The Industry and Innovation Research Institute (I2Ri) draws on talents, expertise and facilities across Sheffield Hallam University. The vision is to be the leading provider of applied research excellence delivering materials, computing, science and engineering innovations meeting the development needs of industry.
This project is part of a Graduate Teaching Assistants scheme, in which the successful applicant will undertake certain teaching duties associated with the student experience, in addition to working towards a PhD qualification. They contribute to up to 180 hours of support for research or teaching related activity per academic year. This activity forms part of the scholarship award and there is no additional payment.
PhD Research Topic
This project will be hosted by the Department of Computing in collaboration with the Natural and Built Environment Department in the context of the Landscape Laboratory, an interdisciplinary, long-term research programme within the Upper Don catchment.
The PhD project is part of an interdisciplinary project targeted towards conservation of Nature and especially aims at creating a software platform to enable multiple disciplines work together over a long period of time.
How does a human-environment system (i.e., a landscape) respond to change? Many of the challenges facing cities such as Sheffield in mitigating, adapting and developing resilience to Climate Change are linked within the landscape of the River Don. Flood risk downstream, land use upstream. Water supply, water consumption. Our capacity to withstand drought and extremes of heat and cold. Current environmental policies and the drive to Net Zero depend on the better understanding of long-term consequences of management decisions, which are highly contextual and require long time periods to assess the validity of modelled impacts.
Sheffield Hallam University together with the Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust (SRWT) has recently proposed the concept of a ‘Landscape Laboratory’, a 15-year catchment management infrastructure focused on the Upper Don region with an extraordinary opportunity for applied interdisciplinary research, knowledge exchange and impact. Crucial to this ambition is the foundation of a technological infrastructure for the processing of data relevant to and acquired by projects running within the Landscape Laboratory.
This project aims to research, design and develop a smart data management infrastructure to support the mission of the Landscape Laboratory. We will investigate how a coordinated data infrastructure could support the execution and posterior sharing of data produced by ecological, social, cultural and economic/policy projects. This infrastructure must deal with a large range of data generated by different examinations of different components of the landscape system and facilitate the integration and analysis of these data to support land management decision-making. Not only we need to support the standard data monitoring, collection and analysis already done by existing "smart" related projects but consider it from a perspective of multiple disciplines over a long period of time (10-15 years).
The project will adopt a co-design approach to research, develop and deploy a scalable proof-of-concept platform to support data collection and analysis. A systems-of-systems approach will be adopted to deal with the variety of data and disciplines involved, while well-established Internet-of-Things reference architectures will provide the technological foundation for the development and incorporation of intelligent analysis techniques that considers the longitudinal aspect of landscape related projects and supports a mix of quantitative and qualitative analysis methods over the large volume of collected data. The solution will be foundational infrastructure of the Landscape Laboratory, being used by all of its members together with the SRWT.
Eligibility
Applicants should hold a 1st or 2:1 Honours degree in Computing or a related discipline. A Master’s degree in a related area is desirable. We are offering this as a full-time PhD scholarship. We welcome applications from all candidates irrespective of age, pregnancy and maternity, disability, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, religion or belief, or marital or civil partnership status. We particularly invite candidates from Black, Asian and minority ethnic British students.
Information for EU / International applicants
We have a mandatory English language requirement of IELTS 7 with a score of at least 6.5 in all test areas, or equivalent language qualification, for all applicants to whom English is not their first language. This qualification should have been taken within the last two years.
Further information about equivalent English language qualifications can be found here
Generally, the shortfall between the Home and International fee, currently around £10,300 per year, will need to be covered by the student for the duration of the studentship. As part of the Sheffield Hallam PhD scholarship programme, additional funding may be made available to assist International students with this fee gap. This additional funding is limited, though, and will only be offered to exceptional International applicants. Allocation of this additional funding will be based on information obtained through the standard GTA recruitment process, and no additional application will be required.
How to apply
We strongly recommend you contact a member of the supervisory team before making an application.
To apply for this GTA scholarship, please use our online application form.
You must ensure that you upload:
1. A letter of intent (1 page maximum) detailing why you are interested in the project and how your experience and background can make you the best candidate for this project. Please also identify potential areas you can contribute to within the teaching departments associated with this project. (Please upload this in place of a proposal)
2. Two letters of reference, one must be from an academic and both must be dated within the last 2 years (if you are not able to collate these by the application deadline please include referee details and these can follow afterwards).
3. Copy of your highest degree certificate
4. Non-UK applicants must submit IELTs results (or equivalent) taken in the last two years and a copy of their passport.
The closing date for applications is 11:59pm (UK time) 12 May 2023. Late applications will not be accepted.
Interviews scheduled for: 6 June 2023 onwards
Information about our research degrees can be found here
Overview of GTA scheme
The Conditions of Award
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