[Full coverage of tuition fees and an annual tax-free stipend of £22,780 for Home, EU and International students.]

PhD Studentship in Aeronautics: Real-time Machine Learning and Optimisation for Extreme Weather (AE0073) at Imperial College London offers a unique opportunity to address the challenges posed by climate change to aviation. As extreme atmospheric events such as turbulence, convective storms, and shifting jet streams become more frequent, flight safety and operational efficiency are increasingly threatened. These disruptions lead to flight diversions, increased fuel consumption, longer travel times, and greater environmental impact through contrail formation.

This project aims to revolutionise flight planning and optimisation by developing real-time, adaptive decision-support systems. Traditional pre-flight planning methods are insufficient for the rapidly evolving weather systems. The research will model flight planning as a complex, dynamically interacting system using complexity theory, integrating scientific machine learning, real-world datasets, and real-time optimisation. The goal is to enable aircraft to reroute safely and efficiently as atmospheric conditions change, with tools that support on-the-fly decision-making and time series forecasting.

Depending on the candidate’s background, there are opportunities to design quantum machine learning algorithms for forecasting chaotic and complex systems. The outcome will be a user-friendly system capable of real-time forecasting and adaptation, contributing to sustainable aviation by allowing continuous model updates from real-world data.

The studentship is supervised by Professor Luca Magri and lasts 3.5 years. Funding includes full coverage of tuition fees and an annual tax-free stipend of £22,780 for Home, EU, and International students. Candidates must hold or expect to achieve a First class honours MEng/MSci or higher degree (or international equivalent) in a computational discipline such as engineering, physics, mathematics, or computer science. A strong academic record and motivation for research in aeronautics, machine learning, and optimisation are essential.

Imperial College London is committed to equality, diversity, and inclusion, holding recognitions such as the Athena SWAN Silver Award and Stonewall Diversity Champion status. The application process involves submitting a CV, transcripts, and a motivation statement via the Supervisor Review Form by 8 January 2026. Long-listed candidates will be invited to formally apply. For project-specific questions, contact Professor Luca Magri; for application queries, reach out to Lisa Kelly, PhD Administrator.

For more details and to apply, visit the Imperial College London Aeronautics PhD Opportunities page.