In Media Sector Climate Impacts and Sustainability Interventions (BBC R&D) at University of Bristol

The project: 

Are you interested in understanding and reducing the environmental impact of video streaming? This four-year studentship, hosted jointly by the BBC Research and Development Sustainable Engineering team and the Sustainable Computing group at the University of Bristol, offers a unique opportunity to contribute to the net zero transition of the media sector. 

You will work across our two teams to quantify the energy and carbon footprint of the UK Media sector, with a special focus on the BBC. You’ll apply lifecycle assessment approaches based on first-hand knowledge of operating a global media service. 

You will establish the current energy and greenhouse gas footprint from the use of data centres, networks and user devices to deliver television. You will also identify hotspots for climate impact, propose sustainable interventions, and test their efficacy in real-world settings, for example, video encoding in cloud services, CDN cache servers or in applications like BBC iPlayer. 

You will build comprehensive sustainability assessment models, undertake extensive data collection, sanitisation, visualisation, and pipeline development, and proposing sustainability interventions. 

You will spend the majority of your time physically at the BBC Research and Development, having a dedicated desk space and access to the Sustainable Engineering Research team and also regularly spend time at the University of Bristol for concentrated study periods with weekly or more frequent supervision remote calls. 

If you have a strong analytical background and are eager to engage with cutting-edge research, apply now to help shape the future of media’s role in environmental stewardship. 

How to apply:

Please make an online application for this project at http://www.bris.ac.uk/pg-howtoapply. Please select PhD Computer Science on the Programme Choice page. You will be prompted to enter details of the studentship in the Funding and Research Details sections of the form. 

Candidate requirements: 

Applicants must hold/achieve a minimum of a merit at master’s degree level (or international equivalent) in an area related to the topic of digital media and/or quantitative environmental assessments.

Applicants without a master’s qualification may be considered on an exceptional basis, provided they hold a first-class undergraduate degree.

You will need proficiency and/or interest in a programming language such as Python, R.

Depending on your background you will attend the BBC’s inhouse trainings, UoB graduate level courses, training in academic writing, introductory training in media, internet, and entertainment sector as well as advanced training in Lifecycle Assessments and Environmental Impacts. 

Supervisors will also ensure trainings for any coding and/or software skills as well public engagement skills if needed and/or desired. 

If English is not your first language, you need to meet this profile level:

Profile E

Further information about English language requirements and profile levels. 

Funding: This is a fully funded EPSRC ICase in partnership with the BBC. The minimum tax-free stipend will match the UKRI rate (currently £19,237), plus a top up amount of £5,000 pa. 

Also includes £3,500 pa for travel between Bristol and Glasgow, and £2,000 pa for conference and consumables spending. 

For eligibility and residence requirements please check the UKRI UK Research and Innovation website. 

Contacts: For questions about the research topic, contact Dr Dan Schien at Daniel.schien@bristol.ac.uk

For questions about eligibility and the application process please contact Engineering Postgraduate Research Admissions admissions-engpgr@bristol.ac.uk