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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 risk of interruption in the activities of organisations due to disruption to upstream global supply chains is increasingly recognised and of concern. It may be exacerbated by climate change. Identifying hotspots of risk in organisational supply chains is a key starting point for mitigating these challenges, yet the data to assess this is difficult to obtain; the majority of organisations have poor visibility of even second-tier suppliers. This project will seek to leverage data and methods from organisational carbon accounting to help address this. The resulting dataset will enable a novel screening approach for organisations to readily assess hotspots of potential risk without significant additional work beyond existing footprinting. Organisational carbon accounts typically estimate upstream (“embodied”) emissions using spend-based emissions factors (e.g. kgCO2e/GBP) with expenditure data. The factors are derived by combining direct emissions data with an analytical approach to assess the complete supply chains for each sector (Input-Output Analysis, IOA). Augmenting this framework with data on potential sources of disruption will enable these “embodied risks” to be assessed. The work within this project is anticipated to cover three concurrent research tasks: 1. Sourcing, refining and applying a range of direct organisational and geographical risk factors (e.g. likelihood of flooding or heat damage), 2. Developing the framework for risk propagation. The default model is the IOA framework, but novel adaptations might be developed to enhance its theoretical grounding. 3. Testing and validating the resulting datasets. A combination of approaches might be used here – e.g. empirical testing against historic disruption events, and engagement with organisations that might use the findings. A carbon footprinting consultancy has expressed interest to help test how the datasets can practically be used, possibly with integration into existing software. |
| Ideally, experience with LCA or IOA, and/or ability to effectively analyse datasets. |
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