PhD Studentship in Renewable Energy: Weather and Reliability Informed Optimization for Maintenance and Operation of Offshore Wind Turbines

Award summary

100% fees covered, and a minimum tax-free annual living allowance of £17,668 (2022-23 UKRI rate).

Overview

The EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Renewable Energy Northeast Universities (ReNU) is a collaborative doctoral training programme run by the Universities of Northumbria, Newcastle and Durham. In addition to undertaking an individual scientific research project described below at one of the three partner Universities, doctoral candidates will engage with added value training opportunities for example in business, innovation and internationalisation through a 4-year training programme that has been designed to maximise the benefits of a cohort approach to doctoral training.

Offshore wind energy is key to the future energy supply, both in the UK and internationally. Thousands of turbines will be installed between now and 2050 and these assets must be operated and maintained in a way that maximises their value to the energy system. This project will work closely with industry to develop an operation and maintenance scheduling system which meets these needs while accounting for turbine faults and externalities such as weather and climate change. The successful applicant will achieve this by developing and deploying cutting edge statistical, machine learning, and optimization techniques.

Number of awards: 1

Start date: 18 Sept 2023

Award duration: 4 years

Sponsor: EPSRC

Supervisors

David Greenwood (Newcastle University), Hongjian Sun (Durham University), Peter Matthews (Durham University)

Eligibility criteria

You must have, or expect to gain, a minimum 2:1 Honours degree or international equivalent in a relevant subject or subject relevant to the proposed PhD project. Enthusiasm for research, the ability to think and work independently, excellent analytical skills and strong verbal and written communication skills are also essential requirements.

Home and international applicants (inc. EU) are welcome to apply and if successful will receive a full studentship. Applicants whose first language is not English require an IELTS score of 6.5 overall with a minimum of 5.5 in all sub-skills.

International applicants may require ATAS (Academic Technology Approval Scheme) clearance.

How to apply

You must apply through the University’s Apply to Newcastle Portal

Once registered select ‘Create a Postgraduate Application’.

Use ‘Course Search’ to identify your programme of study:

• Search for the ‘Course Title’ using the programme code: 8208F
• Select ‘PhD Energy Materials (full time)' as the programme of study 

You will then need to provide the following information in the ‘Further Questions’ section:  

• A ‘Personal Statement’ (this is a mandatory field) - upload a document or write a statement directly in to the application form  
• The studentship code renu2304 in the ‘Studentship/Partnership Reference’ field.

when prompted for how you are providing your research proposal - select ‘Write Proposal’. You should then type in the title of the research project from this advert. You do not need to upload a research proposal.

Contact Details

David.Greenwood@newcastle.ac.uk

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