Dr Paul Sargent is a Lecturer in Civil Engineering, who specialises in the fields of geotechnics, engineering geology and low carbon construction materials (e.g. alkali-activated cementitious materials, geopolymers).

He is both a Chartered Civil Engineer with the Institution of Civil Engineers (CEng, MICE) and a Chartered Geologist with The Geological Society of London (CGeol, FGS). Dr Sargent is also a Chartership Assessor for The Geological Society of London and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).

Dr Sargent has received numerous prestigious awards based on his research involving the use of alkali-activated cements in soil stabilisation, including:

• 2014 ICE Northern Geotechnical Group - Young Geotechnical Engineer Paper Competition (Winner).
• 2015 BGA (National) Young Geotechnical Engineer Paper Competition (Winner).
• 2022 ICE Northern Ireland - Professor Adrian Long Medal

His research interests include: 1) the application of low carbon circular-economy friendly geopolymers and alkali-activated cements for use in ground improvement and construction materials; 2) static, cyclic and dynamic geomechanical behaviour of soils, cemented soils and rocks, 3) finite element analysis of soil-structure interactions; 4) life cycle analysis; 5) application of data analytics for monitoring and maintaining geotechnical assets in civil engineering infrastructure. Dr Sargent's research has been published in high-impact international journals including Géotechnique, International Journal of Geomechanics, Engineering Geology, Géotechnique Letters, Soils and Foundations and Construction and Building Materials.

Dr Sargent is a member of the Editorial Board for the Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology, and since 2023 has served as the Vice Chair for the Northern Ireland Geotechnical Group.

Prior to joining Ulster University in January 2022, Dr Sargent was a Senior Lecturer in Civil Engineering at Teesside University for over 4 years (2017-22). Dr Sargent also has 3 years of industrial consultancy experience, whereby he worked as a Geotechnical Engineer for AECOM in Newcastle upon Tyne (2014-17). Examples of projects he worked on included A1 Leeming to Barton improvement (North Yorkshire), Morpeth Northern Bypass (Northumberland), High Speed 2, Farnley Haugh landslide remediation (Northumberland) and the Trafford Park Line extension of the Metrolink in Manchester.

Jan 2026 - Jun 2026: National Highways (via AECOM): M62 Link Roads – Evaluating low carbon binder alternatives for peatland foundations (project no. 60730432). £95,906.40.

Feb 2026 - Jun 2026: Invest Northern Ireland Innovation Voucher (ref. 130344614): Carbon Balance Network – hemp biochar characterisation and specification. £5,000

Oct 2024 - Dec 2026: Institution of Civil Engineers - Research and Development Enabling Fund. Principal Investigator. Project ref 2408: 'CERINE-FOW: Circular Economy-friendly concRetes using munIcipal waste, calciNed clays and graphenE for Floating Offshore Wind applications' (£35,166.30)

Sept 2024 - Aug 2025: Innovate UK Knowledge Transfer Partnership (Farrans Construction). Principal Investigator. Project ref 10124303: 'To develop new frameworks that will valorise low-value high-volume excavated soil waste generated from the construction sector for reuse in manufacturing new net zero carbon-freidnly cementitius construction materials' (£222,446)