PhD Studentship: Fishing and Very Large Scale Offshore Wind Deployment

About this project

All of the nations bounding the North Sea have ambitious plans for offshore wind deployment that have expanded during 2022 in response to the energy crisis. For example, the UK currently has around 11 GW of offshore wind capacity, but intends to expand that to 50 GW by 2030 and likely far more by 2050 (although not all of this will be in the North Sea). The resulting very large scale, and very rapid, deployment of offshore wind will be central to the decarbonisation of north-west Europe, but will result in wind farms occupying a significant fraction of the North Sea. This is likely to result in spatial conflicts with other sea users, including the fishing industry.

Applications are invited for a PhD project which will,

a) Predict future layouts for offshore wind in the North Sea.
b) Engage with the small-scale fishing industry to develop an understanding of what types of fishing (e.g. mobile vs static gear, and types of each) can safely share space with what types of wind farm (e.g. fixed and floating, different foundation types, different turbine spacings).
c) Produce policy recommendations to enable and optimise the shared use of space between these two industries.

For informal inquiries, please contact please contact Dr Simon Waldman on s.m.waldman@hull.ac.uk

About the research cluster / about the research environment

Sustainable Terrestrial and Maritime Food Systems: Environmental Technologies and their Implications

This PhD project is part of a cluster of inter-related, inter-disciplinary projects, which between them focus on the implications of environmental technologies for the practices of people involved in primary food production on both land and sea. Our food and energy production systems contribute significantly to environmental problems, including climate change, and technological solutions are often proposed as ways of reducing their carbon footprints. Yet these can be challenging to implement and can have unanticipated effects on the practices of those engaged in farming and fishing.

Supervisors

Dr Simon Waldman
Dr Charlotte Hopkins
Dr Magnus Johnson
With advice from Dr Sandy Kerr, Heriot-Watt University

Funding

• The successful applicant will receive a fee waiver and a maintenance grant / stipend for three years (full-time) or five years (part-time), which covers the research period of the PhD. The fee waiver for 22/23 is £4,596 (Home fee) and the maintenance grant is £17,668 per annum. This rises each year in line with the UKRI’s recommended stipend allowance.

• If you need to move into a fourth year (full-time) or sixth year (part-time) to complete your thesis, please note that you will not receive a tuition fee waiver or maintenance grant during this period and you will be required to pay a continuation fee.

Submission of thesis

Submission of your final thesis is expected within three years and three months from the start of your PhD scholarship for full-time and within five years and six months if studying part-time.

Eligibility and entry requirements

See the University of Hull webpage.

International applicants

This opportunity comes with a Home fee waiver only, which will not cover the full International fee. You will therefore need to pay the difference between the Home fee and the International fee and will need to provide evidence that you have sufficient funds to cover this. 

How to apply

Applications are via the University of Hull webpage  

Closing date for applications 

10 February 2022

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