PhD in Water Resources: Peri-urban strategies for sustainable surface water management

Award Summary

Fully funded Studentship with a tax-free annual living allowance of £24,000, a research training support grant + UKRI fees paid.

Overview

This WIRe CDT PhD project is a collaboration between Newcastle University and Newcastle City Council (NCC) in response to their proposed Town Moor Surface Water Alleviation Scheme (SWAS) looking at controlling and managing rainfall that falls on the Town Moor to reduce its impact on communities. The scheme is the first of several areas identified in Newcastle’s City Centre Surface Water Management Strategy (CCSWMS) - potentially one of the biggest surface water flooding projects nationally - which aims to better protect the whole city centre from multiple sources of flood risk. This SWAS is a first step in the strategy which has strategic partnerships with the Environment Agency and Northumbrian Water Ltd. Arup produced the CCSWMS in 2022 and will also be an informal stakeholder in this project’s contribution to Newcastle Blue Green City scheme objectives.

The student will identify and investigate the role of Green Infrastructure approaches to mitigating the contribution of peri-urban areas (i.e. rural-urban landscapes around cities) to surface water flood risk in urban centres. Such areas offer an untapped opportunity to explore innovative, nature-based solutions to challenges facing increasingly urbanised environments. A critical component of the project will be to evidence impact through a combination of novel monitoring and observation-based modelling. This is key to ensuring the success of the SWAS as well as in providing much needed confidence for the wider uptake of these approaches ‘From Newcastle, For the World’.

Number Of Awards

1

Start Date

16 September 2024

Award Duration

4 Years

Application Closing Date

16 May 2024

Sponsor

EPSRC & Newcastle City Council

Supervisors

Dr Ross Stirling & Prof Claire Walsh

Eligibility Criteria

A First Meng/MSc in a relevant subject or First or upper second class UG degree (2:1). Enthusiasm for research, the ability to think and work independently, excellent analytical skills and strong verbal and written communication skills are also essential requirements.

Under the 30% UKRI international recruitment policy, Newcastle will pay the international fee difference for International applicants (including EU) awarded a WIRe CDT studentship at Newcastle (limited to 1 PhD student per academic year).

Further information will be provided at application stage. Applicants whose first language is not English require an IELTS score of 6.5 overall with a minimum of 5.5 in all sub-skills.

International applicants may require an ATAS (Academic Technology Approval Scheme) clearance certificate prior to obtaining their visa and to study on this programme.

How To Apply

You must apply through the University’s Apply to Newcastle Portal  

Once registered select ‘Create a Postgraduate Application’.

Use ‘Course Search’ to identify your programme of study:

· search for the ‘Course Title’ using the programme code:8209F

·Leave the 'Research area' field blank

· Select ‘PhD Water Infrastructure & Resilience (WIRe)' as the programme of study

You will then need to provide the following information in the ‘Further Questions’ section:

· a ‘Personal Statement’ (this is a mandatory field) - upload a document or write a statement directly in to the application form

· the studentship code WIRE2402 in the ‘Studentship/Partnership Reference’ field

· when prompted for how you are providing your research proposal - select ‘Write Proposal’. You should then type in the title of the research project from this advert. You do not need to upload a research proposal.

Contact Details

Justine Easten

[email protected]