Applications are invited for a three-year PhD studentship. The studentship will start on 1 October 2024.

Project Description

Nematodes, rotifers and tardigrades are microscopic animals with some very unusual biological characteristics which allow some of them to survive extreme stresses, including complete desiccation (anhydrobiosis), radiations and extreme temperatures. To survive, they use several molecular mechanisms, including DNA protection and repair, antioxidants and other protective molecules. These fascinating animals have also evolved to live in environments teeming with micro-organisms, but the interaction between these two types of organism is not fully understood. This project will investigate the innate immune response of micrometazoans during bacterial infection, including an exploration of the role of antimicrobial peptides, small peptides that specifically target and inhibit bacterial growth. The project will also investigate the microbiome of micrometazoans: members of the stable microbiome may also secrete antimicrobial compounds to regulate the growth of other competing bacteria, providing a further source of antimicrobial candidates. These topics will be investigated using both lab-based and bioinformatics approaches and antimicrobial discovery pipelines.

This is an exciting exploratory project that will involve the development of novel methods and requires both bioinformatics and lab skills. The appointed candidate will be required to work independently and show initiative during the PhD. Desirable skills include previous experience working with micro-metazoans such as nematodes, rotifers and/or tardigrades, microbiology, molecular biology and other lab skills (including, but not limited to, PCR, RT-qPCR, western blotting and microscopy), antimicrobial discovery and characterisation, experience in bioinformatics and/or coding.

Supervisors

• DoS: Dr Matthew Banton (matthew.banton@plymouth.ac.uk)
• 2^nd Supervisor: Dr Chiara Boschetti (chiara.boschetti@plymouth.ac.uk)
• 3^rd Supervisor: Professor Mathew Upton (mathew.upton@plymouth.ac.uk)

Eligibility

Applicants should have a first or upper second class honours degree in an appropriate subject or a relevant Masters qualification.

If your first language is not English, you will need to meet the minimum English requirements for the programme, IELTS Academic score of 6.5 (with no less than 5.5 in each component test area) or equivalent.

The studentship is supported for 3 years and includes full home tuition fees plus a stipend of £18,110 per annum 2023/24 rate (2024/25 rate TBC). The studentship will only fully fund those applicants who are eligible for Home fees with relevant qualifications. Applicants normally required to cover International fees will have to cover the difference between the Home and the International tuition fee rates (approximately £13,244 per annum 2024/25 rate).

NB: The studentship is supported for three years of the four-year registration period. The fourth year is a self-funded ‘writing-up’ year.

If you wish to discuss this project further informally, please contact Dr Matthew Banton, matthew.banton@plymouth.ac.uk.

To apply for this position please visit our website.

Please clearly state the name of the studentship that you are applying for on the top of your personal statement.

Please see here for a list of supporting documents to upload with your application.

For more information on the admissions process generally, please visit our How to Apply for a Research Degree webpage or contact the research.degree.admissions@plymouth.ac.uk.

The closing date for applications on 22^nd April 2024. We regret that we may not be able to respond to all applications. Applicants who have not received a response within six weeks of the closing date should consider their application has been unsuccessful on this occasion.

AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Partnership

Applications are invited for a PhD studentship, to be undertaken at Imperial College London (Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department) and the National Gallery (Scientific Department). This studentship will be jointly supervised by Professor Pier Luigi Dragotti at Imperial College London (ICL) and Dr Catherine Higgitt at the National Gallery (NG). The student will be based at ICL and will spend concentrated periods of time at NG. This is an exciting interdisciplinary project involving close collaboration between engineers with expertise in machine learning and image processing, heritage scientists, conservators and curators.

Summary of Project:

In the cultural heritage sector, there is a long tradition of using complementary imaging techniques to further understanding of artworks, looking at and below their surface. The imaging techniques (or modalities) used include visible images taken at different magnifications, images taken using different forms of radiation (e.g. infrared reflectograms and X-radiographs) and images derived from datacubes generated using newer spectroscopic imaging techniques such as macro X-ray fluorescence scanning (MA-XRF) and reflectance imaging spectroscopy (RIS). These multimodal datasets contain a wealth of information which when properly exploited offer unprecedented insights into the creation and history of Old Master paintings, including conservation and deterioration. This work provides new knowledge and discoveries that can be communicated in a very visual way to the public, including through a range of digital media, enhancing their engagement with paintings.

The generation of huge bodies of data using different imaging techniques poses new image processing challenges that cannot be addressed with traditional approaches. Images needs to be registered and they are often at very different resolutions. Further, there is the possibility to take advantage of the existence of many different image modalities available for a particular artwork. The aim of the project is therefore to develop Machine-Learning (ML)-based registration and resolution enhancement workflow for imaging data from artworks allowing information transfer across scales and modalities.

Funding:

The studentship is open to both Home and International applicants and covers home level tuition fees and a stipend of approximately £21,500 per year (tax-free).

International students will need to pay the difference between overseas and home fees. The PhD studentship starts in October 2024 and is for four years (full-time) or up to eight years (part-time). The student will receive additional support towards further research expenses over the course of the research studentship, including support to attend international conferences.

Eligibility:

Applicants must have a good first degree (usually a minimum 2:1) or Masters degree (or equivalent experience) in Electrical/Electronic Engineering, Mathematics, Physics or related areas. They should be highly motivated individuals with a keen interest in conducting interdisciplinary research. Students must also meet the eligibility requirements for Post Graduate Studies at Imperial College London and UKRI terms and conditions for funding: https://www.ukri.org/manage-your-award/meeting-ukri-terms-and-conditions-for-funding/

Further Information and application:

For informal enquiries, please contact Professor Dragotti (p.dragotti@imperial.ac.uk) or Dr Higgitt (catherine.higgitt@nationalgallery.org.uk). Please apply for Post Graduate studies at Imperial College London here indicating Professor Dragotti as chosen supervisor. The application should include a covering letter, and your CV.

Closing Date: 2nd June 2024

This is a project in the broad area of applied and numerical analysis for geometrical partial differential equations with applications to cell biology.

The shape taken by biological cells as well as a variety of cellular functions are known to be regulated by the interplay between proteins on the cell membrane as well as the curvature of the membrane. It is widely accepted within the literature that the stationary state of lipid membranes are given by minimisers of the Canham-Helfrich energy. This energy depends on geometric quantities, as such, analysis is rather difficult. Over recent years, more tractable energies have been derived which approximate this energy for membranes ‘near’ to critical points [1,2]. With these energies, some analysis and numerical analysis [3,4] is possible.

This project seeks to develop the numerical analysis related to these approximating energies, as well as to consider optimal control problems which consider proteins embedded within, or attached to, the membrane. The project would be suitable for a student interested in some, or all, of the following areas: geometric PDEs, PDEs on surfaces, finite element methods, numerical analysis and mathematical biology.

·      C.M. Elliott, C. Gräser, G. Hobbs, R. Kornhuber, and M.-W. Wolf. A variational approach to particles in lipid membranes. Archive for Rational Mechanics and Analysis, 2016.

·      C.M. Elliott, H. Fritz, and G. Hobbs. Small deformations of Helfrich energy minimising surfaces with applications to biomembranes. Mathematical Models and Methods in Applied Sciences, 2017

·      C.M. Elliott, L. Hatcher, and B. Stinner. On the sharp interface limit of a phase field model for near spherical two phase biomembranes. Interfaces and Free Boundaries, 2022

·      C.M. Elliott and P.J. Herbert. Second order splitting of a class of fourth order PDEs with point constraints. Mathematics of Computation, 2020

Amount

·      Fully-paid tuition fees for three and a half years at the home fee status.

·      A tax-free bursary for living costs for three and a half years (£18,622 per annum in 2023/24).

·      Additional financial support is provided to cover short-term and long-term

travel.

·      If you are not a UK national, nor an EU national with UK settled/pre-settled

status, you will need to apply for a student study visa before admission.

Eligibility

Applicants must hold, or expect to hold, at least a UK upper second class degree (or non-UK equivalent qualification) in Physics/Mathematics, or a closely-related area, or else a lower second class degree followed by a relevant Master's degree.

This award is open to UK and International students

Deadline

1^st June 2024

How to apply

Apply through the University of Sussex on-line system.

https://www.sussex.ac.uk/study/phd/apply/log-into-account

Select the PhD in Physics/Mathematics, with an entry date of September 2024.

In the Finance & Fees section, state that you wish to be considered for studentship MPS/2024/HER

We advise early application as the position will be filled as soon as a suitable applicant can be found.

Due to the high volume of applications received, you may only hear from us if your application is successful.

Contact us

If you have practical questions about the progress of your on-line application or your eligibility, contact mps-pgrsupport@sussex.ac.uk

For academic questions about the project, contact Dr Philip Herbert at p.herbert@sussex.ac.uk.

Supervisory Team: Dr Yasir Noori, Prof Frederic Gardes, Prof Jize Yan

Project description: This project is part of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Quantum Technology Engineering at the University of Southampton. In addition to the research project outlined below you will receive substantial training in scientific, technical, and commercial skills.

Existing techniques to encrypt data in our Internet networks are vulnerable to being easily breakable by emerging quantum computers. IBM has recently released a 1000 qubit quantum computer and the challenge of finding alternative techniques to encrypt our data is becoming ever more urgent. Fortunately, quantum cryptography is a suitable solution to overcome this challenge. However, quantum cryptography requires unique lasers that can emit single photons and entangled photon pairs.

In this PhD project, you will use two-dimensional (2D) materials as single-photon light sources. Strain and defect engineering in 2D materials can result in in-gap discrete energy levels in the electronic structure of the material, leading to the creation of single and entangled photon sources. The wavelength can vary from visible to near IR depending on the chosen material. Once the photo-emitters are generated in the 2D materials, they can be transferred onto almost any arbitrary substrates including silicon photonic circuits (waveguides, couplers, photonic crystal cavities, etc.), making them an even more attractive candidate for on-chip photon sources. Key challenges will be understanding the nature of the single and entangled photon emission in this family of materials and tailoring their properties to their potential usage in quantum communications.

If you are interested, please contact the supervisor for more information: Yasir Noori, y.j.noori@soton.ac.uk

Entry Requirements

A very good undergraduate degree (at least a UK 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent).

Closing date: 31 August 2024. Applications will be considered in the order that they are received, the position will be considered filled when a suitable candidate has been identified.

Funding: We offer a range of funding opportunities for both UK and international students, including Bursaries and Scholarships.For more information please visit PhD Scholarships | Doctoral College | University of Southampton Funding will be awarded on a rolling basis, so apply early for the best opportunity to be considered.

How To Apply

Apply online: HERE Select programme type (Research), Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, next page select “PhD Quantum Tech Eng”. In Section 2 of the application form you should insert the name of the supervisor.

Applications should include:

Curriculum Vitae

Two reference letters

Degree Transcripts/Certificates to date

For further information please contact: feps-pgr-apply@soton.ac.uk

Supervisory Team: Dr Adrian Nightingale

Project description: This project is part of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Quantum Technology Engineering at the University of Southampton. In addition to the research project outlined below you will receive substantial training in scientific, technical, and commercial skills.

Colloidal quantum dots are semiconductor nanocrystals that sit in between molecular and bulk materials. Their small size (typically <10 nm in diameter) are comparable to the material’s Bohr radius, leading to quantum confinement of excitons and size- and composition-tunable optoelectronic properties. Compared to other quantum-confined nanostructures (e.g. epitaxial quantum dots, wires or wells) they have the advantage of being solution-processable, which makes them well suited for mass production of devices.

In this project you will look at methods for efficiently producing device-quality quantum dots ready for making the quantum technology devices of the future. In particular, you will look at combining flow reactors with inline optical analysis methods and computer control, taking advantage of recent developments in reactor technology and algorithms to control reactions and explore reaction parameter space. You will autonomous reactors that can continuously produce high quality quantum dots, monitor the quality of them as they are produced, and independently determine optimum reaction parameters.

If you are interested, please contact the supervisor for more information: Adrian Nightingale a.nightingale@soton.ac.uk

Entry Requirements

A very good undergraduate degree (at least a UK 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent).

Closing date: 31 August 2024. Applications will be considered in the order that they are received, the position will be considered filled when a suitable candidate has been identified.

Funding: We offer a range of funding opportunities for both UK and international students, including Bursaries and Scholarships. For more information please visit PhD Scholarships | Doctoral College | University of Southampton Funding will be awarded on a rolling basis, so apply early for the best opportunity to be considered.

How To Apply

Apply online: HERE Select programme type (Research), Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, next page select “PhD Quantum Tech Eng”. In Section 2 of the application form you should insert the name of the supervisor.

Applications should include:

Curriculum Vitae

Two reference letters

Degree Transcripts/Certificates to date

For further information please contact: feps-pgr-apply@soton.ac.uk

Supervisory Team: Prof Ali Elham

Project description: This project is part of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Quantum Technology Engineering at the University of Southampton. In addition to the research project outlined below you will receive substantial training in scientific, technical, and commercial skills.

Topology optimisation is one of the most powerful engineering design technologies. It is superior to shape and size optimisation as it can theoretically create an optimum object from scratch. There is an ever-growing interest in using topology optimisation in industries for different design problems. An ultimate example is aircraft configuration design. After more than a century of aviation, we still do not know what the optimum configuration for a flying vehicle is. In other words, if we want to transport a given amount of payload over a given distance using state-of-the-art technologies, how should the flying vehicle shape to e.g., minimise energy consumption and in-flight emissions? A topology optimisation technology might be able to answer this question. We have developed a technology for creating flying vehicle configurations using topology optimisation. However, it is still in very early development stages, i.e., it works for the aerodynamic design of micro-air vehicles at very low speeds. However, we need a few million design variables coupled with high-fidelity aerodynamic analysis for such a basic design. Extension of this technology towards more realistic design problems means the need for a few billion design variables coupled with multi-physics (e.g. fluid-structure interaction) solvers. The computational costs of the state-of-the-art technologies for multi-physics topology optimisation are prohibitive for such applications.

Quantum optimisation algorithms are in the early development stages; however, they showed promising potential for accelerating complex optimisation problems. This project aims to investigate the development and application of dedicated quantum optimisation algorithms to solve topology optimisation problems relevant to aerospace design.

If you are interested, please contact the supervisor for more information: Ali Elham a.elham@soton.ac.uk

Entry Requirements

A very good undergraduate degree (at least a UK 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent).

Closing date: 31 August 2024. Applications will be considered in the order that they are received, the position will be considered filled when a suitable candidate has been identified.

Funding: We offer a range of funding opportunities for both UK and international students, including Bursaries and Scholarships. For more information please visit PhD Scholarships | Doctoral College | University of Southampton Funding will be awarded on a rolling basis, so apply early for the best opportunity to be considered.

How To Apply

Apply online: HERE Select programme type (Research), Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, next page select “PhD Quantum Tech Eng”. In Section 2 of the application form you should insert the name of the supervisor.

Applications should include:

Curriculum Vitae

Two reference letters

Degree Transcripts/Certificates to date

For further information please contact: feps-pgr-apply@soton.ac.uk

The University of Southampton is committed to promoting equality, diversity, and inclusivity as demonstrated by our Athena SWAN award. We welcome all applicants regardless of their gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation or age, and will give full consideration to applicants seeking to study part time. The University of Southampton takes personal circumstances into account, has onsite childcare facilities, is committed to sustainability and has been awarded the Platinum EcoAward.

Supervisory Team: Dr Srinandan Dasmahapatra

Project description: This project is part of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Quantum Technology Engineering at the University of Southampton. In addition to the research project outlined below you will receive substantial training in scientific, technical, and commercial skills.

Recent research objectives in noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) algorithms seek to exploit hard-won gains in quantum hardware developments to access computational results that challenge classical computers. Variational quantum algorithms (VQA) are a family of methods that optimise the parameterisation of quantum circuits to approximate expectation values of properties measured on quantum states. The expressive power of these parameterised circuits in VQA depends on the ansätze designed for a particular problem. In addition to expressivity, limitations on error-correction in NISQ hardware imply the amplification of errors with the depth of quantum circuits, further constraining the design space. Machine learning (ML) methods are being developed to navigate this design space using hybrid methods, and this will be the focus of this project. ML methods that operate by reducing an appropriately defined loss function by gradient descent are also generically known to encounter a ‘barren plateaus’ problem which hinders access to the parameterised space, prompting a further reconsideration of the circuit ansatz. A family of measurement based quantum algorithms have also been proposed that start with an entangled cluster state and well-chosen single qubit measurements alter the state of the network, propagating information via teleportation across the cluster. These measurement based variational quantum algorithms offer a different window into the space of states defining the computational state, as well as the compiled set of qubits that come with the noisy profiles that the neural network based algorithms will seek to ameliorate, within the constraints over the design space. Classical processing of information shared across nodes of a graph have been successful in graph neural network architectures; this project will explore the design of a suitable graph quantum neural network for measurement based variational quantum algorithms.

If you are interested, please contact the supervisor for more information: Srinandan Dasmahapatra sd@ecs.soton.ac.uk

Entry Requirements

A very good undergraduate degree (at least a UK 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent).

Closing date: 31 August 2024.

Applications will be considered in the order that they are received, the position will be considered filled when a suitable candidate has been identified.

Funding: We offer a range of funding opportunities for both UK and international students, including Bursaries and Scholarships. For more information please visit PhD Scholarships | Doctoral College | University of Southampton Funding will be awarded on a rolling basis, so apply early for the best opportunity to be considered.

How To Apply

Apply online: HERE Select programme type (Research), Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, next page select “PhD Quantum Tech Eng”. In Section 2 of the application form you should insert the name of the supervisor.

Applications should include:

Curriculum Vitae

Two reference letters

Degree Transcripts/Certificates to date

For further information please contact: feps-pgr-apply@soton.ac.uk

Supervisory Team: Dr Sajjad Taravati, Dr Jize Yan

Project description: This project is part of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Quantum Technology Engineering at the University of Southampton. In addition to the research project outlined below you will receive substantial training in scientific, technical, and commercial skills.

This cutting-edge research initiative focuses on the development of Nonreciprocal quantum metasurfaces for the next generation of telecommunication systems, merging academic excellence with a strong emphasis on enterprise collaborations. While static metasurfaces have proven efficient in manipulating electromagnetic waves, they are constrained by inherent reciprocity and fixed time-/frequency-invariant responses. In response to these limitations, our project introduces a groundbreaking approach: active nonreciprocal quantum metasurfaces. These dynamic solutions enable the generation, guidance, and control of quantum states of light. This breakthrough technology holds immense promise for applications in free-space quantum communication, quantum information processing, quantum computation, and quantum imaging. By providing versatility, reciprocity control, and the ability to translate frequencies for electromagnetic waves, these metasurfaces have the potential to revolutionize the field of telecommunications. A distinctive feature of this project is its strategic design to foster robust industrial collaborations. By actively seeking partnerships with industry leaders, we aim to drive enterprise efforts and create opportunities for spinouts and commercialization. This collaborative approach ensures that the research outcomes are not only academically significant but also commercially viable, contributing to the broader technological landscape. The project employs innovative techniques such as spatiotemporal decomposition, quantum scattering and diffraction, digital coding, nonreciprocal transmission, pure frequency conversion, parametric wave amplification, and multifunctional operations. These techniques form the basis for pushing the boundaries of light manipulation, opening new avenues for the development of advanced telecommunication systems.

In summary, this transformative project stands at the forefront of research in nonreciprocal quantum metasurfaces, aiming to redefine the possibilities in telecommunications. Through a combination of academic rigor and strategic industry collaborations, we aspire to not only advance the scientific understanding of quantum metasurfaces but also pave the way for practical applications that will shape the future of telecommunication systems.

If you are interested, please contact the supervisor for more information: Sajjad Taravati s.taravati@soton.ac.uk

Entry Requirements

A very good undergraduate degree (at least a UK 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent).

Closing date: 31 August 2024. Applications will be considered in the order that they are received, the position will be considered filled when a suitable candidate has been identified.

Funding: We offer a range of funding opportunities for both UK and international students, including Bursaries and Scholarships. For more information please visit PhD Scholarships | Doctoral College | University of Southampton Funding will be awarded on a rolling basis, so apply early for the best opportunity to be considered.

How To Apply

Apply online: HERE Select programme type (Research), Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, next page select “PhD Quantum Tech Eng”. In Section 2 of the application form you should insert the name of the supervisor.

Applications should include:

Curriculum Vitae

Two reference letters

Degree Transcripts/Certificates to date

For further information please contact: feps-pgr-apply@soton.ac.uk

Anglia Ruskin University and Norfolk Museums Service are pleased to announce a fully-funded Collaborative doctoral studentship, from September 2024, under the AHRC’s Collaborative Doctoral Partnership Scheme.

Using around 1,000 surviving objects held at Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse – one of the largest and most under-researched set of objects related to workhouses in the UK – the successful PhD student will analyse the lives, living conditions and institutionalisation of the people who resided and worked in Gressenhall workhouse between c. 1777-1948.

Alongside a material culture approach, the student will engage with the archaeological fabric of the building, conduct archival work at Norfolk Record Office and analyse objects held in other relevant collections. Importantly, the student will work alongside the curator and volunteers at Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse to contribute to the objectives of the museum through resources and exhibitions, while undertaking skills development and training to gain the experience needed to develop a future career in the museums and heritage sector.

This project will be jointly supervised by Dr Joseph Harley and Ms Rachel Kidd (Curator). The student will undertake research at both Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse, part of Norfolk Museums Service, and the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Anglia Ruskin University, as well as becoming part of the wider cohort of CDP-funded students across the UK.

Applicants should ideally have or expect to receive a Masters-level qualification in a relevant subject (suitable disciplines are flexible, but might include History, Archaeology, Anthropology, Art History, or Museum Studies), or be able to demonstrate equivalent experience in a professional setting (e.g. work and volunteering in Archaeology, Heritage, History, and museums/collections, or the public sector and/or roles that require significant research and/or writing skills outside this sector).

We encourage the widest range of potential students to apply for this CDP studentship and are committed to welcoming students from different backgrounds. We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and Minority backgrounds as they are currently underrepresented at this level in this area. Given the topic of research, we particularly welcome applications from candidates with lived experience of the contemporary social care and welfare systems in the UK, such as care leavers. We also particularly encourage applications from Norfolk and the neighbouring region.

The studentship can be studied either full or part-time, and we welcome applications from both home and international applicants.

Applications must be submitted through our online application portal on our website:

Part-time: https://e-vision.anglia.ac.uk/urd/sits.urd/run/siw_ipp_lgn.login?process=siw_ipp_app&code1=R0050PCAM01D&code2=0023

Full-time: https://e-vision.anglia.ac.uk/urd/sits.urd/run/siw_ipp_lgn.login?process=siw_ipp_app&code1=R0050FCAM02D&code2=0016

 You will also the following documents available electronically to upload them to the application portal (we can accept files in pdf, jpeg or Word format):

1.     Certificates and transcripts from your Bachelor and Master’s degrees

2.     Your personal statement explaining your suitability for the project. We recommend uploading this as a Word or pdf file, but you can also type it directly on the form.

3.     Curriculum Vitae

You do not need to upload a research proposal with your application, only a personal statement is needed. 

We will review all applications after the submission deadline of 12th May. Interviews are expected to take place in the week commencing 3rd June.

Between 10am-2pm on Thursday 18 April, we will be opening up Gressenhall Farm & Workhouse for potential applicants to come to the museum, meet the supervisors, view some of the objects, and look around the workhouse. If you would like to come to this event, please email Rachel Kidd on Rachel.kidd2@norfolk.gov.uk to confirm your place by Monday 15 April. If you cannot make this date, please email Rachel Kidd to ask for an alternative time if you wish to visit before applying. We also encourage applicants to contact the supervisory team with informal enquiries about the studentship:

·       Dr Joseph Harley, Senior Lecturer in History, Anglia Ruskin University - joseph.harley@aru.ac.uk

·       Ms Rachel Kidd, Curator, Gressenhall Farm & Workhouse - rachel.kidd2@norfolk.gov.uk

The University values diversity and is committed to equality of opportunity.

Supervisory Team: Dr James Gates, Dr Rex Bannerman

Project description:

This project is part of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Quantum Technology Engineering at the University of Southampton. In addition to the research project outlined below you will receive substantial training in scientific, technical, and commercial skills.

Using Southampton's state-of-the-art fabrication facilities, we will develop core components for interfacing quantum computers and photonic quantum networks. Unlike optical telecoms, where losses are tolerated and compensated by amplifiers, in the world of quantum technology, every photon is precious. This project will create new ultra-low-loss optical components, reducing losses and allowing us to create large, entangled quantum states. In particular, the project will focus on the development of key missing components – quantum memories and switchable delays.

As a PhD candidate, you will gain hands-on experience in designing, modelling, and fabricating these photonic systems and then testing your devices with classical and quantum light. Working with some of the world’s leading groups in Quantum Technology, you will demonstrate the application of your devices with state-of-the-art quantum computers and networks. You will also benefit from comprehensive training in scientific, technical, and commercial skills, preparing you for a thriving future in career Quantum Technology Engineering.

This project offers the chance to work in a supportive, collaborative environment, alongside leading experts, and innovative peers. You'll emerge not just with a degree, but with skills and experiences that are highly valued in academia and industry.

If you are interested, please contact the supervisor for more information: James Gates j.gates@soton.ac.uk

Entry Requirements

A very good undergraduate degree (at least a UK 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent).

Closing date: 31 August 2024. Applications will be considered in the order that they are received, the position will be considered filled when a suitable candidate has been identified.

Funding: For UK students, tuition fees and a stipend at the UKRI rate tax-free per annum for up to 4 years rising annually. We offer a range of funding opportunities for both UK and international students, including Bursaries and Scholarships. For more information please visit PhD Scholarships | Doctoral College | University of Southampton Funding will be awarded on a rolling basis, so apply early for the best opportunity to be considered.

How To Apply

Apply online: HERE Select programme type (Research), 2024/25, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, next page select “PhD Quantum Tech Eng (Full time)”. In Section 2 of the application form you should insert the name of the supervisor Dr James Gates

Applications should include:

Research Proposal

Curriculum Vitae

Two reference letters

Degree Transcripts/Certificates to date

For further information please contact: feps-pgr-apply@soton.ac.uk