Civil Engineering (Transport) PhD

Our Transport and Operations Research Group is a leading centre of transport technology in Europe. We conduct world leading research that has commercial impact. You will be able to develop your work into ground breaking research through working with our experts.<br/><br/>By pursuing research in the School of Engineering you will join an extremely successful research group focussing on transport and civil engineering. Our mission is to foster, promote and conduct research of international quality. This means that we attract high quality graduates and researchers and train them to international standards.<br/><br/>Research into transport and civil engineering is conducted by our Transport Operations Research Group (TORG), one of the leading centres of transport technology in Europe. We are central to key research in areas such as road user charging and smartcards, developing both the policy ideas and the underlying technologies.<br/><br/>We are currently running a world-leading trial in electric vehicles and public charging infrastructure in the north east of England. This research is informing policy, international standards development and its impact on energy demand and environmental emissions. We have also developed a low-cost wireless sensing technology, Motes, which is being used to monitor traffic pollution, help develop strategies to manage traffic demand and reduce emissions. This world-leading technology is being used commercially by several local authorities and it is being assessed for deployment in a number of high profile international cities.<br/><br/>Our main research areas are:<br/>•land use and network models<br/>•passenger transport and policy<br/>•transport and the environment<br/>•infrastructure design and telematics.<br/><br/>We supervise MPhil and PhD students in the following areas:<br/>•freight and traffic loading<br/>•public transport management and operations<br/>•traffic management and control<br/>•road traffic safety and accident analysis<br/>•transport emissions and the environment<br/>•transport telematics and image processing<br/>•intelligent transport systems (ITS)<br/>•travel behaviour<br/>•highway design and engineering<br/>•operating speed models<br/>•environmental impact and monitoring of transport activities.<br/><br/>Delivery:<br/><br/>During term time, TORG has weekly seminars where staff, current PhD students and invited speakers make presentations. The current research themes deal with:<br/>•transport telematics<br/>•public transport<br/>•transport and the environment<br/>•pollution and congestion<br/>•road-user charging and infrastructure.<br/><br/>You have the opportunity to attend and make presentations at conferences, including the Universities Transport Study Group Annual Conference.<br/><br/>Placements:<br/><br/>We have extensive UK and international contacts so that research can be carried out in collaboration with industry and government agencies. Research projects are supervised by staff with a wide range of industrial and academic experience.<br/><br/>Facilities:<br/><br/>The School of Engineering has an exceptional range of laboratories equipped with a wide range of analytical instrumentation supporting our research, teaching and contract research projects. Find out about our:<br/>•Chemical and Biological Research Laboratories<br/>•Geotechnics and Structures Research Laboratories.