Newcastle University: Fully Funded PhD to Transform Flood Forecasting and Climate Resilience
As climate change accelerates, extreme rainfall events across the UK are becoming more frequent, more intense, and more unpredictable. These shifts bring serious challenges for flood risk management, climate adaptation, and infrastructure planning. Yet one of the most important tools needed to address these risks—reliable, high-resolution rainfall data—remains limited. Existing rainfall datasets often fall short: radar observations can introduce errors, and traditional rain gauge networks, although accurate, are too sparse to capture highly localised storms.
To address this growing problem, Newcastle University is offering a fully funded PhD studentship focused on developing a new sub-hourly, quality-controlled, blended UK precipitation dataset. This dataset will be designed to improve understanding of uncertainty in flood predictions and support better decision-making in climate resilience. For students passionate about hydrology, climate extremes, data science, or artificial intelligence, this programme offers the chance to contribute directly to a nationally significant challenge.
A Project with Real-World Impact
The PhD project centres on creating a UK-wide rainfall dataset with 15-minute temporal resolution and high spatial detail. The successful candidate will integrate multiple sources of precipitation information—such as tipping bucket rain gauges, satellite observations, and weather radar—to build a dataset capable of capturing the behaviour of extreme rainfall events more accurately than current products.
Using advanced coding, data science, and quality-control techniques, the project will involve correcting errors, adjusting biases, and thoroughly assessing data quality. State-of-the-art blending methods, including probabilistic merging, kriging, and machine learning approaches, will be explored to ensure that extreme rainfall values are preserved rather than smoothed out. A key focus is the explicit quantification of uncertainty, ensuring the final dataset is both robust and suitable for real-world hydrological and climate modelling applications.
The goal is to produce an open-access, user-friendly precipitation dataset that will support flood modelling, infrastructure planning, and climate adaptation. By improving the accuracy of flood risk predictions, this work has the potential to influence policies, urban planning, and national resilience strategies.
ALSO READ: The University of Western Australia Global Excellence Scholarship 2026 Apply Now
A Supportive and Innovative Research Environment
The successful applicant will join an active research community focused on water, climate, and environmental challenges. Working within a collaborative setting, the student will receive training in hydrology, climate extremes, data analysis, and computational modelling. The project provides opportunities to work with sector partners, bridging the gap between academic research and practical application. It is an ideal environment for building expertise with real societal impact.
Funding and Eligibility
This fully funded PhD covers 100% of tuition fees and provides a generous tax-free annual stipend of £20,780. Additional funding is available to support research activities and project costs. Applicants from all countries are welcome to apply.
To be eligible, candidates must hold, or expect to obtain, at least a 2:1 Honours degree or international equivalent in a relevant field such as engineering, mathematics, computing, or environmental sciences. Strong analytical ability, independent working skills, and excellent written and verbal communication are essential. Applicants whose first language is not English must meet the required language standard.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON JOB UPDATES AND SCHOLARSHIPS
JOIN OUR WHATSAPP GROUP OR WHATSAPP CHANNEL FOR UPDATES
FOLLOW LinkedIn PAGE OR FACEBOOK PAGE
How to Apply
Applications must be submitted through the online portal:
- Create a postgraduate application.
- Use the programme code 8040F to locate the PhD in Civil Engineering.
- Provide a personal statement outlining your research interests in flooding and your motivation for applying.
- Enter the studentship code FLOOD262.
- When asked about a research proposal, select the option to write one and include the project title.
- Upload your CV, academic transcripts, degree certificates, and English language certificate if required.
- Provide the contact details of two academic referees.
With only one studentship available, this is an excellent opportunity for a motivated researcher to shape the future of flood prediction and contribute to national climate resilience efforts.
