Partner 1 : University of Newcastle (UNEW), UK

UNEW will perform the overall project coordination as well as leading WP4 and WP5. Within the University the work will be carried out by the Water Resource Systems Research Laboratory (WRSRL), Department of Civil Engineering.

The Water Resource Systems Research Laboratory (WRSRL) is one of the leading international university research centres in its field and, with 8 academic staff, 10 research staff, 20-25 research students and multi-sponsor research income of over a million pounds a year, it is also one of the largest. Innovative research has been conducted over many years to develop a range of leading-edge technologies: these include hydrological, sediment and contaminant transport modelling systems such as SHETRAN, hydroinformatic tools and decision support/management systems. The aim is to improve the ability of decision-makers to address a spectrum of urgent concerns over management of the water environment and engineering infrastructure. Rigorous procedures are in place to verify the system computer codes and to demonstrate their fitness for purpose. In addition it has become increasingly apparent that modelling developments must be integrated more effectively with field programmes and several integrated programmes have therefore been developed, notably in the UK, Chile, Spain and Switzerland. The WRSRL has coordinated a number of EC projects (eg POPSICLE, GRACE and WRINCLE) and been a partner in others (eg MEDALUS, VAHMPIRE and FRAMEWORK), all of which are concerned with aspects of environmental change impact modelling. The WRSRL is located in the Department of Civil Engineering, which received the highest ratings (5, 5A and 5-star) in the 1989, 1992 and 1996 national research assessment exercises, reflecting international excellence in research. The Newcastle campus is also well known for its cross-faculty Centre for Land Use and Water Resources Research which, since 1985, has been spearheading interdisciplinary research on integrated land and water resource management.

The team will consist of a senior academic (Project Coordinator and team leader) and a Research Associate supported by the WRSRL Computer Manager.