I'll try and provide a rough summary of what I'll be doing next year but these websites may provide some more useful information:
- The city - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunedin
- The University - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otago
- The college I'd be at - www.knoxcollege.ac.nz
- My supervisor -
- http://www.maths.otago.ac.nz/home/department/staff_staffscript.php?s=vernon_squire
- A similar area to that which I'd be working in - http://www.maths.otago.ac.nz/home/department/research/applied_maths/applied_maths.php#squire (first article)
The plan is to start a Mathematics PhD in Dunedin, early-mid February and this will last for about 3 years. During this time, I'll be researching computer models of what are termed 'compliant bodies' (specifically, ice floes and large artificial floating platforms) and trying to improve our ways of simulating what happens to them in rough seas.
The recognition of the mathematical link between ice floes and floating islands is fairly recent - glaciologists and marine engineers have been studying parallel concepts independently for some time but this research will be treating them together. In the case of floating structures (such as the Megafloat airport in Tokyo harbour), this type of work has some fairly clear implications - being able to understand flexing and strains under large waves is fundamental to the feasibility and safety of these constructions.
With ice floes, the applications are more to do with physical geography, understanding the dynamic systems preventing waves from the Southern Ocean from breaking up the Antarctic ice sheet, which has a significant role in maintaining global weather systems and absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (more from BAS and WikiWaves)
So far, I've come into contact with a very helpful and experienced supervisor, been offered a PhD place at the University, accommodation at one of the University's residential colleges and been awarded a University scholarship to cover my living expenses and fees. Aside from my student visa, this means all applications are complete and I will hopefully be able to go ahead with a mid-February start date.
