How can circular design benefit from Artificial Intelligence.

We are recruiting new Doctoral Researchers to our EPSRC funded Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) PhD studentships starting 1 October 2024. Applications are invited for the project title ‘How can circular design benefit from Artificial Intelligence’.

Successful applicants will receive an annual stipend (bursary) of £21,237, including inner London weighting, plus payment of their full-time home tuition fees for a period of 42 months (3.5 years).

You should be eligible for home (UK) tuition fees there are a very limited number (no more than three) of studentships available to overseas applicants, including EU nationals, who meet the academic entry criteria including English Language proficiency.

You will join the internationally recognised researchers in the Department of Brunel Design School research and PhD programmes | Brunel University London

The Project

Design for circular economy (circular design) has been a subject of intense research in recent years and holds potential for achieving positive impact on national economies and on the environment. At the same time, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has witnessed significant developments that have brought to the forefront its potential for transformative innovation for the benefit of society, as well as reasons for concern including those associated with potential job losses due to increased levels of automation. Recent research has focused on the potential of AI technology for developing services and systems to underpin circular economies. However, comparatively fewer efforts have concentrated on identifying opportunities and barriers to how AI can support circular design.

This project will contribute to filling this gap by mapping out the innovation landscape around applications of AI technology to enable circular design to become more effective. The project will develop a design framework and tools to enable design practitioners to integrate AI into the design (design process as well as design outcome) to foster circular innovations.

It is expected that the PhD researcher will carry out applicative case studies with business organisations. These can be in sectors aligned with ongoing Brunel ‘Design for Sustainability’ research (e.g. metal sector, electric/electronic products, reusable packaging systems) to create synergies with existing industry partnerships.

The supervisory team includes experts in design for sustainability and circular economy (Dr Fabrizio Ceschin and Dr Lucia Corsini) and an expert in AI (Dr Federico Colecchia). The successful candidate will be part of the ‘Design for Sustainability’ research group:

https://www.brunel.ac.uk/research/Groups/Design-for-Sustainability

Please contact Dr Fabrizio Ceschin at fabrizio.ceschin@brunel.ac.uk for an informal discussion about the studentship.

Eligibility

Applicants will have or be expected to receive a first or upper-second class honours degree in a Design, Engineering, Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics or a similar discipline. A Postgraduate Masters degree is not required but may be an advantage.

Skills and Experience

Applicants will be required to demonstrate the following skills:

A self-directed proactive attitude combined with excellent time and project management skills. 
Ability to work independently as well as in a team, collaborate with others.
Excellent communication skills. 
Knowledge of the concepts of circular economy and circular design (with a focus on design process and tools). 
Knowledge of (or willingness to learn about) AI.

You should be highly motivated, able to work independently as well as in a team, collaborate with others and have good communication skills.

How to apply

There are two stages of the application:

1.Applicants must submit the pre-application form via the following link

https://brunel.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/epsrc-dtp-24-25-pre-application-form-brunel-university-lon

by 16.00 on Friday 5th April 2024.

2.If you are shortlisted for the interview, you will be asked to email the following documentation in a single PDF file to cedps-studentships@brunel.ac.uk within 72hrs.

Your up-to-date CV;
Your Undergraduate degree certificate(s) and transcript(s) essential;
Your Postgraduate Masters degree certificate(s) and transcript(s) if applicable;
Your valid English Language qualification of IELTS 6.5 overall (minimum 6.0 in each section) or equivalent, if applicable;
Contact details for TWO referees, one of which can be an academic member of staff in the College.

Applicants should therefore ensure that they have all of this information in case they are shortlisted.

Interviews will take place in April/May 2024.