Parameterising wakes for oceanographic models (Ref: AURA26-CL2)

About the Project

This PhD scholarship is offered by the EPSRC CDT in Offshore Wind Energy Sustainability and Resilience; a partnership between the Universities of Durham, Hull, Loughborough and Sheffield. This project is supported by Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) and The National Oceanography Centre (NOC) . The successful applicant will undertake six-months of training with the rest of the CDT cohort at the University of Hull before continuing their PhD research at Loughborough University.

The offshore wind sector is rapidly expanding to meet net-zero energy demands. Individual turbines and farms are getting larger and further from shore, with individual turbines spanning 240 m in diameter and farms reaching 600 km2. Forced by spatial constraints and enabled by floating technology, farms are now developing in deeper waters, occupying increasingly vast areas.

Oceanographic flow processes are highly sensitive to sea surface boundary conditions (Christiansen et al., 2022), which are in turn critically dependent on atmospheric forcing. Atmospheric flows past offshore wind turbines produce highly turbulent and extensive wakes. These wakes are a necessary result of energy extraction from the wind. They are a key motivation for spatial planning of offshore wind farms where turbine placement is optimised for maximum energy extraction while minimising costs associated with infrastructure and spatial footprint (Giebel et al., 2016). The turbulent wakes propagate downstream, leading to wake-wake interactions and farm-scale atmospheric flow processes with a significantly reduced wind speed in the lee of an offshore wind farm (Platis et al., 2018).

Entry requirements:

If you have received a First-class Honours degree, or a 2:1 Honours degree and a Masters, or a Distinction at Masters level with any undergraduate degree (or the international equivalents) in engineering, environmental science, mathematics and statistics or physics, we would like to hear from you. The ideal candidate for this project will have studied fluid mechanics/physical oceanography to a high level as part of their undergraduate degree.

English language requirements:

Applicants must meet the minimum English language requirements. Further details are available on the International website (http://www.lboro.ac.uk/international/applicants/english/).

Funding information:

The studentship is for 4 years and provides a tax-free stipend of £21,805 per annum for the duration of the studentship plus tuition fees at the UK rate.

Due to funding restrictions, this is only available to those eligible for UK fees. For full eligibility information, please refer to the EPSRC website.

How to Apply:

All applications should be made online. Under Campus, please select Loughborough and select Programme Civil Engineering Offshore Wind Energy Sustainability and Resilience. Please quote the advertised reference number AURA26-CL2 in your application.

To avoid delays in processing your application, please ensure that you submit the minimum supporting documents. The following selection criteria will be used by academic schools to help them make a decision on your application.

Applications are now open for October 2026 entry and will be considered on a rolling basis, and we therefore strongly encourage applicants to apply as early as possible. Shortlisted candidates may be invited to interview as applications are received and offers may be made before all applications are reviewed and if a scholarship is filled any future scheduled interviews may need to be cancelled. The scholarships will remain open until all places are filled.

We warmly welcome applications from all eligible candidates, and we particularly encourage applications from women, mature students, disabled applicants, and marginalised Black and Asian students with home fee status, who remain under represented in our cohorts.

If you need additional time to prepare your application due to disability, caring responsibilities, health related needs, or other circumstances linked to protected characteristics, you may submit a short Expression of Interest Form (EOI) to register your intention to apply. Application Guidance and access to the EOI can be found https://auracdt.hull.ac.uk/research-projects/parametrising-wakes-for-oceanographic-models/

Please note, you may only apply for ONE project offered through the EPSRC CDT in Offshore Wind Energy Sustainability and Resilience.

Please ensure that you familiarise yourself with the CDT website before you apply. The Frequently asked questions page and Candidate resources page are essential reading prior to applying.

As part of the recruitment process, we ask that you submit a short film of you delivering a presentation, of up to 5 minutes in length, on “How do your experiences and qualities provide a background to contribute to research and innovation for the project you have applied for”.

We also ask that you complete a Supplementary Application Form. This includes space for you to provide a link where the shortlisting panel may view your film.

Full application guidance including access to the supplementary application form is provided here Parametrising wakes for oceanographic models - Aura Centre for Doctoral Training

To submit a formal application go to: https://www.lboro.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/apply/research-applications/

Under programme name, select 'Civil Engineering Offshore Wind Energy Sustainability and Resilience’. Both Full-time and Part-time modes of study are available (part-time study is only available to Home students due to visa restrictions). Please quote the advertised reference number in your application: this is Aura26-CL2 for "Parametrising wakes for oceanographic models"

With your application, you need to upload copies of the following supporting evidence:

• Complete transcripts (and final degree certificate(s) where possible). If your qualification documents are not in English, you will need to supply copies of your original language documents as well as their official translation into English.
• Your Curriculum Vitae (CV).
• A completed Supplementary Application Form (upload when asked to add a Research proposal).

Uploading the form

When you have completed the form, please save it as a pdf format and labelled as follows:

• Last name_first name PhD application form

Upload the form as part of your application documents through the Loughborough University student application portal, when asked to add a Research Proposal. The Form replaces the Research Proposal and so you do not need to add a Research Proposal. Please do not send your form directly to the Offshore Wind CDT.