About Us

The Institute for Energy and Environmental Flows (IEEF) is a world-leading physical sciences research institute at the University of Cambridge. Our highly interdisciplinary team includes academics, post-docs, PhD students, and part III students from across university departments including Earth Sciences, Chemistry, Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, Engineering, and Chemical Engineering.

Research

Research at IEEF spans a diverse range of topics, united by a shared motivation: to address real-world challenges and fundamental scientific knowledge gaps through rigorous academic inquiry.

We host a wide range of researchers at the institute, from undergraduate students to highly established professors, in a friendly atmosphere that fosters conversation and collaboration. We offer annual fully-funded PhD scholarships and are always interested to hear from researchers who would like to join us or to learn from us. If you are interested in working or studying at IEEF, please see our list of available roles and projects or contact the relevant member of staff.

Recent Publications

Sam’s work on reaction and convective instabilities in a porous rock

In a number of natural or industrial settings, such as magmatic intrusions or geothermal power systems, subsurface porous rocks are flooded by fluid of a different density and composition than the original formation fluid. As the …

Dan’s experiments on the ventilation of a room

All buildings require ventilation to keep the indoor air fresh and clean. With underfloor air distribution, fresh air is supplied at a low level, while exhaust air is extracted from the top of a room. If …

Brian’s article on periodic cycles of hydrogen storage 

Renewables energy sources such as wind and solar are intermittent, and this leads to the need for substantial energy storage. At times of excessive generation, some of the renewable energy might be converted into hydrogen and …

Latest News

Head of Institute gave RGS lecture on the Energy Transition

On the 29th January 2025, Professor Andy Woods gave a public lecture for the Royal Geographical Society titled ‘The energy transition: what it means for the UK and the world’. The event was held at 7:30pm …

Cambridge Energy Masterclass 2024

On 9-10 December 2024 we hosted our annual Cambridge Energy Masterclass in the Centre for Mathematical Sciences. This very well-attended event offered an illuminating insight into the state-of-the-art understanding of many vital areas of the energy …

A Symposium Celebration

On Thursday 28 December we hosted ‘A Symposium on Energy & Environmental Flows’ to celebrate Professor Andy Woods’ 60th birthday. It was a wonderful event, with a packed schedule of talks throughout the day on topics …

Recent Seminars

Cracking in drying films

Professor Alex Routh has long been interested in colloidal suspensions, and today he told us about some of his recent work in the field.  When a pool of fluid containing a suspension of particles  is left …

First seminar of Lent term

Professor Yulong Ding visited us from the University of Birmingham today, and gave the first seminar of Lent term. The title of the seminar was: “Multiphase Transport Phenomena and Energy Process Intensification”. He started by talking …

Emily’s Insight into CCS Uncertainty

Today, PhD student Emily Flicos delivered our weekly seminar, with a presentation titled ‘CCS & permeability: thinking about uncertainty through a perturbation analysis’. Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) has a crucial role to play in the …