Hydroinformatics education - the Water Informatics in Science and Engineering (WISE) Centre for Doctoral Training
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Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 2721–2738, 2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-2721-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Hydroinformatics education – the Water Informatics in Science
and Engineering (WISE) Centre for Doctoral Training
Thorsten Wagener1,2,9 , Dragan Savic3,4 , David Butler4 , Reza Ahmadian5 , Tom Arnot6 , Jonathan Dawes7 ,
Slobodan Djordjevic4 , Roger Falconer5 , Raziyeh Farmani4 , Debbie Ford4 , Jan Hofman3,6 , Zoran Kapelan4,8 ,
Shunqi Pan5 , and Ross Woods1,2
1 Department of Civil Engineering, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
2 Cabot Institute, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
3 KWR Water Research Institute, Nieuwegein, the Netherlands
4 Centre for Water Systems, College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
5 Hydro-environmental Research Centre, School of Engineering, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
6 Water Innovation and Research Centre, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Bath, Bath, UK
7 Institute for Mathematical Innovation and Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Bath, Bath, UK
8 Department of Water Management, Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands
9 Institute of Environmental Science and Geography, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
Correspondence: Thorsten Wagener (thorsten.wagener@bristol.ac.uk)
Received: 15 September 2020 – Discussion started: 5 October 2020
Revised: 17 April 2021 – Accepted: 23 April 2021 – Published: 20 May 2021
Abstract. The Water Informatics in Science and Engineer- 1 Introduction
ing Centre for Doctoral Training (WISE CDT) offers a post-
graduate programme that fosters enhanced levels of innova-
tion and collaboration by training a cohort of engineers and The global water cycle consists of a complex web of interact-
scientists at the boundary of water informatics, science and ing physical, biogeochemical, ecological and human systems
engineering. The WISE CDT was established in 2014 with (Gleeson et al., 2020). Management of this complex cycle
funding from the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Re- has been practised for decades, but new challenges lie ahead
search Council (EPSRC) amongst the universities of Bath, due to climate change, growing population pressure, increas-
Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter. The WISE CDT will ultimately ing urbanisation and other human-caused environmental dis-
graduate over 80 PhD candidates trained in a non-traditional turbances. These challenges can only be addressed through
4-year UK doctoral programme that integrates teaching and fundamental changes in how we interact with our environ-
research elements in close collaboration with a range of in- ment, both in perspective and in practice. The recent fo-
dustrial partners. WISE focuses on cohort-based education cus on the role of water security in addressing ecosystem
and equips the PhD candidates with a wide range of skills de- services and sustainability has further emphasised the need
veloped through workshops and other activities to maximise for new approaches to achieve this dual goal (UNEP, 2009,
candidate abilities and experiences. We discuss the need for, 2011, 2017). In the UK, the government’s 25-year Environ-
the structure and results of the WISE CDT, which has been ment Plan (2018) clearly signals the importance and value
ongoing from 2013–2022 (final year of graduation). We con- of the environment, including “reducing our carbon emis-
clude with lessons learned and an outlook for PhD training, sions and building resilience against the extreme weather as-
based on our experience with this programme. sociated with climate change.” Infrastructure is considered
equally important as evidenced by the UK National Infras-
tructure Assessment (2018), which regards water and waste
infrastructure as being essential for health and wellbeing, en-
vironmental sustainability, and economic stability, and which
Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union.
2722 T. Wagener et al.: Hydroinformatics education – the WISE Centre for Doctoral Training points to investment of GBP 44 billion in the water sector. et al., 2020). Process-based models – increasingly with un- At the European level, the EC sponsored ICT4Water cluster precedented resolutions – will also demand better computa- has published its Digital Single Market for Water Services tional skills of their users to utilise them effectively and thus Action Plan (2018). Supporting these efforts in turn requires influence training and education (Hut et al., 2017). new, whole-system, multi-faceted, data-intensive, interdisci- In its 2030 vision document The Value of Water, Water plinary approaches to research, training and innovation – ap- Europe, as the recognised stakeholder platform of the Euro- proaches which take advantage of the information explosion pean water sector, promotes a future-proof European model and leading-edge technologies of the 21st century (Blöschl et for a water-smart society that requires a paradigm shift in al., 2012; Ceola et al., 2015; Habib et al., 2012; Jonker et al., how water is managed (Water Europe, 2020). Bluefield Re- 2012; King et al., 2012; Montanari et al., 2013; Ruddell and search assessed that the smart water sector in Europe and Wagener, 2013; Seibert et al., 2013; Thompson et al., 2012; the USA is increasing rapidly, estimating that by 2025 it will Wagener et al., 2010, 2012). be worth USD 11 billion and USD 12 billion respectively. A As the capabilities of digital devices soar and their prices total of 61 % of companies offering digital water solutions plummet, sensors are providing greater amounts of infor- in the US market have been founded since the year 2000 mation than ever, at lower costs and with greater reliabil- (Smart Water Magazine, 2020). The need for this shift, and ity than previously possible (Mao et al., 2018). Opportuni- the tremendous market opportunity it brings, is set against the ties for real-time monitoring and management are increas- backdrop of widespread concern for the future of the water ing dramatically; so is access to far more powerful infor- sector and its workforce, as for example reported for the UK mation and communication technology (ICT) tools and de- in a recent employer survey (CIWEM, 2016). The survey vices (ICT4Water cluster, 2018). These tools enable “peo- found that 81 % of employers saw increased staff turnover ple as sensors” (crowdsourcing, citizen science), bringing to- and 70 % said that skill shortages had reduced their capacity gether the skills of humans to observe and interpret with the to deliver projects. Hence the requirement for hybrid skills interconnection of the Internet to enable new types of infor- and expertise in water and informatics will grow with the mation to be crowdsourced (Seibert et al., 2019). Combin- need for increasingly intelligent systems. New water indus- ing these trends provides opportunities to address both old try roles such as digital e-service delivery, smart water net- and new problems in innovative ways to meet emerging chal- works and big data analytics are misaligned with established lenges around the water cycle. Globally, it is estimated that single-discipline postgraduate programmes and require new savings of USD 7.1 billion to 12.5 billion per annum (SEN- hybrid skill sets not normally taught as a package. SUS, 2012) may be realised through the adoption of smart For society to take full advantage of leading-edge tech- water technologies to minimise operational inefficiencies and nologies we need to provide training for hydroinformati- to maximise the effectiveness of capital and operational ex- cians, i.e. scientists and engineers capable of working at the penditure. interface of traditionally separate disciplines of informatics, Management of the water cycle, a system characterised science, and engineering to manage information and water by inherent complexity, heterogeneity and uncertainty (not cycles effectively (Fig. 1) (Popescu et al., 2012; Merwade least because of linked social, natural and engineered sys- and Ruddell, 2012; Makropoulos and Savić, 2019). Reports tems), has already gained from advances in computing, ICT by the Council for Science and Technology (CST, 2009), the and hydroinformatics resulting in new technologies deployed UK Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE, 2012), and the in engineering practice (Romano et al., 2014). The increas- UK Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE, 2012) have high- ing non-stationarity of the global climate system, and the lighted a particular shortage of engineers and scientists in subsequent implications for the terrestrial water cycle, will industries of national importance for the UK, such as en- significantly change how we approach the problem of long- ergy, water, sanitation, communications and IT systems. In term planning and of estimating hydrologic design vari- response to the projected skill shortage in the IT sector in Eu- ables (Brown et al., 2015; Milly et al., 2008; Sivapalan and rope, the European Commission has launched a grand coali- Blöschl, 2015). So, while new data become available as men- tion to tackle this shortage (CEDEFOP, 2018). It is difficult tioned above, historical data will lose some of their value for to see how the need for skilled engineers working at the in- long-term analysis, e.g. if catchments have undergone signif- terface of IT with water science and engineering can be met icant land use change, experience more extreme rainfalls than by IT graduates alone – who would also have to be educated previously recorded or see significantly changed streamflow in water processes subsequent to their IT training. We rather characteristics due to the building of human infrastructure need to train scientists and engineers who can work at the in- (Jain and Lall, 2001). Long-term planning in non-stationary terface of traditionally separate informatics, science and en- systems requires a move away from traditional empirical ap- gineering disciplines to fill these hybrid job roles. proaches (widely used in operational engineering hydrology) The Water Informatics in Science and Engineering Cen- towards process-based models which are necessarily more tre for Doctoral Training (WISE CDT, http://wisecdt.org.uk/, complex and require deeper process understanding (Milly et last access: 17 May 2021) aims to fill the skills gap discussed al., 2008; Wagener et al., 2010; Clark et al., 2015; Musolini above by offering a postgraduate programme that fosters en- Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 2721–2738, 2021 https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-2721-2021
T. Wagener et al.: Hydroinformatics education – the WISE Centre for Doctoral Training 2723
Figure 1. Information and water cycles.
Figure 2. WISE CDT PhD students (summer school in Torquay, UK, 2019; photo credit © Steven Haywood 2019).
hanced levels of innovation and collaboration to train a co- selected educational elements and discuss what the WISE
hort of engineers and scientists at the boundary of water in- CDT has achieved so far.
formatics, science and engineering. Disciplinary breadth, a
focus on PhD candidate cohort experience and collaborative
effort (not least between four research-intensive UK univer- 2 The WISE CDT training approach
sities in delivering the programme) are its key novel features.
The WISE CDT was established in 2014 with funding from There is growing evidence that producing highly skilled re-
the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Coun- searchers and future leaders requires doctoral supervisory
cil (EPSRC) and led by the University of Exeter in partner- teams to support (a) candidates’ specialist disciplinary de-
ship with the universities of Bath, Bristol and Cardiff. The velopment and (b) their wider skills development (Roberts,
WISE CDT inducted its first cohort of PhD candidates in Oc- 2002; Buckley et al., 2009; Brodin and Avery, 2020). Such a
tober 2014, and thus far it has recruited 84 candidates and “T-shaped competency profile” of broad general and in-depth
graduated 26 (as of April 2021). The final group of can- disciplinary skills has been identified as crucial for future wa-
didates was recruited in 2018 and is expected to graduate ter professionals (Uhlenbrook and de Jong, 2012). The WISE
in 2022 (Fig. 2). The initial principal investigator was Pro- CDT programme addresses both sets of skills through
fessor Dragan Savic (2014–2018), and now it is Professor
i. candidates participating in a two-semester WISE CDT
David Butler. Here we describe the programme, show some
postgraduate school involving both broader disciplinary
and wider research methodology training, thereby in-
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-2721-2021 Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 2721–2738, 2021
2724 T. Wagener et al.: Hydroinformatics education – the WISE Centre for Doctoral Training
Table 1. WISE CDT programme components.
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4
Postgraduate 120 master’s level credits via
school in water a combination of long and thin
management and and block modules at Exeter
informatics (October to May)
Specialist master’s Specialist modules based on the agreed research topic and in
level modules consultation with supervisor(s)
Transferable and Skills training at Exeter At Bristol At Cardiff At Bath
leadership skills (during the postgraduate (1 week) (1 week) (1 week)
school)
Research project From June to September All year All year All year
+ thesis writing
creasing candidates’ research skills and knowledge (i) pre-admission to enrolment (orientation, administrative li-
base while enhancing their exposure to interdisciplinary aison, formal social and induction events), (ii) first year (in-
work in ways suitable for careers within or outside tegration, cohort approach, ice-breaking, buddy system, re-
academia; search proposal development, supervisor selection), (iii) sec-
ond year through to thesis writing (collaborative model,
ii. further participation in specialist master’s level modules topic presentation and feedback, summer school, transfer-
that candidates can attend at WISE CDT partner institu- able/leadership skills), and (iv) thesis stage (structure for the
tions, after the WISE CDT postgraduate school; thesis, collaborative model, face-to-face communication).
As the programme is aimed at a diverse set of graduates
iii. a strategy of “guided freedom” that provides the candi-
from engineering, environmental science, geographical sci-
dates with opportunities to be active partners in shaping
ence, physics, mathematics, and computer science, candi-
their learning experiences;
dates devote the first two semesters to taking an appropri-
iv. formalised career development and placement experi- ate set of existing postgraduate-level modules at Exeter to
ence at overseas academic or industry partners; and cover their knowledge gaps as well as to advance their skills
in water processes and informatics. The cohort’s basic pro-
v. further transferable and leadership skills development gramming skill is brought to a similar level (with some can-
that enhances candidates’ career and project manage- didates advancing clearly above this level) by a learning-
ment skills, ensuring they make a successful transition by-doing model with a software development project re-
to their career of choice. lated to one of the water cycle themes (Fig. 1). The project
and module offerings are augmented by specialist ICT mod-
2.1 WISE CDT postgraduate school in water ules, by staff from partner institutions (both national and in-
management and informatics ternational), and industry, including modules on, for exam-
ple, software development, cloud computing, object-oriented
Each WISE CDT PhD lasts 4 years (Table 1): the first two programming and cyberinfrastructure. This training includes
semesters (October to May) are allocated to a WISE CDT a 3 d intensive training course, which has been arranged for
postgraduate school in water management and informatics each of the cohorts early in the WISE CDT postgraduate
(run at the University of Exeter and including lectures from school, to provide researchers with practical experience of
staff at Cardiff, Bath, and Bristol universities as well as our software development techniques. The IT focused teaching
industrial and international partners). The residential school components are complemented by “water knowledge” com-
ensures that a functioning cohort of WISE CDT PhD candi- ponents in which each partner institution trains candidates
dates is immediately established, thereby reducing the risk in their specific area of strength (Exeter: urban drainage,
of attrition due to the feeling of not belonging to an aca- Bath: wastewater treatment, Bristol: hydrology, Cardiff: hy-
demic community (McAlpine et al., 2009) or due to social draulics).
isolation (Ali and Kohun, 2007). The structured approach This programme of training ensures that all candidates
to the WISE CDT cohort/community development applies gain a solid understanding of water informatics, of knowl-
for the duration of the programme involving the four-stage edge across water topics, and of wider research methodology
framework for dealing with social isolation developed by Ali before they develop and commence on their PhD research
and Kohun (2007). The WISE CDT framework addresses
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 2721–2738, 2021 https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-2721-2021
T. Wagener et al.: Hydroinformatics education – the WISE Centre for Doctoral Training 2725
project. The postgraduate school programme comprises eight very grateful. Ultimately, the WISE CDT has been
taught master’s level modules, worth a total of 120 credits. a great opportunity for me to undertake my PhD
These include adventure in the UK (Stephanie Mueller, Cardiff
University, Cohort 4).
– Hydroinformatics Tools,
Unlike other doctoral programmes, the WISE CDT
– Urban Drainage and Wastewater Management, offers the opportunity to take part in a wide range
– Water Supply and Distribution Management, of courses and activities such as transferable skills
modules and research seminars, which have helped
– Environmental and Computational Hydraulics, me to gain valuable skills, explore new ideas and
methodologies, and meet new people from both in-
– Computational Hydrology,
dustry and other academic institutions. Finally, the
– Mathematical Modelling of Wastewater Treatment Pro- cohort-based structure of this programme was un-
cesses, doubtedly one of the most appealing points. Gath-
ering people with different academic backgrounds
– Programming for Engineering, and has provided us with an opportunity to support
each other and develop a comradeship throughout
– Research Methodology.
our first year. In particular, as I come from a dif-
WISE CDT candidates across the cohorts appreciated the op- ferent country I have had to deal with many new
portunity to attend a first year of courses, which is uncom- things and my peers have provided me with lots of
mon for a PhD programme in the UK, where traditional PhDs support, helping me to make this transition much
are typically based on individual research only. We selected easier (Georgios Sarailidis, University of Bristol,
some candidate quotes from our regular surveys (discussed Cohort 5).
further below) to highlight this aspect.
Further familiarisation with facilities and potential super-
I have found that, as my PhD research has devel- visors from the other three universities during the postgrad-
oped, the modules from the Postgraduate School uate school is ensured by seminar visits arranged at each of
have become very useful. A good example of this the partner institutions. Candidates pursue further specialist
is computer programming and coding, which now skills training available at partner institutions after the post-
forms a substantial part of my research, despite me graduate school. These taught components in years 2–4 (se-
knowing very little about it before starting the pro- lected based on candidate background and intended special-
gramme (Candidate James Webber, University of isation) are chosen from postgraduate-level modules offered
Exeter, Cohort 1). by the partner institutions in agreement with supervisors.
The postgraduate school in Exeter helped to 2.2 Transferable skills and leadership programme
broaden my knowledge of the water world and
gave me confidence to get out of my comfort zone The need for improvement in the development of research
and develop my PhD work in a direction that strad- careers and training in transferable skills was highlighted in
dles multiple engineering disciplines (Olivia Bai- Sir Gareth Roberts’ report (Roberts, 2002), which led to new
ley, University of Bath, Cohort 2). funding for generic skills training and further calls for the
development of research skills at both the PhD and postdoc-
I am currently in my first year of the WISE CDT toral career stages in the UK (RCUK, 2010). The WISE CDT
programme, attending the Postgraduate School at offers extensive and structured provision of transferable and
the University of Exeter. This year has allowed me leadership skills through the Transferable Skills and Leader-
to receive an overview of the different research ship Programme arranged during the WISE CDT postgradu-
areas of the four partner universities, as well as ate school and over the subsequent years for each cohort in
giving me the opportunity to explore new ideas, multi-day blocks, as listed in Table 1. In year 1 (in Exeter),
methodologies and inspirations which have helped the programme concentrates on the acquisition of a deeper
shape my research project. In addition to the sci- understanding of the research process and methodology, to-
entific knowledge that I have gained, I have also gether with project management for researchers, personal ef-
become an integral member of my cohort group. fectiveness, communication skills (both written and oral), re-
Coming from a different country meant that I faced lationship between science and society, and introduction to
many challenges regarding language, culture, reg- ethics. In subsequent years all candidates attend residential
ulations, etc., but the support of my fellow peers, programmes which cover a wide range of areas including
better known as my “WISE-Family”, has helped year 2 (in Bristol) – preparation and delivery of conference
me to overcome these challenges, for which I am talks and posters (including an external consultant teaching
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-2721-2021 Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 2721–2738, 2021
2726 T. Wagener et al.: Hydroinformatics education – the WISE Centre for Doctoral Training
a 1 d workshop titled “with confidence at conferences”) and nell University) and leading industrial experts (including
writing and refereeing of journal articles; year 3 (in Cardiff) – those from non-technical disciplines, e.g. business, ethics,
management and team working skills, professional etiquette, law, psychology, marketing) to discuss their ideas and re-
planning and writing a thesis, thinking of one’s career, and ceive feedback. The afternoon is reserved for development
entrepreneurship and leadership skills; year 4 (in Bath) – activities. The summer school’s main activity finishes with
viva preparation, strategic problem formulation, knowledge participants pitching their ideas to a “Dragon’s Den” style
exchange and research exploitation, and early career devel- panel of academic and industry representatives that judge the
opment. outcomes and award prizes to the best ideas. Dragon’s Den is
a British TV series where entrepreneurs attempt to sell their
2.3 WISE CDT summer school business ideas. During the summer school, a 1 d mini confer-
ence/symposium is organised to allow participants to present
An annual week-long residential summer school (incorporat- their research ideas and progress on their PhD projects. These
ing a mini conference) provides an opportunity for supervi- activities again involve outside agencies to help both can-
sors and PhD candidates from all cohorts and diverse disci- didates and academics embed creative problem-solving ap-
plinary backgrounds to share their experiences of working proaches within the CDT. The summer school is also used
on water-informatics-related projects while networking with for a PhD progress monitoring meeting (performed by the
other staff and candidates (Fig. 3). They are joined by the programme management group – PMG), where progression
strategic advisory board, which includes representatives from to the next year of the research programme depends on satis-
key stakeholders (e.g. water companies, government agen- factory performance in the previous year. An annual written
cies, and consultancies), for part of the week. The summer report and a supervisor and mentor meeting report are used to
school serves candidates from years 1 to 4, with emphasis assess the candidate’s progress fairly and impartially, as well
on encouraging discussion and exchange of ideas across dis- as to give candidates the opportunity to raise any concerns.
ciplinary boundaries (i.e. natural sciences, engineering, hu-
manities and social sciences). Each summer school is or- 2.4 Supervisory arrangements – guided freedom
ganised around a central water informatics challenge, in- strategy
cluding (1) “Water Hackathons” – an intensive competition
of brainstorming and computer programming that draws to- As the primary responsibility for the major aspects of PhD
gether the talent and creativity of participants, who were training rests jointly with the candidate and the supervisors,
tasked with identifying water sector challenges and devel- we proposed a strategy of guided freedom (following ideas
oping mobile phone app ideas to address these; (2) devel- by Prof Willem Bouten, University of Amsterdam, based on
oping a proposal to improve our global understanding of a personal communication with Prof. Jasper Vrugt, UC Irvine)
relevant water issues for submission to a fictional interna- to facilitate the process of empowering the candidates and
tional agency; (3) a water game, where candidates produced supervisory teams to create a successful doctoral training ex-
a water-themed board game – the winning group created an perience. We implemented the strategy in two stages, each
educational game, named “Hydropolis”, which focused on involving a number of activities.
water management challenges faced by developing cities; The first stage, which takes place during the postgraduate
(4) water security challenge, where candidates were asked school (year 1 of the PhD programme), involves the follow-
to develop a business plan for a UK water utility which fo- ing activities: (i) a biweekly (every 2 weeks) candidate-led
cussed on addressing long-term water security; (5) design of journal paper review seminar, (ii) the first summer school (in-
flood defences in Devon, where candidates worked with a cluding candidate project discussions) and (iii) research pro-
local authority and the Environment Agency to propose in- posal development. Paper review seminars initially involve
novative flood defence approaches in the Torbay area (UK) academic members of staff in guiding paper selection (across
in the context of climate change; and (6) a currently planned the topics covered by the WISE CDT programme) and crit-
event – a specialist in the design of infographics has been ical review, but with responsibilities gradually passed onto
hired to run a workshop for the PhD candidates, to be fol- the candidate cohort itself. An activity, in which the first-
lowed by group projects where candidate teams are asked to year candidates discuss, develop and choose three research
design water infographics. topic areas in agreement with potential academic supervisors
Workshops, mini group projects and networking sessions and partners, runs throughout the year. Candidate choices are
during the summer school have been organised, not only then reviewed, one topical area is selected and candidate-
to address the main summer school topic, but also to help supervisor connections are established, with the research pro-
in developing both specific and transferable research skills, posal being presented at the summer school event. During the
and generic skills, to prepare participants for future careers first stage, the candidates also participate in weekly cohort
both inside and outside of academia. The participants meet seminars/meetings linked to the postgraduate school. The
every morning with internationally recognised academics first stage of the programme finishes with research proposal
(e.g. Elena Toth, University of Bologna; Patrick Reed, Cor- presentations and allocation of the supervisory teams. The
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 2721–2738, 2021 https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-2721-2021
T. Wagener et al.: Hydroinformatics education – the WISE Centre for Doctoral Training 2727 Figure 3. Examples of summer school activities (photo credits: top left © Tim Gander 2018; bottom left and right © Lina Stein 2017). https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-2721-2021 Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 2721–2738, 2021
2728 T. Wagener et al.: Hydroinformatics education – the WISE Centre for Doctoral Training
time between the summer school and the beginning of year 2 lation, the WISE CDT programme established peer-support
is focused on refining the research proposal and planning. groups (a buddy scheme), whereby all incoming first-year
Each supervisory team involves a primary project super- candidates are assigned to a second-, third- or final-year
visor and a second supervisor at the institution where can- PhD candidate at Exeter who has volunteered to become a
didates are registered. The supervisory team also includes a “buddy”. This effort is followed by a similar system being
mentor who can make an objective assessment of the can- established for them when they move to the university where
didate’s progress, provide pastoral support, and monitor the they are registered for the remainder of the programme. All
all-important working relationship between the (primary) su- first-year PhDs are invited to meet their buddies at the be-
pervisor and candidate. We encourage that, in addition to ginning of the WISE CDT postgraduate school. There is no
the supervisory team at the primary institution, candidates pressure to do so, but candidates are regularly made aware
also have a supervisor at one of the other institutions who that there is someone who they can contact to ask for advice.
provides a complementary skill set or expertise. In addi-
tion to enhancing the candidate’s training, this interaction 3.1 Candidate participation and feedback
also promotes cross-institutional research. The supervisory
team is completed by an industrial advisor in cases where We regularly gather feedback from our candidates, through
the project is co-funded by a sponsoring organisation. We surveys, individual feedback or via the cohort representa-
also encourage supervisory teams where early career aca- tives. The surveys would cover the following:
demic colleagues are working alongside experienced PhD – end of year 1 – postgraduate school review meeting
supervisors (the early career academic is normally the lead and face-to-face feedback to centre manager and pro-
supervisor). During the second stage of their PhD, CDT can- gramme director;
didates have regular meetings with the supervisory team at
the institution where they are registered (commonly every – Transferable Skills and Leadership module evaluation
1–2 weeks), while also participating in the regular research forms;
group meetings (organised by the well-established institu-
tional research groups). – annual progress review “happiness index”; and
– end-of-programme candidate experience survey.
2.5 WISE CDT management structure
Everything is reported to the PMG (directors and co-Is) and
Management of the WISE CDT is structured as follows. Day- discussed at their quarterly meetings. Data from the hap-
to-day management of the WISE CDT is provided by the lead piness index and candidate experience surveys are also re-
principal investigator (PI) and the WISE postgraduate school ported to the external strategic advisory board. In addition,
manager at the University of Exeter (the latter is an academic we informally expect candidate representatives to survey
staff member with 50 % time availability), with support of their cohort to feed in ideas, comments and criticism to each
a full-time administrative position. Each partner university quarterly PMG meeting.
has a co-director (Co-D) and a co-investigator (Co-I) as a lo- Each cohort of PhD candidates elects a representative dur-
cal management team (10 % time commitment), supported ing their first year on the programme. Representatives ac-
by a part-time administrator (20 % time commitment). We tively contribute to PMG meetings to feed in comments from
found that two academic staff members per university (Co- their peers, to participate in discussions, and to make recom-
D and Co-I) are necessary so that regular meeting partic- mendations and bring in ideas. They are present for all open
ipation and continuous candidate support can be assured. business agenda items (i.e. only excluding closed business
The PI, Co-Ds and Co-Is make up the programme manage- items where CDT financial and individual candidate matters
ment group (PMG), which meets once every 3 months to re- are discussed), receive minutes of all meetings and contribute
view progress, consult with candidates and make CDT man- agenda items for discussion. Each cohort maintains a closed
agement decisions. A strategic advisory board meets annu- social media group to share feedback and provide peer sup-
ally to receive reports on all aspects of the CDT operation port. Every year, the WISE CDT uses the candidate feed-
and provide external input and recommendations. back to trigger actions and various modifications of the pro-
gramme.
In response to a request from the CDT strategic advi-
3 Candidate experience sory board, a happiness index question was incorporated into
candidates’ 2018–2019 annual progress review forms. This
A key aspect of any CDT is to develop and embed ways of question asked candidates to rate their general happiness in
working that enhance the research candidate experience with their PhD on a scale from 1–5 (from “very unhappy” to “very
the goal of graduating well-balanced and better-prepared happy”). A total of 63 current candidates across cohorts 2–5
PhD candidates. To strengthen the feeling of belonging to the answered this question, with 70 % overall assessing them-
WISE CDT academic community and to reduce social iso- selves to be either “happy” or “very happy”. There appeared
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 2721–2738, 2021 https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-2721-2021T. Wagener et al.: Hydroinformatics education – the WISE Centre for Doctoral Training 2729
to be no correlation between happiness rating and progress, dertaken in response to constructive criticism from candi-
although generally each cohort was “happier” than the pre- dates are the following:
vious one. We considered this could relate to the ongoing – enhanced candidate support/administrative support;
improvements being made to the programme but might also
indicate the increasing pressures felt when nearing comple- – obtaining Chartered Institution of Water and Environ-
tion of a PhD. The CDT will continue to use the happiness mental Management (CIWEM) accreditation to meet
index question in future years, enabling valuable longitudinal the needs of candidates without a formal engineering
studies. The experience gained through running the CDT has background (they found that this will help their employ-
provided insight as to the best scheduling of events or inclu- ability with engineering companies);
sion of new content or activities. Comprehensive candidate
– amendments to content and scheduling of the taught
feedback data complement this by identifying the points at
components of the postgraduate school;
which declining satisfaction is more likely, enabling proac-
tive interventions to be made. We also share the CDT’s can- – enhancements to transferable skills modules, e.g. viva
didate experience data (in anonymised form) and other met- preparation, career guidance;
rics amongst the partner organisations so that good practice
– broadening the industry day focus/range of guests to
is disseminated.
cover the breadth of candidates’ research interests;
A candidate experience survey was undertaken for our first
cohort on completion of their PhD programme. This survey – website enhancements – including a secure library of
asked candidates a range of questions about their experi- CDT templates/guidance;
ence of the CDT, aiming to find out what had been valuable,
– ongoing engagement with alumni, including in CDT
what could be improved and what difference the WISE CDT
events, e.g. talks to current candidates;
had made to them. The survey questions incorporated rat-
ings from 1–5 (from “very poor” to “excellent”) plus free – involving candidates actively in planning of CDT
text comment fields. While the sample size was small, every- events.
one completed and returned the feedback form. Candidates
rated the CDT experience overall as “good”, with a mean 3.2 Industry engagement and professional
score of 4.25 out of 5. Most frequently mentioned as the best accreditation
elements were the cohort experience and support and friend-
ships gained, the opportunity for a funded research visit, and The WISE CDT aims to develop PhD graduates who may
the opportunity throughout the programme to present work progress to academic, industry, regulatory, practitioner or re-
and engage with other researchers. These results are pleas- search institutions. In this respect exposure to real industry
ing, as they represent the areas not generally available on a challenges and projects, and the networking and career de-
standard PhD programme. The most frequently cited areas velopment opportunities that arise from engagement with in-
for improvement were the following. (1) Rethink the post- dustry, are highly valuable and necessary components of the
graduate school – we went from six compulsory and two training programme delivered by the CDT. To deliver this as-
optional modules to eight compulsory modules which re- pect there are various components of the programme with
duced candidate options but was required due to university- an industry focus: (i) a series of seminars and invited lec-
wide changes. We also went from long and thin modules, tures from industry and water-related stakeholders during the
over a full semester, to short and thick modules, over a few postgraduate school in Exeter; (ii) an annual WISE CDT in-
weeks. We further tried to help candidates who came into dustry day where the candidates present their project propos-
the programme with less quantitative skills to catch up be- als/results to date to water industry and practitioner stake-
fore the actual programme started. (2) Develop a unified ap- holders via a poster and networking session; (iii) engagement
proach across the four universities (e.g. registration periods, with our strategic advisory board (SAB) via a poster com-
PhD thesis submission, extension requests) – this was diffi- petition (judged by the SAB) held during the annual sum-
cult to adjust given that these administrative processes were mer school; (iv) engagement with professional organisations
largely out of our control, though communication was im- such as the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmen-
proved. (3) Allow for more interaction between the four uni- tal Management (CIWEM), the Institute of Water (IoW),
versities, including both candidates and academics (e.g. joint British Hydrological Society (BHS), UK Water Industry
supervision, inter-disciplinary events, data/software sharing) Research (UKWIR), International Association for Hydro-
– this interaction was expanded as WISE grew. This exit sur- Environment Engineering and Research (IAHR), and the In-
vey will be undertaken annually as each cohort completes ternational Water Association (IWA) as relevant. Addition-
their programme. ally, many of the PhD projects within the WISE CDT pro-
Throughout the CDT, candidate feedback has contributed gramme are co-developed by the candidates and their super-
to the evolution of the CDT structure. The main actions un- visor teams with industry and/or practitioner partners, ensur-
ing a route to impact and adding real-world relevance to the
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-2721-2021 Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 2721–2738, 20212730 T. Wagener et al.: Hydroinformatics education – the WISE Centre for Doctoral Training Figure 4. We have run WISE CDT industry days with Atkins in 2016, HR Wallingford in 2017, Arup in 2018 and jointly with the Wet Networks event series in 2020 (photo credits: © Tom Arnot). project when it is delivered. Industrial partners have found ments (Fig. 4). For our most recent event in February 2020, this level of interaction highly beneficial, e.g. Dan Green, run in collaboration with the Wet Networks events which head of sustainability and innovation at Wessex Water, said are jointly convened by Arup and WRc, we attracted about “Wessex Water is seeing the emergence of skills and knowl- 100 attendees for the half-day programme, with roughly edge gaps in common with other companies in the water sec- 50 % being external guests. Amongst these were water util- tor . . . . The WISE CDT helps address these gaps by provid- ities (Bristol Water plc, Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water, Wes- ing leading interdisciplinary training across the subject areas sex Water), consultants (Arup, Frazer–Nash Consultancy, of water engineering and informatics which are vital for the PA Consulting, RSKW, Sweco, WRc Group), contractors future of this industry and highly pertinent to our company”. (Jacobs, Mott MacDonald Group, MWH Treatment, Stan- Industry interest has led to jointly funded projects operating tec, Wood, WSP), NGOs (Oxfam, RedR UK), supply chain within the WISE CDT, with direct cash funding from indus- companies (CRALEY Group, DeepRoot, Flow3D, Innovyze, try partners in excess of GBP 0.7 million, and in-kind con- TRE ALTAMIRA), stakeholder organisations (Alliance for tributions such as collaborator staff time and advice, invited Water Stewardship, Water Industry Forum, The UK Water seminars, site visits, access to stakeholder data, opportunities Partnership), and UK Government agencies (Environment for in-company or on-site trials, and access to facilities and Agency, Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)). infrastructure, valued in excess of GBP 2 million. WISE also achieved accreditation from the UK Chartered Industry engagement with the WISE CDT includes the Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CI- annual WISE CDT industry day, for which the number of WEM) programme in June 2018 (https://www.ciwem.org/, UK water industry companies and stakeholders attending has last access: 17 May 2021). We pursued accreditation with risen from around 20 to about 40 during the last four instal- CIWEM in direct response to candidate feedback as we con- Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 2721–2738, 2021 https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-2721-2021
T. Wagener et al.: Hydroinformatics education – the WISE Centre for Doctoral Training 2731
sidered that CIWEM accreditation would meet the needs of This experience was unique not only in terms of
candidates without an engineering background. This was in academic enrichment and collaboration but also
fact CIWEM’s first accreditation of a PhD course and cov- experiencing the rich and diverse culture of South
ers all five cohorts of candidates. Areas of good practice East Asia (Maria Xenochristou, University of Ex-
highlighted by the accreditation panel included the relation- eter, Cohort 2, visited the National University of
ships with and between candidate cohorts, our industry and Singapore).
practitioner links, and the ability of candidates to draw on
academic expertise and facilities across the four universi- The experience of being able to visit an interna-
ties. Achieving this formal accreditation was important for tional university is highly beneficial both practi-
our candidates because following a CIWEM-accredited pro- cally and personally – you get to develop your
gramme enhances candidates’ career prospects by facilitating skills and knowledge, work with international aca-
their path to chartered engineer status in the UK. demics who are experts in your field, and ex-
perience a whole new culture at the same time
As a student member of CIWEM it is great to (Stephen Clee, Cardiff University, Cohort 2, vis-
see the WISE CDT programme acknowledged as a ited Hohai University in Nanjing, China).
CIWEM-accredited course. It demonstrates to fu-
ture employers that CIWEM recognises the course
3.4 Outreach: The Land of the Summer People art
content as relevant to the professional disciplines
project
in the water and environmental management sec-
tor, where many of us aspire to end up working WISE CDT PhD candidates have been involved in a wide
(Candidate Laura Wignall, University of Exeter, range of outreach activities – largely at their home univer-
Cohort 3). sities after the candidates completed their first year in Ex-
eter. Most outreach activities related to the candidates’ re-
The WISE CDT is well structured to teach the fun-
search topic, which they only fully engage with in years 2–4
damental scientific and practical principles of wa-
of their PhD. Example outreach activities include the follow-
ter engineering design to researchers from multi-
ing: (a) Walking with Scientists – Ioanna Stamataki (Bath
disciplinary backgrounds. The course is a great
Cohort 1) led a guided walking tour showcasing Bath’s rich
gateway to bring new perspectives into environ-
science history – as part of FUTURES 2019; Ioanna’s talk
mental engineering – in particular by advancing
focused on the historical floods of the River Avon and the
best practice through linking new computational
applications of using historical data; (b) Tomorrow’s Engi-
tools to water management challenges. CIWEM’s
neers Week 2019 – as part of this initiative, Cardiff candidate
accreditation of the programme is an excellent
Santi Lopez (Cohort 5) volunteered on behalf of ICE Wales
benchmark of quality to communicate the bene-
to provide engineering team challenges to secondary school
fit of the CDT to future employers and collabora-
students, with the aim of encouraging them to consider a ca-
tors (Candidate James Webber, University of Ex-
reer in engineering; and (c) “Tomorrow” – Swindon’s Sci-
eter, Cohort 1).
ence Festival; WISE candidates showcased an augmented re-
ality sandbox, developed by the company KeckCAVES and
3.3 International research visits
supported by the National Science Foundation in the USA,
All WISE CDT candidates are provided with financial sup- which allowed the audience to sculpt miniature sand land-
port for a 3-month research/industry visit in the UK or abroad scapes and generate “clouds” and “rainfall” with their hands.
(Fig. 5). Most of them spent 3 months with an international The group also demonstrated the effects of flooding (such
partner institution, about a third visited industrial partners as flash flooding from a dam break) and natural disasters
while others went to academic institutions, and some visited (e.g. tsunamis) on different landscapes and their associated
both. Table 2 shows the diversity of institutions that our can- engineering mitigation strategies. We generally left organis-
didates visited. ing these activities to the individual PhD candidates and their
supervisors/institutions rather than organising them centrally
Visiting TU Delft has been the cherry on top of with an overarching objective in mind. However, one out-
my PhD cake; I feel really proud of what I have reach activity was started centrally, and we believe it is worth
achieved. The knowledge and data gained through sharing.
this visit has really helped to advance the robust- One very worthwhile outreach activity (based on can-
ness of the last 3 years of work. Of course, it didate feedback) that took place during the first year
has also been a great opportunity to improve my of the first PhD cohort was the project The Land of
cycling proficiency! (Olivia Bailey, University of the Summer People (https://thelandofthesummerpeople.org/
Bath, Cohort 2, visited TU Delft in the Nether- collaborative-process/, last access: 17 May 2021). This art–
lands). science research collaboration brought together artists –
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-2721-2021 Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 2721–2738, 20212732 T. Wagener et al.: Hydroinformatics education – the WISE Centre for Doctoral Training Figure 5. Clockwise from top left: Anna Lo Jacomo (Cohort 2) and Richard Rees (Cohort 3) enjoying the hospitality of their hosts at Hohai University, Nanjing, China; Cohort 2 student Olivia Bailey’s research base at TU Delft, Netherlands; Cohort 2 student Olivia Milton- Thompson making the most of her research visit to UBC, Vancouver, Canada; and Cohort 2 student Joe Shuttleworth at the University of California, Irvine, USA. working on environmental issues – and WISE CDT PhD think of them as strange. It turned out that both groups actu- candidates (Fig. 6). The project explored the unstable rela- ally appreciated the very different viewpoints that the other tionship between society, water and place by exploring flood group presented – challenging their existing mindset. The impacts over the Somerset Levels, a very flood prone re- second workshop included pairing artists and candidates in gion in England. Pairs of one artist and three PhD candidates small groups, which would then go on to develop individual jointly developed art pieces, including paintings and draw- art projects. The small groups self-organised to develop their ings, which were subsequently exhibited in a public gallery projects in the outdoors or in the artists’ studios. An interest- in Exeter. ing challenge for the candidates was to produce outcomes, The project started with a series of workshops. First, the such as a painting, which, in contrast to a scientific graph, PhD candidates came together to gather background knowl- did not have a single specific message but rather would trig- edge regarding the history and future of flooding over the ger different emotions in the audience. The candidates have Somerset Levels. They worked in small groups of three can- been trained to ensure that 100 viewers of their graphs would didates who integrated their findings in a poster so that what walk away with a single message, while the artists wanted they learned was shared with the rest of the group. In a subse- them to (preferably) walk away with 100 different emotions quent workshop, candidates and artists were brought together and ideas. to explain their respective background and interests. Interest- The outcomes of this collaboration were ultimately exhib- ingly, it became clear during pre-workshop discussions that ited publicly in a dedicated gallery space in Exeter, UK. Art both groups were rather nervous about the event. The can- pieces included paintings and stone masonry, as well as flood didates thought that the artists would consider them to be survival kits (including sponges, sand, inflatable rubber and boring, while the artists assumed that the candidates would information material) which were handed out to the public in Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 2721–2738, 2021 https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-2721-2021
T. Wagener et al.: Hydroinformatics education – the WISE Centre for Doctoral Training 2733
Table 2. Research visit locations.
Institution hosting research visit Host institution supervisor
Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand Prof. Mukand Babel
Centre of Ecology and Hydrology, Wallingford, UK Dr. Cecilia Svensson
University of Saskatchewan, Canmore, Canada Prof. Martyn Clark
Cornell University, Ithaca, USA Prof. Patrick Reed
Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands Prof. Jan Peter van der Hoek
Deltares/Delft Technical University, the Netherlands Dr. Robert McCall
DHI, Hørsholm, Denmark Dr. Ole Mark
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada Dr. Aaron Cahill
Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia Prof. Rodger Tomlinson
Ludwig-Franzius-Institut, Leibniz Universität Hannover/Technical University of Braunschweig, Hanover, Germany Dr. Stefan Schimmels
Hohai University, Nanjing, China Prof. Yongping Chen
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Laxenburg, Austria Dr. Yoshihide Wada
JBA Consulting Ms. Kirsty Styles
KWR Water Research Institute, Utrecht, Netherlands Dr. Mirjam Blokker
Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan Prof. Yasuto Tachikawa
Laval University, Quebec, Canada Prof. Sebastien Houde
Leibniz University Hannover, Germany Dr. Stefan Schimmels
Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology, Luxembourg Dr. Stan Schymanski
Nanjing Normal University/Hohai University, Nanjing, China Drs. Qiang Dai and Jing Huang
National University of Science and Technology, Zimbabwe Dr. Eugine Makaya
National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore Prof. Vladan Babovic
San Diego State University, USA Prof. Hilary McMillan
Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences and Engineering (SCELSE), Singapore Dr. Jamie Hinks
Hohai University, Nanjing, China Prof. Pei Xin
Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa Dr. Wesaal Khan
Texas A & M University, College Station, USA Prof. Scott Socolofsky
The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand Dr. Heide Friedrich
Tsinghua University, Beijing, China Prof. Binliang Lin
University College London, UK Dr. Eugeny Buldakov
University of Arizona, USA Prof. Tom Meixner
University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy Prof. Alberto Montanari
University of California, Irvine, California, USA Prof. Brett Sanders
University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand Prof. Roger Nokes
University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia Prof. Tim Fletcher
University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia Dr. Murray Peel
University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada Prof. Bryan Tolson
University of Zurich (UZH), Zurich, Switzerland Prof. Jan Seibert
Washington State Department of Ecology, USA Dr. George Kaminsky
WaterHarvest, India Om Prakash Sharma
University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia Prof. Ian Turner
Wuhan University, Wuhan, China Prof. Junqiang Xia
Somerset as a starting point for discussion on flooding prob- both UK (60 %) and EU (40 %) candidates into the pro-
lems in the area (Fig. 6). gramme. We used industry and matching university fund-
ing to support EU candidates, since EPSRC funding could
only be used to support UK candidates. EU candidates orig-
4 WISE CDT candidates’ backgrounds and follow-on inated from Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece,
careers Italy, Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain. Most candidates en-
tered the programme after finishing a postgraduate master’s
We have recruited a total of five candidate cohorts into degree, while a few had either concluded a 4-year undergrad-
the WISE CDT programme (Fig. 2). Each cohort included uate programme (e.g. MEng) or a bachelor’s degree only. As
between 15 and 18 PhD candidates. In total we recruited noted previously, we recruited candidates from a wide range
84 candidates, of which 39 % were female and 61 % male. of science and engineering backgrounds as intended, given
Candidates’ ages on entry ranged from 21 to 50, with 82 % our goal to provide a broad-based interdisciplinary research
of candidates being aged between 20–29 at the start of the programme (Fig. 7).
programme, 17 % aged between 30–39 and 1 % aged 40+. A relatively small fraction of the candidates have gradu-
Due to the mix of funding through EPSRC, industry and ated thus far (mainly from cohorts 1 and 2), and any assess-
the four participating universities, we were able to recruit
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-2721-2021 Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 2721–2738, 20212734 T. Wagener et al.: Hydroinformatics education – the WISE Centre for Doctoral Training
Figure 6. The Land of the Summer People art project paired each group of three PhD students with an artist. Each group independently
developed a piece of art. Pieces included paintings, stone masonry and flood survival kits to be handed out to the public (photo credits:
© Seila Fernandez Arconada 2014).
ment of the candidates’ subsequent career path is therefore eller – building on the UK-scale modelling framework she
preliminary. Experience in other doctoral programmes sug- developed and tested, while Mariano Marinari (Cohort 1)
gests that strong interactions amongst researchers during the is a technical consultant for EcoNomad Solutions Ltd and
PhD continue to influence their later career paths (Carr et also teaches applied mathematics at a secondary school in
al., 2017, 2018). It will be interesting to see whether such his home country of Italy.
findings are also true for the WISE CDT programme. The
first group of graduating WISE PhD candidates moved into
research positions, consultancy and other jobs, such as with 5 Conclusions and lessons learned
the regulatory authorities. For example, Josh Myrans (Co-
hort 1) extended his PhD work to further develop artificial- Harnessing and exploiting the rapidly growing sources of
intelligence-based technology for automated detection of available data and computational power are among the great-
faults in wastewater pipes from CCTV inspections. This est professional challenges and opportunities facing water
technology, developed initially as part of his WISE PhD, and environmental practitioners as well as researchers to-
is currently being implemented via a knowledge transfer day. The proliferation of sensors of various types, large-scale
project with a large UK water company. Maria Xenochris- and widespread data acquisition, increasingly sophisticated
tou (Cohort 2) is now employed as a postdoc at Stanford modelling tools, information and communication technolo-
University in the USA. She is using the advanced machine gies, the internet of things, and the roll-out of 5G wireless
learning and other skills gained during her WISE PhD to ad- networks will enable far more symbiotic relationships to be
vance research in the field of bioinformatics. Rosanna Lane developed between rural populations, city governments, ur-
(Cohort 2) now works for the UK Centre for Ecology and ban citizens and businesses. In the long term, digital sensors,
Hydrology (UKCEH) in Wallingford, as a hydrological mod- smart phones and wearable smart devices will together form
the primary interface between customers, other stakeholders
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 2721–2738, 2021 https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-2721-2021You can also read
