Welcome to IEEF

The Institute for Energy and Environmental Flows (IEEF) is a physical sciences research institute at the University of Cambridge. Our interdisciplinary team includes academics, post-docs, PhD students, MPhil 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 enquiry.

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 and contact us.

Recent Publications

Royal Society report: Unlocking thermal energy

Developing systems to capture, store and reuse the vast amounts of waste heat generated through …

Fluid Mechanics for Green Buildings

Decarbonisation of buildings is one of the main challenges for the energy transition. In particular, …

Effects of permeability perturbations in porous media flow

One of the challenges with modelling subsurface flows is the uncertainty in measurements of geological …

Latest News

Powering the energy transition: novel materials, smarter fuels, and heat re-use

How do we deliver a low-carbon future while meeting the world’s growing energy demands? At the end of April, a webinar will bring together …

Two new PhD opportunities available, apply now

Two new PhD opportunities are being advertised to work on data centres cooling and particle dispersal in the atmosphere. Please see the details below.

2025 Energy Masterclass

The Cambridge Energy Masterclass was a two-day intensive meeting of lectures and discussions, with talks from leading experts in various aspects of energy demand …

Recent Seminars

Dissolution of capillary-trapped carbon dioxide

During the second part of today’s seminar, PhD student Ruiyang Wang discussed the results of his recent laboratory experiments on the dissolution of …

Experiments and modelling of bubble plumes in electrolysis

During the first part of today’s seminar, PhD student Haihan Li presented some of the most recent results of his work on bubble …

Lake Kivu: methane extraction and the potential for a lake explosion

Lake Kivu is located on the border of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, along the western branch of the East African …