[Fully-funded studentships (fees and maintenance) are available for eligible home students. Limited funding for international students may be considered later. See https://www.ukri.org/councils/esrc/career-and-skills-development/funding-for-postgraduate-training/eligibility-for-studentship-funding/ and https://www.cambridgetrust.org/scholarships/ for details.]

This four-year (1+3 MRes/PhD) studentship is offered through the Cambridge EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Future Infrastructure and Built Environment: Unlocking Net Zero (FIBE3 CDT), in collaboration with Network Rail. The project focuses on systems analysis for local adaptation pathways within the national rail system, aiming to advance research and innovation in infrastructure and built environment to enhance efficiency, safety, and sustainability. Network Rail, responsible for Great Britain's railway infrastructure, supports this initiative to develop strategic climate resilience across the UK rail system.

The research will utilise networks and systems-of-systems modelling to analyse how local rail adaptation measures interact across the national network. It will explore physical and operational interdependencies, assess trade-offs between local and system-wide resilience outcomes, and evaluate governance barriers to coordinated adaptation. The project seeks to develop a framework ensuring that multiple small-scale interventions align to deliver coherent, strategic climate resilience.

Key areas of investigation include how local or asset-level climate adaptation decisions interact across the interconnected rail system, generating synergies, conflicts, or unintended consequences. The research will analyse interdependencies such as drainage systems, earthworks, power and signalling, timetable constraints, and interactions with external infrastructure networks and third-party landowners. Using systems-of-systems methods, network flow modelling, and multi-agent or decision-simulation approaches, the student will assess trade-offs between local objectives and national-level resilience outcomes.

A further strand will investigate governance challenges associated with coordinating adaptation pathways across multiple scales, drawing on Cambridge's strengths in sustainability leadership, policy research, and multi-actor decision processes. The project aims to produce a framework that helps Network Rail's Eastern region ensure that decentralised adaptation interventions collectively enhance national resilience, supporting more integrated and strategic climate adaptation for UK transport infrastructure.

Applicants should have, or expect to obtain by the start date, at least a high 2.1 degree, preferably at Masters level in a related discipline such as civil engineering, construction management, or economics. Quantitative undergraduate training and an inclination for systems thinking and analysis are preferred. Fully-funded studentships (fees and maintenance) are available for eligible home students, with limited funding for international students considered at a later stage. Further details about eligibility and funding can be found at the provided links.

Applications should be made online via the University of Cambridge Applicant Portal, stating the project title and supervisor's name. Early applications are strongly encouraged as offers may be made before the stated deadline. The University actively supports equality, diversity, and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.