Current research degree projects
Explore our current postgraduate research degree and PhD opportunities.
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243 research degree projects
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Photonics and optoelectronics
Crystalline dielectric mirrors for high power lasers
This project focuses on the development of crystalline dielectric mirrors for high-power Lasers. It aims to shape the future of energy transfer technologies in areas such as, laser interactions, plasma physics, materials science and engineering. -
Engineering
Cargo bikes as a vehicle for transport equity
Cargo bikes are promoted as a sustainable alternative to car-based travel, but their use as care infrastructure in a family setting is under-explored. This project seeks to investigate how these technologies function within family contexts and how their use may shape everyday mobility practices, children’s experiences, and transport equity. -
Engineering
Modelling of liquid-fuelled rotating detonation engines for gas-turbine applications
Using a rotating detonation engine (RDE) as gas turbine combustion chamber could increase engine efficiency dramatically. This project will implement two-phase flow and spray combustion modelling into our in-house dynamically adaptive RDE code to quantify the potential of RDE-based jet engines by massively parallel computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. -
Engineering
Efficient and trustworthy CFD simulation of hypersonic glide vehicles under dynamic control
Hypersonic glide vehicles operate in an extreme aerothermal environment and are genuinely difficult to control. While evaluating control methodologies currently relies on precomputed aerodynamic databases, this project will extend and directly couple our inhouse predictive, non-equilibrium aerothermodynamic overset strand-mesh computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solver with the control methodology. -
Engineering
Development of electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry for spacecraft missions
This project will pioneer space-ready electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry to detect biosignatures in the Solar system. Combining spacecraft propulsion electrospray techniques with flight-proven miniaturised mass spectrometers, the project develop cutting edge electrospray mass spectrometry techniques through a unique collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA) mission heritage. -
Engineering
Aero-optics of high-speed flow
Supersonic and hypersonic flows contain density fluctuations that affect the performance of optical sensors, including non-intrusive flow measurement. An additional feature is the challenging aerothermodynamic environment with extreme surface heating. On this project you'll use scale-resolving numerical simulation to understand the flow physics and develop new prediction methods. -
Engineering
Turbulent boundary layer noise
Noise production by turbulent boundary layers is an important practical problem that remains a challenge for prediction methods. On this industry-supported project you'll apply new techniques of large-scale numerical simulation and machine learning to understand the flow physics and develop new prediction methods. -
Engineering
Developing and testing new sensors for characterising ocean carbon dioxide uptake
Oceans are critical to the changing climate, having absorbed a third of all anthropogenic carbon dioxide; hence monitoring ocean uptake is essential for understanding, modelling, and mitigating climate change. This project looks to develop and test novel sensors to do so, based on droplet microfluidic technology. -
Engineering
Making nanoscale materials: precision fabrication of high-performance functional structures
This project focuses on exploring high-precision lithographic fabrication techniques for the development of multifunctional material structures at the nanoscale, with applications in wireless energy and information transfer, and in biomedicine. -
Engineering
A simulation-based multi-objective optimisation framework for healthier UK housing
This project aims to understand how simulation approaches and other experimental modelling can be used to optimise building performance in relation to user health, comfort, and environmental sustainability. It will also establish reliable methods for validating the results and enhance the standing of computational building physics methods in finding robust architectural design for housing.