EPSRC DLA: Worthwhile use of time while travelling: effects on daily travel and activity schedules

One full scholarship is available in the Institute for Transport Studies for 2025/26 entry for a Home fee rated applicant. This is a highly competitive EPSRC Doctoral Landscape Award Studentship offering the award of UK fees, together with a tax-free maintenance grant (currently £19,237 for academic session 2024/25) for 3.5 years. This award is only available to Home fee rated applicants. Training and support will also be provided. Please note that whilst you may be successful in securing an academic offer for this project, this does not mean that you have been successful in securing an offer of funding. Funding is awarded on a competitive basis.

<p style="margin-bottom:11px">People’s travel decisions, such as whether to drive or use public transport, as affected by many different factors. Influencing such factors has been a key objective for policymakers to foster behaviour change towards more environmentally sustainable travel patterns. While key determinants are believed to be the cost and duration of the journey, others have recently received attention, including the ability to make use of the time spent travelling, either productively or for enjoyment.</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">The traditional approach in travel behaviour research (until the early 2000s) has assumed that the time spent travelling is something that people are aiming to reduce, as they perceive it as unproductive and preventing them from performing other activities: in other words, wasted time. This assumption is based on the behaviour of a lone driver who is entirely focused on the task of driving, but seems unrealistic when thinking about public transport passengers and, even more, future users of autonomous vehicles. Indeed, many studies have now shown that this view conflicts with the reality that most people conduct activities while they travel: people work, read or sleep on the train and bus, listen to music and talk on the phone while driving, and so on (Mokhtarian et al. 2001; Circella et al. 2012). The diffusion of increasingly advanced portable technological devices such as smartphones and laptops has made this phenomenon even more widespread, leading policymakers to ask key questions about what people do while they travel, if their ability to multitask enhances their travel experience and satisfaction and if it reduces the value of time savings.</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">The ability to conduct activities while travelling could also affect how people spend their time for the rest of the day. For example, if an office worker is able to work productively for an hour on the train during their commute, they might be able to get back home earlier and enjoy more free time in the evening. This could improve their well-being and happiness.</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">Understanding such behavioural dynamics matters, as it might affect the mode of transport people choose to use for their regular journeys as well as the route and service they choose and their preferences towards interchanges. Quantifying the impact of using travel time productively is an important step in improving our understanding and forecasting of travel behaviour, which in turn affects its impacts on climate change as well as indirect impacts on health, such as on people’s well-being.</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">While researchers have fully acknowledged the importance of understanding these dynamics, the literature has failed to advance substantially, mainly because capturing such behaviours and choices is difficult. A few existing datasets capture multitasking, but new data collection techniques must be developed to improve data quality by leveraging different techniques, which may range from extracting information from CCTV recordings or using existing data to capture patterns that might facilitate future data collection. Suitable statistical modelling able to accommodate the complexity of the problem needs to be developed to model and predict changes in travel patterns that are likely to take place for different population segments. State-of-the-art studies apply discrete-continuous choice models and extensions of such </p> <p>frameworks (Palma et al., 2023), but more work is needed to develop ad-hoc modelling tools to capture multiple layers of activities and their effect on time use more generally.</p> <p>This project will hence focus on developing novel data collection techniques and modelling approaches to improve our understanding and prediction of multitasking while travelling in our fast-changing world.</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">References:</p> <p>Circella et al. (2012). <a href="https://shorturl.at/Outt0">https://shorturl.at/Outt0</a></p> <p>Mokhtarian et al (2001): <a href="https://shorturl.at/x2NQa">https://shorturl.at/x2NQa</a></p> <p>Palma et al (2023): <a href="https://shorturl.at/fbslK">https://shorturl.at/fbslK</a></p>

<p>Formal applications for research degree study should be made online through the <a href="https://www.leeds.ac.uk/research-applying/doc/applying-research-degrees">University's website</a>. You will need to create a login ID with a username and PIN. <strong>Please follow these instructions carefully or your application may not be considered.</strong></p> <ul> <li>For ‘Application type’ please select ‘Research Degrees – Research Postgraduate’.</li> <li>The admission year for this project is 2025/26 Academic Year.</li> <li>You will need to select your ‘Planned Course of Study’ from a drop-down menu. For this project, you must scroll down and select ‘<strong>EPSRC DLA Environment</strong>’. If you do not apply under this programme code, your application cannot be considered.</li> <li>Please state the funding you wish to be considered for is <strong>EPSRC Doctoral Landscape Award 2025/26: Environment</strong>.</li> <li>The project start date for this project is October 2025, please use this as your Proposed Start Date of Research.</li> <li>Please state clearly in the research information section that the research degree you wish to be considered for is <strong>EPSRC DLA: Worthwhile use of time while travelling: effects on daily travel and activity schedules</strong> as well as <a href="https://environment.leeds.ac.uk/transport/staff/921/dr-chiara-calastri">Dr Chiara Calastri</a> as your proposed supervisor.</li> <li>You must provide the following documents in your application: <ul> <li>Full transcripts of all degree study, or if in final year of study, full transcripts to date</li> <li>Personal statement outlining your interest in the project</li> <li>CV</li> </ul> </li> </ul> <p>If English is not your first language, you must provide evidence that you meet the University's minimum English language requirements (below).</p> <p><em>As an international research-intensive university, we welcome students from all walks of life and from across the world. We foster an inclusive environment where all can flourish and prosper, and we are proud of our strong commitment to student education. Across all Faculties we are dedicated to diversifying our community and we welcome the unique contributions that individuals can bring, and particularly encourage applications from, but not limited to Black, Asian, people who belong to a minority ethnic community, people who identify as LGBT+ and people with disabilities. Applicants will always be selected based on merit and ability.</em></p>

Applicants to research degree programmes should normally have at least a first class or an upper second class British Bachelors Honours degree (or equivalent) in an appropriate discipline. For this project, a background in a quantitative discipline paired with interest in human and travel behaviour is essential. Candidates with a background in statistics, engineering, economics and similar disciplines will be considered. Experience in data analysis and coding is encouraged. Applicants who are uncertain about the requirements for a particular research degree are advised to contact the PGR Admissions team prior to making an application.

The minimum English language entry requirement for research postgraduate research study is an IELTS of 6.0 overall with at least 5.5 in each component (reading, writing, listening and speaking) or equivalent. The test must be dated within two years of the start date of the course in order to be valid. Some schools and faculties have a higher requirement.

<p>This competitive EPSRC Doctoral Landscape Award offers the award of tuition fees at the Home rate, together with a tax-free maintenance grant (currently £19,237 for academic session 2024/25) for 3.5 years. Training and support will also be provided. This award is only available to Home fee rated applicants.</p> <p>Please note that whilst you may be successful in securing an academic offer for any project linked to this funding advertised project or own research proposal, this does not mean that you have been successful in securing an offer of funding. Funding is awarded on a competitive basis.</p> <p>Please refer to the <a href="https://www.ukcisa.org.uk/">UKCISA</a> website for information regarding fee status for Non-UK Nationals.</p>

<p>For further information please contact the Postgraduate Research Admissions team: <a href="mailto:env-pgr@leeds.ac.uk?subject=EPSRC%20DLA%3A%20Promoting%20Healthy%20Ageing%20through%20Diverse%20Mobility%20Options">env-pgr@leeds.ac.uk</a>. </p>