Detailed information can be found at the NZPS DTP website: http://nzps-dtp.ac.uk
NZPS is a Doctoral Training Programme with fully-funded PhD research opportunities at Northumbria University, the University of Leeds, the University of Reading, University of Lancaster, and the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) collaborating with ~42 external partners.
What is a Doctoral Training Programme?
A Doctoral Training Programme (DTP) is a programme designed around a focal scientific challenge, combined with doctoral-level training in skills and technology associated with their subject and project. PhD researchers are provided with a robust peer support network and a structured programme of training and mentorship.
The need for sustainable polar science
Changes in the polar regions often foreshadow broader impacts of climate change across the Earth. Government agencies need comprehensive and timely information to plan effectively and put mitigation strategies in place. As the planet is warming and the effects of climate change are becoming increasingly visible, there is an urgent need to further enhance our technological capability to monitor the poles, and produce robust projections of future changes.
However, environmental science, and polar science in particular, can be resource- and carbon-intensive. We must ensure that emerging technologies can support us to better understand the environment while remaining low-carbon and sustainable. This will support government to meet the UK’s net zero goal of 2050.
The projects
Projects will cover all NERC science domains including atmospheric science, climate change, ecology, geosciences, environmental chemistry, hydrology, oceanography, cryosphere and terrestrial, marine, and freshwater environments, with a focus on the polar regions.
Projects will also include the use, review, development, or creation of low-carbon methods, techniques or technologies. This could include renewable energy, satellites, remote sensing, artificial intelligence and machine learning, numerical modelling, data management and analysis, and autonomous vehicle, platform, and sensor design.
All students will benefit from attending a comprehensive training programme in carbon literacy, sustainable research, anthropogenic global warming and multi-disciplinary polar science, and low-carbon technologies, creating a blueprint for net zero environmental science.
There are three main thematic areas that we are focused on to achieve the NZPS programme aims:
- AI and Computing (this may include numerical modelling, digital twins, data management and analysis, and machine learning techniques).
- Earth Observation (satellites and remote sensing techniques).
- Low-carbon technologies (this may include autonomous vehicles, platforms and sensors, and renewable energy).
These technologies will be developed as low-carbon alternatives to traditional surveys.
Working with industry partners
Each PhD researcher will take up a funded work placement with one of our 44 industry/external partners (typically three months long) focusing on a key challenge faced by the partner and allowing the researcher to apply their expertise in the real world, developing skills, building networks and preparing for a career beyond academia.
The projects will be suggested by academic staff and industry partners and then tailored by PhD applicants.
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