environment exacerbates degradation, leading to accelerated structural wear and material deterioration, particularly through mechanisms such as chloride-induced corrosion and freeze-thaw cycles. Extreme climate-related events such as flooding periodically occur due to heavy rainfall and rising sea levels. All these factors contribute to a higher frequency of pavement maintenance, impacting operational safety and efficiency and increasing costs. Therefore, enhancing durability and resilience of pavements in port cities is urgent to prevent damage and minimise maintenance disruptions, which ensures safe, efficient and sustainable logistics operations for supporting the distribution of renewable energy.
The PhD project aims to assess and optimise of pavement material and structure resilience to address the challenges above due to extremely complex environments in port cities through advanced physics-informed AI. The research will propose innovative strategies to enhance port pavements’ resilience and evaluate their impacts on the renewable energy distribution by developing smart/low-carbon/recycled composite materials (e.g., asphalt), digital mechanical/structural modelling methods, non-destructive sensor technologies (for real-time condition monitoring and early warning of material damage), and cutting-edge machine learning/data analytics techniques. By collaborating with port authorities, road industries and energy distribution stakeholders, the multi-disciplinary project will create resilient, sustainable pavements to support robust, reliable and net zero logistics operations of energy infrastructure. The proposed approach of road infrastructure resilience could perhaps be used for the materials of other applications e.g., offshore platforms or offshore wind farms.
Applicant Eligibility
Candidates will have, or be due to obtain, a master’s degree or equivalent from a reputable university in a relevant subject OR a First in a relevant bachelor’s degree.
Important Application Process
Candidates wishing to apply should email n0mescdt@ljmu.ac.uk, to request the N0MES CDT expression of interest form to be returned with:
- degree certificates and transcripts
- an up-to-date CV
- two academic references together with their contact information
- a supporting statement [one page of A4] detailing what inspired you to apply for this project, how your skill set matches this specific project, up to 3 examples showing your commitment to science, an example of science that excites you and any further information that you think will support your application
Once your application will be assessed successful candidates will be formally invited to apply.
Please use the following as the email subject title: PhD Studentship at the N0MES CDT. Good luck!
Funding Notes
Studentships pay a maintenance grant for 4 years, starting at the UKRI minimum of £20,780 per annum for 2025-2026 and cover full home UK tuition fees (plus EU , EAA settled *see note below). The studentship also comes with access to additional funding in the form of a research training support grant which is available to fund conference attendance, fieldwork, internships etc.
Qualifications- will have, a master’s degree OR a 1st in a relevant bachelor’s degree.
References
Candidates wishing to discuss the research project should contact the primary supervisor Dr Yangming Gao (Y.Gao@ljmu.ac.uk).
Those wishing to discuss the application process should contact the LJMU Co-Ordinator, Dr Tasos Georgoulas (A.Georgoulas@ljmu.ac.uk).
Applications n0mescdt@ljmu.av.uk
