Improving the safety of nuclear power plants by designing control systems which are capable of tolerating potential faults

Start Date: 1st October 2019

The PhD studentship will have a 14,773 per annum (pro-rata into 12 monthly payments) plus EU/UK fees paid for a period of three years. The closing date for the applications is midnight on 31st July 2019.

An important area of research within the School of Computing, Creative Technologies and Engineering at Leeds Beckett University is to improve the safety of nuclear power plants. In nuclear power plants, the demand for reliability, safety and fault tolerance is high. Faults compromise plant safety, cause inefficiency. Therefore, it is useful to design control systems which are capable of tolerating potential faults to improve the reliability and availability while providing a desirable performance. A control system which can automatically tolerate component malfunctions, while maintaining desirable performance and stability properties is said to be a fault tolerant control system. The research will employ advanced control methods to improve the safety of nuclear power plants.

This PhD research is closely linked with an EPSRC project, Fault Tolerant Control for Increased Security and Safety of Nuclear Power Plants.

The project aims to look into the following research areas:

• Faults detection
• Fault tolerant Control system design
• Faults generation

Candidates are encouraged to contact Professor Jiamei Deng at [Email Address Removed]) to informally discuss their potential application or research ideas.

How to apply

Candidates should complete the online application form including:

a. A brief CV (no more than 2 pages)
b. A 2-page outline of how you would approach the research project described above, including background literature, aims, objectives and a research plan using type Arial 12 font
c. Applicants are asked to include at the start of the proposal the research project title.
d. Applicants should use the research project reference (Nuclear) as the subject in the email subject line when submitting their applications.

The criteria listed below will be used in both selecting those applicants who will be called for interview on 5th August 2019.

a. Eligible candidates will typically have obtained a Masters degree with at least Upper Second Class or a First Class BSc with Honours in any of the following disciplines: Maths, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Computer Science with control system design element.
b. Candidates will have either good control system design skills, or experience of using a Matlab/simulink – ideally both.
c. A positive attitude towards working as part of a multi-disciplinary, inclusive research team.

The application form can be found here: https://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/the-graduate-school/research-degrees-at-leeds-beckett/studentships/computing-and-creative-technology-studentships/

Finance

Successful candidate will have a stipend of £14,773 paid monthly (amount conditional as offered) and exempt from UK Income Tax and National Insurance.

Length of studentship

The PhD studentship is for a period of 3 years fulltime study. Annual renewal will be subject to satisfactory progress

Start date and Induction

The start date of the studentship is 1st Oct 2019. The successful candidate will attend a compulsory induction session in Oct 2019

Overseas Applicants

Prospective students from outside of the UK and EU who wish to apply to study at Leeds Beckett University will be required to make up the difference annually between the UK/EU fees to be paid by the University of £4,260 and overseas’ fees of £12,500. The fee difference must be paid prior to starting. Overseas applicants must refer to the UKVI regulations on studying in the UK and contact [Email Address Removed] - telephone: +44 (0)113 812 5385 before submitting.