Civil and Environmental Engineering

The Finite Element Method (FEM) is widely used for numerical simulation in Engineering, for example in modelling deformable solids. While significant advances have been made in many aspects of the method, most FEM implementations rely on standard polynomial interpolations and Gaussian numerical integration. Recent results in numerical integration for higher order polynomial FEM interpolations show that significant improvements in computational efficiency can be obtained by developing customised formulations. The effort involved in developing such customised formulations, however, currently limits the applicability of this approach. This PhD project will focus on developing an automated framework for developing, testing, and selecting non-standard interpolation and integration methods leading to highly efficient FEM formulations, adapted to the characteristics of the input problem. Established heuristic optimisation approaches will be complemented by novel AI/agentic techniques to locate optimal formulations across a wide search space. The research in this project will be based on existing preliminary work and proof-of-concept tools using both computer algebra software for symbolic calculations (Maple) and numerical computation software (Matlab, Python or Julia). Specific new results obtained through the automated framework will be implemented and tested within commercial computational mechanics codes, such as the Abaqus FEM software.

Minimum entry qualification - an Honours degree at 2:1 or above (or International equivalent) in a relevant science or engineering discipline, possibly supported by an MSc Degree. Applicants must demonstrate an appropriate background in numerical analysis, programming, mechanics of materials and/or computational mathematics.

Further information on English language requirements for EU/Overseas applicants.

Applications are welcomed from self-funded students, or students who are applying for scholarships from the University of Edinburgh or elsewhere as well as self-funded students.

Competition (EPSRC) funding may be available for an exceptional candidate. Link below for the further details.

Further information and other funding options.

We are inviting applications for a PhD position dedicated to the design and efficient operation of datacentres systems from the point of view of building services engineering and impact on energy networks. This project seeks to optimise datacentre’s geographical locations and implementing innovative strategies to manage and recover energy effectively.

Candidates will engage in research that combines building services engineering, environmental data analysis, urban analytics, and sustainability principles. This includes exploring efficient HVAC systems tailored for the unique demands of datacentres and the integration in wider energy networks.

The research will critically evaluate the impact of geographic and climatic factors in datacentre designs to harness maximum renewable energy usage and optimum cooling strategies. It will also explore the impacts from the datacentre to the nearby microclimate conditions and methods for waste heat recovery and its reutilisation within building systems.

This interdisciplinary project is ideal for candidates motivated to innovate in the field of sustainable technologies and with a background in building services engineering, environmental engineering, urban climate, or geographical information systems and urban analytics. As such, it will be supervised by an interdisciplinary team, with Dr Daniel Fosas and Dr Desen Kirli from the School of Engineering at The University of Edinburgh, and Professor Qunshan Zhao from the University of Glasgow.

A comprehensive training programme will be provided comprising both specialist scientific training and generic transferable and professional skills. The PhD candidate will be introduced to comprehensive training options. The candidate will have the opportunity to become a teaching assistant following formal training, as well as opportunities to contribute to wider training and outreach activities. Further training in both academic and interdisciplinary skills will be available as part of Edinburgh’s Institute for Academic Development. 

Prepare documentation required for conditional admission in the PhD programme. 

• Engineering PhD application requirements 

Please note that this requires a formal 2-page research proposal.

• How to write a proposal 

We welcome applications from all qualified candidates, and we wish to particularly encourage applications from groups underrepresented at this level. To apply to this opportunity, you will need to:

1. Meet entry requirements. Note this mainly relates to 

(a) have a degree classification of at least 2:1 or equivalent, 

(b) have funding (deadline end of January) or plans to apply to our scholarship programme (deadline January 12th 2026), 

(c) meet English requirements. Further information on English language requirements for EU/Overseas applicants.

Applications are welcomed from self-funded students, or students who are applying for scholarships from the University of Edinburgh or elsewhere.

Further information and other funding options.

• Bachelor of Engineering (Auckland), 1st Class Honours
• Doctor of Philosophy (Sydney)

• Mechanics and behaviour of particulate solid
• Handling and characterisation of granular solids and powders
• Silo pressures and solids flow
• Finite element and discrete element modelling

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• PhD, National Technical University of Athens
• Post-Graduate Diploma for Teaching in Higher Education, NIE Singapore
• BEng, Tongji University
• MSc, Southeast University

• Fellow, Institution of Civil Engineers (FICE)
• Fellow, American Society of Civil Engineers (FASCE)
• Chartered Engineer (CEng, Registered with the Engineering Council)
• Member, European Academy of Sciences and Arts (M.EASA)
• Associate Editor, International Journal of Protective Structures
• Associate Editor, Journal of Structural Engineering - ASCE
• Member of Editorial Boards: International Journal of Impact Engineering; Advances in Structural Engineering; Structural Engineering and Mechanics; Advances in Concrete Construction; etc
• Joint ACI-ASCE Committee 447: Finite Element Analysis of Reinforced Concrete Structures
• ASCE Technical Committee: Structural Identification of Constructed Systems (past)
• ACI Committee 370: Design for Blast and Impact (past)
• ASCE Technical Committee on Methods of Monitoring
• ASCE/SEI Standards Committee on Seismic Rehabilitation
• Board member, UK Association for Computational Mechanics

• Structures and concrete materials against extreme dynamic loading: earthquake, shock and impact
• Resilience of civil infrastructure; time dependent structural performance and reliability
• Dynamic testing, condition assessment and health monitoring of structures
• Computational modelling of concrete and cementitious composites for complex and high rate loading
• Damage diagnosis, strengthening and retrofitting of structures

• Defence Technology Prize 2006 by the Ministry of Defence, Singapore
• Prestigious Engineering Achievement Award 2004 by the Institution of Engineers, Singapore

• PhD studentship opportunities in computational modelling of brittle/composite materials for dynamic loading; low-carbon concrete materials and structures; integrated structural health monitoring. Enquiry: yong.Lu@ed.ac.uk.

Dr Ricky Carvel is Senior Lecturer in Fire Dynamics in the Edinburgh Fire Research Centre at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.

Originally from Edinburgh he studied at St Andrews University, obtaining a BSc (hons) in Chemistry and Physics in 1992 and an MPhil in Chemistry in 1994. Since then he has worked for the University of Aberystwyth, Heriot-Watt University, International Fire Investigators and Consultants and the University of Edinburgh.

He is editor of the ‘Handbook of Tunnel Fire Safety’ (2nd Edition, ICE Publishing, 2011) and was associate editor of Fire Safety Journal (2009-2015). He has been working in the field of fire science and tunnel fire phenomena since 1998.

His research work has focussed on the interaction between fires and ventilation (specifically tunnel ventilation systems, crosswinds and, currently, underventilated fires such as in basements and ships' holds). In 2004 he was awarded a PhD from Heriot-Watt University (Edinburgh, Scotland) for his thesis “Fire Size in Tunnels”. In addition to fire vs. ventilation research, he has also been involved into research in dust explosions, ignition, material flammability, CFD modelling and fire suppression.

As well as his teaching and research responsibilities at the University, he currently provides fire safety engineering consultancy services to a number of different companies, primarily with regards to tunnel fire safety and fire dynamics. He has authored more than 20 journal papers and more than 40 conference papers.

He was runner up in the 'best course' category at the 2018 EUSA Teaching Awards.

He currently teaches the courses "Fire Science & Fire Dynamics" and "Models for Fire Safety" to undergraduate and MSc students.

Dr Welch has a PhD in combustion and over 30 years of experience in fire research and teaching. He worked for a decade at BRE's Fire Research Station, including full-scale fire tests at BRE Cardington, before joining the BRE Centre for Fire Safety Engineering at the University of Edinburgh in 2004. His research spans a range of topics related to computational simulation of fire and structures and has had involvement as first or second supervisor of around 30 graduated PhD students and served as examiner for over 30 more (including external examiner appointments). His teaching is related to fire safety engineering practice, providing a training in engineering approaches to applied problems, with critique and analysis of relevant regulations, codes and design principles. He was Programme Director for the one-year MSc Structural and Fire Safety Engineering (SAFE) 2008-23 (120+ graduates), and is a management board member for the International Master in Fire Safety Engineering (IMFSE), since 2010 (300+ graduates). He was Discipline Programme Manager for Civil & Environmental Engineering 1/1/14-30/4/18 & 14/3-14/8/22 and is now Deputy Director of Students in the School of Engineering.

• BA hons Engineering, Cambridge University
• MSc Automotive product engineering, Cranfield University
• PhD (Computational modelling of diesel engine smoke emission), Cranfield University

AIFireE, AIOP (Combustion Physics subgroup), IAFSS newsletter associate editor

Deputy Director of Students, School of Engineering

Management Board, International Master in Fire Safety Engineering (IMFSE)

Programme Director, Structural & Fire Safety Engineering (SAFE) MSc

Current teaching: Fire Safety Engineering 5/MSc/IMFSE (formely Current Methods in Fire Safety Engineering/Fire Safety Engineering 4) (short-listed for "Outstanding course" via 22/23 EUSA Teaching awards https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cslN1EdULWQ) Fire Science Laboratory 5/SAFE/IMFSE, Fire Safety Engineering 3

Previous teaching: Fire Safety Engineering Design Project 5, Fire Safety Engineering Analysis and Design 5/MSc, Quantitative Methods for Fire Safety Engineering 5, Numerical Methods and Computing 2, Engineering 1, Civil Engineering 1

• Travelling/post-flashover fires, including fire spread simulation using High Performance Computing (HPC) resources (EPSRC UKCTRF/EU TRAFIR, SureFire Hong Kong) (video)
• Fire-structure coupling methodologies for large/complex spaces (RFCS FIRESTRUC)
• Sensor-linked fire and egress models, including ICU evacuations (BRE Trust PhD studentships)
• Fire hazard prediction, including smoke and toxic species (EPSRC, Nuffield)
• Thermo-mechanical response of composite and steel vessels in fire (EU FireComp, EPSRC PhD studentship with Akzonobel/Promat)
• Fire behaviour of energy efficient constructions and facade fires (Rockwool)

Room 3.08, Alexander Graham Bell building https://www.ed.ac.uk/maps/maps?building=0618

Dr Julio Bros-Williamson is a Chancellor's Fellow in Net-Zero Buildings at the School of Engineering (SoE), Institute of Infrastructure and Environment (IIE). He belongs to the Civil and Environmental Engineering Discipline, joining the school in September 2021 contributing to research, consultancy and teaching. His post is co-funded by the universities Estates department and SoE, contributing to the research and knowledge transfer of net-zero performance through building performance, in-situ envelope testing, retrofit of existing buildings and development of Living Labs and Digital Twins of specific university buildings.

Julio graduated with a PhD from Edinburgh Napier University in 2019 with a thesis that examined the impact of climate change and longitudinal envelope performance dilapidation on dwellings in Scotland. He is an architect, with 15 years of industry experience, who graduated from the School of Architecture at the Marista University in Mexico City. He holds an MSc in Energy Efficient Building (distinction) from Oxford Brookes University and obtained his professional certification in 2003 as a Chartered Architect (Mexico) accredited by the Secretaria de Educacion Publica, allowing him to become a member of the Mexican College of Architects. In 2010 he took up the role as a Director and contributing member of the Scottish Ecological Design Association (SEDA) as well as becoming its Treasurer from 2015 to 2018.

Julio is passionate about the low carbon performance of new and existing buildings, as wells as the building envelope performance and post occupancy evaluation of building users. He has experience in the implementation, optimisation and use indoor air quality sensors, in-situ building performance tools as well as digital skills using point cloud scanners (FARO) to capture interior and exterior space into a .gbxml digital format transferrable to BIM. Julio is a trained and certified Commercial Operations Pilot (drones) after undertaking a competency assessment programme. He has extensive skills in the use of dynamic thermal modelling to deliver simulations of building designs.

• Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Edinburgh Napier University, Climate change and building performance
• Master of Science (MSc), Oxford Brookes University, Energy Efficient Building
• Bachelor Honours Degree, BArch (Hons), Architecture, Universidad Marista (CUM DES), Mexico City, Mexico.

Membership of Professional Body

• Royal Institute of Architects Scotland (RIAS), Affiliate membership
• Member of the Mexican College of Architects (State of Quintana Roo, Mexico)
• Chartered Architect status (Mexico) certified by the Secretaria de Educacion Publica (Spanish)

Current roles:

• Project manager & Board member for the Edinburgh Home Demonstration forum, Academic lead & representative: https://www.cs-ic.org/library/edinburgh-home-demonstrator/
• Co-Investigator of the Housing, Construction and Infrastructure (HCI) Skills Gateway board, part of the Edinburgh & South East Scotland City Region Deal, funded by the UK and Scottish Governments: https://www.hciskills.org/

Previous roles:

• Postgraduate examining board member, Edinburgh Napier University
• Co-founder - Retrofit Scotland (http://www.retrofitscotland.org/)
• Steering Group member - International Building Performance Simulation Association (IBPSA) - Scotland Chapter
• Member - Scotland's 2020 Climate Group [Built Environment]
• Director & Treasurer - Scottish Ecological Design Association (SEDA)

Relevant training:

• Certified European Passive House Designer (CEPH), Passivhaus Institut, Darmstadt & University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK.
• Certificate of Practical Flight Assessment (Drone Pilot), Theoretical & Practical Knowledge / General Airmanship OFQUAL Certificate
• BREEAM Commercial assessor course, Building Research Establishment, Watford, UK.

Current roles:

• Semester 2: CIVE10031, BEng Civil Engineering Design Project 4

Previous experience:

• Undergraduate & Postgraduate lecturer (module leader) in Architectural Technology & Building Performance, Edinburgh Napier University
• Programme Leader of MSc Architectural Technology & Building Performance, Edinburgh Napier University
• Tutor Technology & Environment 2, Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (ESALA), University of Edinburgh
• Undergraduate & Postgraduate lecturer in Interior Architecture, Edinburgh Napier University

• Building performance
• Sustainable building design
• Indoor air quality
• Sustainable standards
• Energy Efficiency in buildings

www.structuresinfireforum.com; www.iris-fire.com

• 2013 Doctor of Philosophy, University of Edinburgh
• 2008 Master of Engineering, University of Edinburgh

• Tools for Engineering Design 2 (TED2)
• Conceptual Design for Civil Engineers 3 (CDCE2)
• Behaviour and Design of Structures 2(BDS2)

• Chair of the Structures in Fire Forum
• Research Explorer Profile