Top Skip to main content
Skip to Content
LOGO(small) - Queen's University Belfast
  • Our facebook
  • Our x-twitter
LOGO(large) - Queen's University Belfast

School of

Natural And Built Environment

  • Home
  • Disciplines
    • Archaeology and Palaeoecology
    • Architecture
    • Civil and Structural Engineering
    • Geography
    • Planning
  • Study
    • Undergraduate
    • Postgraduate Taught
    • Postgraduate Research
    • Awards and Prizes
  • Our People
    • Academic and Research Staff
    • Professional Support Staff
    • Postdoctoral Researchers
    • Postgraduate Research Students
    • Honorary / Emeritus Staff
    • Technical Staff
    • Visiting Scholars and Students
    • Contact Us
  • About
    • Athena Swan
    • Health and Safety
  • Research
    • Research Disciplines
    • Research Cells
    • Research Projects
    • Impact
    • Research Centres and Institutes
    • Research Infrastructure
    • Postdoctoral Fellows
    • Postgraduate Research
    • Latest Publications
  • News
  • Home
  • Disciplines
    • Archaeology and Palaeoecology
    • Architecture
    • Civil and Structural Engineering
    • Geography
    • Planning
  • Study
    • Undergraduate
    • Postgraduate Taught
    • Postgraduate Research
    • Awards and Prizes
  • Our People
    • Academic and Research Staff
    • Professional Support Staff
    • Postdoctoral Researchers
    • Postgraduate Research Students
    • Honorary / Emeritus Staff
    • Technical Staff
    • Visiting Scholars and Students
    • Contact Us
  • About
    • Athena Swan
    • Health and Safety
  • Research
    • Research Disciplines
    • Research Cells
    • Research Projects
    • Impact
    • Research Centres and Institutes
    • Research Infrastructure
    • Postdoctoral Fellows
    • Postgraduate Research
    • Latest Publications
  • News
  • Our facebook
  • Our x-twitter
In This Section
  • Research Disciplines
  • Research Cells
  • Research Projects
  • Impact
  • Research Centres and Institutes
  • Research Infrastructure
  • Postdoctoral Fellows
  • Postgraduate Research
  • Latest Publications

  • Home
  • School of Natural and Built Environment
  • Research
  • Find a PhD Supervisor

Find a PhD Supervisor

Professor Greg Keeffe

School of Natural and Built Environment
Professor Greg Keeffe

Professor Greg Keeffe

School of Natural and Built Environment

I am interested in the city, warts and all. I think the city is a superorganism, and definitely the most complex thing man has designed. I like the way it is full of wicked problems, and these intrigue me. My work continually engages with the difficult and the impossible.

My particular focus is broadly around sustainability and resilience. I started my career looking at low energy buildings, and as I have matured, my work has become broader and broader. I am a designer, and in my research I use a research by design methodology to not only understand the complexities of urban contexts, but also to unlock new exciting trajectories that are latent in the spatial/content mix of the existing city: I see design as a way of making things better.

The focus of this work is the productive city: I like the idea of food and energy being produced near where it's needed, this will help build resilience. I am particularly interested in new productive technologies; how they are used and what potentials they might unlock.

Contact info

  • View Academic Profile
  • g.keeffe@qub.ac.uk
  • +44 (0) 28 9097 4048
  • @gregkeeffe

Research Interests

Open to PhD applications from students in the areas of architecture, planning and urban design who would like to research and design the future city.

  • Energy Futures
  • Food energy water nexus
  • New economies and the city

Make a PhD enquiry


Public outreach & key achievements

https://www.independent.co.uk/author/greg-keeffe 

http://www.cityzen-smartcity.eu/home/demonstration-sites/city-zen-roadshow/  

https://www.qub.ac.uk/public-engagement/civic/social-charter/ 


Research students

PhD area Perishing Perishables: the future of the supermarket in the twenty-first century.
Name Emma Campbell
Years of study 2017 -2020
Country UK
   
PhD area Mapping the connectivity of urban green spaces for forest migration under climate change
Name Qiyao Han
Years of study 2016-2019
Country China
   
PhD area FAÇADE futures: deterritorialisation of the building envelope
Name Sean Cullen
Years of study 2015-2018
Country UK
   
PhD area Measuring Utopia: design codes and master-planning in future garden cities and new towns.
Name Kevin Roddy
Years of study 2017-2020
Country UK


 


Alumni: Where are they now

PhD area Designers in international development: a reflection on designing Gambian
Name Ann Schiffer
Years of study 2012-2016
Country Germany
Current Position Senior Lecturer in Design, Leeds School of Art
   
PhD area Phenotypic plasti-city:
Name Craig Martin
Years of study 2003-2006
Country UK
Current Position Professor of Architecture, TU Delft
   
PhD area Indoor Air quality in selected new build airtight dwellings
Name Grainne McGill
Years of study 2011-2016
Country UK
Current Position Research Fellow, Mackintosh School of Architecture, Glasgow School of Art

Discover More

  • Faculty of Engineering and Physical Science 
  • School of Natural and Built Environment
  • https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-keeffe-bb086b8/

Postgraduate research
Apply now
Your postgraduate experience
QUB Logo
Contact Us

Archaeology, Geography and Palaeoecology

Elmwood Building
3A Elmwood Avenue
Belfast
BT9 3AZ
United Kingdom

Email: snbe@qub.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)28 9097 3350

GET DIRECTIONS

Architecture, Civil & Structural Engineering and Planning

David Keir Building, Stranmillis Road
Belfast
BT9 5AG
United Kingdom

Email: snbe@qub.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)28 9097 4006

GET DIRECTIONS

Quick Links

  • Home
  • Study
  • Careers
  • Research

 

© Queen's University Belfast 2025
Privacy and cookies
Website accessibility
Freedom of information
Modern slavery statement
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
University Policies and Procedures
Manage cookies