Bath PhD Project: Sol-Gel Thermal Storage for Low-Carbon Buildings (URSA Studentship Competition)

Bath PhD Project: Sol-Gel Thermal Storage for Low-Carbon Buildings (URSA Studentship Competition)

Recruitment, policy and supervisory information reflects the position described in October 2026; applicants should confirm that a place remains available and obtain their individual offer conditions.

Quick Decision

This project investigates whether a porous inorganic matrix made through sol-gel processing can retain a phase-change material (PCM) while preserving useful thermal storage through repeated heating and cooling. Its attraction is the connection between a specific materials problem—storage capacity versus leakage and durability—and a Bath team already publishing on PCM characterisation and construction composites. It is an experimental materials doctorate registered as Civil Engineering, with applications in building envelopes rather than a pre-validated building product.

The opportunity is Strong but verify fit for relevant engineering, materials or physical-science backgrounds interested in laboratory research. Prior thermal-analysis or characterisation experience is advantageous, not an advertised absolute prerequisite. The October 2026 URSA Engineering & Design competition accepts Home and Overseas applicants and closes 29 November 2026 at 23:59 GMT. The expected start is 4 October 2027 if awarded, with alternatives requiring agreement. Individual 2027 maintenance, funded months and support through the normal four-year doctorate remain unconfirmed. The useful first step is to contact Veronica Ferrandiz-Mas, vfm24@bath.ac.uk, about the intended material system and supervisory arrangement, while resolving the competition's English requirement before its deadline.

Research Problem and Doctoral Work

Storage capacity must survive incorporation and cycling

PCMs store and release latent heat around a phase transition. In a building material, useful storage must coexist with containment, repeatability and compatibility with its host. A material can retain its chemical identity yet leak, redistribute or lose usable latent heat. Conversely, a composite may keep approximately similar conductivity while its PCM fraction no longer performs as initially measured. These distinctions explain why thermal stability cannot be reduced to one measurement or an attractive initial heat-storage value.

The advertised approach uses sol-gel processing to encapsulate PCMs in porous inorganic matrices, potentially allowing relatively low-temperature preparation and control of the host structure. The student would synthesise and characterise candidate materials, formulate composites, assess thermal-storage behaviour, leakage and durability under repeated heating and cooling, and relate composition and processing to structure and thermal performance. Improved stability, reduced leakage and durable storage are research objectives; the advertisement does not specify a confirmed PCM, matrix chemistry, formulation, device or demonstration building.

A defensible thesis would connect these levels rather than optimise one isolated number. Increasing the inorganic fraction might improve containment while diluting heat storage per unit composite mass. More accessible porosity could help loading but complicate retention. A promising initial sample could behave differently after cycling or integration into another material. These are analytical interpretations of the research problem, not additional prescribed work packages or an experimental recipe.

The work is primarily laboratory based. Material synthesis, experimental design, thermal testing, data analysis and scientific communication are described training outcomes. Clarification is still needed on the initial material family, reference materials, how leakage and degradation will be distinguished, what constitutes an acceptable loss of performance, and whether the thesis stops at material characterisation or includes envelope-level modelling or demonstration. The number of samples, testing conditions and facility allocation are not published.

Material performance is not whole-building decarbonisation

The project introduction associates buildings with 32% of global energy consumption and 40% of CO2 emissions without specifying year or accounting boundary. A newer UNEP release, dated 17 March 2025 and reporting the Global Status Report 2024/25, gives 32% of global energy and 34% of global CO2 for the buildings and construction sector. These differently framed figures should not be substituted for each other or presented as a matched time series. The unqualified 40% figure is not independently resolved here.

The sector context supports the relevance of thermal storage, retrofit and building-material performance. It does not establish that a particular PCM composite reduces annual heating or cooling demand, is lower carbon over its life cycle, or pays back economically. Such conclusions require appropriate operating conditions, system boundaries and evidence on manufacture, service and disposal. No whole-building energy saving, full LCA, embodied-carbon reduction or commercial readiness has been verified for this proposed sol-gel material.

School, Programme and Field Context

The University of Bath would award the PhD in Civil Engineering, hosted by the Department of Architecture & Civil Engineering within the Faculty of Engineering & Design. The formal course is not a Chemical Engineering or Mechanical Engineering doctorate despite the broad backgrounds welcomed by the research topic. URSA is a doctoral studentship competition, not an advertised employee salary contract or a joint degree.

The Civil programme normally lasts four years, with a minimum of two and normal maximum of four. Progression includes a report and oral examination around twelve months, followed by thesis assessment and viva. The programme describes research seminars and workshops; the Doctoral College offers research and transferable-skills development. The project's own synthesis, thermal-analysis and data training should be discussed alongside these institutional opportunities, rather than assumed to include a fixed list of courses or guaranteed external placements.

Bath is 125th in QS World University Rankings 2027, compared with 132nd in the 2026 table. These are overall rankings. Bath's institutional REF 2021 statement reports 92% of research as world-leading or internationally excellent; it is not a PCM, sol-gel or Civil Engineering-only result. A current, comparable subject ranking specifically establishing this niche's strength was not verified. The more relevant evidence is the materials research cluster, the supervisors' complementary interests, their recent original papers and their announced joint sol-gel PCM activity.

The department lists Ferrandiz-Mas as Lecturer in Innovative Construction Materials and Materials Cluster Lead. The supervisors' affiliations with RENEW, IMPS and related materials/sustainability groups indicate a relevant academic environment. Their joint project, “Cool by design: sol-gel PCMs composites for regenerative building envelopes”, names both as principal investigators but is publicly marked Not started, without a budget or dates. It supports a shared research direction, not an already validated composite, reserved doctoral funding or guaranteed access to every associated facility.

The Civil programme explicitly welcomes worldwide applications and equivalent qualifications. Its general entry condition includes a first or upper-second-class degree, or a relevant master's at Merit level, while the specific advertisement asks for a first/2:1 equivalent and describes a master's as advantageous. Individual equivalence and research preparation remain admissions decisions. Civil Engineering is explicitly within Bath's ATAS-covered courses; the offer's subject classification and clearance requirements must therefore be checked.

Supervisor and Lab Assessment

Roles and research complementarity

Veronica Ferrandiz-Mas is currently listed as a Lecturer, accepts doctoral enquiries and researches PCM thermal performance, insulation, porous construction materials and lower-carbon construction materials. Her recent PCM papers connect measurement, host incorporation and stability. The recruitment contact is vfm24@bath.ac.uk; her research profile also publishes V.Ferrandiz-Mas@bath.ac.uk.

Juliana Calabria-Holley is named alongside Ferrandiz-Mas in the project header. Her October 2026 research profile lists Senior Lecturer and accepting doctoral students, with interests in sol-gel surface engineering, adsorption, porosity and construction-material microstructure. The department directory and parts of the biography retain Lecturer, so the public title labels are not fully aligned. Her profile contact is J.C.Holley@bath.ac.uk. This discrepancy should not be turned into an invented promotion date or a different supervisory appointment.

The pairing is scientifically plausible: PCM measurement and composite durability complement control of inorganic hosts and surfaces. The exact main/co-supervisor allocation, meeting pattern, technical support, equipment timetable, consumables budget and publication/IP arrangements are not publicly established. A list of research-group affiliations does not answer these practical questions.

Three recent original studies, with different evidence depth

Katish, Allen, Squires and Ferrandiz-Mas, Thermochimica Acta 737, 179771 (2024) studied accelerated thermal cycling of organic PCMs. The original institutional abstract reports stable phase-change temperature and latent heat after 10,000 cycles, alongside complementary thermal and chemical characterisation. Its contribution is the case for multi-technique assessment rather than relying on DSC alone. The complete author abstract and bibliographic record were read; the full methods, results and supplementary material were not. Ten thousand accelerated cycles cannot be converted into service years or assumed to apply to a new sol-gel composite.

Wadee, Walker, McCullen and Ferrandiz-Mas, Materials and Structures 58, article 25 (2025) was published online on 24 December 2024. Selected publisher main-text methods, results and conclusions were read. It compares paraffins and porous aerated-concrete granule composites, including their incorporation into mortar and gypsum, through 700 environmental cycles and several thermal/chemical measurements. Reported solidification latent-heat reductions reached 23% in pure PCMs and 57% in loaded granules, depending on the material. FTIR did not show chemical degradation, while coating reduced rather than eliminated leakage. Incorporation in a surrounding matrix constrained redistribution sufficiently for broader conductivity and heat-capacity behaviour to remain relatively stable. That does not mean every thermal metric or the original latent heat was preserved.

The relevance is methodological: chemical identity, latent heat, leakage, conductivity and heat capacity require separate interpretation. These were different carriers and composites, not published validation of the proposed sol-gel system. The 700-cycle result and the 10,000-cycle paper use different materials and testing approaches; their headline counts do not establish a contradiction or a ranking of service durability.

Katish, Allen, Squires and Ferrandiz-Mas, Cleaner Materials 14, 100274 (2024) was online on 23 October 2024, with the issue dated 31 December. The complete original abstract and selected publisher-indexed methods/results were read, rather than the complete paper. The biochar composite carried 62.21% PCM, with approximately 116.7 J/g latent heat and an approximately ±10% reported error, and underwent preliminary 300 DSC cycles. Carrier loading is a different denominator from the study's 40% sand replacement in construction composites. Mechanical performance also involved trade-offs: early mortar strength fell, while later-age results differed. Higher-temperature leakage remained possible. Its relevance is the link between porous-host loading, retention and construction performance; its “net-zero” application framing is not a completed life-cycle assessment or sol-gel result.

Together, the papers show relevant active research and a reason to examine competing performance measures. They comprise one selected main-text study, one full original abstract and one abstract plus indexed methods/results—not three fully read articles. No independent replication, complete raw-data audit or performance guarantee is implied.

Funding, Application, and Living Cost

Competition and timing

URSA policy described in October 2026 explicitly supports Home or Overseas tuition and maintenance, with up to £1,000 annual training support. International places are limited, but no percentage cap is specified for this call. The project advertises £21,805 as the 2026/27 maintenance reference; the personal 2027 amount, indexation and funded months have not been confirmed. The training allowance is not additional unrestricted living cash.

Engineering & Design's general URSA support is up to 3.5 years. That does not establish an individual 42-month award for this project. The Civil doctorate normally spans four years, so maintenance, tuition and any bench or completion-period charges after the funded term require clarification. The published 2027/28 Overseas Engineering research tuition is £31,350 annually, with continuing increases of up to 8% per year under the published policy. Covered fees would not become an extra bill during the award's confirmed coverage, but support beyond that period must not be assumed.

The October 2026 competition information describes October 2027 entry and a deadline of 29 November 2026, 23:59 GMT. The project's anticipated 4 October start is conditional on award; a different start requires supervision and Doctoral College agreement. General international application advice about applying three months ahead does not extend the funding deadline.

Applicants may nominate at most two projects. The application must use University of Bath URSA in the funding dropdown and the prescribed first- and second-choice project-title/lead-supervisor fields. The defined project is not automatically subject to the own-idea route's 1,000-word proposal requirement. The actual application guide asks for academic documentation, CV, English evidence and supporting statements, with two references, including one from the latest institution; intended supervisors should not serve as those referees. Applicants must write their application themselves; permitted planning or proofreading assistance does not authorise generated application text.

Living costs and immigration are separate liabilities

Bath's 2025/26 postgraduate budget quotes £405 per week or £21,060 per year, including average rent of £230 weekly and a 51-week university accommodation contract. An off-campus reference is £750 monthly before bills. These are historical planning figures, not 2027 prices or an accommodation guarantee. The published weekly total includes a £37 off-campus utilities line even in the halls-labelled calculation; a bills-inclusive scenario excluding that item would be £368 weekly, an analyst adjustment rather than another official quotation.

Comparing the old £21,805 stipend with the old £21,060 annual budget leaves £745 before immigration, relocation, deposits and unexpected costs. This subtracts a 2025/26 budget from a 2026/27 stipend reference; the £745 arithmetic difference is neither a matched-year purchasing-power comparison nor a 2027 surplus forecast. Housing, transport, materials-related travel and any unfunded finishing period can materially change the calculation.

The government charges stated in October 2026 are £558 for a Student visa and £776 per year for the student immigration health surcharge, payable according to chargeable visa duration and part-year rules. They may change before 2027. The advertisement makes visa and IHS the applicant's responsibility. A CAS, appropriate funds, English evidence and any required ATAS clearance are distinct steps; scholarship eligibility alone does not complete them.

Applicant Fit and Preparation

Relevant backgrounds include Civil, Chemical or Mechanical Engineering, materials, chemistry, physics and related subjects. The advertised academic requirement is first/2:1 equivalence; a master's is an advantage. Prior laboratory, characterisation, thermal-analysis or data experience is preferred rather than essential, with training offered. Those principally seeking a computational-only doctorate, an immediately demonstrated commercial product or guaranteed annual building-carbon savings would be comparing against a different research offer.

For Chinese applicants, the positive route combines the Civil programme's worldwide/equivalent-qualification admission, Bath's published China research-degree guidance, the explicit Overseas URSA competition and the official Student visa route. The China research guidance identifies strong bachelor's preparation with research experience and regards research-containing master's work as desirable. Its indexed PGR text and current direct country presentation are not identical; PGT percentage tables must not be treated as a PhD cutoff. Individual degree, institution, marks and research evidence should be assessed by admissions. Neither a blanket master's requirement nor guaranteed bachelor's direct entry is supported.

Civil English requirements are IELTS 6.5 overall with every component 6.0. TOEFL tests before 21 January 2026 require 90 overall and 21 each; tests on or after that date use 4.5 overall and 4 each. Duolingo requires 120 overall, 110 in speaking/writing/reading and 105 listening. Tests normally need to fall within 24 months of the start. A recent qualifying English-medium degree may support an exemption, subject to Bath's recency/residence rules and individual confirmation; Chinese English-medium instruction is not an automatic waiver.

The crucial competition rule is stricter than a general pre-start language condition: non-UK applicants not currently studying in the UK must satisfy English by the funding deadline, with no exceptions. A potential exemption must therefore be confirmed in time. China is not nationality-exempt from ATAS; Civil course coverage supports planning for individual clearance, not a national prohibition or guaranteed approval.

The saved project advertisement does not state which non-English academic records, if any, must be translated or formally certified. Applicants should ask admissions which document requirements apply to their records.

Equality, diversity and applicant support

The university encourages applications from under-represented groups. Applicants may describe circumstances that affected their educational attainment in the application form; the university recommends a short paragraph at the end of the personal statement. If an applicant states in the application form that they have a disability, the Disability Service will contact them to discuss their support needs.

Useful preparation would demonstrate how evidence was checked in a previous project: measurement uncertainty, comparison baselines, repeated observations and an explanation of a failed hypothesis. A brief discussion of why chemical stability and leakage are different would be more informative than claiming mastery of every listed instrument. Method suggestions here are analytical preparation priorities, not newly imposed admissions prerequisites.

Next Actions and Questions to Verify

Before applying, clarify the starting PCM/matrix family, whether Veronica or Juliana will be the formal lead and how the correct title/lead should appear in the URSA fields. Ask admissions about individual Chinese qualification equivalence and secure accepted English evidence or a confirmed exemption by 29 November. Check the two-project limit, required references and completion of the specific funding fields without waiting for a personal award letter before making an application.

At interview, ask how the team distinguishes retained latent heat from redistribution, chemical change and leakage; what reference composites and durability criteria will anchor the thesis; and whether building modelling or LCA is within scope. Discuss equipment availability, technician support, supervision frequency, sample/data ownership and the relationship to the publicly listed “Not started” joint project. None of these questions presumes a promised facility slot or industrial partner.

Before accepting, obtain written personal maintenance, funded duration, tuition and bench-fee coverage, completion-period arrangements and the implications of any revised start date. Confirm housing, ATAS/CAS timing and self-funded immigration costs. The field offers transferable skills in thermal characterisation, construction-material testing and research evaluation relevant to materials R&D and building decarbonisation. No verified project-specific salary, placement rate, employer contract or guaranteed job has been found; the strongest value proposition is rigorous experimental training with a relevant active team.

Evidence and Sources

Institution and programme

• Bath full-time Civil Engineering PhD current programme
• Department of Architecture & Civil Engineering academic staff
• Bath doctoral professional development
• QS Bath overall 2027 table
• Bath postgraduate research school context

Supervisors, papers and field

• Veronica Ferrandiz-Mas official research profile
• Juliana Calabria-Holley official research profile
• Thermal stability of organic Phase Change Materials (PCMs) by accelerated thermal cycling technique
• The effect of thermal cycling on the thermal and chemical stability of paraffin phase change materials (PCMs) composites
• Experimental study of phase change material (PCM) biochar composite for net-zero built environment applications
• Cool by design: sol-gel PCMs composites for regenerative building envelopes – IMPS Summer Bursary project
• UNEP Global Status Report 2024/25 buildings sector findings

Funding, application and practical conditions

• Current University Research Studentship Award policy and 2027 Engineering deadline
• Bath doctoral English rules
• Bath Chinese research-degree qualification route
• Bath Engineering research tuition 2027/28
• Bath postgraduate budget 2025/26
• Bath doctoral admissions FAQ 2026/27
• UKRI training grant current stipend
• UK Student visa official route
• UK immigration health surcharge
• ATAS current nationalities and subject rules
• Bath doctoral application guide and application-authorship policy