuition fees for a UK/EU/international student, plus a tax free stipend of £14,653 for 2017-18, and projected to increase to £15,020 for 2018-19 and £15,395 for 2019-20. The student will be given opportunities to attend a conference and/or specialized training every year.

The PhD project requires a highly numerate graduate with interests in renewable energy. Candidates should have at least a strong Honours degree or equivalent (a strong 2:1 Honours degree, or a B.Sc. degree with 3.3 GPA in a 4.0 system), or preferably a Master’s degree in a quantitative discipline such as industrial engineering, operations research, mathematics or computer science (amongst others). Experience in programming and fundamental knowledge in optimization are not essential but highly desirable. Candidates who are not native English speakers will be required to provide evidence for their English skills (such as by IELTS or similar tests that are approved by UKVI, or a degree completed in an English speaking country).

Applications are admitted until 31st January 2017 Tuesday, or until a suitable candidate is found thereafter.

HOW TO APPLY

All PhD applications are to be made online at http://pgr.strath.ac.uk/. All documents (including scans of original documents) can be uploaded during the online application process. Candidates are expected to submit a cover letter, CV, any university degree certificates and transcripts, English test results (if applicable), two recommendation letters (or contact details of two referees, if letters are not available to them), and any other supporting documents. In order to be considered for this studentship, candidates should specifically note the title of this project in their online application when prompted about funding and their source of finance, and they should notify Ms Alison Kerr via email (see below for details) when they have submitted their online application, noting that they are willing to apply to this specific studentship.

More information about the department can be found here: http://www.strath.ac.uk/business/managementscience/

Informal enquiries about the projects to Dr Kerem Akartunali (kerem.akartunali@strath.ac.uk) or Dr Euan Barlow (euan.barlow@strath.ac.uk).

Enquiries regarding applications (including notifying your scholarship application) to: Ms Alison Kerr (alison.kerr@strath.ac.uk)