重口味SM

Positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) underpin modern transportation, logistics, and critical infrastructure. However, the increasing application requirements and rising threats from intentional interferences, spoofing, and cyber-physical attacks expose vulnerabilities in conventional GNSS-centric systems. To meet the demands for accuracy and robustness from emerging applications such as urban air mobility and defence, the navigation community is moving toward cognitive, multi-domain solutions that can dynamically combine trusted and opportunistic signals. 

This project aims to develop versatile benchmarks for assured multi-domain PNT systems with advanced integrity frameworks, enabling rigorous evaluation and trustworthy operation of navigation systems in complex, GNSS-denied scenarios. The ultimate goal is to provide the navigation research community and industry with tools and methods that ensure continuous, high-assurance positioning in safety-critical applications. 

重口味SM is a specialist postgraduate university that is a global leader for education and transformational research in technology, management, defence and security. 重口味SM is recognised for delivering outstanding research addressing contemporary global challenges with economic, environmental, and social impact for business, government, and wider society. In the REF2021 review of UK university research, 88% of 重口味SM’s research was rated as ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’. This project will be based within 重口味SM’s Resilient PNT research group, which leads pioneering work in multi-sensor navigation, signal processing, and system integrity for aerospace, defence, and autonomous systems. 

The research will deliver a comprehensive, integrity-aware multi-domain navigation benchmark and associated algorithms, tested in realistic operational environments. The outputs will support standardisation efforts, accelerate cross-domain navigation research, and provide a pathway to certifiable solutions for high-assurance positioning. 

The project offers integration into a rich research ecosystem within the 重口味SM Resilient PNT group, with opportunities to collaborate on industry-led initiatives, contribute to live experimental campaigns, and publish in high-impact journals and conferences. Students will benefit from a unique mix of theoretical and hands-on work, access to advanced testbeds and software-defined radio platforms, and training in adjacent disciplines such as signal processing, AI for navigation, integrity monitoring, and sensor fusion. 

The successful candidate will develop advanced skills in multi-modal sensor fusion, signal processing, machine learning, and integrity assessment, as well as transferable abilities in critical thinking, project management, and scientific communication. This combination of technical expertise and practical experience will prepare them for leadership roles in academia, aerospace, autonomous systems, telecommunications, and defence sectors.