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Apply for a PhD
We welcome doctoral applications all year round! The Sustainability Research Institute has a thriving research community with a solid theoretical and applied research tradition. Studying for a PhD with UEL's Sustainability Research Institute will push you to new levels of innovation - and our world-class academic staff will support you. Our research integrates multidisciplinary expertise across a wide array of topics related to sustainability. Focused on three sub-themes, the Sustainability Research Institute has expert teams researching Blue/Green Infrastructure, Sustainable Societies and Sustainable Materials and Resources. As an umbrella institute across UEL, and with global networks, we also collaborate across UEL's research portfolio and beyond.
All postgraduate research students are supervised by at least two research-active staff. Your supervisors will support your programme of research through regular meetings and reviews.
Finding a supervisor
If you’re proposing your own PhD project, you will need to identify and contact potential SRI supervisors whose research interests align with your own. You will also need to discuss your research idea before you apply. To do this, you will need to explore which academic staff are open to supervising students. When applying, you will need to provide details of your proposed supervisor and a proposal of your intended research.
Research proposals
Research proposals give us a better understanding of the area you want to study for a PhD. You don't have to follow a predetermined structure when writing your proposal. Still, it is a good idea to include a title that describes the aims and scope of your research and information on how your ideas fit in with the research interests of the SRI. You should also be prepared to explain how this contributes to and develops (or challenges) any existing theories in the field. To find out more about how to write your research proposal, see our research proposal guidance.
Completed PhD Students
Bamdad Ayati
Bamdad completed his PhD in Sustainable Development and the Environment in 2018. His research investigated the manufacture of lightweight aggregates from drill cuttings waste that is produced by the oil and gas industry in the North Sea and showed this to be a viable reuse application for large volumes of drill cuttings that are disposed of in landfills every year.
Email:b.ayati@uel.ac.uk
Ximena Alexandra Chamorro Bolaaos
Ximena holds a BSc in Chemistry and an MSc in Water, Waste and Environmental Engineering. She has a professional background in Environmental Chemistry and research experience in sanitation and reuse of waste materials. Ximena is currently developing her doctoral research on the assessment of different treatments for air pollution control residues (APCr) coming from municipal solid waste (MSW) incineration so that these residues can be used as raw material in the manufacture of lightweight aggregates (LWA). This PhD project is a partnership between the SRI and Augean PLC, which is a market leader in waste management solutions in the UK.
Email:u1932296@uel.ac.uk
Jack Clough
Dr Jack Clough
Research Assistant
Jack works in the 'Green Infrastructure' team. His main work focuses on wetland conservation and paludiculture in the UK and abroad. As a developing researcher, he has growing expertise in SuDs, ecological surveys, GIS, and terrestrial laser scanning. Previous projects have involved working on the UK’s first Sphagnum farming project funded through Innovate UK, identifying a new blanket bog in Southern Spain and working on the DEFRA paludiculture sub-group which aims to develop the paludiculture policy within the UK. In his spare time, Jack is often found outdoors hiking, climbing, and cycling.
Read Jack's full profile
Email: j.clough@uel.ac.uk
Ria Devereux
She completed her PhD at the SRI in 2023, investigating microplastic abundance along the tidal section of the River Thames. Ria's research aimed to highlight the contamination of water in the River Thames by microplastics and yield valuable information which may be used to help the removal of plastic waste.
Email:r.devereux@uel.ac.uk
Umar Khalid
Having completed an MSc in Civil Engineering, Umar's PhD thesis is to develop a mathematical model of the pan pelletisation process and to formulate cold bonded pellets using Air Pollution Control Residues (APCr). Umar's PhD is a collaboration with Augean Plc - a sector leader in modernising hazardous waste management practices.
Umar's wider interests include Building Information Modelling and construction automation.
Email:m.u.khalid@uel.ac.uk
James McGill
James is an entomologist and started his research at UEL in September 2014. His research focuses on brownfield invertebrate conservation in Essex and London, particularly managing succession and creating new habitat features. Prior to his time at UEL, James worked for Natural England, the RSPB and Reading University as a botanist and invertebrate ecologist.
Email: j.mcgill@uel.ac.uk
Caroline Nash
Caroline completed her PhD research in 2017, investigating state-of-the-art measures to maximise the biodiversity value of urban green infrastructure, with a particular focus on Open Mosaic Habitat ecomimicry as a mechanism for achieving nature-positive development.
Kinga Owczarek
Kinga's research investigates the properties of novel extensive green roof construction materials and the resultant hydrological functions. Her aim is to develop appropriate guidelines for multifunctional green roof design in the UK.
Kinga also works in the Centre of Geo-Information Studies, UEL on Smart Cities: Promoting Resilience in the London Borough of Newham.
Email:k.e.owczarek@uel.ac.uk
Stephanie Skipp
Stephanie Skipp completed her PhD in insect ecology in 2023. Her project focused mainly on the beetles that specialise in decaying-wood habitats within broadleaved veteran trees. Many of these species are uncommon and further threatened by habitat loss in the future. Stephanie researched the extent to which decreasing habitat connectivity may impact these beetles.
Email: s.k.skipp@uel.ac.uk
Find out more about our current and previous PhD students or browse all our PhD courses.
For enquiries about the course, please contact: Dr Stuart Connop - s.p.connop@uel.ac.uk