PhD Studentship: Modelling Climatic Variables and their Impact on Health Outcomes

The University of Manchester - Department of Mathematics

Qualification Type:PhD Location:Manchester Funding for:UK Students Funding amount:£20,780 annual tax-free stipend set at the UKRI rate (for 2025/26) and tuition fees will be paid. Hours:Full Time Placed On:28th January 2026 Closes:27th February 2026 Application deadline: 27/02/2026

Research theme: Statistics/Applied Mathematics

UK students

This 3.5-year PhD project is fully funded and home students are eligible to apply. The successful candidate will receive an annual tax-free stipend set at the UKRI rate (£20,780 for 2025/26) and tuition fees will be paid. We expect the stipend to increase each year. The start date is October 2026.

We recommend that you apply early as the advert may be removed before the deadline.

We are pleased to announce a highly competitive PhD opportunity with a focus on advanced modelling of health and climate data.

The project will involve developing tools and techniques from AI and mathematics/statistics to identify changes in various climatic variables and their impact on biological, environmental and socioeconomic indicators. The researcher will have the opportunity to work on high dimensional spatial time series data and provide a multi-disciplinary, multivariate approach to study climate-health interaction.

This project is ideal for candidates eager to contribute to the development of statistical modelling of spatio-temporal data, with a particular emphasis to understand climate change and its relation to other environmental variables and quality of human life.

The successful candidate is expected to develop mathematical and AI based skills for deriving advanced modelling framework to capture the interplay between climatic variables. Subsequently advanced models will have to be developed and implemented on the available spatio-temporal data, to assess the effect of these variables on health/socio-economic outcomes.

What We Offer

1. An opportunity to conduct pioneering research with real-world applications.
2. Access to state-of-the-art facilities and resources.
3. A supportive and collaborative research environment.
4. Expert guidance and mentorship from leading professionals in the field.
5. Join us on a transformative journey where your passion for statistics, mathematics, and high-dimensional data analysis will shape the future of health research.

The project is a part of ongoing collaboration between researchers from University of Manchester (UK), Indian Statistical Institute (India).

Eligibility

Applicants should have, or expect to achieve, at least a 2.1 honours degree or a master’s (or international equivalent) in a relevant science or engineering related discipline.

Essential attributes:

• MSc in Statistics, Mathematics, or allied areas (with a substantial background in statistics).
• Skill in R programming (substantiated by curriculum taken and/or projects).
• Proficiency in oral & written communication in English.

Desired:

• Evidence of interest in research
• Experience in (statistical) modelling and analysis of spatio-temporal data.

To apply, please contact the main supervisor, Madhu Bhattacharjee - madhuchhanda.bhattacharjee@manchester.ac.uk. Please include details of your current level of study, academic background and any relevant experience and include a paragraph about your motivation to study this PhD project.