Programme Overview
As a student of the UK Doctoral Training Centre for Energy Demand Reduction and the Built Environment you will join a vibrant and diverse community of academics and postgraduate students.
The Centre has 6 funded places (UK/EU fees + stipend for 4 years) available for 2010/11 and 10 places for each of the following three years. At its peak the Centre will have over 70 registered students studying for either a Master's or PhD degree. The selection process for funded places at either Loughborough University or University College London is likely to be tight and if possible you will be offered a place according to your stated preference.
The Centre aims to provide you with the best broadly based and multi-disciplinary, but demanding, training for a research career that the UK can offer in this field. The 4 year programme consists of a Master of Research (MRes) followed by a Doctorate (PhD). Although the degrees will be awarded according to where each student is registered, the centre will provide a strong shared and collaborative experience for the body of students at the Centre.
The MRes Energy Demand Studies course undertaken in the first year has modules delivered at both institutions. It will provide you with a solid grounding in thermodynamics, energy systems in the built environment, energy modelling and analysis, social science methodologies, energy law and policy, and energy economics. But rather than learning about these topics through set coursework and swatting for exams, the focus of this graduate degree is on doing research. So much like the experience of young post-doctoral researchers, you will engage from the outset in using your recently acquired knowledge to work directly on active research problems. Thus the largest component of the course is the MRes dissertation, which lasts for the whole academic year. At the end, and just as is the case with a normal research project, it should be possible for you to publish a technical report or journal paper based on your work. It is the ideal preparation to undertake the PhD in energy demand research.
During the MRes first year, you will also revise and refine your proposal for the doctoral dissertation by linking up with our various stakeholders and research partners. The PhD research topics at the centre cover the broad themes of Climate change – impacts and adaptation; Systems – energy dynamics, building stocks, policy, demographics; Technologies – processes and products and People – society, behaviour and attitudes. The programme is interspersed with a wide range of activities, including seminars, field trips, placements, recruitment open days and an annual colloquium.
Successful students will be awarded an MRes in Energy Demand Studies from the institution they are registered in and then permitted to progress onto the first stage of PhD programme.
For your PhD you will join one of the existing large research groups at either UCL or Loughborough that are working on strategically important topics in the energy demand reduction area. Depending on your choice of subject area for your PhD and availability of appropriate supervisors you will join one of the research groups at either UCL or Loughborough that are working on strategically important topics in the demand reduction area. During the PhD you will present your work at our annual colloquium and at international conferences, and you may spend time overseas at one of our partner universities overseas.
