Phil Ashworth

Phil Ashworth is a Professor of Physical Geography specialising in river morphodynamics and sedimentology. His research interests span a range of scales including the largest rivers and estuaries in the world. He focusses on the field quantification of alluvial morphodynamics, the diversity of large river pattern and the application of fluvial sedimentology in characterising reservoir heterogeneity. This work has been supported by 14 NERC grants and several contracts from the petroleum industry.

Phil Ashworth commenced as Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise) in September 2017. He is also Professor of Physical Geography specialising in river morphodynamics and sedimentology.

As an Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Phil reports directly to the Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Enterprise, Professor Tara Dean. He is responsible for ensuring that the actions arising out of the new University Research and Enterprise Strategic Plan are supported and implemented effectively to maximise the scale, quality, impact and international reach of the University’s research and enterprise. Phil leads development of the new Centres of Research and Enterprise Excellence (COREs), provides strategic leadership on the investment of quality-related (QR) income (>£5m) and manages the Research Services budget (£2m) and Brighton Doctoral College budget (£1m). He also Chairs the University's Innovation Fund that invests HEIF income. Phil is a member of the newly formed Executive-led 'Securing our Future' Group that is making recommendations on the size and shape of the university in the immediate and near-future. As part of this work, he leads the workstream making efficiency gains and savings across the Research and Enterprise remit. He also helps lead a review of the Education and Student Experience central infrastructure with the PVC (Education and Students) Ruth Whittaker and is a member of the Academic Reorganisation Programme Board that is overseeing reconfiguration of the academic provision/organisational structure. Phil Chairs the Board of the recently-formed Joint Clinical Research Office based in the Brighton and Sussex Medical School and serves on the Strategy Board of the Clinical Imaging Sciences Centre. He works with Schools to motivate staff to produce outstanding research and enterprise and is a core member of the REF2021 leadership team, including the joint Medical School.

Phil is an international scholar in the earth, physical and environmental sciences with H-Index of 45 and over 5100 citations. He currently works on landscape evolution and sedimentation across a range of scales including the largest rivers and estuaries in the world. His research has been supported by over £5m of funding including 14 grants from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). Phil has strong links with the petroleum industry and recent projects include working on the Albertan Oil Sands in Canada.

Phil has a strong association with the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) where he was one of only 14 UK scientists invited to chair all the Responsive Mode grant panels (2010-2014). He has also chaired panels for Directed Programmes, Strategic Capital Equipment, International Opportunities and Global Partnerships. Phil is currently a NERC Core member of the Peer Review College and a member of the UKRI Future Leaders Peer Review College and was Deputy Chair of Panel 1 for Round 1 interviews. He also recently served on the EPSRC AI CDT panel. Phil was a council member and trustee of the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) (2014-2017) and is a co-author of a recently published Benchmark Review of UK Physical Geography produced in association with the RGS. He was made a Fellow of the British Society for Geomorphology in 2014. Phil was appointed to the REF2021 UoA14 Geography and Environmental Studies sub-panel whose work so far has helped draft the Guidance on Submissions and Criteria and Working Methods, with assessment to come!

Phil is a keen advocate of research dissemination through different media and has outputs on ResearchGate, YouTube, and Twitter and has published articles in the Times Higher Education.

I would be delighted to supervise student in river dynamics, sediment transport, morphological change in the world's largest rivers, flooding and river-floodplain connectivity, hydrocarbon reservoir characterisation, UAVs/drone applications in river mapping