A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) is an opportunity to pursue a topic you're passionate about at the highest academic level.

A PhD is an independent, supervised research project that is assessed on the submission of a thesis or creative work and exegesis. This course may be undertaken in any School within ECU, provided there are supervisors available in your proposed research area, and the resources and facilities required to complete your proposed project are accessible. ECU encourages interdisciplinary research that may span two or more disciplines. As a PhD candidate, you will be expected to develop a project that can be completed in three years full-time. You may submit your thesis any time after two years of full-time study, and the maximum course duration for a PhD is four years full-time. A PhD is a significant undertaking, and if enrolled full-time you are expected to commit at least 35 hours per week to your research.

Course Learning Outcomes

• Apply communication skills to explain and critique theoretical propositions, methodologies and conclusions, and cogently present findings of a complex and original investigation to peers and the broader community
• Integrate substantial and systemic understanding of complex discipline knowledge with research principles and methods to demonstrate expertise in the field
• Take responsibility and show initiative for designing and executing original research, demonstrating capacity to generate new knowledge with intellectual independence.
• Use expert skills and authoritative judgement to adapt and implement research methodologies and conduct systematic and independent investigation of theory and/or practice at the frontier of a discipline.

Career opportunities

Academia, Government Agencies, Engineering Consultancies, Research and Development, Industry

Possible future job titles

Water and wastewater treatment, water reuse, desalination and renewable energies, urban water system, aeration system

Engineering - Environmental:

Environmental Engineering research at ECU concentrates on developing sustainable solutions to curb the undesirable effects of human activities on the environment (air, land and water).

These include pollution, climate change, water demand and availability, land use and contamination, as well as industrial and household waste generation. Specific postgraduate research topics are developed in conjunction with the postgraduate coordinator or potential supervisor, however applications are particularly encouraged from those with an interest in: Novel and advanced technologies; Integrated water treatment technologies for minimising carbon footprint; Harvest and reuse of stormwater; Desalination and renewable energy; Aeration system for improving water quality; Economic sediment removal techniques; Sustainable energy generation and environmental waste management. Researchers in the school are currently involved in projects investigating the removal of heavy metals in wastewater using agro-waste, hybrid desalination technologies and advanced water treatment systems. The School also has a fully-equipped laboratory with advanced water and wastewater treatment equipment such as the dissolved air floatation, adsorption, anaerobic water treatment, advanced oxidation, biofilm process, depth filtration as well as precipitation and flocculation systems.