Unraveling Infrastructure Risk: Climate Extremes and the Future of Urban Resilience
Not stated
- Location
- Leeds, United Kingdom
- Funding
- Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
- Application deadline
- 13 January 2027
About the project
About the Project Background The UK’s Fourth Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA4), published May 2026, calls for a stronger evidence base for action on climate risks, particularly heat & rainfall hazards in the built environment and supporting infrastructure systems. Key challenges for that request include generating evidence that includes climate uncertainties, or high impact climate possibilities, such as cascading risks (i.e. where impacts trigger wider system failures and exponential economic consequences). Addressing this requires the integration of scientific approaches from climate science, urban system dynamics, and hazard impact and valuation. PhD project This PhD studentship will integrate these disciplines into a novel framework that will improve risk assessments of extreme hazards and cascading risks in urban environments. Specifically it will; identify how the consequences of climate uncertainties can be tested in urban system models and how they influence cascading hazards & impact valuations; better embed evaluation techniques (monetary & non-monetary) into cascading risk assessments; examine how the propagation of quantifiable uncertainties across different systems (e.g. climate/urban system/valuation) influences the valuation & quality of evidence decision makers. To achieve this it will utilize probabilistic hazard modelling and valuation of impact chains in bi-directional hierarchical graphs linking physical urban assets to the critical societal services. The outcomes will help shape research into climate risk management, cascading risks in urban areas & adaptation planning, and be translated to support the generation of evidence for the UK’s Fifth CCRA (in 2030). The project will supported by experts in climate services, urban systems, and risk evaluation. The successful applicant will engage with a range of actors including local authorities, infrastructure owners, the Met Office and the UK’s Climate Change Commission. Applicant Profile We seek a candidate with first‑class or high 2:1 degree in a quantitative discipline such as Climate Science, Environmental Science, Geography, Engineering, Physics, Applied Mathematics, or a related field, and preferably a MSc in similar field. Ideally, candidates should have a demonstrated aptitude for coding, and some climate/weather or engineering knowledge in order to have a solid grounding for working within this interdisciplinary field. Please contact the lead supervisor if you have any questions.