Key facts
- Type of research degree
- PhD
- Application deadline
- Ongoing deadline
- Project start date
- Wednesday 1 October 2025
- Country eligibility
- International (open to all nationalities, including the UK)
- Funding
- Non-funded
- Supervisors
- Dr Apollo Tutesigensi
- Schools
- School of Civil Engineering
Professional engineers require competence and commitment (2 Cs) to practice. The 2 Cs are of great importance for everyone in society. The 2 Cs are underpinned by three main things: 1) knowledge: - acquired while undertaking programmes of study at Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and accumulated in industry; 2) skills either developed at HEIs and mastered in industry or developed and mastered in industry; and 3) values - either developed by completion of programmes of study and internalised at HEIs or developed and internalised in industry.<br /> <br /> HEIs are responsible for supporting the formation of professional engineers by taking student engineers through curricula that maximise knowledge possessed, skills developed and values developed on completion of programmes of study. There is evidence to suggest that many HEIs within and across nations fulfil this responsibility with less than perfect levels of success and this of course undermines the performance of engineers at least in the short term.<br /> <br /> In order to facilitate better levels of performance of engineers, researchers in this project will be seeking to address a combination of two or more of the following: evaluating engineering curricula, developing improvements to engineering curricula, developing tools (technology and/or policy related) to improve the 2 Cs and investigating relationships between attributes of engineering curricula and performance of engineers.
<p>Formal applications for research degree study should be made online through the <a href="https://www.leeds.ac.uk/info/130206/applying/91/applying_for_research_degrees">University's website</a>. Please state clearly in the Planned Course of Study secton that you are applying for <em><strong>PHD Civil Engineering FT</strong></em>, in the research information section that the research degree you wish to be considered for is <em><strong>Engineering education for competence and commitment</strong></em> as well as <a href="https://engineering.leeds.ac.uk/staff/167/dr_apollo_tutesigensi">Dr Apollo Tutesigensi</a> as your proposed supervisor and in the finance section, please state clearly <em><strong>the funding that you are applying for, if you are self-funding or externally sponsored</strong></em>.</p> <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 style="margin-bottom:11px"><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> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">Applications will be considered on an ongoing basis. Potential applicants are strongly encouraged to contact the supervisors for an informal discussion before making a formal application. We also advise that you apply at the earliest opportunity as the application and selection process may close early, should we receive a sufficient number of applications or that a suitable candidate is appointed.</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><strong>Please note that you must provide the following documents in support of your application by the closing date of Monday 6 January 2025 if applying for the China Scholarship Council-University of Leeds Scholarship, Monday 3 February 2025 if applying for Leeds Doctoral Scholarship or Tuesday 1 April 2025 for Leeds Opportunity Research Scholarship.</strong></p> <p>If you are applying with external sponsorship or you are funding your own study, please ensure you provide your supporting documents at the point you submit your application:</p> <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>
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. The criteria for entry for some research degrees may be higher, for example, several faculties, also require a Masters degree. Applicants are advised to check with the relevant School prior to making an application. Applicants who are uncertain about the requirements for a particular research degree are advised to contact the School or Graduate School 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 style="margin-bottom:12px"><strong>Self-Funded or externally sponsored students are welcome to apply.</strong></p> <p><strong>UK</strong> – The <a href="https://phd.leeds.ac.uk/funding/138-leeds-doctoral-scholarship-2025-faculty-of-engineering-and-physical-sciences#:~:text=Key%20facts&text=One%20Leeds%20Doctoral%20Scholarship%20is,rata%20for%20part%2Dtime%20study.">Leeds Doctoral Scholarship</a> <strong>(closing date: Monday 3 February 2025)</strong> and <a href="https://phd.leeds.ac.uk/funding/234-leeds-opportunity-research-scholarship-2022">Leeds Opportunity Research Scholarship</a> <strong>(closing date: Tuesday 1 April 2025)</strong> are available to UK applicants. <a href="https://phd.leeds.ac.uk/funding/60-alumni-bursary">Alumni Bursary</a> is available to graduates of the University of Leeds.</p> <p><strong>Non-UK</strong> – The <a href="https://phd.leeds.ac.uk/funding/48-china-scholarship-council-university-of-leeds-scholarships-2021">China Scholarship Council - University of Leeds Scholarship</a> is available to nationals of China <strong>(closing date: Monday 6 January 2025)</strong>. The <a href="https://phd.leeds.ac.uk/funding/73-leeds-marshall-scholarship">Leeds Marshall Scholarship</a> is available to support US citizens. <a href="https://phd.leeds.ac.uk/funding/60-alumni-bursary">Alumni Bursary</a> is available to graduates of the University of Leeds.</p> <p>You will be responsible for paying the overtime fee in full in your writing up/overtime year (£320 in Session 2024/25), but the scholarship maintenance allowance will continue to be paid for up to 6 months in the final year of award.</p> <p><strong>Important: </strong>Please note that that the award does <em><strong>not</strong></em> cover the costs associated with moving to the UK. All such costs (<a href="https://www.leeds.ac.uk/international-visas-immigration/doc/applying-student-visa">visa, Immigration Health Surcharge</a>, flights etc) would have to be met by yourself, or you will need to find an alternative funding source. </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 about your application, please contact PGR Admissions by email: <a href="mailto:EMAIL@leeds.ac.uk">p</a><a href="mailto:phd@engineering.leeds.ac.uk">hd@engineering.leeds.ac.uk</a></p> <p>For further information about this project, please contact Dr Apollo Tutesigensi by email: <a href="mailto:A.Tutesigensi@leeds.ac.uk">A.Tutesigensi@leeds.ac.uk</a></p>
<h3 class="heading heading--sm">Linked research areas</h3>