PhD in Physics

We invite applications for a fully funded PhD studentship (3.5 years) hosted by the University of Birmingham and conducted in collaboration with Siemens and the UK Met Office. This project is ideal for candidates with a background in meteorology, climatology, physics, engineering and any related discipline, and a strong interest in applying advanced physical and computational methods to real-world challenges in the area of hazard assessment and impact forecasting. The aim of the project is to develop methodologies for forecasting future energy use for various assets and weather scenarios from short term (synoptic scale) forecasting (< 5 days) to mid-century scenario-based climate predictions (time horizon 2030-2050). The project will explore the merging of data sources to estimate future energy requirements. Using detailed energy usage data from different industrial reference sites (offices, manufacturing facilities etc.) to examine what elements are affected by different weather scenarios, the project will utilise the University of Birmingham’s smart campus building data in order to develop a template for such an assessment. In parallel, working the Met Office and their forecasting team, the project will explore the link between weather predictions and resulting energy usage forecasts on different time scales and the impact of the uncertainty around those e.g., on sub-seasonal time scales.