PhD Studentship in Nano-electronics: Emerging memory devices (memristor) and its application in neuromorphic and in-memory computing

Applications are invited for a full PhD scholarship in the School of Engineering, Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU).

This fully funded three-year PhD Scholarship would comprise the waiving of annual tuition fees, a maintenance stipend of £ 16,062 per annum, plus a contribution towards research running costs of £1,600 per annum.

Eligibility: We will accept applications from both UK and non-UK citizens, and we will also accept applications for part-time, fees-only studentships.

Qualification: Applicants should hold (or expect to get before February 2024) a good Master’s degree and/or a good (first-class or upper second class) Honours undergraduate degree.

Location: LJMU (Liverpool, UK) and IMEC (Leuven, Belgium)

Duration: full-time, three years. The PhD studentship must be filled by February 2024 fixed enrolment point, or the offer will be withdrawn.

Application deadline: 07 July 2023

This PhD project will be in collaboration with the world-leading memory device consortium at IMEC, Belgium, whose members include top companies such as Intel, Micron, Samsung, Toshiba and Western Digital. The student will have chances to work at IMEC together with scientists from the above-mentioned organisations, providing excellent opportunities for career development.

The research will focus on developing and characterizing novel emerging memory devices (memristor) and its applications in neuromorphic and in-memory computing systems. The conductance in a resistive-switching device can be varied and memorized in thin semiconductor film such as metal oxide dielectric or ferroelectric materials, which are easier to programme either fully or partially to on/off states and they exhibit random behaviour. These features make them ideally placed as synapses and/or neurons for novel neuromorphic and in-memory computing systems. This technology is expected to become one of the major driving forces to support the ICT industry for the next 20 years through a range of disruptive innovations in digital memory, bio-inspire machine learning, artificial intelligence, low power reconfigurable in-memory computing, and Internet of things (IoT). It is expected to drastically enhance not only the performance of non-volatile memories, but also may revolutionize the computing systems beyond the conventional Von Neumann architecture.

Professor Weidong Zhang and his group at LJMU have extensive research expertise into the use and characterisation of various nanoelectronics devices, through close collaboration with IMEC in the past 15 years. The Microelectronics Research Group at LJMU has well established research record and advanced research facilities. In the latest UK's official Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021, LJMU is one of the top performing universities in Engineering, ranked 35^th in the UK. 100% of our research outputs have been assessed as international leading and excellent. Detailed information of the research group can be found in the following link: https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/research/centres-and-institutes/faculty-of-engineering-and-technology-research-institute/electrical-and-electronic-engineering-research-centre/expertise/microelectronics-research-group. LJMU is a top 40 UK university in the U.S. News Ranks 2022 Best Global Universities. It is also the best post 92 UK university. The studentship is subject to the selection procedure within the University and the Faculty.

We are seeking candidates with strong background and interest in one of the following subjects, electrical and electronic engineering, artificial intelligence, machine learning, computing hardware design, VLSI, microelectronics, nanoelectronics, semiconductor, physics, or material engineering. The calibre of candidates will be reviewed based on their academic qualifications and their academic/research achievements.

Application procedure:

To apply for the PhD studentship, please contact the supervisor, Prof. Weidong Zhang ([Email Address Removed]), by sending your full CV, full transcripts and a personal statement and a cover letter confirming you wish to be considered. You must clearly state your nationality and residence status, education, degree classification, contact details and confirm your willingness to accept the offer if the application is approved, including:

1) Certificate and transcript from a completed undergraduate degree (2.1 or higher) or overseas equivalent or completed Masters qualification;

2) Academic referees;

3) International applicants (non-UK citizen) must contact the supervisor or [Email Address Removed] to clarify any issues associated with the application eligibility (eg English language requirements, VISA requirements and process if successful).

Details of English Language requirements for international applicants are available online https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/study/courses/international-entry-requirements

4) Your CV should clearly provide specific details on the following:

• undergraduate and postgraduate degree awards with date, level of attainment and academic institution;

• awards or distinctions received for academic work;

• research outputs published/completed;

• research conference presentations completed;

• research or knowledge exchange appointments with employer and dates included;

• technical, subject-specific or relevant IT skills training completed;

• any other relevant research or knowledge exchange experience or activity;

• academic referees;

• any other personal information and achievements of relevance.

You will need to submit all the required the documents to the supervisor before 07 July 2023 at the latest. More details will be available at https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/research/phd-scholarships.