Conflict and disasters afflict some of the most vulnerable populations on earth, and wreak havoc on societies. Prevention, and timely and effective responses are necessary to save lives and preserve infrastructure, and to promote socio-economic recovery and build resilience.
Our research focuses on drivers of these risks, whilst our education activities prepare professionals and organisations to better respond and promote resilience, seeking solutions with governmental and non-governmental organisations, and with commercial and military collaborators. The scale of disaster response frequently requires the coordination of military and civil expertise.
Within the synergistic fields of defence, risk and resilience the University of Portsmouth has a world class profile, with research expertise in key areas such as global governance, geopolitical conflicts, risk mapping and monitoring, peace, security and deterrence, AI and autonomy, ethics, risk management, disaster response, and organisational and community resilience. CEDRR incorporates our expertise in these fields into one Centre of Excellence, providing a focal point, coordination, and an incubator for future initiatives.
CEDRR can offer:
- Access to degree programmes and bespoke training courses
- Support for new product development and innovation
- Trials and testing support and advice
- Reviews and assessments
- Collaboration in research and innovation projects with access to world-leading experts in their fields
- Support for business growth, management and leadership training
- Consultancy services
- And much more…
Contact us
Email: CEDRR@port.ac.uk
Education Services
We have a long track record in providing relevant education services, we welcome applications from a variety of backgrounds, including those from the military, first responders and resilience practitioners. We offer degrees, short courses and bespoke executive education, either on campus in discrete blocks of teaching, online at your convenience, or via distance learning or Learning at Work. Many of our programmes are also accredited.
Recognition of Prior Learning
At Portsmouth, our students can receive academic credit for Recognised Prior Learning on most of our courses, including those serving and former services personnel. RPL can be acquired in previous study, employment, voluntary work and training courses, reducing the total length of studies. We are also an accredited MOD education provider accepting ELCAS credits which greatly reduce the cost to individual students.
Partnerships
- Hampshire and Isle of Wight Local Resilience Forum
- South Central Regional Defence and Security Cluster(DASA-sponsored)
- SimEx: our annual disaster response simulation exercise
- UN World Food Programme
- Royal Air Force
- Royal Navy
- Defence College of Logistics, Policing and Administration
- Defence School of Electronic and Mechanical Engineering
- London Fire Brigade
- Oil Spill Response Ltd
- Technical Rescue International Ltd
- Helyx Secure Information Systems Ltd
- Institute of Search and Technical Rescue
- ServeOn Search and Rescue
- Ministry of Defence Research Ethics Committee (MODREC)
Impact
Explore the impact our research is having on defence, risk and resilience. From using satellite imagery to fight crime and using drones in disaster responses.
Project highlights
Recent publications
2026
Interviewing in cold cases: Evidence-based best practices for extracting long-term memories
Price, H., Luther, K., Thomas, W., Gabbert, F., Hope, L.
24 Feb 2026,
Research output: Chapter (peer-reviewed)
2025
‘From lab to lifesaving’: the evolution of a public health campaign to reduce drownings
Tipton, M., Barwood, M., Eglin, C., Massey, H., Macleod, R.
24 Dec 2025, In: Injury Prevention, ip-2025-045970
Research output: Article
Retreat and volume loss of two rapidly vanishing Svalbard glaciers since 1938: Elsabreen and Ferdinandbreen, Petuniabukta
McCerery, R., Lovell, H., King, O., Davies, B. J., Boston, C. M., Małecki, J., Carrivick, J., Woodward, J.
18 Dec 2025, In: Annals of Glaciology, 30p.
Research output: Article
An AI ethics framework for a trustworthy autonomous drone system to support battlefield casualty triage
Lee, P., Kenning, A. P. P., Ahmad, T., Waheed, S. M.
17 Dec 2025, In: AI and Ethics
Research output: Article
Multiparameter quantum metrology at Heisenberg scaling for an arbitrary two-channel linear interferometer with squeezed light
Rai, A., Triggiani, D., Facchi, P., Tamma, V.
1 Dec 2025, In: Physical Review A. 112, 10p., 062401
Research output: Article
Exploring long-term landscape changes in a rural catchment in southern England, from the mid-nineteenth century to the present, and their implications for future land management
Hudson, C., Lovell, H., Pearson, A., Soar, P.
3 Oct 2025, In: Landscapes, 21p.
Research output: Article
Unveiling vulnerabilities in deep learning-based malware detection: Differential privacy driven adversarial attacks
Taheri, R., Shojafar, M., Arabikhan, F., Gegov, A.
1 Oct 2025, In: Computers and Security
Research output: Article
Citizen preferences for supporting farmers in sustainable rural management: An analysis of five biogeographically differentiated European countries
Fu, R., Yue, M., Jin, S., Frewer, L. J.
1 Oct 2025, In: Journal of Rural Studies. 119, 13p., 103779
Research output: Article
How the ICC can make Duterte’s trial useful to Filipinos – or miss it
Smith, T.
19 Sep 2025, In: Justice Info
Research output: Article
Simultaneous estimation of three parameters with Heisenberg scaling sensitivity in a two-channel optical network
Rai, A., Triggiani, D., Facchi, P., Tamma, V.
9 Sep 2025, In: The European Physical Journal Plus. 140, 12p., 858
Research output: Article
Recent funded projects
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ASIS Foundation
Guiding readers to a greater understanding of autonomous vehicles, including those that operate in the air, on land, on the water, and underwater.
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ATRACT: A Trustworthy Robotic Autonomous system to support Casualty Triage
Creating a Trustworthy Robotic Autonomous Drone System to support Battlefield Casualty Triage.
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DEFRA/Darwin Initiative for biodiversity
A soil mapping project that informs environmental management and climate change mitigation in the British Virgin Islands.
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Global Challenges Research Fund
Exploring the impact of Covid19 in developing countries and good practice guidelines for disaster risk reduction.
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Horizon 2020 – AI-ARC
Developed the Virtual Control Room (VCR), a novel and robust system using AI that can provide a situational picture in the Arctic Ocean region.
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Horizon 2020 – ArcSAR: Arctic Search and Rescue
Helping the the Arctic and North-Atlantic (ANA) region cope with security and safety threats as a result of increased commercial activity in the region.
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Space Research and Innovation Network for Technology (SPRINT)
A satellite enabled digital insurance ecosystem for small-hold farmers in Colombia.
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Taigh Mor Foundation
Understanding Mental Health and Moral Injury in UK Military Chaplains.
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UK Space Agency, International Partnership Programme
Using satellite data to assist climate change resilience in Pacific Small Island Developing States.
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UK Space Agency, Training Programme
Providing data and AI training to military and first responders.
Our members
Media ready expert
Professor Sara Hadleigh-Dunn
Dr Michelle Juchau
Dr Fionnuala Rose
- Research and Innovation Development Manager
- fionnuala.rose@port.ac.uk
- Dept of Research and Innovation
Dr Simon Kolstoe
PhD research students
- Toby Meredith (2023-2027) – SOS! Investigating the use of drones for sea border surveillance of migratory routes to post-Brexit UK: Frameworks, experiences and policies. - funded by the ESRC South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership. (Supervisors: Siklodi, Lee & Greatbatch).
- Mykyta Saveliev (2023-2026) – Enterprise Risk Management in SMEs in Ukraine: Utilising High Reliability Theory to Improve Crisis Resilience (supervisors: Hadleigh-Dunn, Labib and Niekrasova/Odessa National Polytechnic University).
- Andy Webb: (2023-2026) – Preparing aviators for their robotic future: assessing organisational change to accommodate human factors when introducing AI and autonomous systems (supervisors: Shakir, Lee and Labib).
- Harold Chadwick (2022-2025) – Measuring the potential Impact of an Integrated CANZUK Whole of Government Disaster Response (supervisors: Teeuw, Solana and Morris).
- Rozene Smith – Lethal autonomous weapon systems and the violation of human dignity.
Related courses
Explore our courses in defence, risk and resilience.
Crisis and Disaster Management MSc
Learn about crisis prevention, planning and management on this MSc degree course. Graduates work in the emergency planning and disaster relief in the UK or overseas.
Start date: September 2026
Risk, Crisis and Resilience Management MSc
Learn how to guide organisations through critical situations in our full-time or part-time Master's course. Understand how to identify, assess, and manage risks and threats.
Start date: September 2026
Professional Doctorate in Security Risk Management
The Professional Doctorate in Security Risk Management (D.SyRM) is a structured, part-time programme targeted towards security professionals in the UK and overseas, delivered through a small number of workshops in Portsmouth for the first two years and then two years of supervised research leading to a thesis.
Start date: October 2026
Leadership and Management (Top-up) MSc
Turn your practical leadership experience into an academic postgraduate qualification in 1 year, as you study management topics and target your studies to progress your career.
Start date: January 2026 September 2026 January 2027
Cyber Security and Forensic Information Technology MSc
Study MSc Cyber Security and Forensic Information Technology at the University of Portsmouth. Further your studies at a postgraduate level, boost your employability and achieve your goals.
Start date: January 2026 September 2026 January 2027
Risk and Security Management (Distance Learning) BSc (Hons)
If you're already working in security, or want to break into the field, this distance learning degree course gives you the skills to realise your potential.
Start date: September 2026
Senior Leadership (Top-Up) MBA
Translate your management and leadership knowledge into practical skills and day-to-day behaviours with this postgraduate top-up course, as you build on your existing PgDip knowledge with a dissertation or work-based project.
Start date: January 2026 May 2026 September 2026 January 2027 May 2027
Counter Terrorism, Intelligence and Cybercrime (Dual Degree - Edith Cowan University) BSc (Hons)
On this dual degree, you'll explore the evolving area of international terrorism and cybercrime, studying in Portsmouth and spending a year at Edith Cowan University, Western Australia.
Start date: September 2026
Discover Portsmouth Military Education
Delivered through a bespoke combination of online material which includes, videos, podcasts and interactive packages and in-person teaching, the Portsmouth Military Education Team delivers Professional Military Education to the Royal Air Force as part of its second successive long-term contract with the RAF to design and deliver education packages.
CEDRR news, events and blogs
Blogs
19th-century plan for a slaving empire based in US deep south and Caribbean resonates with Trump’s foreign policy today
Kyiv’s European allies debate ways of keeping the cash flowing to Ukraine but the picture on the battlefield is grim
How can Europe fight back against incursions by drone aircraft?
Going after ‘antifa’: Donald Trump’s plans to crush his political foes
Kharkiv: what I saw in Ukraine’s ‘unbreakable’ eastern capital
News
