PhD Studentship: Drought Impacts on the UK Levee Network: Asset Health and Resilience

Newcastle University

Award Summary

100% fees covered, and a minimum tax-free annual living allowance of £20,780 (2025/26 UKRI rate). Additional project costs will also be provided.

Overview

Climate change is intensifying droughts and extreme rainfall in the UK, posing new challenges for the country’s extensive network of flood defence levees. While much attention has focused on flood overtopping, drought can degrade levees by drying out soils, causing shrinkage, cracking, and weakening of protective grass cover, ultimately reducing their resilience.

This PhD project offers the opportunity to spearhead cutting-edge research into how drought affects the health and performance of UK levees. You will explore how environmental stressors compromise levee integrity and develop new ways to assess and monitor these impacts. Working at the interface of climate science, geotechnical engineering, remote sensing and critical asset management you will integrate national datasets (e.g. UK Climate Projections, Environment Agency asset records, satellite imagery) with field investigations to identify vulnerable regions and understand surface deterioration processes.

You’ll gain experience in spatial analysis, fieldwork, soil and vegetation monitoring, and potentially numerical modelling. The project is a close collaboration with its sponsor, the Environment Agency, meaning your findings will inform future levee design, inspection, and maintenance strategies, helping to build climate resilience into critical flood infrastructure.

This project is ideal for applicants with interests in hydrology, geotechnical engineering, soil/environmental science, or remote sensing. You’ll be part of a collaborative research environment with links to national agencies and research groups such as the British Geological Survey, Environment Agency and Newcastle University.

Your work will contribute to safeguarding communities and critical infrastructure in a changing climate, making a real-world impact through science.

For further information on the project, we will be hosting a ‘Prospective applicant webinar’ at 2:00pm on the 26th of November. Link to the event can be found here: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/376b2195-d8da-47c0-86e2-b18813ec19e3@4a5378f9-29f4-4d3e-be89-669d03ada9d8

Number Of Awards

1

Start Date

1st October 2026

Award Duration

3.5 years

Application Closing Date

8th January 2026

Sponsor

Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and Environment Agency

Supervisors

Dr Ross Stirling

Eligibility Criteria

You must have, or expect to gain, a minimum 2:1 Honours degree or international equivalent in a subject relevant to the proposed PhD project (inc. computing, mathematics, engineering etc.). Enthusiasm for research, the ability to think and work independently, excellent analytical skills and strong verbal and written communication skills are also essential requirements.

Home and international applicants (inc. EU) are welcome to apply and if successful will receive a full studentship. Applicants whose first language is not English require an IELTS score of 6.5 overall with a minimum of 5.5 in all sub-skills.

International applicants may require an ATAS (Academic Technology Approval Scheme) clearance certificate prior to obtaining their visa and to study on this programme.

How To Apply

For information on how to apply, please see https://www.ncl.ac.uk/postgraduate/fees-funding/search-funding/?code=flood264

Contact Details

Ross.stirling@ncl.ac.uk