Matthew Craven

Academic profile

Dr Matthew Craven

Associate Head of School (UG Education)
School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics (Faculty of Science and Engineering)

Overview

Fingerprint

Network

Research outputs

Similar profiles

The Global Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. Matthew's work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

Goal 04: SDG 4 - Quality EducationGoal 07: SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean EnergyGoal 08: SDG 8 - Decent Work and Economic GrowthGoal 14: SDG 14 - Life Below Water

About Matthew

Dr Craven is an applied mathematician and academic leader, whose work spans AI, optimisation and data sciences. His research focusses on applications in offshore renewable energy, cyber security and quantum computing, with particular interests in multi-objective optimisation and mathematical modelling. His educational leadership centres on student success and curriculum enhancement.

Research Snapshot

  • 51 research outputs and 6 datasets
  • 4 completed PhD researchers
  • 8 current PhD researchers
  • Member of EPSRC Peer Review College, Royal Society International Exchanges Panel and UKRI Talent Peer Review College.

Roles

  • Associate Head for Undergraduate Education (SECaM).
  • Lecturer in Applied Mathematics.
  • Awarded the University SSTAR Award for "Inspirational Teacher of the Year" (June 2021) and nominated a further six times. This includes "Programme Leader of the Year" and "The Big Thank You Award" in 2022.
  • Joint lead of the Mathematical and Computational Sciences research group.
  • Lead SWDTP AQM Pathway.
  • Applied Mathematics seminar joint organiser - if you wish to give a seminar then please contact me.
  • Member of the University Senate (until June 2024).

Research interests:

My research applies AI, optimisation and data science to real-world challenges in Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) and Cyber Security. I develop and analyse multi-objective optimisation methodologies and AI-driven support tools, with applications from offshore wind farms and digital twins to security and quantum optimisation.

My research in ORE focusses on improving the design and operation of fixed and floating offshore wind farms through AI, visualisation, and multi- and many-objective optimisation. Current research includes quantum algorithms for wind farm layout optimisation, featured in an SDG7 case study in the Open Quantum Institute (CERN) white paper here, demonstrating its impact. I also supervise research on digital twins to predict the response of floating offshore wind turbines to extreme events.

Within CDORE, I collaborate on optimisation challenges in ORE, including ship routing for the deployment of floating wind turbines to sites in the Celtic sea.

In Cyber Security, I am an international leader in using AI to break group-theoretic cryptographic key-exchange protocols. By applying evolutionary algorithms and hyper-heuristics, I assess, break, and enhance protocols. Examples include the Anshel-Anshel-Goldfeld key exchange protocol over various groups. With my PhD students, I have also worked on cyber security awareness training, and game-theoretic and data science approaches towards insider threat detection.

I supervise two PhD students in quantum computing, exploring applications of quantum technologies to optimisation and machine learning, including ORE and elderly fall detection. I also work on the optimisation of portfolios in the financial and energy sectors. In many of the above, I make use of parallel computation on the University High Performance Computing facility.

Research Funding: Research activity has attracted external support from EPSRC, the Royal Academy of Engineering, the British Council, ERDF and NVIDIA.

  1. 10/2024 - 04/2028, EPSRC ORE DTP: PhD Studentship, £73.5k. PI Ansell L, Co-I Craven M.
  2. 10/2024 - 10/2027, SECaM: PhD Studentship, £78k. PI Bazazian D, Co-I Wei Y, Craven M, Asthana S.
  3. 06/2023 - 09/2023, Manning Endowment UG Research Internship: "Multi-Objective Optimisation of Electric Vessel Charging", £3k. PI Ansell L, Co-I Craven M.
  4. 04/2022 - 10/2023, Royal Academy of Engineering, Diversity Impact Programme: "Embedding Systemic Inclusion for Neurodiverse and Disabled Engineering Students", £94k. PI Khan A, Co-I Craven M, Wei Y, et al.
  5. 2021- 2022, British Council: "Going Global Partnerships Undergraduate STEM Education in Pakistan", £20k. PI Khan A, Co-I Craven M, Walker D, et al.
  6. 2021 - 2023, European Regional Development Fund, Invited researcher on the Cornwall Floating Offshore Wind Accelerator project. PI Greaves D.
  7. 10/2020 - 04/2024, EPSRC ORE DTP Supergen-ORE: PhD studentship, £50.75k. PI Walker D, Co-I Craven M.
  8. 10/2019 - 10/2022, SECaM: PhD Studentship, £43.5k. PI Walker D, Co-I Craven M.
  9. 08/2014 - 08/2017, NVIDIA, Award of NVIDIA GPU Research Center, £3.4k. PI Craven M. [Eight School academic staff carried out interdisciplinary research, supported by hardware from NVIDIA. The centre has continued as a part of the HPC Centre at the University.]
  10. 05/2015, Medicem, "Clinical Assessment of the WIOL-CF", £14k. PI Buckhurst P, Co-I Buckhurst H, Hewson P, Craven M.

 

Supervised Research Degrees

  • Dr T. Alotaibi: Portfolio Optimisation Using Genetic Algorithms and Copula Financial Models (Director of Studies), 2022
  • Dr M. Walter: Understanding Optimisation Processes with Biologically-Inspired Visualisations (Co-supervisor), 2023
  • Dr F. Ben Salamah: Adaptive Awareness Raising and Cyber Security Training for Social Media Users (Co-supervisor), 2023
  • Dr P. Manikowski: Multi-Objective Optimisation of Floating Offshore Windfarms (Director of Studies), 2026

Current PhD Projects

  • Game Theory and Data Science Approaches Towards Insider Threat Detection (Director of Studies)
  • Hybridising Metaheuristics with Machine Learning for Portfolio Optimisation Problems (Director of Studies)
  • The Use of Quantum Computing to Solve Problems in Quantum Field Theory and Optimisation (Co-supervisor)
  • APT Detection and Analysis (Co-supervisor)
  • Use of physical and numerical modelling data to create digital twins for improved floating offshore wind operations and fault response (Director of Studies)
  • Real-time Fall Prediction and Detection System for The Elderly in Care Homes Based on Quantum Computing and Artificial Vision (Co-supervisor)
  • Optimisation of Electric Vessel Charging Networks (Co-supervisor)
  • Revolutionising Wildlife Noise Impact Assessment for Sustainable Soundscapes (Co-supervisor)

I am always happy to hear from prospective PhD students in the areas specified above. For informal enquiries, please contact me directly. To apply officially for a PhD position at Plymouth, please read the information on applying for a research degree.

Teaching

Undergraduate 2026-27:

  • MATH060 Foundational Mathematics in STEM (Module Leader)
  • MATH3709 Optimisation, Networks and Graphs (Module Leader)
  • MATH3713 Final Year Mathematics Projects (Supervisor)

Postgraduate 2026-27:

  • GS19 Introduction to R for research staff and PhD students - Doctoral College (Module Leader) 
  • PROJ518 MSc Dissertation and Research Skills (Supervisor)

Over more than 20 years in higher education, I have combined educational leadership with research-informed teaching across mathematics, AI, data science and optimisation, supporting student development from foundation programmes to doctoral study. I was the Programme Leader for the SECaM foundation years from Sept 2015-Jan 2023.

In addition, I have a proven track record of taking student research to publication, with articles in LNCS, Studies in Economics and Finance, and the Plymouth Student Scientist.

Contact Matthew

Room 111, 2 Kirkby Place, Drake Circus, Plymouth, PL4 8AA
+44 1752 586329