The Aura CDT has already recruited 70 PhD researchers in five cohorts, between 2019 and 2023, supported by UKRI funding. Subject to a funding decision in December 2023, we hope to take on a further five cohorts of PhD researchers on a scholarship basis, from September 2024.
Following consultation with the offshore wind industry, the Aura CDT academic partners have worked together to develop seven PhD clusters. We will shortly list each individual project, with a view to opening the application process in January 2024.
Each cluster of PhDs will support two or more of the major challenges facing the offshore wind sector. This will strengthen cross-cohort research collaboration between our postgraduate students as well as connecting our academic supervisors cross-institution.
Project Title
Lead Supervisor
Dynamic cable motion characterisation for FOWT
Dynamic power cable condition monitoring using optical fibre sensors
Project Title
Lead Supervisor
Developing the next generation of floating offshore wind turbine structures
Performance of offshore floating wind farms
Reinforcement Learning-Based Adaptive Control for Floating Wind Turbines
Project Title
Lead Supervisor
The role of fabric anisotropy on cyclic loading of offshore soils: a grain-scale
Project Title
Lead Supervisor
Single-turbine scale quantification of wake turbulence
Data assimilation for wake-wake interactions
Parametrising wakes for oceanographic models
Development and validation of physics-based models for wakes of large offshore wind farms
Project Title
Lead Supervisor
Building psychosocial and physical resilience using self-management skills for offshore workers
Impact of “blue space” as a working condition on the health and wellbeing of offshore windfarm workers
Implications of Extreme Temperatures on Physiological and Cognitive Functioning in Offshore Wind Technicians
A structured health intervention to improve physical activity, nutrition and sleep in offshore windfarm workers
Project Title
Lead Supervisor
Undertaking and activating transfer of non-technical skills safety training to workers in the offshore windfarm sector
Undertaking and activating transfer of technical skills safety training to workers in the offshore windfarm sector
Project Title
Lead Supervisor
Economic and environmental assessment of energy systems integration for increased utilisation and reduced curtailment of offshore wind farms
Unintended consequences of Offshore Wind farms: a socio-economic impact evaluation on wellbeing and community dynamics
Economic analysis of trade-offs and welfare implications in Offshore Wind farm development
Energy security vs. energy import costs: assessing the role of Offshore Wind Power
Project Title
Lead Supervisor
Sustainable, Low-Cost Upcycling of Wind Turbine Transition Pieces
Passing the torch: Utilising full blade waste for the production, catalytic conversion and storage of H2 in methanol
Breaking forever: Capturing and converting toxic PFAS molecules using coral structured biochars from blade waste
Transforming Non-Recyclable Waste into Sustainable Solutions: Novel Anti-corrosion Coatings for Offshore Wind Turbines
Project Title
Lead Supervisor
Understanding the impacts and benefits of offshore wind on fish in the Greater North Sea
Sustainable methods for gross proximate composition of North Sea species as a key component of ecological models.
Streamlining the Environmental Impact Assessment Process using Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
Project Title
Lead Supervisor
Low maintenance reliable transmissions for large wind turbines
Multiscale design optimisation of wind turbine blade composite for tuneable mechanical properties
Protection Devices for MVDC Offshore wind Integration
Project Title
Lead Supervisor
Innovating Interdisciplinary Airborne WindEnergy through Rigorous Wind Tunnel Testing and Collaborative Design
Integrated Engineering and Environmental Optimisation of Offshore Wind and Floating Solar Hybrid Systems
Efficient and Sustainable Offshore Wind Turbine-driven Green Hydrogen production
Risk-informed Planning and Reliability Evaluation of Hybrid Wind Power Plants
Project Title
Lead Supervisor
OPtimization EXplainability (OPEX) for Maintenance Scheduling of Offshore Wind Farms
A Holistic Predictive Maintenance Framework for Offshore Wind Turbines Components
An RCM-based Intelligent Maintenance Framework for Offshore Wind Turbines
Use of probabilistic modelling to investigate optimal maintenance strategies in the life extension period of offshore wind turbines
Project Title
Lead Supervisor
Human-in-the-loop machine learning for drone-assisted Structural Health Monitoring
Digital twins for health monitoring and fault
SafeML-based Confidence Generation and Explainability for UAV-based Anomality Detection of Blades Surface in Offshore Wind Turbines
Project Title
Lead Supervisor
Optimisation of wind farms power production using AI
Establishing Safety Guarantees in Reinforcement Learning for Wind Turbine Control
For an informal discussion, call +44 (0) 1482 463331
or contact auracdt@hull.ac.uk