The PhD programme offers flexible supervision between The University of Nottingham Ningbo, China (UNNC) and The University of Nottingham, UK. Depending on the proposed research, students may be required to spend part of their studies at The University of Nottingham, UK. Still, students will be registered at UNNC, and graduates will be awarded a University of Nottingham, UK degree which is also recognised by the Chinese Ministry of Education.

PhD programmes in the FoSE

• Built Environment 
• Project Management 
• Chemical Engineering 
• Environmental Engineering 
• Civil Engineering 
• Computer Science & Operations Research 
• Computational Intelligence in Transport 
• Electrical and Electronic Engineering 
• Renewable Energy Technologies 
• Geographic Science
• Applied Mathematics 
• Manufacturing Engineering 
• Mechanical Engineering 
• Sustainable Manufacturing 
• Sustainable Energy Technologies 
• Sustainable Building Technology 
• Aerospace Engineering

For any general enquiries about the FoSE PhD programmes, please contact:

PGR@nottingham.edu.cn

FOSE_Research@nottingham.edu.cn

Architecture and Built Environment

• Low-Carbon, Smart Buildings & Urbanism: Designing energy-efficient, sustainable cities and buildings to reduce carbon footprints
• Digital Humanity and Heritage Preservation: Protecting cultural heritage while integrating AI technologies
• Urban Regeneration: Revitalizing underused urban spaces with sustainable redevelopment strategies.
• Indoor and outdoor thermal comfort: Investigating and optimizing thermal comfort in various indoor spaces; Addressing urban heat island effect and related challenges in cities through novel design approaches.

 Chemical and Environmental Engineering

• Advanced Materials
• Biomass & Biochemical Engineering
• Catalytic Science & Technology
• Chemical Conversion (Thermochemical, Electrochemical & Photochemical)
• Energy Engineering
• Environmental Engineering & Geotechnology
• Process Intensification
• Renewable & Clean Energy
• Our work focuses on eight key domains:
• Air Quality and Pollution Control
• Aquatic Resource and Soil Management
• Carbon Neutral Practices & Technologies
• Green Construction Materials
• Natural Medicine Resources
• Solid Waste Recycling/Treatment/Management
• Urban Climate Change
• Water Quality and Wastewater Treatment

Civil Engineering

• Structural and Earthquake Engineering,
• Geotechnical and Pavement Engineering,
• Hydraulic and Ocean Engineering,
• Construction Engineering and Management,
• Transportation and Highway Engineering,
• Engineering Survey and Remote Sensing,
• Construction and Building Materials,
• Infrastructure Engineering.

 Computer Science

• AI and computational intelligence (deep learning, reinforcement learning, multi-agent systems, optimization under uncertainty)
• Augmented/Virtual/Mixed Reality
• Big data, IoT, 5G/6G, and edge computing
• Computer vision and multi-sensor fusion
• Data Mining
• Digital twin and simulation for transportation, logistics, supply chain, and finance
• Education Technology
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Intelligent robotics and digital transformation strategies
• Natural Language Processing
• Optimisation
• Software Engineering
• Software Testing
• Theoretical Computing and Reasoning

  Electrical and Electronic Engineering

1. Power Electronics, Energy Systems and Electrical Machines

• Power electronic converters and integration
• Electrical machines and high-performance design
• Motor drive systems and advanced control strategies
• Thermal management and condition monitoring
• Transportation electrification

2. Wireless Communications and Networking

• 5G/6G mobile and vehicular communications
• Internet of Things (IoT), RF sensing and localisation
• Channel modelling, modulation, coding, and MIMO systems
• Beamforming, mmWave and terahertz communications
• Reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS)
• Physical layer security, non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA)
• AI and machine learning for wireless systems
• Blockchain, trust management, and secure C-V2X
• Non-Terrestrial Network 5G/6G communication technologies

3. Biomedical Engineering and Medical Imaging

• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technologies
• Hyperpolarized noble-gas MRI
• Medical imaging and signal processing
• Advanced diagnostic medical equipment

4. Electromagnetics and Microwave Engineering

• Antennas and phased array systems
• Microwave and high-frequency circuits
• Radar and satellite communication systems

5. Sensors, Materials, and Emerging Electronics

• Biosensors, plasmonic and optical sensors
• Smart sensors and electronic materials science
• Analogue and neuromorphic electronics
• Flexible and wearable sensing technologies
• Blood pressure and heartbeat detection algorithms
• Real-time physiological monitoring systems

  Geographical Sciences 

• Climate change risk mitigation and adaptation
• Glaciation and geomorphology
• Paleo-climatic and historical environmental change
• Catchment hydrology, hydrological modelling and management
• Geo-spatial and Geo-statistical analyses
• Urban environmental and water management
• Sustainable water management and sponge city
• Nature-Based Solutions and Green Infrastructure
• Plastics pollution control, including microplastics

  Mathematical Sciences

• Partial differential equations: a) Nonlinear analysis and calculus of variations; b) Free boundary problems; c) Global existence and blow-up phenomena.
• Mathematical modeling: a) Mathematical modeling in living systems; b) Computational clinical medicine; c) Stochastic population dynamics.
• Mathematical physics: a) Quantum field theory on curved spacetimes; b) Symmetry breaking in cosmology.
• Discrete mathematics: a) Topological combinatorics; b) Graph coloring.
• Probability and statistics: a) Stochastic orders; b) Risk measures and ruin theory.
• Computational mathematics: a) Machine learning in biological systems; b) Numerical methods

 Mechanical, Materials and Manufacturing Engineering

Disciplinary research areas:

• Thermofluids: a) Heat transfer and exchange; b) Single-, multi-phase and reactive flows and propulsion.
• Human-product interaction: a) Sensing and HMI, b) User experience and user-centered design.
• Materials and structures: a) Lattice and morphing structures; b) Composite structures; c) Fused and additive structures.
• Dynamical systems and control: a) Mechanisms, actuators and drives; b) Vibration and sound; c) Vehicle systems.

Multidisciplinary application areas:

• Manufacturing and devices: a) Material removal; b) Additive manufacturing.
• Vehicles and powertrains: a) Hybrid powertrains; b) Low altitude UAVs

To be considered for admission to a postgraduate research programme, applicants should have met both the minimum academic and English language requirements.

You should be aware that some other factors are also important for your application.

The following will be considered when making an offer:

• Academic performance during the undergraduate and postgraduate study
• Research papers published in international academic journals
• Quality of the research proposal
• Research potential and attitude
• English proficiency

Click here to check the entry requirements in detail.

Key dates

Application deadlines and registration dates

How to apply

We welcome qualifying applications all year round. You may consider either a Spring or Autumn entry that better suits your study plan. To ensure you will be able to register on your desired date, please submit your application at least 3 months in advance. If you are applying for a PhD scholarship, please refer to each scholarship's deadline.

Click here to check your application procedure.

If you want to apply for a PhD program in Faculty of Science and Engineering, please refer to Graduate School's website for more information.