PhD in Systems Engineering

Award Summary:/n100% fees covered, and a minimum tax-free annual living allowance of £20,780 (2025/26 UKRI rate). Additional project costs will also be provided./n/nOverview:/nResearch Project:/nCritical infrastructure systems, such as power grids, transportation networks, and water treatment plants, increasingly rely on AI-driven decision-making for efficiency and autonomy. This project aims to develop a dynamic validation framework for AI systems using high-fidelity digital twins, enabling real-time stress-testing under simulated edge cases like cyber-physical attacks and sensor failures. The project will design resilience metrics to quantify AI safety, focusing on robustness, recoverability, and ethical compliance, and embed regulatory rules, such as the EU AI Act, into digital twins to audit AI alignment with fairness and transparency standards./n/nLocation: Newcastle upon Tyne, Start Date: 1 October 2026, Award Duration: 4 years, Sponsor: EPSRC, Number Of Awards: 1./nSupervisors: Dr. Yinhao Li, Dr Dev Jha, Dr. Charith Perera.