PhD studentship opportunity: Calculation of the Monetary ESGAP (M-ESGAP) indicator

Key information

Supervisors: Paul Ekins (primary), Silvia Ferrini (secondary)
Funding: The studentship will cover UK course fees only and tax-free annual stipend of approximately £22,780 (exact amount to be confirmed). There will be a possibility to apply for additional funding to cover research related expenses, activities, travel. The project is unable to fully fund UCL’s Overseas fees.
Dates: 3.5 years starting from 1 October 2025
Industry sponsor: Agence Francaise de Développement (AFD)
Deadline for applications: Sunday, 4 May 2025 at 11:59pm

Background

The principles and objectives of environmental sustainability have been defined in an earlier PhD in terms of the maintenance of environmental functions and widely published. These papers also specified the corresponding indicators and levels (called the scientific reference standards in the ESGAP framework) at which the environmental functions need to be maintained. This information was then used to choose the indicators on the basis of which the Strong Environmental Sustainability Index (SESI) was calculated for 28 European countries. 

The SESI indicators provide policy makers with a clear picture of how far the current environmental performance of their country is from the ‘sustainable’ level indicated by the scientific reference standard. This is called the ‘environmental sustainability gap’. The index as a whole, the SESI, which aggregates the indicators, gives an overall picture of the distance to environmental sustainability. 

For further information see the series of papers published by Usubiaga-Liaño, A., & Ekins, P. from 2021.

Studentship aims

The purpose of this PhD is to build on previous calculations of the SESI and calculate the monetary ESGAP (M-ESGAP). This consists of the expenditures that would be required to close the ‘environmental sustainability gap’ by costing out the technologies the implementation of which would be required to improve the environmental quality of each of the indicators to the ‘scientific reference standard’.

For each indicator, therefore, the student would need to understand the measures that would be required to reduce the environmental pressure(s) that were causing the standard not to be met, to identify the technologies or other means by which this pressure could be reduced, and estimate the costs of implementing these technologies or other means.

Person specification

Applicants should have an excellent master's level understanding of techno-economics, with familiarity with environmental science and policy, and ideally with knowledge also of chemistry and some engineering knowledge, and some familiarity with the ESGAP framework. 

Applicants must also meet the UCL's Sustainable Resources MPhil/PhD entry requirements: 

A minimum of an upper second-class UK Bachelor's degree and a Master's degree, or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard, in a relevant subject, is essential. Exceptionally: Where applicants have other suitable research or professional experience, they may be admitted without a Master's degree. Applicants with a lower second-class UK Honours Bachelor's degree (2:2) (or equivalent) must possess a relevant Master's degree to be admitted. We expect any successful application to include a sufficiently strong and convincing proposal, and those holding a Master's degree are typically well prepared to provide one. Relevant work experience is desirable.

All applicants must also meet the minimum language requirements of UCL. The English language level for this programme is: Level 2.

Application procedure

Stage 1 – Eligibility and application

Please submit a pre-application by email to bseer-phd-admin@ucl.ac.uk with subject reference: M-ESGAP studentship application.

Your pre- application should include only the following 2 documents:

• A covering letter clearly stating why you wish to apply for the project outlining how your interests and experience relate to it,
• CV

Any additional documents sent will not be taken into consideration during shortlisting.
 

Stage 2 – Interview process

Interviews will take place on the week commencing 19 May 2024. Only shortlisted candidates will be invited for an interview. 

• For the interview shortlisted candidates will be asked to send proof of their degree certificate(s) and transcript(s) of degree(s), and evidence of their fees background.
• The interview panel will consist of the project’s academic supervisors at UCL.
• The interview will include a short presentation from the candidate on their ideas of how to approach this PhD project.
• Following the interview, the successful candidate will be invited to make a formal application to the UCL Institute of Sustainable Resources.

The successful candidate will be undertaking this project in UCL at the main (Bloomsbury) campus  For more information, please visit the UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources website.