Program Overview

EngD Offshore Renewable Energy

Overview

Internationally-leading joint EngD with IDCORE aiming to meet the UK’s ambitious deployment targets for offshore renewable energy technologies.

Delivers postgraduate-level technical and transferable skills training at three leading UK universities in the renewable energy research field together with the Scottish Association for Marine Science and HRWallingford.

Vibrant learning environment delivering world-class industrially-focused research outcomes that will accelerate the deployment of offshore wind, wave and tidal-current technologies.

Producing highly trained scientists and engineers, with the skills, knowledge and confidence to tackle current and future offshore renewable energy challenges.

Reinforcing and supporting the UK’s conjoined infrastructure, which begins in the best academic research centres with leading test facilities and extends through a unique combination of demonstration facilities, ultimately to test and deployment sites.

Contact

Web: Enquire online
Phone: (UK)
+44 (0) (non-UK)

Entry Requirements

• Applicants should have, or expect to receive a first class honours degree or an international equivalent.
• Students with an upper second class degree and a subsequent MSc degree will also be considered.
• It is expected that candidates will have a good understanding of one or more branches of science or engineering and at least some relevant research experience.

Requirements for International Students

• If you are an international student, please visit our international equivalency pages to enable you to see if your existing academic qualifications meet our entry requirements.
• International students need to show they have the required level of English language to study this course.
• The required test scores for this course fall under Profile A.

Fees and Funding

• A scholarship that provides a student stipend of £15k rising to £17k and covers the tuition fees is available for suitably qualified applicants.
• There are normally 10 of these scholarships available for each intake of students and they are awarded competitively.
• To be eligible for a full award (stipend and fees) you must have:
  • Settled status in the UK, meaning you have no restrictions on how long you can stay
  • Been ‘ordinarily resident’ in the UK for 3 years prior to the start of the grant.
  • Not been residing in the UK wholly or mainly for the purpose of full-time education.
• To be eligible for a fees only award:
  • Students from EU countries other than the UK are generally eligible for a fees-only award.
  • To be eligible for a fees-only award, a student must be ordinarily resident in a member state of the EU, in the same way as UK students must be ordinarily resident in the UK.

Supervision

• High-quality research supervision to develop and nurture your potential
• A tailored supervision approach to help best suit your requirements
• Accessible supervisors who are enthusiastic about working directly with postgraduate research students
• Regular timetabled meetings with your supervisor
• 'Open door' policy to all postgraduate students - instant access to world-leading researchers who will share their expertise and ideas with you
• Regular meetings with your supervisory team, other members of your research group, and mentors

Learning and Teaching

• Approximately 75% of the Research Engineer's time will be spent on one or more research project(s) with academic and industrial supervision.
• Each Research Engineer will spend approximately 25% of his or her time in a structured training programme.
• The taught component will comprise 180 credits, amounting to 25% of the research engineer’s effort on the EngD.
• There will be three strands to the taught component:
  • An intensive, two-semester phase of 12 courses delivered in attendance at the University of Edinburgh (120 credits in total).
  • Summer schools delivered in Oban, Wallingford and Falmouth (30 credits in total).
  • Integrated studies in management, business, innovation, enterprise and entrepreneurship, delivered during the research phase to maximise relevance and utilisation of gathering experience with company (30 credits in total).

Careers

• During the EngD programme, students will be undertaking a project that tackles a genuine commercial problem in a real-world environment.
• This kind of broad training, alongside the development of research and commercial skills, will make EngD students extremely employable.
• Research Engineers will spend 75% of the time throughout their project in industry, thereby developing successful networks and contacts for future employment.

Facilities

• Renewable Energy at Exeter has access to the conventional laboratory facilities, including materials testing and workshops but also has significant specialist resources applicable to the renewable energy sector.
• Most of these are unique facilities relating to ocean energy research, power systems and reliability and field studies.
• These have relevance both for fundamental research and industrial projects.

South West Mooring Test Facility (SWMTF)

• An offshore wave buoy specifically designed to undertake large scale testing of mooring line responses and loads that provide input into numerical models.

Dynamic Marine Component Test Facility (DMaC)

• A laboratory facility designed to simulate offshore dynamic loads which also has application to more general materials and component testing.

Research Overview

• This internationally-leading joint EngD with IDCORE aims to meet the UK’s ambitious deployment targets for offshore renewable energy technologies.
• An EngD is a four year research degree awarded for industrially relevant research, the degree provides a more vocationally oriented approach to obtaining a doctorate in engineering commensurate with that of a PhD.
• Led by the University of Exeter at its Cornwall Campus and based at the University of Edinburgh, this EngD programme is delivered through a partnership with the universities of Edinburgh, Strathclyde and Exeter together with the Scottish Association for Marine Science and HR-Wallingford.

Course Content

• Each Research Engineer will spend approximately 25% (180 credits) of his or her time in a structured training programme.
• All courses are weighted at 10 credits (approx. 100 hours of student effort).
• The majority of courses will be at SCQF level 11 / FHEQ Level 7.

Semester 1 (Year 1: September – December)

• Introduction to Offshore Renewable Technologies Will provide a synoptic overview of the modules that follow.
• Cross-disciplinary Engineering Science Foundations Each student will be prescribed study to "gap fill", depending upon the qualification and knowledge base that they bring to the IDCORE from their earlier studies.
• Hydrodynamics of Offshore Renewable Energy Devices Aims to foster knowledge and understanding of the factors influencing the dynamic behaviour of fixed and floating offshore renewable energy devices.
• Electromechanical & Electronic Energy Conversion Systems Aims to give students an excellent working knowledge and understanding of the theory, technology and practice of electrical energy conversion and conditioning in offshore renewable energy converters.
• Marine Renewable Resource Assessment Explains and discusses the basic physics required in resource modelling and assessment for wind, wave and marine currents.
• Economics Tools for Offshore Renewables Addresses areas of economics crucial for the marine renewable sector.

Semester 2 (Year 1: January – May)

• Marine Operations, Condition Monitoring and Reliability Develops an advanced understanding of design and installation requirements in the fields of i) Mooring and Anchor Design, ii) Deployment techniques and iii) Risk and Project Management.
• Physical Model Testing for Offshore Renewables Addresses laboratory-based testing and field trials for assessment of performance and survivability.
• Structural Behaviour of Offshore Renewable Energy Devices Aims to provide knowledge and foster understanding of the factors influencing the structural response of fixed and floating offshore renewable energy devices to external loading.
• Electricity Network Interaction, Integration and Control aims to give students an excellent working knowledge and understanding of the theory, technology and practice of the network interaction, integration and control of electricity supplied from offshore renewable energy converters.
• Marine Energy System Design Interdisciplinary Group Project; exposes the students to the challenges and excitement of synthesis of knowledge spanning engineering, environmental science, economics, business and societal areas.
• Marine Renewables and the Environment gives students an understanding of the key oceanographic, biochemical and faunal features of coastal marine systems from an ecological perspective as they impinge on offshore renewable energy developments.

Summer Schools (two weeks in June-August)

• Marine Renewables and Society Broadens students understanding of the competing interests associated with marine real-estate, and how they impact the site selection, progress and compromises enforced on marine renewable energy developments.
• Offshore and Nearshore Renewables – the Maritime Realities Will be hosted at HR Wallingford and will give industrial context and focus to courses taught earlier in the year by the universities.
• Moorings and Reliability Enables students to understand the wider aspects of Moorings and Reliability and obtain experience at sites and from industry.

Open/Distance learning management courses integrated into research phase

• Innovation Design and Manufacturing Management Gives students: an understanding of the entrepreneurial process with its various components; an understanding of the role and importance of entrepreneurship in the modern economy.
• Management of the Project Lifecycle Gives the students grounding in techniques commonly used to manage large scale projects such as would be involved in the development of offshore renewable energy installations and their operation.
• Regulation in the Offshore Renewable Sector Exposes the students to the need for and operation of the regulatory processes that govern deployment.

Research Project

• Research Projects will comprise 540 credits, amounting to 75% of the research engineer effort on the EngD.
• Research Engineers will attend a total of three summer schools during their projects, and will attend the annual Company Day, and appropriate technical conferences.
• Research projects are proposed by renewable energy companies in wave, tidal and offshore wind energy.
• Projects are allocated during the first year of the programme, at the beginning of the second semester (in January).
• The Research Engineer will take an active role in defining his or her professional development programme in line with the needs of the research project and his or her individual aims.

Accreditations

• This degree has been accredited by the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) under licence from the UK regulator, the Engineering Council.
• This EngD research degree is accredited as:
  • Meeting the further learning requirements, in full, for registration as a Chartered Engineer, and a Chartered Marine Engineer;
  • Meeting the Initial Professional Development Requirements, in part, for registration as a Chartered Engineer and Chartered Marine Engineer.