Dr Jawad Fayaz

Dr Fayaz is a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Computer Science at the University of Exeter, UK, and an Honorary Lecturer at University College London (UCL), UK.

He completed his PhD at the University of California, Irvine, USA, in 2021 and then joined University College London (UCL), UK, as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow.

His research aims at advancing machine learning and deep learning methodologies to address interdisciplinary challenges in building community resilience and sustainability. His research focuses on developing statistical and machine learning solutions —particularly in spatiotemporal predictive modelling, interpretable and physics-informed AI modelling, early warning systems, probabilistic hazard analysis, and surrogate modelling— to support decision-making across complex systems in the natural environment, natural hazards, and critical infrastructure. Dr. Fayaz's expertise includes artificial neural networks, advanced statistical analysis, time-series analysis, feature engineering, risk and reliability analysis, Bayesian modelling, and explainable AI (XAI). 

Currently, he is an Academic Lead for the Centre of Environmental Intelligence (EI) at the University of Exeter, UK. He is also on the editorial boards of three journals: i) International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction (IJDRR), ii) Frontiers in Earth Science, and iii) Smart and Sustainable Built Environment

I am also happy to consider applications from strong, self-funded PhD students who have their own source of funding (e.g., from government, industry, or private sponsors).

For PhD applicants seeking funding, several competitive scholarship schemes are available. Please note that many of these have specific eligibility criteria based on nationality and country of residence. Some of the key opportunities include:

• CSC Scholarship (for Chinese nationals and residents): https://www.exeter.ac.uk/study/pg-research/csc-scholarships/
• Commonwealth Scholarship (for nationals and residents of Commonwealth countries): https://cscuk.fcdo.gov.uk/scholarships/commonwealth-phd-scholarships-for-least-developed-countries-and-vulnerable-states/
• Chevening Scholarships (for applicants from over 160 countries): https://www.chevening.org/apply/
• Inlaks Shivdasani Foundation Scholarships (for Indian nationals and residents): https://inlaksfoundation.org/opportunities/scholarship/
• Higher Education Commission (HEC) - Pakistan (for Pakistani nationals and residents): https://www.hec.gov.pk/english/Pages/default.aspx
• UK government website for postgraduate doctoral loans: https://www.gov.uk/doctoral-loan

The above list is not exhaustive. Applicants are recommended to check the University of Exeter's full funding database: https://www.exeter.ac.uk/study/pg-research/funding/phdfunding/, and your own national government's education ministry or department for overseas scholarship programmes.

For more information, you can visit: https://jfayaz.github.io/ or get in touch at j.fayaz@exeter.ac.uk