Multicore optical fibres for multifunctional endoscopic sensing and imaging

We are urgently looking for an outward-looking and enthusiastic PhD student (from the UK or the EU) to join our research team at Bath to work on the £11 million Proteus project (see proteus.ac.uk). This is an interdisciplinary collaboration with Edinburgh and Heriot Watt Universities, bringing together world-class scientists and clinicians and a large team of postdoctoral researchers and PhD students in a dynamic and collaborative environment. The project aims to deliver novel endoscopic systems for healthcare, which will both image and chemically monitor the lungs of seriously-ill patients in intensive care. Bath’s role is to develop new types of optical fibres to perform these imaging and sensing functions, work which is closely integrated into the wider project through regular meetings and laboratory visits involving all researchers and all three institutions.

The Proteus team at Bath currently consists of a full-time researcher (with a second to be recruited), two PhD students in their second year and two academic staff. It is based in the Centre for Photonics and Photonic Materials (CPPM), around 35 researchers with a common interest in the science of light. Regular research meetings and shared labs, offices and equipment foster the community within which we perform world-leading research. The CPPM has a global reputation for the study of novel and unconventional optical fibres, and researchers joining this project will have access to state-of-the-art fibre fabrication and characterisation equipment and a strongly supportive environment. A distinctive feature of our work is our ambition to use new science to tackle important and pressing problems, and Proteus is a prime example.

Thus the PhD opportunity will enable you to develop your career within two distinct scientific contexts: the CPPM at Bath strongly focused on optical physics, and the wider Proteus project spanning the physical sciences, engineering and healthcare and aimed at the clinical implementation of novel diagnostic concepts. As such the project will enable you to both deepen and broaden your interests in the application of new science in the real world.

The University of Bath is in the top league of British research-led Universities. Bath is a pleasant and attractive city in the South-West of England, close to Bristol and just 1½ hours by train from London.

As the successful candidate will be expected to start as soon as possible, early applications are encouraged.