Postgraduate research project

Tackling the geotechnical challenges of floating offshore wind

Funding
Fully funded (UK and international)
Type of degree
Doctor of Philosophy
Entry requirements
2:1 honours degree View full entry requirements
Faculty graduate school
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Closing date

About the project

You will join the UK-funded Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Supergen Hub project, which aims to advance ORE to meet net zero by 2050. You will be part of the geotechnical team and will contribute to research that streamlines and optimises offshore wind developments.

Your PhD will be framed around the following topics.

  • Optimising farm-scale site characterisation: Evaluate the best approach for farm-scale geotechnical characterisation, which makes best use of existing and new site investigation tools. 
  • Farm-scale geotechnical design strategies: Devise new design approaches that adopt reliability-based methods to suit farms with hundreds of turbines and account for variability in loading and soil conditions.
  • Anchoring systems for floating offshore wind: Develop novel anchor concepts, suited to the seabed conditions in ORE frontier regions.

Your project will include interaction with industry partners, keeping it aligned with sector needs and relevant to real-life challenges.

The expected impact of the research

  • Cost reduction: optimised ORE design and installation processes, that allow cost-effective deployment of future wind farms.
  • Environmental sustainability: enable wider adoption of offshore wind energy, a clean and renewable source of power.
  • Technological advancement: push the boundaries of knowledge in geotechnical engineering for offshore applications.

The benefits for you

  • Work with a team of academic and industry experts on the geotechnical design of offshore wind systems and use state-of-the-art facilities.
  • Develop advanced numerical and physical modelling skills, and a deep knowledge of offshore geotechnics, enabling you to choose your preferred path in academia or industry.
  • Develop transferrable skills, write journal papers, attend conferences and extend your network via the Supergen ORE Hub activities.