EngD Urban Sustainability & Resilience
Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering
4 year tax-free stipend at £17,750pa
In collaboration with ImageCat Ltd the Department of Civil, Environmental & Geomatic Engineering, we have funding from the EPSRC for an EngD studentship (4 year program) for the following project:
Title of Project: IMPACT- Interpretation and Mapping Platform for Affected population and Casualty Tracking
Considerable ambiguity surrounds estimates of affected populations and casualty numbers in the immediate aftermath of natural disasters. This poses a major challenge for NGOs and Governments needing to scale their deployment efforts for search and rescue, relief and response activities. This research project looks at the feasibility of bringing together current predictive tools for earthquake damage with new tools for the satellite imagery-based estimation of affected populations, to develop a new Interpretation and Mapping Platform for predicting and monitoring affected populations in earthquake induced disasters.
It will first be necessary for the student to explore and assess existing building damage prediction models, affected population models and ground motion prediction equations. A critical review of these is necessary to determine what the state of the art is in affected population prediction and where gaps exist. It will then be necessary to bring these models together in a GIS environment to see whether a spatial prediction of affected population is possible. In tandem, the utility of damage estimates obtained from pre- and post- earthquake satellite imagery, combined with empirical relationships between urban damage characteristics and affected population statistics, will also be investigated. These probabilistically- and deterministically-based predictions will be compared to real affected population data from past events to see whether these predictions are correct in a spatial context. A challenge will be to find a way to marry this diverse data into a single viewing system and unified prediction, taking into account the reliability of the data source.
The successful applicant will become a part of the EPSRC-funded Earthquake and People Interaction Centre, (EPICENTRE: http://gow.epsrc.ac.uk/ViewGrant.aspx?GrantRef=EP/F012179/1), and be expected to interact with researchers in coastal and earthquake engineering, and psychology. Applicants will be required to present / publish results and to work with the teams of researchers at ImageCat Ltd and at the EPICENTRE. The applicant will need to spend time both at ImageCat Ltd and UCL. The student will also have guidance from ImageCat Ltd and from academic staff of the civil, environmental and geomatic engineering department and Benfield UCL Hazard Research Centre at UCL
Applications:
For a place on the EngD programme funded through EPSRC awards, applicants must meet the EPSRC eligibility requirements i.e. be UK residents or demonstrate a relevant connection with the UK. Visit this website for more information: http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/PostgraduateTraining/StudentEligibility.htm
Applicants must have at least a 2.1 degree, MSc or MA in a GIS, Engineering, Physical Science, Computer Science or related discipline. The ideal candidate should have a strong computational and data analysis background, be willing to explore new concepts, be able to both work independently and in a team and be willing to travel.
Please indicate your intention to apply by emailing Dr Tiziana Rossetto (t.rossetto@ucl.ac.uk).
You will also need to apply directly to UCL Admissions by completing an application form which can be found at www.ucl.ac.uk/admission/graduate-study/application-admission/..
Deadline:
Application deadline: 17th November 2008
Interviews: 18th -21st November 2008
Project Start Date: December 2008/January 2009
4 year tax-free stipend at £17,750pa
In collaboration with ImageCat Ltd the Department of Civil, Environmental & Geomatic Engineering, we have funding from the EPSRC for an EngD studentship (4 year program) for the following project:
Title of Project: IMPACT- Interpretation and Mapping Platform for Affected population and Casualty Tracking
Considerable ambiguity surrounds estimates of affected populations and casualty numbers in the immediate aftermath of natural disasters. This poses a major challenge for NGOs and Governments needing to scale their deployment efforts for search and rescue, relief and response activities. This research project looks at the feasibility of bringing together current predictive tools for earthquake damage with new tools for the satellite imagery-based estimation of affected populations, to develop a new Interpretation and Mapping Platform for predicting and monitoring affected populations in earthquake induced disasters.
It will first be necessary for the student to explore and assess existing building damage prediction models, affected population models and ground motion prediction equations. A critical review of these is necessary to determine what the state of the art is in affected population prediction and where gaps exist. It will then be necessary to bring these models together in a GIS environment to see whether a spatial prediction of affected population is possible. In tandem, the utility of damage estimates obtained from pre- and post- earthquake satellite imagery, combined with empirical relationships between urban damage characteristics and affected population statistics, will also be investigated. These probabilistically- and deterministically-based predictions will be compared to real affected population data from past events to see whether these predictions are correct in a spatial context. A challenge will be to find a way to marry this diverse data into a single viewing system and unified prediction, taking into account the reliability of the data source.
The successful applicant will become a part of the EPSRC-funded Earthquake and People Interaction Centre, (EPICENTRE: http://gow.epsrc.ac.uk/ViewGrant.aspx?GrantRef=EP/F012179/1), and be expected to interact with researchers in coastal and earthquake engineering, and psychology. Applicants will be required to present / publish results and to work with the teams of researchers at ImageCat Ltd and at the EPICENTRE. The applicant will need to spend time both at ImageCat Ltd and UCL. The student will also have guidance from ImageCat Ltd and from academic staff of the civil, environmental and geomatic engineering department and Benfield UCL Hazard Research Centre at UCL
Applications:
For a place on the EngD programme funded through EPSRC awards, applicants must meet the EPSRC eligibility requirements i.e. be UK residents or demonstrate a relevant connection with the UK. Visit this website for more information: http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/PostgraduateTraining/StudentEligibility.htm
Applicants must have at least a 2.1 degree, MSc or MA in a GIS, Engineering, Physical Science, Computer Science or related discipline. The ideal candidate should have a strong computational and data analysis background, be willing to explore new concepts, be able to both work independently and in a team and be willing to travel.
Please indicate your intention to apply by emailing Dr Tiziana Rossetto (t.rossetto@ucl.ac.uk).
You will also need to apply directly to UCL Admissions by completing an application form which can be found at www.ucl.ac.uk/admission/graduate-study/application-admission/..
Deadline:
Application deadline: 17th November 2008
Interviews: 18th -21st November 2008
Project Start Date: December 2008/January 2009
