Phil Ashworth

Phil Ashworth is a Professor of Physical Geography specialising in river morphodynamics and sedimentology.

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 is a member of the newly formed Executive-led 'Securing our Future' Group that makes recommendations on the size and shape of the university in the immediate and near-future. Phil is also Chair 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 excellent 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 44 and over 4900 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. 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 who have helped draft the Guidance on Submissions and Criteria and Methods in 2018.

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.

River dynamics, sediment transport, morphological change in the world's largest rivers, flooding and river-floodplain connectivity, hydrocarbon reservoir characterisation, UAVs/drone applications