Studentships

Applications are invited for one full-time EPSRC Industrial CASE (ICASE) PhD studentship for the project “Best practices for minimising dross formation during melting of scrap aluminium”. BCAST is a specialist research centre in metallurgy with a focus on processing metallic materials for lightweighting applications. The project is in collaboration with Constellium, a global leading manufacturer of high-quality, technically advanced aluminium products and systems. Successful applicants will receive an annual stipend (bursary) starting from approximately £23,000 plus payment of their full-time home tuition fees for a period of up to 48 months (4 years). In the aluminium recycling industry, dross formation represents a substantial material loss, with up to 5-10% of the charge potentially lost as dross. Dross primarily consists of aluminium oxides, impurities, and trapped metal, forming due to reactions between molten aluminium and atmospheric oxygen. Various factors contribute to excessive dross formation, including scrap condition, furnace type, melting cycle parameters, heating sources, and furnace atmosphere. Effective control of dross formation can improve metal recovery, reduce environmental impact, and lower production costs. Different scrap sources, such as end-of-life products, machining scrap, and production returns, present varying levels of contamination and oxide coatings, which can lead to inconsistencies in dross formation. By studying surface characteristics of scrap from various sources and implementing controlled preheat and environment, we can significantly reduce the oxidation of molten aluminium and minimise dross formation. This studentship outlines a comprehensive study aimed at establishing best practices to minimise dross formation during the remelting of aluminium scrap sourced from various stages of the recycling process. Emphasis will be placed on optimising preheat treatments, melting cycle parameters, and furnace atmosphere control, alongside introducing specific elements/flux that inhibit oxide growth. The project will be part of the activities of the Constellium University Technology Centre (UTC) established with BCAST. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to interact with researchers in BCAST and with Constellium’s industrial research engineers. An industrial supervisor of the project will be appointed by Constellium. This close collaboration provides a strong foundation for a future career, whether in industry or academia. Please contact Prof. Hari Babu Nadendla for an informal discussion about the project.

Sport for Development (SfD) is increasingly recognised as a mechanism for addressing social inequalities, promoting inclusion and supporting community development. SfD organisations can play a vital role in health and wellbeing outcomes, local empowerment and social cohesion, yet often operate in precarious, resource-constrained environments. Many face challenges such as unstable funding, high staff turnover and accountability pressures which place significant demands on capacity: including the systems, structures and resources that enable mission delivery and adaptive functioning. This PhD will explore how capacity is built, sustained and adapted within SfD organisations operating in East Africa as part of a multi-stakeholder initiative focused on education and sustainable livelihoods. The programme aims to address youth unemployment and education gaps by leveraging sport for skill development, employability and entrepreneurship. These efforts are designed to contribute to wider health and wellbeing outcomes for individuals and communities, aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The research will examine the contextual factors, mechanisms and outcomes that shape capacity building in SfD organisations, enabling them to deliver education and employability initiatives that also foster social inclusion and healthier futures. It will adopt a flexible qualitative or mixed-methods design, potentially employing participatory and creative approaches. It will hope to generate rich, context-sensitive evidence to advance theoretical understanding of capacity building and inform practice in SfD.

Applications are invited for one full-time EPSRC Industrial CASE (ICASE) PhD studentship for the project “Development of natural-ageing-resistant, heat-treatable lean aluminium alloys for automotive applications” The Brunel Centre for Advanced Solidification Technology (BCAST) is a specialist research centre in metallurgy with a focus on the processing of metallic materials for lightweighting applications. See www.brunel.ac.uk/bcast for more information. The project is sponsored by Constellium, a leading global manufacturer of high-quality, technically advanced aluminium products and systems. Successful applicants will receive an annual stipend (bursary) starting from approximately £23,000 plus payment of their full-time home tuition fees for a period of up to 48 months (4 years). Lean automotive aluminium with a lower concentration of alloying elements offers moderate strength and relatively high productivity compared to its highly alloyed counterparts. However, automotive aluminium alloys are susceptible to natural ageing at room temperature, resulting in the formation of clusters from a supersaturated solid solution produced after fast quenching from solution heat treatment. This leads to increased hardness, which affects both formability and the subsequent precipitation hardening process. In addition, promoting a circular economy in the aluminium industry by increasing recyclability and using more recycled aluminium is essential for saving resources, reducing waste and creating a more sustainable future. This project will focus on understanding the effects of vacancy-trapping element addition and quench rate sensitivity of lean Al-Mg-Si-based alloys with varying level of recycled content on the natural ageing response at room temperature and precipitation hardening behaviour during artificial ageing treatment, with the aim of developing lean recyclable Al-Si-Mg-based alloys that are resistant to natural ageing, tolerant of slower quenching rates, and capable of offering high productivity and moderate mechanical properties for automotive applications. The project will be part of the activities of the Constellium University Technology Centre (UTC) established with BCAST. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to interact with researchers in BCAST and with Constellium’s industrial research engineers. An industrial supervisor of the project will be appointed by Constellium. This close collaboration provides a strong foundation for a future career, whether in industry or academia. Please contact Prof. Isaac Chang at Isaac.Chang@brunel.ac.uk for an informal discussion about the project.

Brunel University of London is pleased to invite applications for studentships in Education, offered through the ESRC-funded Grand Union Doctoral Training Partnership (GUDTP). The GUDTP is an exciting collaboration between Brunel, the University of Oxford and the Open University, which offers its students access to innovative social science research training across all three institutions. Brunel DTP students in Education will be members of the GUDTP Education Pathway led by the University of Oxford and Brunel and delivered collaboratively by the two universities. You can find further information about the GUDTP here. Brunel DTP students on the Education pathway will join the Department of Education. Education at Brunel is a leading department in the UK offering the full range of provision at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. In common with the university as a whole, the department has a rich ethnic mix among its student population and attracts a significant proportion of students from outside the European Union. The Education Department is ranked top 4 in London (Complete University Guide, 2026). In the last Research Excellence Framework, 60% of the Education Department’s research was world leading or internationally excellent and 90% of its impact was graded as internationally excellent. Our Doctoral Researchers are a key part of our research and scholarly community, and we seek to nurture and develop them as the next generation of researchers in education who both create and co-create new knowledge in order to advance the field. We view Education as a discipline in its own right as well as drawing on other disciplinary fields such as history, philosophy, sociology and human geography to inform provision for both our PhD and EdDoc researchers. We believe in the holistic development of the researcher and offer opportunities for doctoral researchers to become fully immersed in Department, College and wider University research networks, providing them with new insights into theory, methodology, methods, ethics and real-world application. Our research addresses education in the broadest sense, taking in both formal and informal education (including youth work and welfare contexts) and focusing across the lifecourse to include early years, schooling, higher education and lifelong learning. Departmental research is currently organised and led through three research groups: Education, Identities, and Society Media, Arts and Culture in Education STEM Education The Department is also affiliated with the following research groups and centres: Global Lives Human Geography: space, place and society Kidspace: key skills in participation in childhood Applicants are requested to contact Professor Emma Wainwright emma.wainwright@brunel.ac.uk to discuss their applications and indicate the member(s) of staff they consider suitable to potentially support their application. Joint Oxford-Brunel supervision will be available where beneficial, drawing on existing external co-supervision practices. More information on the Education research areas available at Brunel is available at: https://www.brunel.ac.uk/research/Research-degrees/DTPs/Grand-Union-DTP

Brunel University London is pleased to invite applications for ESRC-funded studentships in Health and Wellbeing offered through the Grand Union Doctoral Training Partnership (GUDTP). The GUDTP is an exciting collaboration between Brunel, the University of Oxford and the Open University, which offers its students access to innovative social science research training across all three institutions. Brunel DTP students in Health & Wellbeing will be members of the GUDTP Health & Wellbeing Pathway, led by Brunel and delivered collaboratively by the three universities. You can find further information about the GUDTP here. Applicants conducting doctoral research in Health and Wellbeing at Brunel will be based within the appropriate subject area. The Pathway studentships are available across a wide agenda of the most significant national and global health and wellbeing challenges, offering applicants opportunities to work with expert research teams in a range of disciplines. Areas of expertise include - but are not restricted to - lifestyle behaviours and health and wellbeing inequalities sport, physical activity, health and wellbeing; health and wellbeing across the life course, including youth and in older age; psychology, health and wellbeing; health, social care and social work health economics digital health