PhD Studentship: Techno-Economic Optimisation of Robotic Inspection for Circular Offshore Energy Assets The University of Manchester in United Kingdom

[4-year studentship covers tuition fees at Home student rate, a tax-free stipend, and a Research Training and Support Grant. Successful Home applicants receive an additional £10,000 annual stipend enhancement.]

The University of Manchester offers a fully funded PhD studentship as part of the RAINZ CDT programme, focusing on the techno-economic optimisation of robotic inspection for circular offshore energy assets. This research addresses the challenge of long-term autonomous monitoring and maintenance of offshore wind and marine energy infrastructure, which operates in harsh and inaccessible environments. Manual inspection is often costly, hazardous, and infrequent, leading to premature decommissioning and suboptimal material recovery that undermines circular economy objectives crucial for sustainable net zero pathways.

The project aims to integrate advanced robotic inspection technologies with techno-economic modelling to enable condition-based decision-making for offshore energy assets. Key objectives include evaluating autonomous inspection platforms such as aerial drones, climbing robots, and remotely operated underwater vehicles for capturing degradation data across turbine blades, towers, foundations, and subsea cables. The research will develop machine learning approaches to translate multi-modal inspection data into predictions of remaining useful life, and create dynamic techno-economic models linking real-time condition assessments to optimal intervention strategies—repair, refurbishment, remanufacture, or recycling—under various energy system scenarios. Industry case studies will be used to quantify the impact of robotics-enabled predictive maintenance on lifecycle costs, critical mineral demand, and circular recovery infrastructure requirements.

The RAINZ CDT is a partnership between The University of Manchester, University of Glasgow, and University of Oxford, and is dedicated to advancing Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS) for the Net Zero transition in the UK’s energy sector. The CDT’s research projects focus on inspection, maintenance, and repair of renewable and nuclear infrastructure, as well as supporting the decarbonization and decommissioning of existing assets.

This 4-year studentship covers tuition fees at the Home student rate, a tax-free stipend, and a Research Training and Support Grant. Home applicants also receive an additional £10,000 annual stipend enhancement. The programme includes a Year 1 MSc course in Renewable Energy and Clean Technology, followed by PhD research in Years 2–4. Funding is provided by The University of Manchester.

Eligibility requires a First or strong Upper Second-class honours degree (2:1 with 65% average), or international equivalent, in Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, Mathematics, or a related discipline. Applicants must demonstrate programming experience. Applications should be submitted via the RAINZ CDT website, and informal enquiries can be directed to [email protected]. The application deadline is 15 May 2026, and the programme starts on 21 September 2026.