PhD: Flood risk implications of anthropogenically disturbed river-beds

Award Summary

100% fees covered, and a minimum tax-free annual living allowance of £20,780 (2025/26 UKRI rate). Additional project costs will also be provided.

Overview

Sand is the world’s second most exploited natural resource after water, and riverbed sand mining has increased dramatically in recent decades. This activity reshapes river channels, altering their topography, destabilising banks, and changing how water and sediment move through large rivers. While these impacts are becoming clearer, what remains poorly understood is how long such disturbances last and, critically, how they affect local and regional flood risk.

This PhD project will explore how riverbeds in large tropical systems respond to the pressures of sand mining, and whether disturbed beds recover once mining stops—or whether altered conditions persist, with lasting consequences for flood risk. Key questions include:

1.           How do large tropical riverbeds respond to sand mining disturbances?

2.           Do these disturbances propagate through to flood risk, and if so at what timescales?

3.           What roles does flow regime play in resulting flood hazard, bedform adjustment and recovery?

4.           Following the cessation of mining, does altered hydraulic roughness persist — and if so, on what timescales?

The student will link fundamental river science with pressing real-world challenges. They will work with a unique decade-long dataset of high-resolution multibeam bathymetry and flow surveys, enabling detailed analysis of how riverbeds evolve under and after mining. These observations will be complemented by physical experiments in the Ven Te Chow Hydrosystems Laboratory at UIUC, using 3D-printed riverbed models derived from field data. Finally, insights from experiments will be incorporated into cutting edge flood models to enable better representation of human alterations to river systems.

For further information on the project, we will be hosting a ‘Prospective applicant webinar’ at 2:00pm on the 26th of November. Link to the event can be found here: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/376b2195-d8da-47c0-86e2-b18813ec19e3@4a5378f9-29f4-4d3e-be89-669d03ada9d8. 

Number Of Awards

1

Start Date

1st October 2026

Award Duration

3.5 years

Application Closing Date

8th January 2026

Sponsor

Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)

Supervisors

Dr Chris Hackney

Eligibility Criteria

You must have, or expect to gain, a minimum 2:1 Honours degree or international equivalent in a subject relevant to the proposed PhD project (inc. computing, mathematics, engineering etc.). Enthusiasm for research, the ability to think and work independently, excellent analytical skills and strong verbal and written communication skills are also essential requirements.  

Home and international applicants (inc. EU) are welcome to apply and if successful will receive a full studentship. Applicants whose first language is not English require an IELTS score of 6.5 overall with a minimum of 5.5 in all sub-skills.  

 International applicants may require an ATAS (Academic Technology Approval Scheme) clearance certificate prior to obtaining their visa and to study on this programme. 

How To Apply

You must apply through the University’s Apply to Newcastle Portal 

• Once registered select ‘Create a Postgraduate Application’.  
• Use ‘Course Search’ to identify your programme of study:  
• Search for the ‘Course Title’ using the programme code: 8201F 
• The Research Area is: Physical Geography
• Select PhD Civil Engineering (full time) as the programme of study 

You will then need to provide the following information in the ‘Further Details’ section:  

• A ‘Personal Statement’ (include your research interests in flooding and rationale for your choice of project)
• The studentship code FLOOD266 in the ‘Studentship/Partnership Reference’ field
• When prompted for how you are providing your research proposal – select ‘Write Proposal’. You should then type in the title of the research project from this advert. You do not need to upload a research proposal.

In the ‘Supporting Documentation’ section please upload:

• Your CV giving details of your academic record and stating your research interests

 In your application you will also need:

• The name two current academic referees together with an institutional email addresses
• Academic transcripts and degree certificates (translated if not in English)
• Language certificate (IELTS/TOEFL), if applicable.

Contact Details

 christopher.hackney@ncl.ac.uk