About the project
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) plays a critical role in decadal climate variability with impacts on sea level, regional weather patterns, and thus flooding, which poses a significant hazard to coastal infrastructure, including the UK’s Nuclear Power Plants. The overall goal of this project is to address fundamental questions about the causes and consequences of flooding around the UK’s coastlines over the next 100 years.
To protect key sectors, coastal defenses need to be built to withstand an extreme water event with just a 10-4 annual occurrence probability. With evidence for past major instabilities and recent modelling efforts indicating potential dramatic changes, understanding the, insofar overlooked, connection between the deep AMOC and flooding is increasingly important.
The overall goal of this project is to address fundamental questions about the causes and consequences of flooding around the UK’s coastlines over the next 100 years. You will use observations and model output to examine the rate of cold-water formation in the North Atlantic, its downstream impacts on the deep portion of the AMOC, and the link with surface variability related to flooding.
Specifically, you will link deep ocean changes to:
- sea level
- regional weather patterns
- coastal flooding risk.
Four key questions include:
- To what extent is the deep portion of the AMOC attributable to sea level variability around the UK and therefore coastal flood risks?
- How do shifts in the deep AMOCs properties and/or strength impact regional weather patterns and the above processes?
- How might longer-term decadal changes impact the UK’s capability to protect coastal areas, including Nuclear Power Plants, from flooding?
- Can we predict downstream changes around the UK from upstream observations of the deep ocean?
These impacts will be considered alongside key sector needs of the UK’s Nuclear Power Plants, using the Sizewell site as a case study. The conclusions of your work will underpin our knowledge of deep ocean drivers of flooding. In this way, your work will improve capability for future flood risk management, address key sector needs, and improve policy decisions.
Please contact the lead supervisor if you require further information about the project.
Entry requirements
You must have a UK 2:1 honours degree or higher in a relevant subject.
Please note, due to funding requirements we are only accepting applications from UK students.
Fees and funding
For UK students only: tuition fees covered, plus a stipend of £20,780 tax-free per annum for up to 3.5 years.
How to apply
You need to:
- choose programme type (Research), 2025/26, Faculty of Environmental and Life Sciences
- choose PhD in Ocean and Earth Science FLOOD CDT (full time)
- add the project title under ‘Topic or field of research proposed’
- add your supervisor in section 2
Applications should include:
- a 1 page statement of your research interests in flooding and FLOOD-CDT and your rationale for your choice of project
- a CV (resumé) giving details of your academic record and stating your research interests
- name two current academic referees together with institutional email addresses (on submission of your online application your referees will be automatically emailed requesting they send a reference to us directly by email)
- academic transcripts and degree certificates (translated if not in English) – if you have completed both a BSc and an MSc, we require both.
Contact us
Faculty of Environmental and Life Sciences
If you have a general question, email our doctoral college: fels-pgr-apply@soton.ac.uk.
Project leader
For project specific queries, email the lead supervisor Kathryn Gunn: K.Gunn@soton.ac.uk.
