Lucia Corsini

[Full award: course fees covered for Home and overseas students plus a tax-free stipend of c. £21,805 per annum for the first year and at least this amount for a further two and a half years.] Research Studentship on Sustainable and Circular AI Systems at the University of Oxford is a 3.5-year DPhil studentship in the Department of Engineering Science. The project explores how the rapid growth of artificial intelligence can be supported by more sustainable and circular hardware and infrastructure. Rather than focusing only on energy use and carbon emissions, the research examines hardware demand, critical raw materials, and the role of circular economy strategies in reducing environmental impacts and dependence on scarce resources. The successful student will investigate how AI computational growth translates into demand for physical infrastructure such as processors, accelerators, memory, storage, and networking equipment. They will map these components to underlying materials, identify critical material dependencies and supply-chain hotspots, and assess how different hardware lifetimes and circular strategies could change future material needs while maintaining computational performance. The DPhil student will join the Circular Economy and Sustainability Lab and contribute to the Circular Electricals and Electronics Project , which aims to enable a low-carbon circular economy for electrical and electronic equipment. The project is strongly interdisciplinary, linking AI systems, engineering analysis, materials thinking, and sustainability research. Funding : this studentship is open to Home and overseas students and provides a full award, including course fees plus a tax-free stipend of approximately £21,805 per year for the first year, with at least this amount for the following two and a half years. Eligibility highlights : applicants should have a first-class or strong upper second-class undergraduate degree with honours (or equivalent) in Engineering or a related discipline. Strong quantitative modelling and analysis skills are required, along with excellent English communication. Desirable experience includes Material Flow Analysis, Life Cycle Assessment, circular economy strategies, sustainable engineering, product design for disassembly, and knowledge of computing hardware, electronics, data centres, or AI infrastructure. Application deadline : noon on 2 December 2026. Applicants must submit a graduate application form and meet the University’s graduate admissions criteria. Use reference 27ENGEL_LC . Informal enquiries may be sent to Prof Lucia Corsini at [email protected] . The expected start date is October 2027.