Dear Colleagues
I would appreciate it if you could circulate this advertisement for a White Rose PhD Studentship to both colleagues, for wider circulation, and potential applicants you think may be interested.
The award will cover academic fees at the UK rate and a maintenance grant of £13,490 (to be increased annually in line with the basic Research Council Rate);
Use of digital data and ICT systems to improve resilience of the transport system to future climate extremes
The resilience of the transport system has risen to the top of the agenda in terms of both public priorities and cross-governmental policy and funding. Public awareness has increased with the onset of more frequent climate related events, e.g. flooding events in 2007 resulting in: the strategic network (M1) closed for 40 hours, 10,000 people stranded on the M5 and surrounds, and 500 people stranded at a Gloucester railway station. The interdependency of the resilience of transport and other national infrastructures was a major theme in the Council for Science and Technology report, June 2009, which pointed towards the resilience of 'significant parts of the transport infrastructure against systemic failure significantly weakening'.
Whilst the increased use of ICT represents a point of vulnerability itself, there potentially exist a set of counter benefits whereby ICT may be increasingly employed (under the future digital economy) to improve the resilience of the transport system. This study will have the overarching objective of researching the potential for a range of ICT measures in improving the resilience of the transport system to one or more future extreme climate change related events including: major unpredictable events (eg heatwaves, floods), progressive increases in demand that more frequently push near saturated transport systems beyond crisis point, step changes in demand (eg from interdependencies between transport modes or between infrastructures), vulnerabilities arising from increasing use of complex technologies (e.g. in control systems). The succesful student is expected to develop one or more regional (Yorkshire/Humberside) case studies as part of the research. Both passenger and freight movements will be considered. The research will involve multidisciplinary collaboration.
Principal Supervisor: Dr Susan Grant Muller, Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds
Co Supervisor: Dr Riccardo Mogre, School of Business, University of Hull
Entry requirements
Standard entry requirements apply and preferably a first class undergraduate degree (minimum 2:1) in any relevant field for example: ICT, economics, transport studies, mathematics, logistics, engineering. The research will be multidisciplinary and experience of working across disciplinary boundaries would be an advantage.
The deadline for receipt of applications is 30th March 2010.
Further information including how to apply: http://www.its.leeds.ac.uk/restrain/fees.php
Administrative queries to: Jo Davies - [log in to unmask]
If you wish to discuss the project informally please contact Dr Susan Grant-Muller: [log in to unmask]
Applications must be made online by the closing date of 30th March 2010.
Referees should send their references directly to Jo Davies, Postgraduate Research Administrator, Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds, Woodhouse Lane, Leeds, LS2 9JT or email: [log in to unmask]
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