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.
Before you apply: Please contact the main project supervisor, Prof Michael Shaver, to learn more about the project and discuss whether it may be suitable for you.
To be considered for this project you must submit a formal application through our online application portal by following the instructions provided here. Please note that you must select programme FSE PhD President’s Doctoral Scholarship:
If you already have an applicant account, use this link to open an application for FSE PhD President's Doctoral Scholarship. If you do not yet have an applicantaccount, follow the account setup instructions and then use this link to open an application for the correct programme.
When applying, please specify the full title and supervisor/s of the project, details of your previous study, and names and contact details of two referees. You must also upload a Supporting Statement describing your motivation to apply to the project, your CV and transcripts of awarded and in-progress university qualifications. Please note late or incomplete applications will not be considered.
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.
