"EPSRC FIBE3 CDT PhD studentship with Network Rail: Systems analysis for local adaptation pathways within a national rail system"

This is a four-year (1+3 MRes/PhD) studentship funded through the Cambridge EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Future Infrastructure and Built Environment: Unlocking Net Zero (FIBE3 CDT). Further details can be found at https://www.net-zero-fibe-cdt.eng.cam.ac.uk/

The project is funded in collaboration with Network Rail, the entity responsible for the operation and maintenance of the Great Britain's railway infrastructure, with an extensive network spanning thousands of miles and its complex web of tracks, station, signalling systems and more, and is fully committed to advancing research and innovation in the field of infrastructure and built environment to enhance efficiency, safety, and sustainability.

This project seeks to utilise expertise in networks and systems-of-systems modelling to analyse how local rail adaptation measures interact across the national network. The study will explore physical and operational interdependencies, assess trade-offs between local and system-wide resilience outcomes, and evaluate governance barriers to coordinated adaptation. The goal is to develop a framework that ensures multiple small-scale interventions align to deliver coherent, strategic climate resilience across the UK rail system.

The project will examine how local or asset level climate adaptation decisions interact across the interconnected national rail system, generating synergies, conflicts or unintended consequences. The research will analyse physical, operational and organisational interdependencies -such as drainage systems, earthworks, power and signalling, timetable constraints, and interactions with external infrastructure networks and the third party land owners - to understand how distributed adaptation actions propagate through a large-scale transport system. Using systems-of-systems methods, network flow modelling and multi-agent or decision-simulation approaches, the student will assess trade-offs between local objectives and national-level resilience outcomes. A further strand will investigate governance challenges associated with coordinating adaptation pathways across multiple scales, drawing on Cambridge's strengths in sustainability leadership, policy research and multi-actor decision processes.

The project aims to produce a framework that helps Network Rail's Eastern region ensure that decentralised adaptation interventions collectively enhance national resilience, supporting more integrated and strategic climate adaptation for UK transport infrastructure.

Applicants should have (or expect to obtain by the start date) at least a high 2.1 degree, preferably at Masters level in a related discipline (such as civil engineering, construction management, economics). An ideal candidate will have some form of quantitative undergraduate training, with an inclination to engage with systems thinking and analysis.

For project-specific enquiries please e-mail Professor Kristen Macaskill (kam71@cam.ac.uk). For general enquiries, please email cdtcivil-courseadmin@eng.cam.ac.uk.

Fully-funded studentships (fees and maintenance) are only available for eligible home students in the first instance. A limited number of international students can be considered for funding at a later stage in the recruitment process. Further details about eligibility and funding can be found at: https://www.ukri.org/councils/esrc/career-and-skills-development/funding-for-postgraduate-training/eligibility-for-studentship-funding/ https://www.postgraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/finance/fees https://www.cambridgetrust.org/scholarships/

Applications should be made online via the University of Cambridge Applicant Portal: https://www.postgraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/courses/directory/egegpdfib stating project title and supervisor's name. Please note there is a £20 application fee. Early applications are strongly encouraged as an offer may be made before the stated deadline.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

Key information

Department/location

Department of Engineering

Salary

Reference

NM48946

Category

Studentships

Date published

25 February 2026

Closing date

15 April 2026