Civil Engineering PhD

As a Civil Engineering PhD student, you will benefit from:

•  a supervisory team comprising two to three members of academic staff. Depending on your research specialism you may also have an additional external supervisor from another school, another research institution, or industry.
• All students are provided with desk space and access to a desktop PC, either in one of the postgraduate offices on the sixth floor of the award-winning Cockcroft Building, or within the adjacent Heavy Engineering Block. You will additionally benefit from access to a range of electronic resources via the University’s Online Library, as well as to the physical book and journal collections housed within the Aldrich Library and other campus libraries.
• PhD students within the School of Architecture, Technology and Engineering are able to use various state-of-the-art research facilities on the Moulsecoomb site, including specialist geochemical and geotechnical laboratories, microbial and water quality laboratories, hydraulic flumes, an experimental river basin, a water efficiency laboratory, microscopy laboratories (optical and scanning electron microscopes), and a concrete laboratory, as well as a large array of field equipment. All of these facilities are supported by a team of dedicated laboratory and workshop technicians.
• All postgraduate students working on civil engineering topics are integrated into one or more of our Research Groups (see below). These groups provide you with opportunities to present ‘work in progress’ and network with other researchers.
• The Brighton Doctoral College offer a training programme for postgraduate researchers, covering research methods and transferable (including employability) skills.

The interdisciplinary ethos of the School of Architecture, Technology and Engineering provides an ideal home for this research. Based on the University’s Moulsecoomb Campus, School of Architecture, Technology and Engineering has a vibrant community of 75 academic and research staff, and over 60 PhD students. Research within the school has a common aim to address key environmental, social and resource issues, and deliver translational research with local, regional and international benefits. Our staff expertise spans a range of disciplines, including civil engineering, built environment, geology, environmental science, human and physical geography, and archaeology.

Researchers within the School of Architecture, Technology and Engineering are engaged in work across a wide range of topic areas, and thus we would be well placed to support a PhD in Civil engineering from almost any area of the discipline. Our particular areas of specialism currently include:

• Advanced construction materials
• Coastal, estuarine and river engineering
• Geotechnical engineering
• Resilient structures and earthquake engineering
• Smart infrastructure asset management

Dr Heidi Burgess

For both MRes and PhD, I am particularly interested in supervising projects in the area of  intertidal, estuarine and riverine water / sediment interaction and climate. Examples of applications could include:

• Quantifying the impact that different types of Nature Based Solutions have on Riverine Flood Management.
• The impact that drainage systems have on the development of Managed Realignment sites and the colonisation by intertidal flora.
• How mycelium develops in newly inundated intertidal wetlands.
• Furthering the understanding into the processes of how terrestrial soil transforms into intertidal sediment when inundated by saline water.
• The impact of Coastal Managed and Managed Realignment design has on fish habitats and how engineering could be used to increase habitat suitability, impacting positively on fish stocks. (see: - MR Fish Geomorphology (ICECM 2019) (brighton.ac.uk))
• The impact of changing weather patterns on intertidal environments.
• Projects related to the CHASM project , particularly the sediment and hydro elements.

Along with any project which brings together the following elements: Natural Flood Management, habitat creation, eco-system services, impact of sea-level rise and impact on health and wellbeing.

Dr Pierfrancesco Cacciola

My supervisory interests include topics in the general Structural Dynamics and Vibrations research area.  I am particularly interested in researching how uncertainties influence the dynamic behaviour of structures and components. The study of randomness in both material properties and external input opens several research topics including stochastic modelling and reliability analysis, random vibrations and vibrations control that I am keen to further explore.  Research in earthquake engineering and in innovative seismic protection device are particularly welcomed. 

Dr Anastasios Georgoulas

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modeling and Experimental Characterisation of diabatic two-phase flows with phase change (pool boiling, flow boiling, cavitation), turbulent multiphase flows (water-sediment/turbidity currents, water-air/free surface flows), heat and mass transfer, aerodynamics, HVAC

Prof Imran Rafiq

I would be keen to supervise research on; deterioration and its impact (including clilmate change) on structural performance, probabilistic modelling for deterioration processes, service life modelling of deteriorating structures, structural health monitoring and development of decision making systems pertinent to the maintenance management of civil infrastructure assets.

For further supervisory staff including cross-disciplinary options, please visit research staff on our research website.