PhD Studentship: You Don't Bring Me Flowers Anymore

The University of Manchester; Manchester; On-site; GBP 22,000 - 23,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of Manchester invites applications for a four-year PhD studentship focusing on the social and environmental impacts of transitioning to autonomous long-haul haulage in the international flower supply chain. The project combines life cycle assessment and techno-economic analysis to quantify footprints and policy implications.

Applicants should hold or expect to obtain an upper second-class honours degree in engineering, materials science or social sciences, with desirable

Qualifications

• Minimum upper second-class undergraduate honours degree (or equivalent) in engineering, materials science, or social sciences.
• Experience in qualitative or quantitative sustainability assessment is desirable.
• Interdisciplinary research environment and strong analytical skills preferred.

Responsibilities

• Conduct qualitative and quantitative sustainability assessments for the project.
• Translate research findings into life cycle assessment and techno-economic analyses.
• Help evaluate socio-environmental transitions in the context of autonomous haulage futures.

Skills

Qualitative research

Quantitative analysis

Education

Undergraduate honours degree in engineering / materials science / social sciences

Job description

This 4-year PhD studentship is open to both Home (UK) and international applicants. The successful candidate will receive an annual stipend at the UKRI minimum rate (currently £21,805 per year) plus £1,000/annum enhancement, and a research training support grant of up to £20,000 for the full 4-year programme. This project is in competition for funding with other projects. Usually, the projects that receives the best applicants will be successful.

Focussing on the international flower trade, where temperature and spatial control are essential to preserving flower quality across borders, we will assess how proposed future autonomous systems alter the social perception and material footprint of this complicated delivery process.

The focus of this PhD studentship will begin with road haulage, examining the transition from traditional cold chain trucks to new autonomous long-haul provisions. Wholesalers, truckers, grocery stores, and high street florists form a set of interviewees to explore the unintended consequences, with the goal to both understand the social cost of proposed transitions and the unintended consequences of proposed efficiencies.

In parallel, the studentship will assess the material and environmental consequences of this transition through the material composition of cold chain long haul systems to assess the breakeven points between incumbent and emerging technologies. Life cycle assessment and techno-economic analysis will quantify the impact on flower delivery footprints as well as assess the role cold chain will play in broader autonomous haulage futures.

The project will frame risk and reward for an emergent industry that often neglects to consider socio-environmental consequences in technology pushes. It will help to inform both material design of future systems and frame future policy that may enable or disable future transitions. In parallel, it will providea framework for future evaluations of socio-environmental transitions that can serve as a springboard for interdisciplinary research in sustainability at the University of Manchester.

This project is expected to start in September 2027.

Applicants are expected to hold (or be about to obtain) a minimum upper second-class undergraduate honours degree (or equivalent) in either engineering, materials science, or social sciences. Research experience in the qualitative or quantitative assessment of sustainability is desirable.