PhD Studentship: Modelling and Mitigating the Impacts of Climate Change in Historic Buildings

Overview

A full-time, fixed-term PhD studentship is available at the University of East Anglia, focusing on modelling and mitigating the impacts of climate change in historic buildings. The project addresses the challenges of rising interior temperatures and low humidity at Blickling Estate in Norfolk, which cause heat stress for staff and visitors, site closures, and the degradation of collections. The successful candidate will join the Thermofluids Laboratory to use experimental and computational techniques to understand, model, and propose solutions for these heat and humidity challenges, which will involve spending time on-site at Blickling to gather experimental data and test solutions.

The project aims to develop the first thermo-fluid digital twin of Blickling Hall to model how local geography, climate, air flows, materials, and layout influence internal conditions, as well as to predict responses to future weather events. Additionally, the researcher will collaborate with Blickling Estate to develop cooling and humidification interventions, and perform laboratory and on-site testing to evaluate their efficacy.

Who can apply

This funding is available to UK applicants.

What you get

The studentship comprises home tuition fees and an annual stipend for three years. The current institutional PhD stipend rate is £21,805 per annum, which is subject to any agreed inflationary uplift for the 2027 to 2028 period.

Requirements

The minimum entry requirement is a 2:1 bachelor's degree in Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, Applied Physics, Applied Mathematics, Computer Science, Chemistry, or Environmental Science.

Key dates

The closing date for applications is 24 February 2027. The start date for the position is 1 October 2027.