Airborne particles are a well recognised cause of increased morbidity and mortality in the general population. While the precise influences of particle size and chemical composition upon toxicity have yet to be fully elucidated, there has been a great deal of interest in the ultrafine fraction of less than 100 nanometres diameter which show high toxicity per unit mass. By far the greatest abundance of ultrafine particles in the urban atmosphere arises from emissions from road traffic and particularly from diesel engines, and recent work in our group has provided clear evidence that such particles are semi-volatile and that they progressively evaporate as they travel away from the source of emission. However, current knowledge of their chemical composition and rate of evaporation is very weak and this project aims to provide the necessary fundamental information to allow better prediction of their behaviour. This will involve sampling particles from test engines, analysis of chemical composition, alongside field experiments in which the evolution of the ultrafine particle fraction will be observed using advanced aerosol instrumentation. This will be complemented by theoretical studies and numerical modelling of particle behaviour.

Funding Notes:

This studentship is available as part of the NERC DTP CENTA consortium. For more details of the CENTA consortium please see the CENTA website: www.centa.org.uk. A number of fully funded studentships are available to the best UK and EU candidates, who must meet requirements for both academic qualifications and residential eligibility: http://www.nerc.ac.uk/funding/application/studentships.
Please direct informal enquiries to the project supervisor. If you wish to apply formally, please do so via:
http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/postgraduate/courses/research/gees/environmental-health-risk-mgt.aspx
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