Digital Twin and AI-Driven Modelling of Seabed Mobility for Offshore Infrastructure

Project Description:

This PhD scholarship is offered by the EPSRC CDT in Offshore Wind Energy Sustainability and Resilience; a partnership between the Universities of Durham, Hull, Loughborough and Sheffield. The successful applicant will undertake six-month of training with the rest of the CDT cohort at the University of Hull before continuing their PhD research at Durham University.

The global push for offshore wind and the expansion of subsea cable networks are rapidly industrialising our continental shelves. This infrastructure interacts with a highly dynamic seabed environment. Seabed mobility, like scouring and trenching, contributes to dynamic changes in the marine environment. The growth of the offshore energy industry increases vulnerability of foundations and cables to these hazards. Infrastructure installations alter the seabed, yet the mechanisms and environmental impacts remain poorly understood.

This project aims to address these gaps using a digital twin with interpretable AI and data from advanced sensors. The system will be developed and tested using novel laboratory based experiments, with potential for future upscaling. The goal is to enable prediction of seabed mobility by infrastructure settings and management of environmental impact by integrating knowledge from mechanics, environmental science, and data analysis. 

Training and development

You will benefit from a taught programme, giving you a broad understanding of the breadth and depth of current and emerging offshore wind sector needs. This begins with an intensive six-month programme at the University of Hull for the new student intake, drawing on the expertise and facilities of all four academic partners. It is supplemented by Continuing Professional Development (CPD), which is embedded throughout your 4-year research scholarship.

Since the research will find application for reducing geo-risks in offshore industry, the student will be equipped with practical engineering skills necessary to play pivotal roles in OSW industry. The student will receive extensive in-house trainings on experimental, numerical and mathematical (multiphase and multiscale) modelling; they will gain knowledge of offshore soil mechanics and OSW infrastructure design concepts with respect to marine geohazard risk assessment. 

Entry requirements

If you have received a First-class Honours degree, or a 2:1 Honours degree and a Masters, or a Distinction at Masters level with any undergraduate degree (or the international equivalents) in Computer Science, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Environmental Science, Physics or Mathematics and Statistics, we would like to hear from you.

If your first language is not English, or you require Tier 4 student visa to study, you will be required to provide evidence of your English language proficiency level that meets the requirements of the Aura CDT’s academic partners. This course requires academic IELTS 7.0 overall, with no less than 6.0 in each skill.

If you have any queries about this project, please contact Dr Wangcheng Zhang via wangcheng.zhang@durham.ac.uk 

You may also address queries about the CDT to auracdt@hull.ac.uk.

Watch our short video to hear from Aura CDT students, academics and industry partners:

Funding

The Offshore Wind CDT is funded by the EPSRC, allowing us to provide scholarships that cover fees plus a stipend set at the UKRI nationally agreed rates. These are currently £20,780 per annum at 2025/26 rates and will increase in line with the EPSRC guidelines for the subsequent years (subject to progress).

Eligibility

Research Council funding for postgraduate research has residence requirements. Our CDT scholarships are available to Home (UK) Students. To be considered a Home student, and therefore eligible for a full award, a student must have no restrictions on how long they can stay in the UK and have been ordinarily resident in the UK for at least 3 years prior to the start of the scholarship (with some further constraint regarding residence for education). For full eligibility information, please refer to the EPSRC website.

We also allocate a number of scholarships for International Students per cohort.

Guaranteed Interview Scheme

The CDT is committed to generating a diverse and inclusive training programme and is looking to attract applicants from all backgrounds. We offer a Guaranteed Interview Scheme for home fee status candidates who identify as Black or Black mixed or Asian or Asian mixed if they meet the programme entry requirements. This positive action is to support recruitment of these under-represented ethnic groups to our programme and is an opt in process.

Find out more

How to apply

Applications for this project will open in Autumn 2025 for September 2026 entry.

Interviews will be held online with an interview panel comprising of project supervisory team members from the host university where the project is based.  Where the project involves external supervisors from university partners or industry sponsors then representatives from these partners may form part of the interview panel and your supplementary application form will be shared with them (with the guaranteed interview scheme section removed). 

If you have any queries about this project, please contact Dr Wangcheng Zhang via wangcheng.zhang@durham.ac.uk 

You may also address queries about the CDT to auracdt@hull.ac.uk.

References & Further Reading

Power, P.T., Clare, M., Rushton, D., Rattley, M. (2011). Reducing Geo-risks for Offshore Developments. ISGSR 2011 – Geotechnical Safety and Risk.

Bakhsh, T.T., Simpson, K., Lapierre, T. etal. (2021). Potential geo-hazard to floating offshore wind farms in the US pacific. IOWTC2021.

Hizzett, J.L., Hughes Clarke, J.E., Sumner, E.J., etal. (2018). Which triggers produce the most erosive, frequent and longest runout turbidity currents on deltas? GRL, 45 (2): 855-863.

Zhang, W. and Randolph, M.F. (2020). A smoothed particle hydrodynamics modelling of soil–water mixing and resulting changes in average strength. IJNAG