OPSIS

Shaping the future of resilient and sustainable infrastructure

The Oxford Programme for Sustainable Infrastructure Systems (OPSIS) provides research and education to enable sustainable and resilient infrastructure. We are at the forefront of methodologies for analysing infrastructure systems (energy, transport, water and telecommunications) and their interactions with the natural environment, people and the economy.

We believe that the choices made about infrastructure, urbanization and land use change are fundamental to the sustainability of the planet and the well-being of all its peoples. We aim to improve decision making by providing evidence and tools to analyse infrastructure systems’ resilience, explore possible futures and plot out pathways to sustainability.


Disruption to essential services from climate-related disasters such as droughts and floods can negatively impact millions of people. We use advanced analytics and cutting-edge science to pin-point hotspots of vulnerability and the most vulnerable regions in the future. We help governments, development banks and investors to enhance the resilience of infrastructure networks and improve disaster preparedness.

About Us

We are part of the Environmental Change Institute at the University of Oxford. Our group, led by Professor Jim Hall, is made up of experts in all major economic infrastructure sectors such as energy, water, transport, and digital communications. Our research is distinctive because:

  • We are experts in all major economic infrastructure sectors (energy, transport, water, digital communications) and the interdependencies between them.
  • We analyse the performance of infrastructure systems and the services that they deliver to people, the economy and the environment. We are experts in systems analysis.
  • We study the interactions between infrastructure, people, the economy and the environment. We are committed to the three pillars of sustainability: environment, economy and society.
  • We conduct analysis at a range of spatial scales, up to global scales, using diverse big datasets.
  • We quantify the risks from climate extremes to infrastructure systems and use that information to prioritise adaptation, finance and disaster risk management.
  • We are focussed upon improving decision making. We are experts in methodologies for decision making under uncertainty.
  • We are committed to open source codes and open data.

Research

Our cross-cutting research focuses on all major economic infrastructure. Browse through our research themes to find out more.

Infrastructure Systems Energy Systems Transport Systems Water Resources Management Digital Communications Systems Flood and Coastal Risks Agriculture and Nature-based Solutions Uncertainty and Decision Analysis

Connect

Follow OPSIS researchers on Twitter to keep updated on our research, outputs, and opportunities

Where we work

Our work spans across the world and at multiple scales. Explore the map or see our project list to find out more.