We're excited to share these opportunities to undertake a PhD aligned with the Floods and Droughts Research Infrastructure! Click on the links below to find out more. Application deadlines are throughout January.
Habitat dependence of tipping points in upland soils and implications for natural flood management
Deadline: 8th January 2026
This project will develop new dynamic models to investigate how upland soils respond to management and drought and how these changes influence infiltration–runoff dynamics. The findings will directly inform the design and targeting of natural flood management interventions, supporting sustainable land management that works with natural processes to deliver multiple environmental and societal benefits.
Supervisors:
- Prof Tiina Roose and Dr Siul Ruiz (University of Southampton)
- Prof David Robinson and Dr Alejandro Dussaillant (UKCEH, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology).
A sub-hourly quality controlled blended UK precipitation dataset to understand uncertainty in flood predictions
Deadline: 8th January 2026
This project will develop a new blended UK precipitation dataset at high temporal and spatial resolution. The student will integrate data from multiple sources—including tipping bucket rain gauges, weather radar, and satellites—using robust coding and data science techniques. The resulting dataset, open-access and user-focused, will directly support advanced flood risk modelling, hydrological predictions, and adaptation planning.
Supervisors:
- Prof Hayley Fowler and Dr Amy Green (University of Newcastle)
- Matt Fry and Dr Tom Keel (UKCEH, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology)
Rooted Resilience: The Role of Mycorrhizal Fungi in Mitigating Drought and Flood Stress in Upland Soils
Deadline: 12th January
This project explores whether ectomycorrhizal fungi (EcM) improve soil resilience to drought and flooding, and how forest age (young vs. old stands) influences these benefits. It focuses on EcM’s impact on soil hydrological functioning via soil organic matter dynamics. Research will combine field monitoring in mid-Wales (FDRI's Upper Severn catchment), sampling from a long-term drought experiment in upland heathland, controlled sapling incubations, and advanced soil analyses. The goal is to fill key evidence gaps on EcM and fungal networks in regulating water dynamics and supporting climate adaptation.
Supervisors:
- Dr Sabine Reinsch and Dr Jade Hatton (UKCEH, UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology)
- Dr Carrie Andrew (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew)
- Prof Liz Shaw (University of Reading)
Upscaling Soil Moisture from Field to Catchment Scale: Integrating Ground Sensors, Satellite Data, and Drone Surveys for Hydrological Applications
Deadline: 13th January 2026
This project will evaluate geostatistical and machine learning upscaling techniques to create distributed catchment-scale soil moisture maps, used in hydrological modelling for flood and drought research as well as agricultural water management. Results will address fundamental scaling questions: how do soil properties, land management, and vegetation affect moisture distributions from fields to catchments? There will also be a focus on delivering practical outputs: validated multi-sensor upscaling methods for translating sparse fixed CRNS observations into distributed catchment information; soil moisture maps with quantified uncertainty bounds for model calibration and validation and transferable protocols applicable beyond instrumented sites.
Supervisors:
- Professor Andrew Wade, and Dr Amy Green (University of Newcastle)
- Dr Tom Nisbet (Forest Research)
- Dr P Rameshwaran, Dr Alejandro Dussaillant and Dr Neeraj Sah (UKCEH, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology)
