Navigating Multi Level Governance for Sustainable Bioenergy Deployment: Interactions Between Central Policy, International Agreements, and Local Development Outcomes

Navigating Multi Level Governance for Sustainable Bioenergy Deployment: Interactions Between Central Policy, International Agreements, and Local Development Outcomes

The project is linked to the UK Supergen Bioenergy Impact Hub (Cross-cutting Task: Maximising sustainability trade-offs) at Aston University. Bioenergy and bioproducts are central to many national and international strategies for achieving net zero, enhancing energy security, and promoting rural economic development. However, the deployment of bioenergy systems often encounters a complex landscape of local barriers, regulatory bottlenecks, and market failures.

Two major research work streams are currently underway at the Supergen Bioenergy Impact Hub, providing essential grounding for this PhD:

1. Economic Development (Regional Approach)
   Current work maps regional opportunities and challenges for bioenergy deployment, identifying spatial differences in feedstock availability, industrial capabilities, workforce skills, and socio-economic benefits.
2. Enabling Environment for Scale-Up
   Research is generating a roadmap of real-world constraints, policy misalignments, regulatory gaps, market immaturity, and sustainability concerns that hinder scale-up of bioenergy and bioproducts.

This PhD seeks to integrate these streams, while adding a critical new dimension of the interplay between centralised decision-making and local development outcomes, especially in the context of international climate change frameworks, national bioeconomy strategies and sustainability requirements, and cross border supply chains.

Research Aim

The aim of this PhD project is to examine how centralised policy frameworks, international climate agreements, and multinational sustainability regulations influence local bioenergy development, economic opportunities and deployment feasibility, and to develop a holistic decision-support framework to align national strategies with on the ground implementation.

Objectives

The high-level objectives are to:

1. Map the multi-level governance landscape affecting bioenergy deployment, from global agreements, to national policies, to local implementation.
2. Analyse how central decisions shape or constrain regional bioenergy opportunities, building directly on the existing regional opportunity/challenge mapping.
3. Identify real-world barriers in policy, regulation, markets, finance, and supply chains that shape local feasibility.
4. Investigate behavioural and perception drivers influencing community acceptance, developer decisions, and policymaker’s choices.
5. Evaluate whether harmonized sustainability frameworks and criteria (for example, approaches to indirect land-use change) adequately capture regional and national contexts.
6. Develop a holistic decision-making framework integrating different approaches and methods, e.g., techno-economic analysis (TEA), sustainability assessment, and governance considerations.

The PhD will adopt a mixed-methods, cross-disciplinary approach, including methods such as:

• Policy and governance analysis
• Comparative case studies
• Stakeholder mapping and qualitative interviews
• Technical, economic, and environmental assessments (e.g, TEA, LCA)
• Sustainability assessment tools
• Behavioural and perception analysis
• Systems thinking and multi-criteria decision analysis

By adopting this mixed-methods approach, the PhD is intended to develop an integrated framework that encompasses the interconnections between varying levels of governance and the deployment of bioenergy systems at the community level.

The successful applicant should hold a first-class or upper second-class honours degree, or an equivalent qualification, in a relevant discipline such as sustainability, environmental policy, geography, economics, environmental science, engineering, political science, or a related interdisciplinary field. A relevant master’s degree is desirable but not essential.

Given the cross-disciplinary nature of the project, the ideal candidate will demonstrate a combination of analytical, policy, and socio‑technical research skills, as well as a strong interest in multi-level governance, sustainable energy systems, and the bioeconomy.

We would particularly like to encourage applications from women seeking to progress their academic careers. Aston University is committed to the principles of the Athena SWAN Charter, recognised recently by a prestigious Gold Award to EPS, and we pride ourselves on our vibrant, friendly and supportive working environment and family atmosphere.

This project is open to Home students ONLY, covers all tuition fees and includes a stipend at current UKRI rates. The project also includes a Research Training and Support Grant.

Please note that the successful candidate will be responsible for any expenses related to moving to Birmingham and/or visiting the Aston campus. 

Further information can be found here: Financial Requirements | Aston University

We can only consider applications that are complete and have all supporting documents. Applications that do not provide all the relevant documents will be automatically rejected. Your application must include: 

1.  English language copies of the transcripts and certificates for all your higher education degrees, including any Bachelor degrees.
2. A Research Statement detailing your understanding of the research area, how you would approach the project, and a brief review of relevant literature. Be sure to use the title of the research project you are applying for. There is no set format or word count. 
3. A personal statement which outlines any further information which you think is relevant to your application, such as your personal suitability for research, career aspirations, possible future research interests, and further description of relevant employment experience. 
4. A Curriculum Vitae (Resume) which details your education and work history. 
5. Two academic referees who can discuss your suitability for independent research. References must be on headed paper, signed and dated no more than 2 years old. At least one reference should be from your most recent University. You can submit your references at a later date if necessary. 
6. Evidence that you meet the English Language requirements. If you do not currently meet the language requirements, you can submit this at a later stage. 
7. A copy of your passport. Where relevant, include evidence of settled or pre-settled status.

If you require further information about the application process, please contact the Postgraduate Admissions team at pgr_admissions@aston.ac.uk.

International Applicants 

International applicants are NOT eligible to apply for this position. 

Interviews 

Interviews will be conducted online via Microsoft Teams. If you are shortlisted, you will be contacted directly with details of the interview.  
 

Studying a PhD is great route into academia and industries that are centred on research and innovation. Areas with a demand for very high level and specialised research skills often demand PhDs.

In addition to this specialist knowledge, PhD education will help you to develop a set of valuable transferrable skills. The very nature of studying an intensive research degree will enable you to become a team player, develop problem-solving skills, analytical thinking, and advanced presentation and communication skills.

The variety of PhD project topics at Aston means that the destinations of our graduates vary substantially. Some choose to continue into academia, at either Aston or other leading institutions, while others go onto use their newly acquired skills in a range of research, healthcare, industry or charitable fields. When selecting your chosen PhD path at Aston, your supervisor will be able to provide you with relevant career opportunities that could be available to you in your specialist area.