PhD Projects, Programmes & Scholarships

We have 3,675 PhD Projects, Programmes & Scholarships

Exploiting Laser Pulse Shaping and Phase Space Tomography to Optimise Longitudinal Beam Dynamics at the Interaction Point of CLARA

Introduction and Motivation. The Compact Linear Accelerator for Research and Applications (CLARA) at Daresbury Laboratory places significant emphasis on providing tailored beam properties for a range of user experiments that push the frontiers of accelerator science. Read more

Supervisors: Prof A Wolski, Dr A E P Pollard

Year round applications PhD Research Project Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)

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Towards compact Gamma-ray Free Electron Lasers

University of Strathclyde

Cockcroft Institute

Project Background. Over the past few decades, X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) have become the pre-eminent tool for studying the structure and dynamics of materials at the molecular scale. Read more

Supervisor: Dr G Robb

Year round applications PhD Research Project Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)

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Ageing to Arrhythmias

University of Leeds

Faculty of Biological Sciences

Cardiac arrhythmias are a leading cause of sudden death and morbidity. This project aims to identify why they occur in the elderly and novel routes to therapies. Read more

Supervisors: Dr M K Lancaster, Dr M.A. Colman

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

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Uncovering the viral and cellular components that dictate the neurological outcome of tick-borne encephalitis virus infection

University of Leeds

Faculty of Biological Sciences

The School of Molecular and Cellular Biology invites applications from prospective postgraduate researchers who wish to commence study for a PhD in the academic year 2025/26. Read more

Supervisor: Dr NG Goonawardane

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

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Development of a Low-Level RF (LLRF) System for Phase-Locked Loop (PLL) Control of a Superconducting RF Cavity

Lancaster University

Cockcroft Institute

Project Background. The superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) cavities made of bulk niobium (Nb) are used in charged particle accelerators for more than 50 years. Read more

Supervisor: Dr H Marks

Year round applications PhD Research Project Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)

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Externally coupled structures for THz-driven electron beam deflection

Lancaster University

Cockcroft Institute

About the Project. This project is a unique opportunity to join a vibrant research team from Lancaster University, University of Manchester and The Cockcroft Institute at Daresbury Laboratory, Warrington, UK, developing world leading concepts for novel acceleration using laser-generated THz pulse. Read more

Supervisor: Dr R Letizia

Year round applications PhD Research Project Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)

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Non-linear optics for application to laser-driven acceleration of relativistic beams in vacuum

Lancaster University

Cockcroft Institute

There is immense interest in femtosecond-duration high-energy electron beams in both the condensed matter and high-energy particle physics scientific communities, for their application in exploring femtosecond processes in materials, and for future particle colliders. Read more

Supervisor: Prof S Jamison

Year round applications PhD Research Project Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)

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How do we control the shape and time structure of our very short bunches using THz-driven structures?

The University of Manchester

Cockcroft Institute

Particle accelerators are powerful tools that have driven major discoveries in physics, from finding the Higgs boson to developing new materials. Read more

Supervisor: Dr R Appleby

Year round applications PhD Research Project Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)

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Identifying climate-proof mechanisms of plant acclimation to freezing temperatures

Durham University

Department of Biosciences

Climate change brings many challenges for the planet’s plants and one of these is the vulnerability caused by erratic temperatures. Read more

Supervisor: Dr PH Knight

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

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Life-Writing Today (Ref: SSH26-SF-JC-EN)

Loughborough University

School of Arts, English and Drama

There has been an explosive interest in writing and publishing autobiography, autofiction, memoir, autotheory, lyrical essays, and other forms of first-person literature since the start of the millennium. Read more

Supervisor: Prof J Cooke

1 July 2026 PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

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Governance in British Basketball: Funding Precarity, Structural Deficiencies, and Organisational Instability (Ref: SSEHS/SF-MD26)

Loughborough University

School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences

British basketball sits at a critical and a paradoxical juncture within the UK sporting landscape. Read more

Supervisor: Dr M Dowling

1 August 2026 PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

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Reconstruction of atomic resolution images from sparse datasets of radiation sensitive materials in scanning transmission electron microscopy

University of Sheffield

School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Scanning transmission electron microscopy is an imaging method that raster scans a focused high-energy electron beam across a thin sample and measures the electron intensity behind the specimen with either a small detector placed on axis (bright field) or a larger, ring-like detector placed off-axis (annular dark field). Read more

Supervisor: Prof T W Walther

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

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Determination of grain boundary chemistry in functional materials with atomistic precision using a novel and cheap X-ray methodology in a scanning electron microscope

University of Sheffield

School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Intergranular films due to segregation of dopants, internal oxidation or other chemical reactions at interfaces govern the properties of many polycrystalline materials. Read more

Supervisor: Prof T W Walther

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

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Developing hybrid AI on wearables and video for fine-grained cattle behavioural monitoring

University of Bristol

Bristol Veterinary School

Background. Read more

Supervisor: Prof A Dowsey

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

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Ultrashort bunch length characterisation based on Cherenkov diffraction radiation (ChDR) for AWAKE Run 2c/d

The University of Manchester

Cockcroft Institute

Academic School. Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester. Anticipated Start Date. October 2026 for 3.5 Years. Supervisor Team. Read more

Supervisor: Dr G Xia

Year round applications PhD Research Project Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)

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Goal-Conditioned Reinforcement Learning for Bunch-Shape Control in Linear Accelerators

University of Liverpool

Cockcroft Institute

Make particle accelerators smarter. CLARA is a linear accelerator in the Daresbury Laboratory that has been used for a range of accelerator-based experiments since 2018, and it has recently undergone a major upgrade to reach 250 MeV and add a high-power laser and new experimental area. Read more

Supervisor: Dr A Santamaria Garcia

Year round applications PhD Research Project Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)

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Spin and superradiance in General Relativity

University of Sheffield

School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences

Research Group: Applied Mathematics

In General Relativity, bodies in freefall follow geodesics in spacetime. For example, the Earth follows a geodesic in the spacetime of the Sun, to a good approximation. Read more

Supervisor: Dr S Dolan

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

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Black hole perturbation theory for gravitational-wave astronomy

University of Sheffield

School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences

Research Group: Applied Mathematics

Pairs of black holes generate distinctive 'chirp' signals as they coalesce. These signals have been successfully detected at gravitational-wave observatories since 2015. Read more

Supervisor: Dr S Dolan

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

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Reconfigurable Surfaces for High-Efficiency RF Energy Harvesting

Edinburgh Napier University

School of Computing, Engineering & the Built Environment

Background and Motivation. The increasing demand for sustainable and maintenance-free wireless technologies has accelerated interest in radio frequency (RF) energy harvesting, which converts electromagnetic waves into usable electrical power. Read more

Supervisors: Dr NOP Ojaroudi Parchin, Prof C H See

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

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Intelligent Metamaterials/Metasurfaces for 5G/6G Wireless Networks

Edinburgh Napier University

School of Computing, Engineering & the Built Environment

Background and Motivation. Within the framework of 5G/6G infrastructure, advancements in network architectures and service integration are enabling emerging technologies such as Intelligent Metamaterials and Metasurface antenna systems. Read more

Supervisors: Dr NOP Ojaroudi Parchin, Prof C H See

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

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Trustworthy Collaboration in Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI)

Edinburgh Napier University

School of Computing, Engineering & the Built Environment

Organizations benefit from sharing cyber threat intelligence (CTI), yet direct sharing of raw data, rules, or logs can reveal sensitive business information and undermine security. Read more

Supervisors: Dr N Moradpoor, Dr SUJ Ullah Jan

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

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Verifiable, Privacy‑Preserving Decision Accountability for Connected Autonomous Vehicles (CAV)

Edinburgh Napier University

School of Computing, Engineering & the Built Environment

As Connected Autonomous Vehicles (CAV) deployments grow, society needs trustworthy, auditable vehicle decisions and coordination, especially at intersections, merging/convoying, and emergency manoeuvres, without exposing sensitive data (routes, identities, internal logic). Read more

Supervisors: Dr N Moradpoor, Dr BG Ghaleb

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

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Secure Software Development and AI Security Methods, Tooling, and Assurance

Edinburgh Napier University

School of Computing, Engineering & the Built Environment

The Blockchain Identity Lab (BIL) supports world-leading research in cryptography, distributed ledgers, privacy-preserving technologies, and sovereign identity such as decentralised identifiers and verifiable credentials. Read more

Supervisors: Dr PP Papadopoulos, Prof B Buchanan

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

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Uncovering the role of epigenetics in modifying disease risk

University of Bristol

Bristol Medical School

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have uncovered many genetic associations linked to health outcomes but uncovering the mechanisms behind these associations remains difficult. Read more

Supervisors: Dr J Min, Dr E Hannon, Dr G Leyden, Prof J MIll

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

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Federated Unlearning for Neuro-Symbolic Autonomous Driving

Edinburgh Napier University

School of Computing, Engineering & the Built Environment

Federated learning (FL) enables vehicles to collaborate on model training without sharing raw data, while neuro-symbolic AI combines perception from neural networks with rule-based reasoning for compliance and explainability. Read more

Supervisors: Dr Z Tan, Dr KB Babaagba

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

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Harnessing PROTAC Degraders to Develop Next-Generation Anti-thrombotic Therapies

University of Bristol

Bristol Medical School

Blood clots are central to life-threatening conditions such as heart attacks and strokes. Current antithrombotic treatments, including COX inhibitors and P2Y12 antagonists, are effective at preventing recurrent clots but carry a significant risk of bleeding due to their broad effects on haemostasis. Read more

Supervisors: Dr I Hers, Prof V Aggarwal, Dr RC Corey

Year round applications PhD Research Project Self-Funded PhD Students Only

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We have 3,675 PhD Projects, Programmes & Scholarships

PhD Projects, Programmes & Scholarships

We have 3,675 PhD Projects, Programmes & Scholarships

Exploiting Laser Pulse Shaping and Phase Space Tomography to Optimise Longitudinal Beam Dynamics at the Interaction Point of CLARA

Towards compact Gamma-ray Free Electron Lasers

Ageing to Arrhythmias

Uncovering the viral and cellular components that dictate the neurological outcome of tick-borne encephalitis virus infection

Development of a Low-Level RF (LLRF) System for Phase-Locked Loop (PLL) Control of a Superconducting RF Cavity

Externally coupled structures for THz-driven electron beam deflection

Non-linear optics for application to laser-driven acceleration of relativistic beams in vacuum

Superconducting thin film coated radio-frequency cavities

Design of a cargo scanning linac for security applications

Accelerating Electrons with Light – laser-driven plasma wakefield acceleration

Accelerator design for leather tanning and related applications

How do we control the shape and time structure of our very short bunches using THz-driven structures?

Identifying climate-proof mechanisms of plant acclimation to freezing temperatures

Life-Writing Today (Ref: SSH26-SF-JC-EN)

Governance in British Basketball: Funding Precarity, Structural Deficiencies, and Organisational Instability (Ref: SSEHS/SF-MD26)

Reconstruction of atomic resolution images from sparse datasets of radiation sensitive materials in scanning transmission electron microscopy

Determination of grain boundary chemistry in functional materials with atomistic precision using a novel and cheap X-ray methodology in a scanning electron microscope

Developing hybrid AI on wearables and video for fine-grained cattle behavioural monitoring

Ultrashort bunch length characterisation based on Cherenkov diffraction radiation (ChDR) for AWAKE Run 2c/d

Goal-Conditioned Reinforcement Learning for Bunch-Shape Control in Linear Accelerators

Spin and superradiance in General Relativity

Black hole perturbation theory for gravitational-wave astronomy

Reconfigurable Surfaces for High-Efficiency RF Energy Harvesting

Intelligent Metamaterials/Metasurfaces for 5G/6G Wireless Networks

Trustworthy Collaboration in Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI)

Verifiable, Privacy‑Preserving Decision Accountability for Connected Autonomous Vehicles (CAV)

Secure Software Development and AI Security Methods, Tooling, and Assurance

Uncovering the role of epigenetics in modifying disease risk

Federated Unlearning for Neuro-Symbolic Autonomous Driving

Harnessing PROTAC Degraders to Develop Next-Generation Anti-thrombotic Therapies

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