Reliable forecasting of earthquakes using the learning of the evolution-driving function of a temporally-evolving system
We are recruiting new Doctoral Researchers to our EPSRC funded Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) PhD studentships starting 1 October 2024. Applications are invited for the project title “Reliable forecasting of earthquakes using the learning of the evolution-driving function of a temporally-evolving system”
Successful applicants will receive an annual stipend (bursary) of £21,237, including inner London weighting, plus payment of their full-time home tuition fees for a period of 42 months (3.5 years).
You should be eligible for home (UK) tuition fees there are a very limited number (no more than three) of studentships available to overseas applicants, including EU nationals, who meet the academic entry criteria including English Language proficiency.
You will join the internationally recognised researchers in the Department of Mathematics research and PhD programmes | Brunel University London
The Project
The project will use a method for reliable forecasting by learning the evolution-driving function that informs on the causal link between any pair of states that a temporally-evolving system attains at two different time points. The project will use a stochastic process-based modelling of the correlation structure of this evolution driving function, to improve reliability of the forecasts. The forecast evolution-driver will be applied to perform regular forecasting of earthquakes within an identified geographical unit. Implementation within a Bayesian framework will be undertaken, with inference performed with Markov Chain Monte Carlo techniques. Inputs from earthquake models will offer informed priors on the earthquake forecasting. The project is a collaboration with the external partner Dr, Hawthorne, who is an earthquake scientist at Oxford Earth Sciences. The main aim of the project is to produce reliable earthquake forecasting on the ground. Towards this aim, the project is structured to include methodological innovation towards model-free solutions; careful incorporation of domain knowledge; and rigorous testing
Please contact Dr. Dalia Chakrabarty at dalia.chakrabarty@brunel.ac.uk for an informal discussion about the studentships.
Eligibility
Applicants will have or be expected to receive a first or upper-second class honours degree in an Engineering, Computer Science, Design, Mathematics, Physics or a similar discipline. A Postgraduate Masters degree is not required but may be an advantage.
Skills and Experience
Applicants will be required to demonstrate the following skills:
- Computational proficiency in Python or C;
- Background that includes Probability Theory.
You should be highly motivated, able to work independently as well as in a team, collaborate with others and have good communication skills.
How to apply
There are two stages of the application:
1.Applicants must submit the pre-application form via the following link
https://brunel.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/epsrc-dtp-24-25-pre-application-form-brunel-university-lon
by 16.00 on Friday 5th April 2024.
2.If you are shortlisted for the interview, you will be asked to email the following documentation in a single PDF file to cedps-studentships@brunel.ac.uk within 72hrs.
- Your up-to-date CV;
- Your Undergraduate degree certificate(s) and transcript(s) essential;
- Your Postgraduate Masters degree certificate(s) and transcript(s) if applicable;
- Your valid English Language qualification of IELTS 6.5 overall (minimum 6.0 in each section) or equivalent, if applicable;
- Contact details for TWO referees, one of which can be an academic member of staff in the College.
Applicants should therefore ensure that they have all of this information in case they are shortlisted.
Interviews will take place in April/May 2024.