The studentship

Atmospheric black carbon (BC) is receiving increasing attention from the climate change and air pollution health communities. Applications are invited for a three and a half year collaborative PhD studentship focusing on new methods for understanding urban sources of this air pollutant. This studentship is funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) through a CASE studentship with the National Physical Laboratory. Home tuition fees will be met and an enhanced stipend paid of £15,363 per year. The studentship will only fully fund UK, plus EU students who meet residency requirements set out by the EPSRC.

The topic

Measurement of the blackness of smoke particles in the air was one of the main ways in which London’s smogs were first understood in the 1950s. Today, climate change and health researchers are showing renewed interest in atmospheric black carbon (BC). From the climate perspective the short-term forcing effects of BC are providing an international impetus for abatement of BC sources, and from the air pollution health perspective it has been suggested that BC is a better indicator of harmful airborne particulates from combustion sources (especially traffic) than airborne particle mass concentration. However, knowledge of urban sources of BC is thin. Doubts are being raised about the effectiveness of technology to clean up diesel emissions, while the growing popularity of domestic wood burning provides new difficulties for understanding urban air pollution. There is therefore an urgent need to develop new methods for source specific BC measurements for future emissions inventory verification and to track the progress of urban air quality management measures that target exhaust emissions of particles.

Supervisory team

The PhD will be jointly supervised by Dr Gary Fuller at King’s College London and Dr Paul Quincey at the National Physical Laboratory. The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is the UK’s standards laboratory with world-renowned metrological excellence.

Entry Requirements

Students must have a first degree (2:1 or better) and a relevant Master’s degree. The selected candidate will have a high calibre science background (preferably physical sciences or chemistry) with interest in environment science. The candidate must have experience of laboratory analytical techniques and must be able to work independently when conducting their own field measurements.

More Information

Item date 30/07/2014