Project Title:
How Do Retrofitting Practices Transform the Lives and Environmental Conditions of Racialised and Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Communities?
Applications are invited for a three-year collaborative PhD studentship to investigate how retrofitting practices interventions in homes shape the lived experiences, health, and environmental conditions of racialised and socioeconomically disadvantaged communities, with a particular focus on air pollution, damp, mould, and health inequalities.
This studentship is funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) through the London Interdisciplinary Social Science Doctoral Training Centre (LISS DTP). The studentship is a collaboration between Imperial College and Impact on Urban Health.
Research Project
Air pollution is a public health concern accountable for numerous health problems and tens of thousands of premature deaths per year in the UK. At home, air pollution is variable and is determined by the building’s characteristics, people’s behaviour and indoor sources. Though air pollution is a problem faced by everybody, those living in neighbourhoods with low socioeconomic status (SES) are more likely to be exposed to higher air pollution levels.
Policies to mitigate and adapt to climate change, as well as to achieve the UK’s commitment to Net Zero, require disruptive and often costly interventions to the fabric, heating and ventilation systems of existing homes. However, there is currently limited understanding of how these modifications will affect indoor environmental exposures, such as air quality, relative humidity and air temperature. Additionally, there is a need to better understand residents’ perceptions and experiences of these retrofitting measures, including their acceptability, ease of use, and any unintended consequences they may encounter that could ultimately impact indoor environment quality.
Understanding how residents, particularly those from vulnerable communities, perceive their home environment before and after their homes have been retrofitted or after they have been relocated to retrofitted homes is essential. These insights may influence behavioural practices and lifestyle choices that directly impact the health and well-being of these disadvantaged communities and will also help inform the design of future retrofitting programmes.
The PhD aims to highlight the benefits, challenges, and unintended consequences of retrofitting households for these communities, with the broader goal of creating equitable, health-focused, and environmentally sustainable housing solutions.
The successful applicant will:
1. Conduct a literature review of health and well-being impacts of retrofitting interventions, focusing on initiatives implemented in socioeconomically disadvantage neighbourhoods.
2. Co-develop opportunities for meaningful participant’s engagement, refining research questions, design methodologies and collaboratively disseminating findings and recommendations.
3. Explore how people’s perceptions of retrofitting measures, health and household energy consumption are formed and maintained, identifying the experiences, communication channels, and message content that influence these understandings.
4. Evaluate the effectiveness of advice and information provided to households with retrofitted homes, exploring associations between environmental awareness, behaviours and various demographic characteristics (e.g, education level and ethnicity).
Eligibility
Essential criteria:
A good undergraduate degree (2:1 or first class) and a relevant Master’s degree. The selected candidate will have a high calibre social science background with interest in public health and the environment.
Student should have experience in conducting quantitative and qualitative research, particularly ethnography.
A demonstrable ability to communicate with members of the public, particularly within urban community groups.
Excellent command of English.
A commitment towards equity and social inclusion.
Desirable criteria:
Knowledge of, or prior professional experience with, public perceptions of health and/or personal and societal risk, such as the impacts of intersectionality and marginalisation.
Knowledge of housing policy, energy efficiency retrofit measures and the built environment.
Experience with relevant methodological software (e.g., SPSS, NVivo).
Knowledge and/or experience in air quality monitoring, including familiarity with relevant methodologies, tools, or technologies.
Command of other languages, such as those characteristics of urban communities in London will be an advantage.
The Studentship
The LISS DTP studentship provides funding for 3 years, including Home tuition fees, and a tax-free stipend of £21,237 per year (full time). As part of your award, you will be able to access additional funding to help cover some of the costs of training, fieldwork, travel and more.
International (including EU) applicants will only be considered if they are able to fund the difference between Home tuition fees and the host Department’s International fee themselves. The School of Public Health postgraduate research tuition fees are detailed here for information.
Nationality and residency requirements for Home and International students can be found in UKRI-170321-InternationalEligibilityImplementationGuidance.pdf. Please read this document to determine whether you will be classed as a Home or International student.
Supervisory team
The PhD will be jointly supervised by Dr Diana Varaden, (MRC-CEH, School of Public Health, Imperial College London), Dr Sean Beavers (MRC-CEH, School of Public Health, Imperial College London) and Dr Kate Simpson (Centre for Sustainable Construction and Retrofit – Nottingham Trent University).
The student will be based within the Environmental Research Group (ERG) at Imperial College, gaining the opportunity to collaborate closely with researchers at the forefront of air quality information provision and related research in the UK. Additionally, the student will have the support of the non-academic partner (Impact on Urban Health) who is currently delivering a ten-year program in the London boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark to explore how the health of vulnerable communities is affected by poor air quality, and to test possible solutions.
LISS DTP scheme
The London Interdisciplinary Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership (LISS DTP) enables social science research students to join and develop a research community that springs from the interface between the social science disciplines with health and medicine, the natural and physical sciences, engineering, and the arts and humanities. The LISS DTP is funded by the Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC) and led by King’s College London, in partnership with Imperial College London and Queen Mary University of London. The student will have access to LISS DTP Training Programme and Events.
For further information about the studentship, please see the LISS DTP website.
Application
Please complete both the Imperial College London application form and the LISS DTP CASE studentship application form.
Both forms should be completed electronically and e-mailed to valentina.lotti@imperial.ac.uk
Applicants should also complete this Diversity Monitoring Form
The successful candidate will be asked to complete a DBS check upon commencing the post.
For any queries contact valentina.lotti@imperial.ac.uk
Key dates
The closing date for applications is Sunday 23rd February 2025.
Interviews will be held on w/c 10th March 2025.
The studentship will start on 1st October 2025.
Imperial College London is committed to equality of opportunity, to eliminating discrimination and to creating an inclusive working environment.