Four-year PhD Position in Life Cycle Assessment & Techno Economic Analysis of Sustainable Aviation Fuels

About the Project

Tax-Free Stipend of €25,000 per annum + Academic Fees Paid (all nationalities) x four years.

Commencing October 1 2026

Supported by Aircraft Leasing Ireland, fully funded PhD Student positions are available in the Low Carbon Technologies research group of Prof. Stephen Dooley & Prof. Mohammad Reza Ghaani at Trinity College Dublin, home of the Ryanair Sustainable Aviation Research Centre. The research will be performed at the newly opened state of the art Trinity College Dublin SAF Research Facility @ SMBC Aviation Capital, a purpose designed co-located SAF research laboratory funded by Ryanair, Research Ireland and SMBC Aviation Capital.

Background:

The contribution of global aviation to carbon emissions is approximately 3.5% annually. Unlike other sectors, aviation is highly constrained in measures that can lower this contribution. Due to technical, logistical and safety reasons, it is not expected that an alternative prime energy source other than liquid hydrocarbon fuels will be a viable technological or economic option for the reduction of aviation carbon emission even in the far, thirty year plus term. It is EU law, that the deployment of “Sustainable” Aviation Fuels (SAFs) be dramatically accelerated from the 2022 base of < 0.05% of total aviation fuel to 6% SAF by 2030, and 70% SAF by 2050.

Ireland is the world leader in Aircraft Leasing. Consensus estimates are that approximately 60% of all commercial aircraft are owned and managed from Ireland, with 14 of the world’s top 15 lessors, and more than 30 other lessors active in Ireland. Aircraft Leasing Ireland have made a philanthropic donation to Trinity College Dublin to support research of Sustainable Aviation Fuels focusing on concepts for their production.

Project:

There are three essential qualities to a viable SAF: (i) Technical Quality, (ii) Sustainability, (iii) Price & Scale of Production. This project analysis (ii) Sustainability and (iii) Price & Scale of Production.

Role:

The selected researcher will work to achieve the outcomes below:

• SAF supply chain design: connecting feedstocks, conversion technologies, carbon capture & utilisation technologies with geographical spaces in Ireland and the EU, modelling real being-built SAF production facilities, as well as designing hypothetical optimum performance instances.
• Learn and further develop in house methodologies to assess the viability of the E-Fuel and biorefinery scenarios by: Life Cycle Assessment for Green House Gas and other resource intensities, Techno Economic Assessment to determine production cost, and viable selling price, Supply chain scale & integrity analysis.
• Education and stakeholder management of the aircraft leasing community to build business cases leading to FID for SAF production facilities in Ireland and the EU.

Skills to be developed:

Working in a friendly and collaborative team, the PhD student will become expert in:

• Life cycle assessment & technoeconomic analysis.
• E-fuels (ie. power-to-liquid, electricity to fuels), and biorefinery concepts, including carbon capture & utilisation concepts.
• Sustainable aviation and sustainable aviation fuels.
• EU sustainability regulations and certification protocols.
• Numerical modelling of mass and energy conservation concepts, including uncertainty propagation.

Research Environment:

You will join the Low Carbon Technologies Research Centre at Trinity College Dublin home of the Ryanair Sustainable Aviation Research Centre, and the SAF Prescreening Service of the EU SAF Clearing House managed by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (www.eusafclearinghouse.eu).

The team is at the very centre of EU efforts on Sustainable Aviation, also founding the annual International Conference on Sustainable Aviation Research (https://icsar.org/) which you may also contribute to. The team also work on various science aspects of the low-carbon energy transition funded by a portfolio of government and industry actors including the European Research Council, Science Foundation Ireland, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, and Research Ireland.

You will have opportunities to interact closely with select aircraft leasing companies, Eurocontrol who will disseminate your work on the out reach platforms, and with international collaborators in the research domain, at several collaborating institutions in the United States and Europe. We except that you will present our work at international conferences regularly.

Essential Requirements:

The successful candidate will have:

• A first or upper second class honours degree in Physics, Chemistry, Economics, Mathematics, Mechanical or Chemical Engineering, Data Science, or a related field.
• A Masters Degree in a relevant discipline is a plus, but not essential.
• A passion for sustainability or other scientific or enterprise pursuit.

Application:

Prospective candidates should send a two page CV containing names and contact details of two referees, and a one page cover letter outlining your interest in the position to Prof. Stephen Dooley (dooley.recruitment@tcd.ie). Please quote the entire job title in the subject line of your email. Applications will be evaluated as received and candidates of all demographics, educational backgrounds and genders, that show a good record of academic achievements will be considered.

Applications will be reviewed as received, with interviews 1st week of July 2026.