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  • Built-Environment-PhD

Built environment PhD

For over 30 years, the University of Brighton has led the way in built environment research.

From investigating the energy efficiency and performance of buildings, to examining the interrelationships between people, natural resources and the built environment, our staff and PhD students are at the leading edge of empirical and theoretical research into sustainable buildings and construction. We are also working to understand the shifting nature of education in the built environment to adapt to an ever-changing industry.

The majority of our work has real-world application. Data generated by researchers in our Construction Engineering and Management Research and Enterprise Group is being used, for example, to enhance the design of double-skin facades on buildings in order to improve their thermal performance, and to assess the impact of construction methods upon the provision of climate resilient affordable housing in Nigeria and Uganda.

Our built environment PhD students have gone on to a variety of different roles following the successful completion of their research. These include academic posts as lecturers and postdoctoral research assistants at Brighton and elsewhere, plus research roles in, for example, the construction industry. Many have gone on to positions in industry, for example as senior consultants for facilities management contractors and as directors of construction companies.

Apply to 'Built Environment' in the application portal

Key Information

As a Built environment PhD student at the University of Brighton, you will

  • be able to draw on research approaches from a variety of related fields, including civil engineering, environmental science, and human geography. You can develop research plans and apply methods involving both quantitative and qualitative data, supported by appropriate research methods training. benefit from a supervisory team comprising two to three members of academic staff. Depending on your research specialism you may also have an additional external supervisor from another School, another research institution, or industry.
  • be provided with desk space and access to a desktop PC, either in one of the postgraduate offices on the 6th floor of the award-winning Cockcroft Building, or within the adjacent Heavy Engineering Block. You will additionally benefit from access to a range of electronic resources via the University’s Online Library, as well as to the physical book and journal collections housed within the Aldrich Library and other campus libraries.
  • have access to state-of-the-art equipment, including suites of monitors and data loggers for the measurement of air permeability, irradiance, thermal performance and air quality within buildings and a range of facilities on the Moulsecoomb site, including a water efficiency laboratory, specialist microbial and water quality laboratories, hydraulic flumes, an experimental river basin, geochemical and geotechnical laboratories, microscopy laboratories (optical and scanning electron microscopes), and a concrete laboratory, as well as a large array of field equipment. All of these facilities are supported by a team of dedicated laboratory and workshop technicians.

Academic environment

As a Built environment PhD student, you will be an integral part of the School of Environment and Technology and take an active role in a range of intellectual and social activities within the school.

All postgraduate students working on built environment topics are integrated into one or more of our Research Centres or Research Groups as well as the Construction Engineering and Management Research and Enterprise Group.

Students have support and alignment across specialists in architecture, construction, and social sciences, bringing opportunities to present ‘work in progress’ to specialists and non-specialists and to reach a broad network of researchers.

The Brighton Doctoral College offer a training programme for postgraduate researchers, covering research methods and transferable (including employability) skills. Attendance at appropriate modules within this programme is encouraged, as is contribution to the School’s fortnightly seminar series. Academic and technical staff also provide more subject-specific training.

Researchers within the School of Environment and Technology are engaged in work across a wide range of topic areas, and thus your PhD research could pursue interests in almost any area of built environment. 

Our particular areas of specialism currently include:

  • Advanced technologies in the built environment, architecture and construction
  • Construction management
  • Education in the built environment
  • Energy efficiency and building performance
  • Environmental impact of buildings and construction
  • Housing, community, people and planning
  • Project management
  • Sustainability of the built environment

While considering supervision from the University of Brighton, you may like to explore the following PGR programme area, too:

Design PhD | Architecture PhD

Some of our supervisors

Profile photo for Dr Mahmood Alam

Dr Mahmood Alam

I am intersted in supervising postgraduate research students in the following areas: Vacuum Insulation Panels; Building Performance Evaluation; Energy Efficiency in Built Environment; Building retrofit

Profile photo for Dr Lesley Murray

Dr Lesley Murray

I am interested in supervising doctoral students on a range of topics including transport and mobilities, urban sociology, visual sociology and gender and generation. In addition, I welcome proposals from students seeking to adopt creative and inventive methodologies and methods. I am currently supervising projects on: non-flying holidays; lived experiences of the anthropocene; urban place-attachment across generations; sequential art in architectural practice; urban seaside gentrification; the datafication of cycling; and precarious mobile employment in the ‘smart city’.

 

For further supervisory staff including cross-disciplinary options, please visit research staff on our research website. 

Making an application

You will apply to the University of Brighton through our online application portal. When you do, you will require a research proposal, references, a personal statement and a record of your education.

You will be asked whether you have discussed your research proposal and your suitability for doctoral study with a member of the University of Brighton staff. We recommend that all applications are made with the collaboration of at least one potential supervisor. Approaches to potential supervisors can be made directly through the details available online. If you are unsure, please do contact the Doctoral College for advice.

Please visit our How to apply for a PhD page for detailed information.

Sign in to our online application portal to begin.

Fees and funding

Funding

Undertaking research study will require university fees as well as support for your research activities and plans for subsistance during full or part-time study.

Funding sources include self-funding, funding by an employer or industrial partners; there are competitive funding opportunities available in most disciplines through, for example, our own university studentships or national (UK) research councils. International students may have options from either their home-based research funding organisations or may be eligible for some UK funds.

Learn more about the funding opportunities available to you.

Tuition fees academic year 2020–21

Standard fees are listed below, but may vary depending on subject area. Some subject areas may charge bench fees/consumables; this will be decided as part of any offer made. Fees for UK/EU and international students on full-time and part-time courses are likely to incur a small inflation rise each year of a research programme.

MPhil/PhD
 Full-timePart-time

UK/EU 

£4,407 

£2,204 

International  

£14,976 

£7,488

International students registered in the School of Humanities or in the Brighton Business School

£13,194 

£6,597

Professional doctorate
Full-timePart-time

N/A

£2,673 (UK/EU)

PhD by Publication
Full-time Part-time
 N/A  £2,204(UK/EU)

Contact Brighton Doctoral College

To contact the Doctoral College at the University of Brighton we request an email in the first instance. Please visit our contact the Brighton Doctoral College page.

For supervisory contact, please see individual profile pages.

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