Impacts of green growth and degrowth pathways using societal exergy analysis: country-level case studies

One full 3.5 years PhD scholarship is available in the School of Earth & Environment in 2025/26. This scholarship is open to UK applicants and covers UK-home rated tuition fees, together with together with a tax-free maintenance grant matching UKRI rates (currently £20,780 for academic session 2025/26) for 3.5 years. Training and support will also be provided.

Please see the full advert on the University of Leeds website. Here you will see more details and instructions on how to apply.

This fully funded PhD place provides an exciting opportunity to pursue postgraduate research in the study of the upcoming global energy transition and the impacts on the energy-economy systems and wider sociomacroeconomic impacts. The PhD project is part of a four year Leverhulme Trust project entitled “Impacts of green growth and degrowth pathways using societal exergy analysis”, which uses the novel, interdisciplinary methods of Exergy Economics (combining thermodynamics, energy analysis and economics) to assess energy-emissions-economic impacts and implications of current ‘economic green growth’ and alternative potential ‘energy degrowth’ pathways, at a global and case study country level.

Working with an experienced project team at the University of Leeds, including project lead (Dr Paul Brockway) and co-investigator (Dr Emmanuel Aramendia), the PhD project will focus on country-level green growth and degrowth pathways, in parallel with the global level workstream. The PhD researcher will be free to select – with support from the wider project team – Global North and South case study countries, reflecting country-level divergence in energy use and economic affluence, and allowing study of the wider implications of ‘economic green growth’ and potential ‘energy degrowth’ pathways, including Sustainable Development Goal 7 (energy access and economic efficiency). The findings can help provide a step change in our understanding of the energy, economic and emissions impacts of current green growth strategies, and alternative degrowth pathways.