Bath Architecture PhD Studentship Competition: Occupant-Led Water-Resilient Housing

Bath Architecture PhD Studentship Competition: Occupant-Led Water-Resilient Housing

This project asks how homes can remain water-efficient and usable as climate, occupancy and maintenance needs change. Kemi Adeyeye's proposed research combines building-performance assessment, water and environmental data, artificial intelligence and resident feedback across design, construction, occupation and retrofit. The project description and policy context here reflect information available in October 2026; later changes and current availability remain to be confirmed.

Apply to Architecture, not Civil Engineering. The expected start is 4 October 2027, with alternatives requiring supervisor and Doctoral College agreement. Overseas applicants can compete for URSA funding, but this is not an individual award or employment contract. The strongest fit is someone able to connect building performance with social research and practical engagement. A relevant master's or equivalent research/professional experience is specifically requested, beyond the generic undergraduate-degree statement.

Research direction and field outlook

Water-efficient design does not ensure the same performance in use. Household composition, routines, equipment, hot-water demand and weather change. A leak, unusually high consumption and a legitimate change in occupancy can generate similar signals. The proposed lifecycle toolkit must connect these observations to decisions about maintenance, retrofit and neighbourhood action, rather than simply display a dashboard.

The advertised hazards include drought, extreme heat, scarcity and intense rainfall. These require different measures and evidence: lower consumption alone does not demonstrate protection from flooding or heat. Likewise, water, energy, carbon, affordability and wellbeing are connected outcomes, not interchangeable indicators. A measure reducing water volume may have different effects on hot-water energy, comfort or household costs. A defensible evaluation needs explicit baselines, boundaries and outcomes.

A plausible research contribution is to join technical measurements with residents' accounts of what changed and why, then evaluate whether a decision-support prototype improves a defined judgement or intervention. This is an interpretation of the topic, not a fixed protocol. The notice has not assigned a sensor system, AI architecture, dwelling sample, utility dataset or intervention site. Its digital-twin keyword does not establish an operational twin, and the prototype remains to be developed and evaluated.

Privacy is central because household data may disclose routines and circumstances. Consent, data minimisation, access, retention and withdrawal must be addressed alongside analytical usefulness. Residents should help define useful feedback and acceptable trade-offs, not merely supply observations. Tenure, ability to pay and responsibility for maintenance can affect who receives benefits and who bears costs. This creates a substantive research problem at the boundary of architecture, resource management and human–technology interaction.

School, field and doctoral training

The University of Bath is the UK registering and awarding institution. The formal route is Architecture PhD, REAR-AFM04, in Architecture and Civil Engineering within Engineering and Design. The shared department does not turn this into Civil Engineering, and no joint degree or professional architectural registration is advertised.

The programme normally takes four years full time, with a minimum of two and normal maximum of four. It includes a written report and oral confirmation after approximately 12 months, then thesis examination and a viva. An article-based thesis format can be discussed individually. Registration length is separate from a shorter scholarship. The programme usually starts in late September but permits other dates; the project's proposed 4 October date should be confirmed in the offer.

Architecture's research includes sustainable building systems, computing and resilient cities, providing an appropriate home for building-performance and occupant research. ACE Living Labs offers an institutional example of post-occupancy research and public engagement; WIRC provides urban-water management and governance connections. Adeyeye is a WIRC member, not its named theme leader. These affiliations do not reserve homes, instruments, partners, data or a placement for this student. Bath's doctoral-development workshops support research, communication and transferable skills; the individual technical curriculum remains to be agreed.

Bath's QS overall position is 125 for 2027, compared with 132 in 2026. Its institutional REF 2021 statement reports 92% world-leading or internationally excellent research. These are university-wide signals, not rankings of this architecture topic or supervisor. More useful decision evidence is the fit between the proposed methods, supervision and a feasible housing study.

Supervisor and recent research

The official profile available in October 2026 identifies Kemi Adeyeye as a Senior Lecturer, accepting doctoral students, with K.Adeyeye@bath.ac.uk and ORCID 0000-0001-8859-1324. Her work spans building performance, post-occupancy evaluation, smart readiness, feedback, participation and resource efficiency. ACE Living Labs and RENEW/WIRC connections support an interdisciplinary setting. Historical Leverhulme and other listed projects do not establish the student's 2027 funding. Other centre members and paper collaborators are not appointed co-supervisors.

Three recent single-author originals are directly relevant, with different reading depths:

• “From product to service” appeared online in June 2023 and in Building Research & Information's 2024 issue. The complete institutional abstract and selected publisher-indexed methods, findings opening, discussion and conclusion were read. A UK survey with 972 respondents and factor analysis examine adoption of home-performance services. Cost, convenience, control, trust, tenure and maintenance responsibilities matter. The paper supports questions about uptake and who pays; self-reported perceptions do not demonstrate measured water savings or causal behavioural change. The reading did not cover every table, supplement or a reproduced analysis.

• “Controlling the elephant in the room” was published in Technology in Society in 2024. The complete original abstract and metadata were read, not full methods/results/discussion. Survey evidence alongside interviews and focus groups informs a three-tier rule-based approach to household data sharing. It foregrounds control and trust, but a proposed protocol is not a security audit, verified legal compliance or long-term evidence of effective privacy protection.

• “The householder is king” appeared in Energy Research & Social Science in 2023. Its complete original abstract and metadata describe a conceptual framework tested using the 972-person survey and partial-least-squares structural-equation modelling. It relates participation to trust, citizenship and perceived social/technical benefits; not every proposed social or hedonic influence was supported. It is an empirical original with a literature-based framework, not a review, but associations and model fit do not establish causal participation or actual building-performance improvements.

These papers draw on the same survey cohort, not three independent field validations. The archived dataset explicitly links all three and restricts access to bona fide researchers on request because of participant consent. Data collection dates in that broader record span December 2021–March 2023; the first paper's particular collection description should not be treated as an exhaustive history of the archive. Publication does not grant this PhD access, new participant consent or a water-specific longitudinal dataset. Two papers remain abstract-level readings; none is presented as a complete full-text audit.

Funding and living costs

The project listing gives 29 November 2026 without a time. Saved Engineering and Design URSA guidance specifies 23:59 GMT for the October 2027 competition. This is the studentship deadline; the saved project listing gives no separate University admission deadline, and current availability has not been rechecked. Home and Overseas applicants can compete for tuition, maintenance and training support. The project notice lists a £1,000 per annum training-support fee; Engineering and Design's general URSA guidance separately sets a training-support ceiling of up to £1,000 per year. This project-listed figure does not confirm an individual award amount. Overseas places are capped without a published project-specific proportion; this is not an applicant's award probability.

Engineering's general funding maximum is up to 3.5 years, not a personal guarantee of 42 months. The advertised £21,805 is the 2026/27 stipend reference, also reflected in current UKRI guidance, not a confirmed 2027/28 payment. Training money is not extra living income. Personal award months, rate, tuition coverage, indexation and completion-period arrangements need a written award. A changed start does not automatically preserve funding.

Published Engineering and Design Overseas research tuition is £31,350 annually for 2027/28, with continuing fees potentially rising by up to 8%. The Architecture programme is in that faculty. Covered tuition is not additional cash or a second bill, but a gap beyond the funded period needs planning.

Bath's dated 2025/26 budget gives £405 weekly or £21,060 annually. It includes a £37 off-campus utilities line despite a halls label; £368 after removing it is an analyst comparison, not another official quote. Average halls rent is approximately £230 weekly over 51 weeks; the off-campus illustration is £750 monthly before bills. These are not 2027 prices or guaranteed accommodation. Plan deposits, relocation and the period before the first stipend separately.

International students pay their Student visa and IHS themselves. Official fees stated in October 2026 are £558 and £776 per student year respectively, with the upfront health total depending on visa validity and part-year rules. Future charges and family costs may differ. Historical stipend-minus-budget arithmetic cannot establish a guaranteed surplus.

Applicant fit and preparation

The notice requires an achieved or expected UK First/2:1 honours degree or international equivalent. Although its generic sentence calls a master's advantageous, its specific list asks for a master's OR equivalent research/professional experience. Relevant fields include architecture, construction, building services, civil/environmental engineering, housing, data science, sustainability and human–computer interaction. Do not present a bachelor's alone as sufficient without clarification.

The full competency list also asks for theoretical/applied building-performance, sustainable-housing, adaptation or resource-efficiency knowledge; quantitative, qualitative or mixed-method data/analytical experience; awareness of digital building/infrastructure/environmental technologies; cross-disciplinary working; external-stakeholder or participant engagement; written, verbal and visual communication; organisation and independent work within a team; and demonstrable research ethics, equality, diversity and inclusion. No named programming package or already trained AI model is compulsory. A previous project explaining data limitations, participant engagement and a justified design decision would be useful evidence.

Chinese applicants have a positive conditional route through international-equivalent admission, Overseas URSA competition and the sponsored Student visa system. Bath's official China research-degree index refers to a first-class bachelor's background and desirable research experience or research-oriented master's work. The directly accessible country body did not establish a complete individual doctoral percentage threshold; taught-postgraduate percentages must not become PhD cutoffs. The specific master's-or-experience condition still applies, and individual transcripts and equivalence require assessment.

Architecture specifies IELTS 6.5 overall with every component at least 6. TOEFL before 21 January 2026 requires 90/21 each; on or after that date it requires 4.5/4 each. Tests normally must be within 24 months of starting. An eligible English-medium degree may support an individually assessed exemption under recency/residence conditions, not automatic approval of Chinese English-medium documentation. Non-UK applicants not currently studying in the UK must meet English by the funding deadline, with no exceptions.

Select Architecture and “University of Bath URSA” in “Funding Your Studies”. Apply for at most two projects. Enter the first title and lead under “PhD project title” and “Name of intended supervisor at University of Bath”; use “Project 2 Title” and “Name of intended supervisor for 2nd choice project at University of Bath” for the second. Incorrect entries can prevent consideration. Prepare CV, certificates/transcripts and translations where needed, statement and two references, including an academic reference from the latest institution. Intended supervisors cannot act as referees. For an applicant's own idea, Architecture recommends a proposal of around 1,000 words; the general guide says at least 1,000 words if a proposal is required. Neither automatically adds a proposal requirement to this advertised topic. Bath allows AI for research, planning and proofreading but requires applicants to write their own application.

Architecture's course page does not explicitly label ATAS coverage. Confirm the offer's subject classification with admissions; Civil's flag must not be transferred to this degree. China is not nationality-exempt if the assigned subject is covered, but this is neither a nationality ban nor a promise of clearance. Admission, scholarship and immigration are separate decisions.

Bath encourages applications from under-represented groups and values an inclusive research environment. Applicants may explain circumstances that affected educational attainment in the form; the University suggests a short paragraph at the end of the personal statement. If an applicant states on the form that they have a disability, the Disability Service will contact them to discuss support needs.

Risks and questions before applying

Ask Adeyeye which dwelling types and partners are realistic; what baseline data and consent permissions exist; whether the prototype prioritises water use, climate hazards or maintenance; and how technical measurements and participant research will be supervised. Clarify access costs, ethics review, privacy responsibilities, validation outcomes, supervision frequency and a contingency if recruitment is slow. Obtain personal funding and submission-period terms before accepting.

Adeyeye's March 2026 water-governance commentary connects household demand, infrastructure, trust and policy implementation. It is an author's policy commentary, not another original paper, a legal-status audit or employment statistics. Transferable directions include building-performance evaluation, housing research, water-demand analysis and public/stakeholder engagement. None guarantees a placement, professional licence or job. The project's value lies in a feasible, ethically supported study that links resident experience to a measurable decision, rather than an assumption that adding AI will deliver resilience.

Evidence and Sources

Research and reading scope

• Kemi Adeyeye official profile
• Product-to-service original study
• Home-data-sharing original study
• Householder participation original study
• Restricted survey dataset and access
• Water-governance author commentary

School, field and training

• Architecture PhD and entry requirements
• ACE Living Labs
• WIRC urban water team
• Doctoral professional development
• QS institutional table
• Bath doctoral school and REF context

Funding, costs and eligibility

• Current URSA funding and deadline
• Doctoral English policy
• International and China qualification assessment
• Engineering and Design tuition 2027/28
• Dated postgraduate budget 2025/26
• Doctoral application FAQ
• UKRI stipend guidance
• Student visa
• Student health surcharge
• ATAS subject and nationality rules
• Doctoral application and authorship guide