PhD student - Doctoral : Multi fidelity, multi-disciplinary optimisation su

Organisation/Company University of Strathclyde (UOS) Department Aerospace Centre of Excellence (ACE) Research Field Engineering » Aerospace engineering Engineering » Mechanical engineering Engineering » Simulation engineering Environmental science » Earth science Environmental science » Global change Geosciences » Other Physics » Applied physics Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Positions PhD Positions Country United Kingdom Final date to receive applications 31 Mar 2026 - 23:59 (Europe/Brussels) Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

Horizon Europe - MSCA Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

About SLICE

Space utilisation plays a crucial role in understanding climate change, but due to a drastic increase in launch rates, there is an urgent need to understand and mitigate potential environmental impacts of space activities themselves, particularly of launchers. However, large knowledge gaps persist for their operational phase from lift-off to landing/reentry. Here, the largest Global Warming Potential and Ozone Layer Depletion Potential are expected.

Especially in the higher atmospheric layers, which are only accessed by launchers, potential impacts of emitted pollutants are amplified by very long retention periods and substance accumulation effects. To investigate the Space Launch Impact on Climate and Environment, SLICE will therefore develop a research and training programme that bridges the current divide between space engineering and climate science to close the gaps that exist in the Life‑Cycle Analysis of space launch systems.

Thus, SLICE will contribute to advance the science of climate change by investigating the three most pressing research areas of this field:
Launch Vehicle Emissions, Atmospheric Interaction & Climate Impact and System Analysis & Design. This will generate actionable insights, on which SLICE will develop solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, accelerate the delivery of the Green Deal and establish an environmentally sustainable access to space. It’s the ambition of SLICE to generate desperately needed novel results, which will enable cutting‑edge innovations.

At the same time, SLICE is committed to training a new generation of highly skilled, resilient, and environmentally aware researchers. They will combine deep scientific knowledge with an ecodesign mindset and the ability to communicate across disciplines and sectors. These doctoral candidates will be uniquely prepared to shape a sustainable future for space transportation in Europe – technically, environmentally, and politically.

SLICE directly supports the European Green Deal, ESA’s Agenda 2025, and will deliver crucial inputs for the EU Space Law and Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) regulations at European level, including the development of PEF Category Rules (PEFCR) for space.

About the host organisation

The
University of Strathclyde(UOS) is a leading international technological university based in Glasgow. Inspired by our founding principle as ‘a place of useful learning’, our mission is to make a positive difference to the lives of our students, to society and to the world. The excellence of our research is evidenced by the growth in range and scale of our research collaborations and by our performance in the Research Excellence Framework 2021 where almost 90% was rated ‘world‑leading’ or ‘internationally‑excellent’.

Strathclyde was named Scottish University of the Year 2024 in the inaugural Daily Mail University Guide, Sunday Times Good University Guide Scottish University of the Year 2020, Times Higher Education UK University of the Year 2019, and was awarded a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education for its excellence in energy innovation in 2019, excellence in advanced manufacturing in 2021 and excellence, innovation and entrepreneurship in photonics in 2023.

The
Aerospace Centre of Excellence (ACE) develops frontier research on innovative concepts and solutions for present and future space systems, aerospace transport, space…