Hollis

[Annual stipend at the UKRI minimum rate currently £21,805 per year, plus £1,000 per annum enhancement, and a research training support grant of up to £20,000 for the full 4-year programme.] Sub-cool is a 4-year PhD studentship at The University of Manchester that explores how urban aquifers could be used as reliable, sustainable resources for geothermal cooling in a changing climate. The project brings together hydrogeology , climate change , and social science perspectives to study both the physical capacity of groundwater systems and the social dimensions of deploying low-carbon cooling. It asks how changing aquifer conditions, cooling demand, and public perceptions jointly shape where and how climate-resilient urban aquifer cooling can be deployed. The research combines two linked strands. First, it investigates how cooling opportunities align with place-based cooling needs and how residents and professionals understand the benefits, risks, and trade-offs of aquifer-based cooling. This may include walking interviews in a selected European case alongside Greater Manchester, connecting lived experiences of overheating and cooling access with perceptions of the subsurface resource. Second, the project examines how climate change may alter aquifer cooling capacity and capability. Using Greater Manchester as the base case, the student will work with existing geological and borehole datasets, groundwater monitoring, and UK climate projections, then extend the analysis to a comparative site through GIS-based groundwater-flow and heat-transport modelling . The modelling will consider how hydrogeology, climate, and existing use shape spatial patterns of cooling capacity and thermal response. The project is designed to connect technical modelling with social understanding so that modelled opportunities can be assessed against local perceptions and constraints. The overall aim is to inform deployment that is technically suitable and socially and environmentally appropriate. The project is part of a competitive funding process and sits within the University of Manchester's doctoral scholarship scheme.