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Masters Compare - Find your perfect masters course.
Deadline: 29 November 2026
South West, All England
This project is one of a number in competition for a studentship from the Faculty of Engineering and Design at the University of Bath. If successful, this studentship is expected to commence 04 October 2027.
An alternative start date may be possible if agreed with your intended supervisors and the Doctoral College.
Project Description
| The success of natural ventilation (NV) for improving indoor air quality (IAQ), energy efficiency and mitigating airborne infection risks in buildings is well documented. However, this success largely depends on how the fresh outdoor air is distributed across the space (i.e. local ventilation effectiveness (LVE) performance). Field studies (such as Maddalena et al., 2015; Dorizas et al., 2015; Cook et al., 2023; Malki-Epshtein et al., 2023) showed that despite of ventilation systems complying with minimum suggested fresh air flow rates (and often exceeding it by multiple times), targeted results could not be achieved as the measured indoor CO2 levels were regularly multiple times (e.g. 2-4) above the targeted value of 1000 ppm. As suggested by (Mustafa 2021 and Cook et al., 2023) one of the main reasons of this poor performance is the poor LVE. Design guidance documents (such as ASHRAE 62.1 (ASHRAE, 2022) and CIBSE Guide A (CIBSE,2021) suggest using higher air flow rates to compensate for poor LVE. However, increased air flow rates do not necessarily result with IAQ and causes higher energy consumption as it effects building heating and cooling demands. Therefore, instead of trying to compensate for poor LVE by increasing air flow rates, systems with better LVE should be designed and operated. However, our knowledge of improving LVE performance in NV systems is limited. While the individual effect of some of the parameters (such as window layout, effective opening area, room depth, internal heat gain distribution and supply air flow rate ) on LVE was quantified by previous research by the supervisor (i.e. Mustafa, 2021) through a parametric analysis, the combined effect of the parameters and the combinations needed to achieve an optimal ventilation design and operation could not be explored. Therefore, as a key deliverable, the project will create a practical analytical model that can easily be used by ventilation designers and operators to improve the LVE in NV systems. The project will use computational fluid dynamics and machine learning methods achieve this. The study is timely and significant as the findings will have substantial impacts on IAQ, energy efficiency and airborne infection risks in buildings. |
| A previous knowledge and skill in finite volume computational fluid dynamics (preferably ANSYS) and machine learning is preferable but not essential. |
Applicants must have, or be about to obtain, a UK Honours degree 1st or 2.1, or international equivalent. A master’s level qualification would also be advantageous.
Non-UK applicants, who are not currently studying in the UK, must meet the programme’s English language requirement before the application deadline – no exceptions will be considered.
Applicants will be considered for a studentship. Studentships cover tuition fees, provide a £1k per annum training support fee, and a maintenance stipend (£21,805 2026/27 rate). International students will be required to cover the cost of a Student visa and Immigration Health Surcharge from personal funds.
Informal enquiries are encouraged. Direct these to [email protected]
Please follow the below instructions carefully.
You must make a formal application via the University of Bath’s online application form for a
Please note that you can apply for a maximum of two PhD projects on this programme.
In the ‘Funding Your Studies’ section, you must select ‘University of Bath URSA’ from one of the drop-down menus.
In the ‘Your PhD project’ section, you must quote the project title in the PhD project title field, and you must quote the lead supervisor’s name in the field ‘Name of intended supervisor at University of Bath.’
If you are applying for two projects, you must quote the project title for your second choice project in the field ‘Project 2 Title’ and the lead supervisor’s name in ‘Name of intended supervisor for 2nd choice project at University of Bath.
You must ensure that you follow the above steps correctly. Failure to complete these steps will cause errors in the automated processing of your application and may mean that you are not considered for a particular project.
The Faculty of Engineering and Design at the University of Bath has studentships available for Home and Overseas students. However, in line with UKRI policy, the number of studentships available to Overseas students are capped.
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Wed 21 Oct 2026