EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Sustainable Civil Engineering - Urban Resilience - Quantitative Modelling of Interdependent Civil Infrastructure

The Centre for Transport Studies in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Imperial College London is seeking an outstanding PhD candidate to work on the Quantitative Modelling of Interdependent Civil Infrastructure Systems. The PhD research will commence in the coming academic year 2014-2015 and will be funded through the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Sustainable Civil Engineering.

Civil infrastructure consists of numerous networks with multi-dimensional interdependencies. Despite the increasing complexity of systems and services that form the backbone of modern cities, the nature of their interactions has yet to be researched in great detail, with considerable uncertainty surrounding their behavior under conditions of cascading failure. Building upon earlier research that focused on individual infrastructure systems (such as roads, communications and power networks), this project will identify resilience metrics that would be applicable beyond the boundaries of single networks and to a variety of failure modes (technical, manmade or natural). Through detailed appraisals of behavior and design of system components positioned on the interfaces of interacting networks, this research will develop new quantitative models that would capture a diverse range of networks in sufficient detail to convey their unique operational characteristics, nature of interactions and assess their combined resilience against failure.

Perspective candidates should e-mail the CDT ([Email Address Removed]) with a statement of purpose (one page), an up-to-date curriculum vitae and full details of degrees undertaken (including transcripts) and their final or expected outcomes. Appropriately qualified candidates will be asked to submit a formal online application.