The Research Fellow will drive development of a whole life geotechnical design framework for offshore anchoring systems. The role will focus on creating a dataset from finite element analysis, interpretation of the results to create a lumped element macro model, and development of a stand-alone calculation tool to enable accessible interaction with the framework.

We are seeking candidates with a PhD or equivalent professional qualification in geotechnical engineering with strong numerical, computational and coding skills and preferably interests & knowledge of offshore renewable energy and seabed sediments.

This role is part of the Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Emerging Technologies for Intelligent & Resilient Ocean Engineering. The applicant will work within a large and vibrant group of offshore geotechnical engineers and geoscientists within the Centre of Excellence affiliated with the Chair.

We offer a generous renumeration package, including relocation assistance where appropriate, an attractive research environment on our modern Boldrewood Innovation campus, the latest facilities and access to a variety of staff development opportunities as part of the  Centre of Excellence for Intelligent & Resilient Ocean Engineering (IROE) and the Southampton Marine & Maritime Institute (SMMI).

For further questions, please contact Professor Susan Gourvenec (smg1g17@soton.ac.uk).

Equality, diversity and inclusion are central to the ethos in the School of Engineering. We give full consideration to applicants who wish to work flexibly including part-time, and to those who have taken a career break. The University has onsite childcare facilities and we foster a good work-life balance. We also offer a mentorship programme, and the school runs a women-oriented network event on a bi-weekly basis. We are also committed to disability inclusion and encourage applications from disabled candidates as stated under the Equality Act 2010.

The University of Southampton is in the top 1% of world universities and the top 10 of the UK’s research-intensive universities, committed to sustainability and being a globally responsible university embedded into all aspects of our individual and collective work, in our business planning, policy-making, and professional activities.

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Closing Date: 16 Nov 2026

Section: Education, Research & Enterprise

Salary: £37,369 to £45,641 per annum
Full Time Fixed Term for 24 months

Motivation: Understanding how the seafloor evolves is critical for environmental monitoring and subsea infrastructure inspection. Natural processes and human activities drive changes over time, yet detecting these reliably remains challenging. Improved methods could enable early identification of risks to ecosystems and infrastructure, while providing quantitative evidence to support effective intervention and adaptive management.

Challenges: Documenting change in GNSS-denied subsea environments presents significant challenges. While changes occur over large spatial scales, change is often gradual, meaning that between seasonal or yearly deployments, the magnitude of change at any point on the seafloor remains below to the detection limit of even high-resolution mapping sensors. In addition, recognising and aligning scenes across repeated surveys is difficult due to navigation drift, evolving scene structure, and sensitivity to environmental conditions.

Research questions:

• How can evolving seafloor scenes be consistently recognised and spatially aligned across repeated subsea surveys in GNSS-denied environments?
• How can small seafloor changes be reliably detected when they are comparable to sensor noise?
• How can full-field uncertainty be modelled and propagated to support large-scale change analysis?

Approach: You will combine advanced robotic localisation and high-resolution mapping methods with advanced machine learning feature detection to enable evolving subsea scenes to be robustly aligned across repeat surveys. You will develop probabilistic models to detect subtle changes under noise and uncertainty. Your work will be validated using simulation, existing datasets from the University of Southampton’s Smarty200 AUV, and new data collected during field campaigns with the Ocean Perception group. Controlled experiments will also be conducted in the Maritime Robotics and Instrumentation Laboratory and its dedicated 8x8x6m deep-water tank.

Training and Environment: You will be part of the EU-funded BlueOcean Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network, working alongside 13 PhD researchers across leading European institutions. The programme provides interdisciplinary training in robotics, sensing, and AI for marine monitoring, as well as access to internationally recognised experts and industry partners. You will also undertake up to two three-month secondments with organisations including CNR (Italy) and Voyis Imaging (Canada).

Eligibility:

This PhD is funded via the European Commission. Recruitment is taking place following the European Code of Conduct for Recruitment of Researchers.

The School of Engineering is committed to promoting equality, diversity inclusivity as demonstrated by our Athena SWAN award. We welcome all applicants regardless of their gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation or age, and will give full consideration to applicants seeking flexible working patterns and those who have taken a career break. The University has a generous maternity policy, onsite childcare facilities, and offers a range of benefits to help ensure employees’ well-being and work-life balance. The University of Southampton is committed to sustainability and has been awarded the Platinum EcoAward.

The candidate:

To apply, please provide: 

If you are applying for this role, you must also apply for the PhD below.

https://www.phdscanner.com/opportunities/phd-vacancies-university-of-southampton-united-kingdom-robotic-monitoring-for-place-recognition-and-change-detection-in-dynamic-underwater-environments-c1cb18e8-c472-46e8-9a50-54c02cf5de44

Post title upon appointment will be MSCA Doctoral Network Research Fellow.

Closing Date: 31 Oct 2026

Section: Education, Research & Enterprise

Salary: £43,994 to £47,279 Per annum, subject to bi-annual review due to exchange rate
Full Time Fixed Term for 36 months

You will work under the supervision of Prof. Bharathram Ganapathisubramani, collaborating with PhD students and other postdoctoral researchers within the group. 

Key responsibilities include:

• Carry our wind/water tunnel measurements relevant to topics including wall-turbulence, unsteady aerodynamics and aeroacoustics (possible projects include effects of roughness/pressure gradients on momentum/heat transfer, rotor-rotor or wing-rotor interactions, wing-body junction flows etc)
• Develop new diagnostic techniques to access new aspects of the flow
• Analyse data and develop new data-driven models that can be used for predictions
• Publish and present findings in relevant journals/conferences. 

You should hold a PhD (or equivalent experience) in Aerodynamics or Fluid Mechanics. Experimental experience is essential; Excellent communication and writing skills are required.

Equality, diversity and inclusion are central to the ethos of the School of Engineering. We particularly welcome applications from women, Black, Asian and minority ethnic, LGBT and disabled candidates. In recognition of our ongoing commitment to advancing gender equality in science, we received Athena SWAN Bronze Awards in 2013 and 2016. We fully consider requests for flexible working, including part-time arrangements, and welcome applications from those returning after a career break. The University also offers a generous maternity policy^** and on-site childcare facilities.

The University of Southampton is in the top 1% of world universities and in the top 10 of the UK’s research-intensive universities. The University of Southampton is committed to sustainability and being a globally responsible university and has recently been awarded the Platinum EcoAward. This commits all our staff and students to take responsibility for managing their activities to minimise harm to the environment, whether this through switching off non-essential electrical equipment or using the recycling facilities.

Informal enquiries may be made to Prof. Ganapathisubramani (g.bharath@soton.ac.uk).

Working at the University of Southampton:

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Closing Date: 10 Nov 2026

Section: Education, Research & Enterprise

Salary: £38,784 to £43,482 per annum
Full Time Fixed Term for 1 year

A Computational Ship Hydrodynamics and Design Optimisation specialist is required to work on an ambitious and novel project to embed physics informed generative AI tools within a marine vessel concept, generation and evaluation platform. 

This will be part of a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP), which is a collaborative project between Compute Maritime Ltd and the University of Southampton. 

Find out more about Knowledge Transfer Partnerships here: https://www.ktp-uk.org/

Compute Maritime Ltd is a London-based deep-tech company bringing intelligence to the core of the global shipbuilding industry through generative artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing.

Through its proprietary technologies, most notably NeuralShipper, the company is building the first AI-native maritime design ecosystem, offering end-to-end solutions across the vessel lifecycle, from early concept design to operational optimisation.

The Machine Learning Engineer will be required to undertake the following:

The successful Machine Learning Engineer will have the following skills, experience and attributes:

• MSc/MEng or PhD (desirable) in Machine Learning, AI, Computational Fluid Dynamics, Hydrodynamics, Optimisation, or a related discipline.
• Experience of applying machine learning and deep learning to engineering or physical systems.
• Strong scientific programming skills in Python, with experience in C++, MATLAB, or similar languages desirable.
• Experience with a deep learning framework such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, or JAX (desirable).
• Experience with engineering simulation tools relevant to CFD, hydrodynamics, or vessel performance, such as STAR-CCM+.
• Understanding of naval architecture, ship hydrodynamics, vessel performance, or design analysis.
• Experience in physics-informed machine learning, surrogate modelling, generative AI, or design optimisation would be desirable.
• An entrepreneurial mindset and a willingness to build commercial acumen alongside technical strengths.

Personal development: A separate £6,000 budget is available over the duration of the KTP for relevant training, conferences and professional memberships.

Closing Date: 16 Nov 2026

Section: Education, Research & Enterprise

Salary: £41,064 to £45,064
Full Time Fixed Term (3 years)

The University of Southampton is ranked among the world’s top 100 and is one of the UK’s top 15 research-intensive institutions. The School of Engineering are a world-class centre for education, research and enterprise; one of the largest and strongest engineering communities in the UK. The Technical and Experimental team provide essential technical support to laboratories and workshops in diverse areas including design, manufacturing, bioengineering, sound, vibration, environmental, maritime, mechatronics, mechanical engineering and materials. This role will be instrumental in supporting our new robotics laboratory, including the design and delivery of practical robotics laboratory sessions, including digital twin software.

To be successful in this role, you will:

• Have substantial technical experience in robotics and robotic equipment, as well as experience of working in a teaching environment.
• Experience in coding and control of robotic systems, including digital twin software. 
• Be an effective team member who communicates effectively with others, including students and stakeholders external to the School of Engineering. 
• Design teaching activities within established policies and procedures to solve complex technical problems. 

The University of Southampton is committed to fostering a culture of equality, diversity and inclusion. We welcome applications from suitably qualified candidates, and particularly encourage applications from candidates belonging to groups who are under-represented within technical posts at the University, including, but not limited to: people from Black and minority ethnic groups; and disabled people. The University is committed to providing equal opportunities for all and a range of family friendly policies, and we encourage staff to apply for flexible working. We are a Disability Confident employer and the University is a founding signatory of the Athena SWAN Charter and holds an silver-level Athena SWAN award. We are a signatory to the Technicians Commitment and can provide opportunities for career development and mentoring.

Informal enquiries can be made to Prof Richard Wills (HoD-Mech@soton.ac.uk)

Working at the University of Southampton:

Check out the staff benefits and why you should join us at The University of Southampton.

Closing Date: 22 Oct 2026

Section: Education, Research & Enterprise

Salary: £36,636 to £44,746 per annum
Full Time Permanent