Leverhulme Wildfires Centre

This PhD project in fire science interlink prevention and prediction of wildfire risk, by contributing to the development of a fundamental physical model to understand the process of fire spread for wildfires, as part of a European Research Council grant (https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101161183 ).

Uncontrolled wildfires are a global phenomenon that are becoming more commonplace as changes in moisture and local temperature driven by climate change affect local fuel properties and ecosystems. Different vegetation distributions can lead to very different fire spread mechanisms, as well as different effects on structures. In these PhD projects the research will aim at quantifying some of these mechanisms for different wildfire scenarios. The project will likely require a combination of qualitative, quantitative and simulation methods.

Depending on the strengths and interests of the PhD candidates, the PhD project will focus on some of the following aspects:

1. The quantification of the fundamental physical and kinetic differences arising from different vegetation fire types such as crown fires, shrub fires, and smouldering fires.
2. A methodology to link lab-scale and field-scale fires.
3. Numerical model of ignition with a database of fuel properties for various geographical regions.
4. A multi-physics model of the fluid dynamic and combustion interaction of fuels based on the effect of moisture, fuel distribution and fuel obstructions.

You will be part of an active research programme in the Heat and Fire Lab (https://heatandfire.github.io/ ) in the Department of Engineering under the supervision of Dr Francesco Restuccia. Our group is focused on carrying out experimental and computational multidisciplinary research in the thermal sciences covering heat transfer, combustion, fire science, and bioenergy. Our interests range from helping develop more efficient and durable energy storage to understanding the fundamentals of ignition and fire spread for prevention of damage to people, property, and the environment from unwanted fires in areas such as wildfire and electrification. Our current projects focus on wildfire dynamics, battery fires, thermal management of Lithium-Ion batteries, and ignition research.

Application Details:

To be considered for the position candidates must apply via King’s Apply online application system. Details are available at https://www.kcl.ac.uk/engineering/postgraduate/research-degrees

Please apply for Engineering Research (MPhil/PhD) and indicate Dr Francesco Restuccia as the supervisor and quote the project title in your application and all correspondence.

Please ensure to add the code [FIREMOD] in the Funding section of the application form.

Please select option 5 ‘I am applying for a funding award or scholarship administered by King’s College London’ and type the code into the ‘Award Scheme Code or Name’ box. Please copy and paste the code exactly.

The selection process will involve a pre-selection on documents and, if selected, will be followed by an invitation to an interview. Interviews will take place on a rolling basis with an expected start date of June 2026.

Further information can be found at https://www.kcl.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-research/how-to-apply