Developing robust methodologies for business planning under extreme risk, uncertainty and complexity – PhD Studentship

Sponsored by Business Modelling Associates and Cranfield University, this studentship will provide a bursary of up to £ 18,000 p.a. (tax free) plus fees* for three years

Eligibility: UK, EU.
Duration of award: 3 years

Supervisors:
Dr. Simon Jude
Professor Liz Varga
Dr Craig Mauelshagen (BMA)

Working in partnership with Business Modelling Associates (BMA), the Cranfield Institute for Resilient Futures and Complex Systems Research Centre, this exciting PhD studentship will develop extreme value analysis techniques to allow for the accounting for extreme risk in infrastructure investment planning.

There is a real need to invest in resilient and new forms of infrastructure to meet the challenges of climate, social and technological change. However, traditional approaches to investment planning struggle to value extreme risk (low probability, high impact risks), uncertainty and complexity. Without a robust tool set to assess the value of infrastructure investments that mitigate extreme risk, uncertainty and complexity we may see an increasing vulnerability of infrastructure assets, and therefore of society and the environment. As the UK is entering an important period of national infrastructure renewal that will transform some of our critical national infrastructure including energy, transport and finance, this PhD research will be timely and important.

Challenges include developing decision support tools that enable better decision in the face of:
1. High uncertainty
2. Low probability high impact risks
3. Increased system complexity
4. The need to quantify and value system resilience

Working in partnership with Business Modelling Associates (BMA), the Cranfield Institute for Resilient Futures and Complex Systems Research Centre, this exciting studentship will develop extreme value analysis techniques to allow for the accounting for extreme risk in investment planning. BMA are an exciting and innovative UK based SME who specialise in advanced planning and optimisation solution in the utility sector. The studentship will use real life case studies provided by BMA’s network on infrastructure clients to develop a methodology and tools to support decision makers, enabling them to account for extreme risk (low probability high impact risk events), uncertainty, data paucity, and system complexity in the context of infrastructure investment planning. Dr Simon Jude and Professor Liz Varga of Cranfield University, and Dr Craig Mauelshagen of BMA will supervise the student who will be based at BMA in Bradford. BMA will provide training in their state of the art systems modelling platform.

We are seeking a highly motivated candidate with an interest and aptitude for transdisciplinary risk research, particularly complex infrastructure and environmental hazards and risks, modelling, economics and decision support. The candidate will be receive excellent support in terms of training and mentoring via Cranfield’s School of Water, Energy and Environment, and School of Management and BMA.

Entry requirements:
Applicants should hold a minimum of a UK Honours Degree at 2:1 level of equivalent in subjects such as Mathematics, Physics, Geography, Environmental Science, Business Studies, Economics, Engineering or Computing. We are particularly interested in applicants with an interest in pursuing novel transdisciplinary research.

How to apply:
For further information please contact: Dr. Simon Jude, [Email Address Removed] 01234 01234 754295
If you are eligible to apply for this research studentship, please complete the online application form
For further information contact us today:
Admissions
T: +44 (0)1234 758082
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