PhD Studentship: Climate Resilient Smart Bioengineered Soils for Sustainable Future

Closing Date: 18 October 2024

Eligibility: UK applicants only

Funding: EPSRC Doctoral Training Partnership Studentship offering the award of fees, together with a tax-free maintenance grant (currently £19,237 academic session 2024/25) for 3.5 years.

Lead Supervisor’s full name & email address

Dr Shashank B. Subramanyam S.B.Subramanyam@leeds.ac.uk

Project summary

Soils with low shear strength are unable to stand under their own self weight or any overburden stress due to natural or anthropogenic activities. Slopes (e.g. embankments, mining pits/excavations, hill slopes etc.) formed with such soils are susceptible to ground movement and needs to be stabilised. Conventional ground improvement methods have a high carbon footprint, and affect native soil microbiota. Changes in climate due to global warming have led to the regular occurrence of more extreme weather conditions, including excessive rainfall and extended periods of drought. Vegetation and organic matter play a crucial role in the behaviour of the heterogenous soil mass, which is often termed uncertain. Engineering the interactions between the vegetation, organic matter, and soil mass, will lead to developing novel techniques to make our soils and hence the geotechnical structures climate resilient. This study will therefore focus on developing bio-based methods and techniques to make our soils and geotechnical structures more climate resilient. Further, this will also entail developing tools to model and predict the behaviour of such soils.

Applicants to research degree programmes should normally have at least a first class or an upper second class British Bachelors Honours degree (or equivalent) in an appropriate discipline.

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