EPSRC PhD studentship in: Intelligent Water Distribution Systems
A partnership between The University of Sheffield and Scottish Water, as part of the Water Infrastructure and Resilience (WIRe) EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training
Start Date: 26th September 2022 (duration 4 years)
This fully funded project provides an unrivalled opportunity to conduct research using an unprecedented dataset from an operational water supply system. The research will be to unlock the power of data collected at previously unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution and across a range of parameter to understand and predict the performance of drinking water supply infrastructure. One of the biggest novelties will be in having too much data, such that the data can be down sampled in various ways, evidencing how what is possible changes as a function of the data density. Ultimately the research will help ensure high quality drinking water is safely and continuously supplied through aging infrastructure and hence underpinning public health and well-being.
The UK has over £250 billion invested in water supply infrastructure with pipe networks being, by far, Water Companies’ greatest asset. They are buried and forgotten, until things go wrong. The water industry cannot continue to respond to failures and unplanned events. Customer and regulatory expectations for excellent service and zero disruption needs to be met. It is hence essential that we start to be able to predict performance issues so that we can move towards proactively intervening. The research will take advantage of unprecedented real world data and close integration with Scottish Water operations to derive and validate a range of different data driven and or deterministic approaches.
The research programme to be completed in this project will be undertaken as part of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Water Infrastructure and Resilience (CDT WIRe). CDT WIRe is a collaboration between the three leading UK Universities in water resilient infrastructure. Students will benefit from a tax-free stipend, a bespoke training scheme delivered by world leading experts from academia and industry, a dedicated training fund, access to world leading experimental and computational facilities as well as close and regular contact with industry and end user partners and opportunities for overseas and industrial placements. CDT WIRe is committed to promoting a diverse and inclusive community, and offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies. For further information on the CDT WIRe scheme visit the web site at: https://cdtwire.com/
Supervision
The project will be supervised by Prof Joby Boxall and Prof Vanessa Speight at the University of Sheffield in collaboration with Scottish Water. The normal place of work is expected to be at the University of Sheffield, with close regular interaction with Scottish Water and extended periods at the study system, with travel and subsistence costs provided for these periods.
Eligibility Criteria
Home (usually established by residence) and International applicants (which now includes EU) are welcome to apply.
Selection Criteria
Enthusiasm for the topic area is the most essential criteria and we welcome application from a broad range of backgrounds and experience equivalent to a good first degree in engineering, science, physical geography etc. Data analysis and programming skills will be beneficial.
How to apply
Interested candidates should email a covering letter and their Curriculum Vitae to Miss Lindsay Hopcroft ([Email Address Removed]). For data protection purposes, please state in your covering letter that you give permission for your CV to be shared with industrial partners.
For information and informal enquiries please contact: Prof Joby Boxall ([Email Address Removed]).
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