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 fees will be fully covered at the international level.
The application deadline is 7th December 2017. The successful candidate will need to start their PhD on 1st March 2018 at the latest (there is unfortunately no flexibility to delay the start date due to funding constraints). Only complete applications (including a successful IELTS score for non-native English speakers) from excellent candidates will be accepted, please see eligibility below.
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 at the UK/EU/international level, 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 (such as NATCOR courses) 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), and/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 - please note that this is essential for visa applications of non-EU candidates. If you have a scheduled test before 15th December 2017, also feel free to submit your application).
Applications are admitted until 7th December 2017, or until a suitable candidate is found thereafter.
HOW TO APPLY
Please submit your complete applications at:
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.
More information about the department can be found here: http://www.strath.ac.uk/business/managementscience/
Informal enquiries about the project to Dr Kerem Akartunali (kerem.akartunali@strath.ac.uk) or Dr Euan Barlow (euan.barlow@strath.ac.uk).
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