PhD Studentship: Rooted in Resilience: Optimising the Plant-Soil System for Flood-Resilient Rain Gardens

Award Summary

This studentship provides a tax-free annual living allowance £26,546 plus a research training support grant £20,000 and 100% fees paid.

Overview

Climate change is driving more intense storms, putting drainage systems under pressure. Rain gardens (vegetated basins that manage stormwater) are a sustainable solution, but their long-term performance often suffers due to generic design approaches that overlook plant ecology and the interaction with soil structure development. This PhD project will transform rain garden design by linking plant traits to hydrological and ecological outcomes, ensuring resilience under alternating drought and flood stress.

Working with the Royal Horticultural Society and Robert Bray Associates, you will combine field studies of mature rain gardens with controlled experiments to assess how traits such as canopy interception, transpiration, and rooting depth influence stormwater retention. Using these insights, you will develop a classification system and decision-support framework to guide practitioners in selecting plants and designing rain gardens tailored to site conditions and climate adaptation goals.

This research offers real-world impact, reducing flood risk, enhancing urban green infrastructure, and shaping future design standards. Ideal for candidates passionate about sustainability, plant science, and nature-based engineering innovation.

This PhD studentship is part of the Water Infrastructure & Resilience (WIRe) CDT funded by EPSRC and the Royal Horticultural Society.

Number Of Awards: 1

Start Date:28 September 2026

Award Duration: 4 years

Application Closing Date: Friday 8 May 2026

Sponsor: EPSRC and RHS

Supervisors: Dr Ross Stirling and Dr Gavin Stewart at Newcastle University with Dr Nicholas Cryer and Dr Mark Gush (RHS) alongside Kevin Barton (RBA)

Eligibility Criteria

A Masters or first class UG degree in civil engineering, environmental science, ecology, soil science, hydrology, or a closely related discipline. Strong grounding in urban hydrology, stormwater/SuDS design, soil-plant-water interactions, or plant ecophysiology is highly desirable. Experience with green infrastructure, nature-based solutions, bioretention/rain gardens, or environmental data analysis will be an advantage. Enthusiasm for field research, the ability to think and work independently, excellent environmental data analysis skills and strong verbal and written communication skills are essential requirements.

This studentship is open to UK/Home applicants only and the successful candidate would need to be based in (or around) Newcastle upon Tyne for the duration of the studentship (48 months), candidates must meet one of these criteria:

·  be a UK national

·  have settled status

·  have pre-settled status

·  have indefinite leave to remain or enter.

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:8209F 

·  select ‘PhD Water Infrastructure & Resilience (WIRe)' 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 WRII2601 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

justine.easten@ncl.ac.uk

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