The Open University (UK) - Charter Studentships

To celebrate The Open University’s 40th anniversary we offering a number of research studentships.

These studentships provide opportunities for the best national or international candidates to work alongside leading academics and research staff on projects that will inspire and shape our research portfolio. They will cover all fees for three years plus an annual stipend and are tenable from 1 October 2009. Suitable candidates should have or expect to graduate with a minimum 2:1 honours degree.

One of the topics on offer is: Requirements Engineering and Climate Change

When developing computers systems, it is important to model the world in which they operate as well as what happens within the machine, in order to ensure requirements are met. There is however, no guarantee that the software engineers involved have an adequate understanding of that world. This issue is sharply highlighted in the case of energy and the urgent need to address climate change. In this case, the software engineers would need to engage not just with a whole array of specialist technology, but also understand the social and legal issues involved in addressing complex areas of government policy. In this project you would look at how energy and climate change expertise and policy can be made accessible to software engineers, in forms that can be readily used in modeling systems and their operational environment. You would work with experts in both Software Engineering and Energy and Climate Change, so you would need to embrace an interdisciplinary approach.

You should have a good knowledge of requirements engineering, and a strong interest in addressing the issues related to energy usage and climate change. An interest in how government policy is developed and addressed by industry would also be helpful.

Please contact Dr Robin Laney (r.c.laney[ at ]open.ac.uk), for an informal discussion and advice on drawing up a proposal.

To receive an application pack call 0845 366 6034 or email: charterstudentships[ at ]open.ac.uk

Quote: RDKM Charter Studentships when you call or email us

www.openuniversity.co.uk/studentship

INSPIRING LEARNING
The Open University is incorporated by Royal Charter (RC 000391), an exempt charity in England and Wales and a charity registered in Scotland (SC 038302).

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Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to ensure the above information is current and correct. However, applicants should contact the appropriate administering body before making an application, as details do change frequently.