School of Engineering, University of Warwick

 

Application deadline: 15 January 2020

Start date: 01 April 2020

Project start date: 01 April 2020

Duration: 3 years

 

Are you ready for joining an international collaborative research team and contributing to decarbonising global heating and cooling demands? Provision of heat currently contributes around a quarter of all UK greenhouse gas emissions, posing a grand challenge for realising ambitious climate goals. In addition, the global electricity usage for cooling in 2016 was 2,000 TWh or 18.5% of annual electricity consumption in buildings. Due to climate change and urbanisation, the residential heating and cooling sector is expected to grow by more than 10-fold globally during the 21st century.

 

The project: This project will investigate next-gen efficient and cost-optimized low-carbon heating and cooling technologies that are able to use intermittent renewable power (such as solar and wind), and able to flexibly vary the electrical load on the demand side without compromising the heating or cooling performance. To catalyse the creation of the next-gen heating/cooling technologies, the project will develop a multi-DOF theory for heating and cooling, the smart control strategies with IoT devices, and system integrations with other energy generations, storage, and demands. This project will be collaborated with many international collaborators, including MIT GEAR Lab, MIT Quest Intelligence, Anna University, MNIT, etc. The project will also be facilitated, technically and financially, by the state-of-the-art research facilities at Warwick and the established research projects including a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellowship, the Joint UK-India Clean Energy Center (EP/P003605/1), SUPERGEN Energy Storage Hub (EP/L019469/1).

 

Eligibility: Candidates must have a 1st or 2.1 honours degree or a Masters Degree at Merit Level. International qualification equivalencies are available at: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/study/international/admissions/entry-requirements.

You must have a strong interest in energy decarbonisation and digitalisation. You will be an enthusiastic and self-motivated person who is happy to make efforts towards achieving climate goals worldwide. Strong engineering background and experience of heat/mass transfer, or fluid dynamics, or mechanical design, or manufacture or control, as well as programming experience in MATLAB/Python or other languages are preferred. Previous experience in energy-related research and excellent presentation and writing skills are desirable. Good team-working and communication skills are essential. Open-mind for new ideals and new projects, and willing to travel and collaborate worldwide are desirable

 

Funding: The annual stipend will be £15,009 (tax free), for 3 years, with university fees paid at the UK/EU rate. This studentship is available to UK, EU, and international candidates. Fees are only available to cover UK/EU tuition fees, the maintenance allowance is available if you are eligible with UK residency. International candidates (outside EU) would be required to pay the difference between UK/EU tuition fees and international tuition fees.

 

How to Apply: The project start time is flexible, either April or Oct 2020. The project will be under a joint-supervision of Dr Wei He and Prof Jihong Wang. Please make a formal application as it will be required to fulfil the usual entry criteria for admission by obtaining an unconditional offer. Details of how to make a formal application can be found here www.warwick.ac.uk/pgrengineering.

Please feel free to contact Dr Wei He (wei.he.2@warwick.ac.uk) if you want any further information or to discuss your application before submitting.