MSCA Doctoral Researcher

Overview

Newcastle University is offering a fully funded PhD position as part of i3WaterS, Intelligent, Innovative and Integrative Water Systems, a European Doctoral Network funded under the Horizon Europe Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions programme. The network links universities, research centres, technology developers and water utilities across Europe and trains 15 doctoral candidates to develop AI-driven approaches to intelligent, resilient and sustainable water systems. This position is Doctoral Candidate 15 and is full time for 36 months, expected to begin on 1 January 2027, on site.

Water distribution systems face water scarcity, climate change, ageing infrastructure, operational uncertainty and extreme events. i3WaterS responds by combining data, expert knowledge, computational models, digital twins and advanced AI in a new decision-support framework.

What you will do

The project is titled Enhancing water distribution management through District Information Areas: a data-driven approach to optimisation and automation. The candidate will develop the concept of District Information Areas for Smart Water Systems, data-informed virtual subnetworks that complement existing District Metered Areas and support coordinated, semi-autonomous decision-making. The research will study how network connectivity, sensor information, smart-meter data, operating conditions and information from neighbouring areas can be combined to assess local network health, and how monitoring systems can be configured to give a more representative view of the physical infrastructure and feed large-scale digital twins. The candidate is enrolled in the PhD programme at Newcastle and supervised by staff in Newcastle, the University of Girona and University College Dublin, with an industrial mentor from Welsh Water.

What you get

The salary is 42,702 GBP per year.

How to apply

Applications go through the university's application system, with documents in English: academic certificates and full transcripts, a detailed CV, information on the candidate's country of residence and main activity during the 36 months before the expected recruitment date, documentary evidence for the qualifications and achievements claimed, and a motivation letter of no more than two pages. Information in the CV without supporting evidence may not be considered.

Key dates

The closing date is 20 October 2026.