PhD Studentship: Exploring Effective Strategies of Communicating Flood Forecasting Using a CHANS Modelling Framework

Project Rationale

Surface water flooding, a significant threat exacerbated by climate change, poses a growing risk to communities and infrastructure. Despite advancements in forecasting, effective communication of flood warnings remains a critical challenge.

Research Aims

This PhD project aims to enhance surface water flood forecasting and communication through a Coupled Human and Natural Systems (CHANS) modelling approach.

Key objectives include:

• Modelling Human Behaviour: Developing an agent-based model to simulate how individuals and communities respond to flood warnings and forecasts.
• Coupling Human and Natural Systems: Integrating the agent-based model with a high-performance hydrodynamic model (HiPIMS) to simulate the interaction between human behaviour and flood dynamics.
• Optimizing Communication Strategies: Conducting numerical experiments to identify effective communication strategies that maximize public awareness and minimize flood impacts.
• Real-world Application: Collaborating with stakeholders to implement the CHANS model in real-world scenarios and evaluate its effectiveness in improving flood resilience.

By understanding the interplay between human behaviour and natural processes, this research will contribute to more effective flood risk management and disaster response.

Funding Details

Funding Comment

Tuition fees cover your teaching, assessment, and access to University facilities like the library and IT. You can pay in advance or by installments. Fees are reviewed annually and may increase.

Additional information

Studentship type – UKRI through Flood-CDT.

The studentship is for 3.5 years and provides a tax-free stipend of £19,237 per annum plus tuition fees at the UK rate. Excellent International candidates are eligible for a full international fee waiver however due to UKRI funding rules, no more than 30% of the studentships funded by this grant can be awarded to International candidates.

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