Current research degree projects
Explore our current postgraduate research degree and PhD opportunities.
91 research degree projects
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Photonics and optoelectronics
Multimode fibre lasers
Multimode optical fibres have recently emerged as a promising breakthrough technology to boost the data transmission speed of the Internet network to unprecedented levels. In these fibres each spatial mode carries an independent data channel, and the interaction (cross-talk) among different modes is a problem to avoid. -
Photonics and optoelectronics
Ultra-stable Hollow core fibre photonics
At the Optoelectronics Research Centre, we are leading the world in developing a new generation of optical fibres that promise a revolution in applications ranging from optical communications to ultraprecise optical sensors. Our hollow-core optical fibres harness some truly intriguing physics to guide light in an air-filled core region over tens of kilometres distance and are now rivalling and outperforming standard optical fibres. However, their transformative potential in many areas remain largely unexplored. -
Photonics and optoelectronics
Novel transmission and processing schemes for ultra-high speed telecommunication signals
The optical fibre communications industry has been facing some significant challenges in recent years. As transmission rates in optical networks constantly increase, and with the concerns over the energy consumption of communication networks becoming ever more relevant, there is a compelling argument for adopting new techniques for the implementation of signal processing of communication signals. On the other hand, the rise in demand for internet traffic is such that necessitates the adoption of new transmission techniques in order to ensure that the available bandwidth is sufficient. -
Photonics and optoelectronics
Novel Photonic Integrated Systems for Application in Optical Communications
This is an opportunity to carry out a PhD at the Communications Systems Lab of the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC). The group has been at the forefront of optical fibre communications since the very earliest days of the field providing several critical contributions, including the invention of the erbium doped fibre amplifier – a device that eliminated fibre loss as the fundamental limiting factor to signal transmission and which is installed in all modern optical communication networks. Optical communications remains by far the largest market for photonics and as such it represents one of the ORC’s primary research areas. -
Photonics and optoelectronics
Integrated polysilicon photonics
Silicon materials are synonymous with the microelectronics industry and the processors in everyday gadgets such as mobile phones, tablets, digital radios and televisions. More recently, due to its favourable optical properties, silicon has gained popularity as an optical information technology, i.e., using photons instead of electrons to transfer information. Bringing these two research areas together on an integrated platform will have huge technological consequences. However, there is a challenge: silicon photonic devices are typically fabricated via complex processing of expensive single crystal wafers, which renders multi-device integration difficult. This project seeks to develop a simple, low-cost laser materials processing procedure to fabricate high-quality polysilicon photonic platforms that will ease issues associated with optoelectronic integration. -
Photonics and optoelectronics
Shaping light at the nanoscale with dielectric nanoantennas
In the last decade, nanophotonics has emerged as one of the most important research fields in optics. A tiny nano-object plays the role of a nanoantenna: when excited by a light source, it scatters light in the surrounding environment in one or more directions that depend on its geometry and material. An important issue that has not been fully understood yet is how to control the directionality and power of this scattered radiation. -
Photonics and optoelectronics
Next generation miniaturized optical sources
This PhD project aims to open new frontiers in nanophotonics by designing and fabricating a new class of miniaturized optical sources. These sources will allow light emission in a broad frequency spectrum well beyond what is possible with current lasers. These sources will find application in several fields: from medicine, as primary components of non-invasive breath analysers for cancer diagnosis; to security, both for the detection of explosives and for the development of efficient anti-missile systems in civil aircrafts; up to environment, for the monitoring of air pollution and green energy generation.Join us to pioneer the next generation miniaturized optical sources! -
Photonics and optoelectronics
Coherent femtosecond soft X-ray microscopy
We are looking for a student to join an exciting new project in the field of bio-imaging. The project, recently awarded funding of ~£5M, aims to use laser-generated soft X-ray radiation for coherent imaging of nanoscale biological structures. The X-ray generation process, known as high-harmonic generation, is based on nonlinear optics using extremely high-intensity femtosecond laser pulses, the topic of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics. The imaging process uses computational algorithms to transform the scattered X-ray patterns into detailed images with resolution of 10nm or less, comparable with electron microscopes but with the huge advantages of X-rays in looking within biological structures like cells or neurons. -
Photonics and optoelectronics
Fabricating the future of telecommunications with Hollow Core Fibres
PhD Opportunity: Shaping the Future of Telecommunications with Hollow Core FibresAre you a graduate student in Physics/Engineering/Material Science or chemistry and want to be at the forefront of a technological revolution? If so, we invite you to join our collaborative project with Microsoft Azure Fiber at the University of Southampton. -
Photonics and optoelectronics
Accelerating AI with Low Latency Hollow Core Fibres
Do you aspire to contribute to the forthcoming AI revolution? If so, join the world-leading Hollow Core Fibre group at the University of Southampton, in partnership with Microsoft Azure Fiber, and be part of a ground-breaking research project called “FASTNET”.