Overview
This project is funded by the Net Zero Maritime Energy Solutions Centre for Doctoral Training (N0MES CDT) in the University of Liverpool. N0MES offers 4-year PhD studentships for exceptional researchers, creating the specialist future workforce needed to support maritime and Freeports – including energy assets and AI-enabled planning. These PhD projects, in collaboration with industrial partners, are finding solutions to urgent industrial needs.
About this opportunity
This PhD project focuses on maritime and Freeport hinterland logistics activities, assets and energy sources. The project will deliver on a digital platform as a secure, centralised, and AI-enabled databank to support the systematic transition of maritime and freeport hinterland logistics toward net zero under different energy transition scenarios. The platform will store, optimise and integrate data on city-region and freeport hinterland logistics activities and infrastructure, including freight flows, intermodal connections, terminal operations, customs processes, energy use, and asset performance. By consolidating fragmented datasets into a unified data hub, the project will create a foundational strategic infrastructure directly contributing to regional and national economic, transport, and decarbonisation objectives.
The platform will offer advanced tools to optimise logistics decision-making, including infrastructure investment planning, freight transport timetabling, capacity allocation, and customs site operations across modes of transport such as maritime, rail, and road. Through AI-enabled modelling and scenario analysis, it will evaluate system performance under alternative policy, technology, and fuel transition pathways. In addition, the platform will provide emissions analytics under different operational and energy scenarios, enabling stakeholders to quantify carbon footprints, assess trade-offs, and identify cost-effective decarbonisation strategies.
By delivering a robust, evidence-based environment for data analysis, the project will inform, direct, and improve how the sector views and manages fossil fuel dependency and other climate-harming emissions. It will support more transparent risk assessment and governance of decarbonisation pathways.
The research and development component will expand the use of logistics and emissions data, interpret its systemic impacts, and develop innovative analytical methods to optimise performance, manage uncertainty, and identify operational and investment risks associated with the decarbonisation of maritime and freeport hinterland logistics systems.