Closing Date: 3rd March 2023
Project start date: 1st October 2023
Funding Provider: UKRI EPSRC CDT Studentship
Subject Area: Functional Coatings
Key Information
Project Supervisors
Academic Supervisors:
Industrial Supervisor:
Aligned programme of study: EngD in Materials, Modelling and Manufacturing
Mode of study: Full-time
Expected Interview Date: March – April 2023
Background:
RedSea is a fast growing AgTech company with the mission statement to ‘help feed to the world sustainably’. We are a sustainable science and technology company addressing the global food and agriculture crisis.
Do you want to contribute to a sustainable future? RedSea is seeking a hardworking Engineering Doctorate candidate to participate in the overall investigation on the development of advanced materials and their integration to RedSea passive cooling technologies. As a key member of a multi-disciplinary and cross organizational tech team, you will work closely with software, product & opto-mechanical engineers based around the world!
We work in a fast-paced technology environment and require everyone to be highly self-motivated. The successful candidate needs to be a flexible thinker, have excellent interpersonal and communication/documentation skills, be able to collaboratively and responsively focus on supporting key product development deliverables that feed into the tech pipeline. The person leading this program should also have high energy and excitement to contribute to cutting-edge technologies that improves RedSea performance and goal achievement.
You will work with suppliers, manufacturers and a diverse internal tech team to support craft and performance assessment of the advanced polymer roofing and coating technologies that set us aside from the pack. From polymer nets to film, multiwall roofs and coatings, the way we differentiate our products from rival companies is with our core tech – spectral tuning. This allows us to provide the optimum light spectrum to the chosen industry be it horticulture, aquaculture or cattle! Moreover there are ways we can modify surface characteristics of our products through late stage differentiation in order to improve performance and lifetime in function of geographical, crop and environmental requirements.
Project Aims:
From concept to a full scale field trial, you will have the opportunity to partake in real life implementation of the tech & assess its performance to provide the team with insights required for the next generation of developments.
For this project you will carry out pre work that will help identify the ideal spectral tuning requirements for various horticulture/aquaculture requirements – this consists of an exhaustive literature review and may include growing select species in high tech LED chambers where you will be able to tune light wavelengths and characterise first hand the effects of spectral tuning.
After having identified the optimum light conditions for various species you will ascertain the ideal pigment/dye combination to replicate the effect required to modify solar radiation appropriately.
Integration of the proposed solutions will be tested on various polymer roofing systems & they will subsequently be tested in real life situations!
The candidate will have a minimum of a BEng in a topic related to chemistry, materials engineering, physics, medical engineering, aquaculture, plant science
Day to day work will be carried out from our offices in Baglan or the laboratories in Singleton/Bay campus. Some international travel to relevant sites may be required in function of product development workstream and maturity.
Sponsor Company:
COATED M2A:
COATED M2A recognises applicants have a variety of backgrounds with different educational and research experiences. We do not expect applicants to be proficient users of any techniques/equipment mentioned, at the time of application. Our focus is to upskill our participants and training will be provided.
COATED M2A in the Faculty of Science and Engineering is a Swansea University initiative which provides postgraduate research training in partnership with industry, providing access to world class laboratories and a wealth of academic and industry expertise. COATED M2A is committed to providing top quality research opportunities within an inclusive environment, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Swansea University and Industry partners.
Interwoven through the research study are business, technical and entrepreneurial courses, designed to support and prepare participants for a senior role in industry or academia, on completion of their studies.
The Athena SWAN charter recognises work undertaken by institutions to advance gender equality. The College of Engineering is an Athena SWAN silver award holder and is committed to addressing unequal gender representation. Applications from women and other under-represented groups are particularly welcomed.
All applications will be anonymised prior to short listing.
Are you considering making an application and have questions you’d like answered? Come and have a 1-2-1 chat with us at our applicant surgeries (Link). We encourage all applicants to review our ‘hints and tips’ document found here.
Eligibility
Candidates must normally hold at minimum (or expect to obtain by the start date) an undergraduate degree at 2.1 level (or Non-UK equivalent as defined by Swansea University), or a combination of degree and equivalent experience to the same level.
NB: If you are holding a non-UK degree, please see Swansea University degree comparisons to find out if you meet the eligibility.
English Language requirements: If applicable – IELTS 6.5 overall (with at least 6.0 in each individual component) or Swansea recognised equivalent. Details on the Swansea University English Language entry policy can be found here.
This studentship is open to candidates of any nationality; however, please note:
If you have any questions regarding your academic or fee eligibility based on the above, please email pgrscholarships@swansea.ac.uk with the web-link to the studentship(s) you are interested in.
Funding
This studentship covers a full award and includes a tax-free stipend (currently £22,000 per annum) and tuition fees, each for a period of four years, subject to meeting University progression requirements.
Also, a generous budget is available to support training, project costs, industry placements and travel to enable you to network and showcase your research at an international conference.
How to Apply
To apply, please complete your application online with the following information:
- Course choice (section 1) – for administrative purposes only, please select PhD Materials Engineering and your application will be considered for the Engineering Doctorate (EngD) in Materials, Modelling and Manufacturing programme.
In the event you have already applied for the above programme previously, the application system may issue a warning notice and prevent application, in this event, please email pgrscholarships@swansea.ac.uk where staff will be happy to assist you in submitting your application.
- Start year (section 1) – please select 2023
- Personal Statement (section 6) – select ‘Add Personal Statement Text’ and set out your skills and experience and the relevance of these to the project within the text box provided. Please refer to the ‘hints and tips’ guide for details of how to structure your personal statement. Shortlisting decisions will be made on information supplied in section 6 of Apply only. Please do not attach a cover letter as it will not be considered.
- Funding (section 8) –
- ‘Are you funding your studies yourself?’ – please select No
- ‘Name of Individual or organisation providing funds for study’ – please enter [RS300 – RedSea]
*It is the responsibility of the applicant to list the above information accurately when applying, please note that applications received without the above information listed will not be considered for the studentship award.
One application is required per individual Swansea University led research scholarship award; applications cannot be considered listing multiple Swansea University led research scholarship awards.
As part of your online application, you MUST upload the following documents (please do not send these via email):
- Degree certificates and transcripts (if you are currently studying for a degree, screenshots of your grades to date/interim transcripts are sufficient)
- Two references (academic or previous employer) on headed paper or using the Swansea University reference form. Please note that we are not able to accept references received citing private email accounts, e.g. Hotmail. Referees should cite their employment email address for verification of reference.
- Evidence of meeting English Language requirement (if applicable).
- Copy of UK resident visa (if applicable).
Furthermore, we invite you to complete the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Monitoring Form (online form). Data is solely collected for statistical purposes and is not viewed by those that shortlist.
Informal enquiries are welcome, please contact M2A@swansea.ac.uk.
*External Partner Application Data Sharing – Please note that as part of the studentship application selection process, application data sharing may occur with external partners outside of the University, when joint/co- funding of a studentship project is applicable.