Funded research projects

Project Title: The thermomechanical behaviour of energy piles under complex loading conditions

Fully-funded PhD Studentship available for a February start.

A PhD studentship that comprises tax-free stipend of £21,805 (increasing in line with UKRI per annum), tuition fees paid, and a generous study package (e.g., limited research consumables, travel budget, and training when appropriate) each year for 3 years. The studentship is fully funded for 3 years. An extension of funding for a further 3 months is available, contingent upon the candidate completing 35 hours of teaching per year during the initial 3 years.

The pan-University Graduate School offers an integrated training programme to the postgraduate community within a single centre, serving to inculcate interdisciplinary working in our next generation of researchers.

Interviews are likely to be online in October 2026.

Project Description: Climate change is arguably the biggest challenge facing humanity. Climate change is defined as the shifting of climate patterns driven by greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, including carbon. According to the Climate Change Committee Carbon Budget Report, in the United Kingdom, heating commercial and industrial buildings accounts for approximately 17% of total GHG emissions. In response to this, the UK’s Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy supports the acceleration of low-carbon heating technologies to support the transition to Net Zero by 2050.

Shallow geothermal energy is heat stored below the ground resulting from solar energy absorbed by the earth, which is typically harnessed through the use of ground source heat pumps (GSHPs). Shallow geothermal energy is renewable, reliable, environmentally friendly and readily available independent of location, but remains underutilised. This is often associated with high capital costs. Energy geostructures (EGs) offer an advantage by utilising shallow geothermal energy through geostructural elements in contact with the ground by embedding heat exchanger pipes inside the structure. This provides an opportunity to use EGs for a dual purpose of structural stability (which was already required) and heat exchange, reducing the capital investment and minimising return periods.

Despite EGs considerable potential, barriers remain which limits widespread use, including technical challenges involving their design and optimisation to ensure maximum heat exchange efficiency. Whilst energy piles have been extensively studied, using field tests, physical modelling, and numerical modelling, the behaviour of energy piles under complex thermomechanical loading (e.g. vertical-horizontal-moment (VHM), tensile loads, or more extreme climate scenarios) has not yet been extensively studied. Understanding of the thermomechanical behaviour under complex loading is required to provide standard, more comprehensive guidance on EGs design and operation.

The overall aim of this research is to understand and measure the thermomechanical response of energy piles under complex thermomechanical loading. The objectives are as follows:

1. Develop a novel centrifuge testing programme to measure the thermomechanical response of energy piles under complex loads, which will include VHM and tensile loading.
2. Develop a numerical model using Abaqus Finite Element Modelling (FEM) software, validated through comparison with the centrifuge modelling data.
3. Using the validated numerical model, conduct a comprehensive parametric study which will cover a range of VH and VHM loading combinations and uplift scenarios.
4. Using the validated numerical model, model the impact of different climate scenarios on VHM and tensile behaviour of energy piles.

This PhD studentship is a collaboration between Abertay University and the University of Dundee. The student will be registered at Abertay University, which will be the student’s primary base. Centrifuge modelling will be conducted at the University of Dundee and will be supported by University of Dundee staff. It is anticipated that the output from this research will be of significant benefit to the development of guidelines dedicated to the design and operation of energy piles.

Supervisory Team: The candidate will be supervised within the Department of Built Environment and Life Sciences by Dr Andrew Minto and Dr Ehsan Jorat at Abertay. Further supervision will be provided by Dr Pengpeng He at the University of Dundee. For further information on this project, candidates are encouraged to contact Dr Andrew Minto (a.minto@abertay.ac.uk).

Entry Requirements: Candidates must have, or expect to obtain, a first class or upper second-class honours degree in Civil Engineering, or another closely aligned discipline. Candidates who have a masters degree in Geotechnical Engineering or Engineering Geology are encouraged to apply. Applicants should also have some experience of numerical modelling (preferably with Anaqus).

For applicants who are non-native speakers of English, the University requires IELTS of 7.0 (with no band less than 6.5) or an equivalent qualification accepted by the Home Office.

Applications and closing date: 30^th September 2026

Applicants should submit through the Abertay University jobs page https://www.abertay.ac.uk/about/working-at-abertay/jobs/, submitting a personal statement of application detailing why you are interested in undertaking this project, and a CV.

If you are selected for interview you will be required to complete an online Research Student Application Form which includes the submission of a research proposal. Guidance on how to write the proposal can be found here: https://www.abertay.ac.uk/study-apply/how-to-apply/how-to-apply-postgraduate-research/ Applicants are strongly encouraged to contact Dr Andrew Minto (a.minto@abertay.ac.uk) for advice on developing a proposal prior to submitting it.

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Project Title: Optimising resistance training across the lifespan: Balancing mechanical stimulus with physiological, biomechanical, and psychological cost

PhD Studentship: R-LINCS2 funded. The Studentship is available for a February start.

A PhD studentship that comprises tax-free stipend of £21,805 (increasing in line with UKRI per annum), tuition fees paid, and a generous study package (e.g., limited research consumables, travel budget, and training when appropriate) each year for 3 years. The studentship is fully funded for 3 years. An extension of funding for a further 6 months is available, contingent upon the candidate completing 70 hours of teaching per year during the initial 3 years.

The pan-University Graduate School offers an integrated training programme to the postgraduate community within a single centre, serving to inculcate interdisciplinary working in our next generation of researchers. Interviews are likely to be online in September.

Project Description

Resistance training (RT) is a cornerstone of health promotion and athletic performance, essential for maintaining functional capacity and driving physical development. However, prescribing RT is complex due to large inter- and intra-individual variability in both acute responses and subsequent chronic adaptations to RT. To move towards more personalised RT prescription, more robust study designs are needed to better understand the mechanisms driving this variability. This understanding is the primary challenge that should be overcome to maximise performance and health outcomes as well as ensure better long-term adherence.

To address these challenges, this PhD project aims to identify resistance training configurations that deliver meaningful mechanical stimuli while more precisely managing the acute energetic, neuromuscular, and psychological cost. The overarching premise is that such configurations, which better account for inter- and intra-individual variability, will yield more repeatable and predictable acute responses. Consequently, they are expected to be better tolerated and more sustainable, ultimately supporting long-term engagement and physical development across diverse adult populations.

Key project objectives:

• Quantifying variability in training outcomes: We will use systematic reviews and meta-analyses to quantify the inter- and intra-individual variability in acute responses and longitudinal adaptations to resistance training, while concurrently exploring how age- and sex-related differences in key muscle qualities and force–velocity–power characteristics influence functional capacity, performance, and quality of life.
• Mechanistic profiling of resistance training configurations: We will experimentally profile the acute energetic, neuromuscular, biomechanical, and psychological cost of different set structures and autoregulation strategies, specifically exploring how individual variability influences acute training responses.
• Translation to long-term training and functional outcomes: We will implement a multi-week supervised training intervention to determine whether these precise configurations successfully navigate individual variability to yield superior longitudinal adaptations in physical performance, health-related characteristics, and long-term exercise adherence.
• Integration and dissemination: We will integrate these findings to develop a conceptual framework and an interactive Shiny web application that visualises mechanical, energetic, neuromuscular, and psychological costs alongside predicted individual functional adaptations.

It is anticipated that the outputs of this interdisciplinary research will directly inform anyone interested in more personalised resistance training monitoring and prescription, including sport scientists, strength and conditioning coaches, physiotherapists, athletes, fitness enthusiasts, and members of the general public. The theoretical underpinning and novelty of the research will contribute significantly to the academic fields of exercise physiology, biomechanics, and sports psychology, building both theoretical advances and real-world impact.

Supervisory Team: The candidate will be supervised within the Department of Health, Sport, and Wellbeing by Dr Ivan Jukic (Principal Investigator), Dr Graeme Sorbie, and Professor David Lavallee. Queries on this project should be directed to Dr. Ivan Jukic (i.jukic@abertay.ac.uk).

Entry Requirements

Candidates must have, or expect to obtain, a first-class or upper second-class honours degree in Sport and Exercise Sciences, Exercise Physiology, Biomechanics, Strength and Conditioning, Sport Psychology, or a closely aligned discipline. We are looking for an independent, enthusiastic, and driven candidate with an understanding of resistance training methodologies and exercise prescription. Applicants should have experience in designing and running experimental studies, research methods, statistical analysis, and publishing in peer-reviewed scientific journals. For applicants who are non-native speakers of English, the University requires IELTS of 7.0 (with no band less than 6.5) or an equivalent qualification accepted by the Home Office.

Applications and closing date: 15^th of September, 2026

Applicants should submit through the Abertay University jobs page https://www.abertay.ac.uk/about/working-at-abertay/jobs/, submitting a personal statement of application detailing why you are interested in undertaking this project, and a CV.

If you are selected for interview, you will be required to complete an online Research Student Application Form which includes the submission of a research proposal. Guidance on how to write the proposal can be found here: https://www.abertay.ac.uk/study-apply/how-to-apply/how-to-apply-postgraduate-research/ Applicants are strongly encouraged to contact Dr. Ivan Jukic (i.jukic@abertay.ac.uk) for advice on developing a proposal prior to submitting it.

• Project Title: Beyond the Ball: A Modular Physics Sandbox for Investigating Aerodynamic and Projectile Modelling, Vehicle Dynamics and Adaptive Networking.
• Project Title: Improving cybersecurity and cyber resilience.
• Project Title: Developing a Framework for a National Collection of Scottish Video Game Heritage

• Project Title: Autonomous AI-powered red agents for enhanced cybersecurity

• Project Title: Behaviour-Based Anomaly Detection for Encrypted IoT Traffic

• Project Title: Profiling hardware and feasibility of new board development to support local AI in ATMs for enhanced security. 

• Project Title: Embodied Approaches to Participatory Audi-Haptic Composition

• Project Title: Inclusive Competition: Towards an Improved Understanding of Competitive Videogame Playing for the Visually Impaired. 

• Project Title: Environmental chemical exposure and metabolic disease: Exploring risk evaluation and perception

• Project Title: Enabling People to Identify Deepfakes

• Project Title: BARIToNE: Towards climate-Positive barley: Developing Model-Based Approaches to Identify Pathways and Evidence Benefits (PROTECT)

• Project Title: Trauma and Technology: Identifying Best Practice for Video-Recorded Interviews (VRIs) with Victims of Sexual Crimes

• Project Title: Privacy-Preserving for Machine Learning for Next-Generation IoT (NG-IoT) Security. 

• Project Title: Towards Machine Understanding of Human Languages: AI for Storytelling Across Languages

• Project Title: 5G & Edge computing technologies to unlock compelling immersive multiuser experiences for mobile XR applications

• Project Title: Bridging the gap between Virtual & Physical Film & Television Production: Virtual Production and Real-Time pipelines in the studio environment.

• Project Title: When an Adult with Learning Disability Goes Missing: A mixed methods study to inform prevention and response

• Privacy-Preserving Machine Learning for Next-Generation IoT (NG-IoT) Security

• Helpful and unhelpful aspects of therapy following spiritually transformative experiences

• Gateway to esports: Enhancing access and retention for casual audiences in competitive video games

• Open your MIND: Leveraging the ecological validity of language control research using immersive technologies

• Quantifying organic carbon losses in soils through natural processes and land management practises

• Revolutionising Heritage Conservation through AI-Powered Analysis of Timber Beam-Column Connections

• Project Title: 5G & Edge computing technologies to unlock compelling immersive multiuser experiences for mobile XR applications

• Project Title: Towards Machine Understanding of Human Languages: AI for Storytelling Across Languages

• Project Title: Reframing the 'social' in social return on investment: constructing more meaningful monitoring and evaluation in football, development and beyond. 

• Project Title: Active transport of Gold-coated iron oxide superparamagnetic nanoparticles: A universal delivery vehicle.

• PhD Research Studentship: BARIToNE Project 9 - towards climate-positive cropping: developing model-based approaches to identify pathways, and evidence benefits.

• PhD Research Studentship: Reframing the ‘social’ in social return on investment: constructing more meaningful monitoring and evaluation in sport for development and beyond.

• PhD Research Studentship 5G Edge- XR for unlocking compelling immersive experiences

• PhD Research Studentship: Investigating the impact of police communications and initiatives on public perceptions of progress in enhancing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: A case of Police Scotland

• PhD Research Studentship: How, when and where can preconception interventions be utilised in Scotland

• PhD Research Studentship: Co-creating Performance and Play: Supporting community cohesion and well-being through mixed-media co-production

• Masters by Research (MbR) with technical work experience.

• PhD Studentship: Towards climate-positive barley: developing model-based approaches to identify pathways and evidence benefits

• PhD Research Studentship: Investigating the potential of Extended Reality for alternative understandings of forced migration and devastated Middle Eastern Cultural Heritage Sites.

• PhD Research Studentship: Using avatars in investigative interviews with children.

• PhD Research Studentship: How do we best teach our children to be cyber secure?

• PhD Research Studentship: Machine learning to determine soil properties: a smartphone-based solution for stakeholders

• RLINCS PhD studentship: The effect of different types of omega-3 fatty acids on exercise capacity in the elderly

• RLINCS PhD studentship: Using Affective Computing to Create an Emotional Bond between Users and Virtual Agents for Enhanced Social Interaction

• R-LINCS PhD Studentship: Using VR to Investigate the Visual Features that Determine the Effectiveness of Disruptive Camouflage

• R-LINCS PhD Studentship: Eco-grief and community experiences of changing water practices in Malawi

• PhD Studentship: Seals as sentinels of antimicrobial resistance: mapping antimicrobial resistance genes in UK waters

• PhD Studentships: A 4D Virtual Tumour for Cancer Ecology.

• RLINCS PhD Research Studentships: Investigating the Chemistry of a Cold Smoking Process and its Impacts on Food Safety and Quality; Deep Learning Intrusion Detection System for the Internet of Things; Characterising fat tissue structure and function in grey seals, an animal model of extreme fat deposition and mobilisation, using novel in vivo and in vitro approaches; Applying the self-reference effect to improve children’s mathematical problem solving; Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury in female athletes.

• Master by Research Studentships in Mental Health Nursing: Various areas of research focus will be considered. 

• Master by Research Studentship: Developing a successful food new product development tool linking effective testing (using facial electromyography) with sensory attribute selection

• PhD Research Studentship: Exploiting yeast diversity in whisky fermentations for biocatalysis of desirable flavour compounds. 

• PhD Research Studentship: Evaluating the effect of plant species on soil carbonation flux

• PhD Research Studentship: Fluid-aerosol modelling of cloud evolution in substellar atmospheres (R-LINCS)

• Master by Research Studentship: Developing a successful food new product development tool linking effective testing (using facial electromyography) with sensory attribute selection

• MSc Research Studentship: Utilising crushed dolerite columns to stabilise unstable substrates using microbial-induced calcite precipitation (MICP): coupling ground improvement and climate mitigation - laboratory approach 

• Games and Media Facilitated e-Learning 

• Developing a successful new food product development, tool linking effective testing (using facial electromyography) with sensory attribute selection

• A generic framework for atmospheric fluid-aerosol modelling with applications in astrophysics, computer games and environment

• Utilising crushed dolerite columns to stabilise unstable substrates using microbial-induced calcite precipitation (MICP): coupling ground improvement and climate mitigation – numerical modelling approach

•  Exploring self-reference effects in children with ADHD

• Application of focused 'omics' approaches to the study of biological phenomena implicated in musculoskeletal ageing. (R-LINCS)

• CLOSED - Modelling of multiphase flow in deformable agricultural soils (Hosted at Abertay University for Tayside Centre for Geotechnical Engineering in Natural Environments)

• Development of Effective Guidelines and Communication Tools for the Protection of Rural Private Water Supplies from Sources of Pollution 

• Detection, analysis and clinical application of spermatozoa biochemical profile using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). (R-LINCS)

• Multiple missing: an exploration of behavioural consistency in repeat missing adults. (R-LINCS)

• Application of focused 'omics' approaches to the study of biological phenomena implicated in musculoskeletal ageing. (R-LINCS)

• Connecting Performance and Play: interdisciplinary design methods for the development of games and performance – ARCS/ SGSAH  studentship (Abertay University, National Theatre of Scotland and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland)

• Investigation into and Development of Processes for the Enhancement of Safety and Shelf Life of Fresh Produce. (R-LINCS and James Hutton Institute)

• Ecology at play: An exploration of natural data through game design. (IW Stewart PhD Studentship) 

• Developing of 4D Imaging Methods to Quantify Soil Structural Dynamics with applications to Soil Science and Environmental Engineering. (R-LINCS)

• Addressing the Fundamental Problems of Cyber-Security through Anti-Patterns. (R-LINCS)

• Interaction between emotion and communication. (R-LINCS)

• Investigating structural synaptic plasticity as a novel therapeutic target for functional recovery from spinal cord injury. (R-LINCS)

• Securing cyberspace: Development and validation of a novel research and evaluation toolset. (R-LINCS)

• The Social and Organisational Construction of Ethical Hacking. (R-LINCS)

• A systematic study of the effect of ultrasound on food enzymes and bioaccessibility of bioactive compounds (model and real food systems). (R-LINCS)

• Assisting Digital Forensic Reconstruction via Exploratory Information Visualisation. (SICSCA)

• Exploring the Role of Monitoring Agents and Affective Feedback in Enhancing Cyber Security for Average Users. (SICSCA)

• Games Design, a new Approach for a New Industry. (ESRC)

• Design and Action. (AHRC)

• Exploring Interactive Design Engineering Methodologies. (AHRC)

• Investigation of the performance of Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) on the Scottish Trunk Road Network (STRN). (BEAR)

• Factors controlling root growth in heterogeneous substrates: physical structures and root behaviour. (R-LINCS in partnership with James Hutton Institute)

• When do dialects become languages? (Leverhulme)

• Computer and Web Enabled Food Product Evaluation. (MacPhie of Glenbervie Ltd)

• Customer Honesty in Self-Service Interactions. (R-LINCS)

• Nano-and bio-technologies for food science and technology. (SORSAS)

• Role of Second Generation Phosphodiesterase Inhibitor(s) and Adenosine-Triphosphate on Human Sperm Motility. (SORSAS)

• Influence of soil structure on the spatial and temporal distribution of bacteria in soil. (SORSAS)

• Ecosystem service goods and benefits accruing from sustainable approaches to urban water management (SORSAS)

• Understanding Early Intervention: A Case Study of Dundee (SIPR)

• MPhil Research Studentship, 2 years: Project Title: Games and Media Facilitated e-Learning

• PhD Research Studentship: Mapping for Social Innovation

• MPhil Studentship: Development and validation of sequencing and bioinformatics methodologies to identify pathogenic mutations in candidate male infertility genes.

• PhD Studentship: Parental Involvement in Sport: Improving the Quality of Children’s Sport Experiences and Wellbeing

• PhD Studentship: Co-Design Mapping for Social Innovation Project.

• PhD Studentship: Enhancing Scotland’s resilience to climate change.

• PhD Studentship: Active transport of Gold-coated iron oxide superparamagnetic nanoparticles: A universal delivery vehicle.

• PhD Studentship: BARIToNE CTP - Towards climate-Positive barley: developing model-based approaches to identify pathways and evidence benefits (PROTECT)

• Project Title: Trauma and Justice: Advancing Investigative Interviews with the Trauma-Informed Cognitive Interview (TICI).