Funding

Competition funded (UK/EU and international students)

Project code

SEGG8670124

Department

School of the Environment and Life Sciences,

Start dates

October 2024

Application deadline

19 January 2024

Applications are invited for a fully-funded three-year PhD to commence in October 2024. 

The PhD will be based in the Faculty of Science and Health, and will be supervised by Dr Julia Brown, Dr Brain Baily and Dr Ana Gheorghiu. 

Candidates applying for this project may be eligible to compete for one of a small number of bursaries available. Successful applicants will receive a bursary to cover tuition fees at the UK/EU rate for three years and a stipend in line with the UKRI rate (£18,622 for 2023/24). Bursary recipients will also receive an annual contribution of £1,500 towards consumables, conference, project or training costs.

Costs for student visa and immigration health surcharge are not covered by this bursary. For further guidance and advice visit our international and EU students ‘Visa FAQs’ page.

The work on this project could involve:

  • Identifying current attitudes and awareness of water conservation issues and water literacy levels among ºÚÁÏÈë¿Ú Water consumers.
  • Use of secondary datasets to determine if place context (i.e. deprivation context and ACORN) can be used to explain/predict household water demand.
  • Co-designing with representative households targeted messaging to test their impact on attitudes and behaviours towards water conservation.

Whilst the UK is often viewed as a water rich country, the reality is that availability of water is spatially uneven and climate change and is seeing a decline in water security and corresponding increase in water stress and scarcity, particularly in Eastern and Southern England (WRSE, 2022). Concern is also growing over increasing abstraction levels by water companies to meet growing demand and the impact on habitats. This is notable for ºÚÁÏÈë¿Ú Water because it abstracts water from ecologically sensitive and globally unique chalk streams and associated aquifers (80% are found within England) (WWF, 2014).  The range of options available to ºÚÁÏÈë¿Ú Water to augment supplies are limited, and as part of its regional plan (WRSE, 2022) ºÚÁÏÈë¿Ú Water is looking to manage consumer demand and reduce per capita consumption, but without the power to increase prices to lower demand.  The average water costs per household in the UK are £408 per annum (2021/22 (Water UK, 2022) which is widely seen as being too low to influence economic water saving behaviours. ºÚÁÏÈë¿Ú Water will be rolling out water metres and offering customers free water saving devices (the latter is voluntary) across the region (ºÚÁÏÈë¿Ú Water, 2022). This research, working closely with ºÚÁÏÈë¿Ú Water, seeks to explore the potential of targeted marketing strategies based on the application of geodemographics to affect behaviour change around water use in a bid to lower per capita consumption. The project will adopt a co-design approach with representatives of different kinds of households across the operational area of ºÚÁÏÈë¿Ú Water to test the most effective triggers of behaviour change. The project will make important contributions to the academic literature by empirically testing theories of environmental messaging (Unsworth, 2021; Whitmarsh et al., 2022).

Entry requirements

You'll need a good first degree from an internationally recognised university (minimum upper second class or equivalent, depending on your chosen course) or a Master’s degree in an appropriate subject. In exceptional cases, we may consider equivalent professional experience and/or qualifications. English language proficiency at a minimum of IELTS band 6.5 with no component score below 6.0.

A background in environmental and human geography or related subjects would be a benefit for this project that utilises a mixed methods approach. We are seeking someone who is confident with geodemographics and statistical analysis. Basic understanding of GIS would be useful. Some experience of conducting semi-structured interviews or focus groups would also be an advantage.

How to apply

If you have any project-specific questions please contact Dr Julia Brown (julia.brown@port.ac.uk) quoting the project code.

When you are ready to apply, please use our . Make sure you submit a personal statement, proof of your degrees and grades, details of two referees, proof of your English language proficiency and an up-to-date CV. Our ‘How to Apply’ page offers further guidance on the PhD application process.

If you want to be considered for this funded PhD opportunity you must quote project code SEGG8670124 when applying. Please note that email applications are not accepted.