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The xCTing project is a pan-European industrial-academic initiative committed to the provision of a unique and encompassing training environment required to foster a new generation of innovation-minded research engineers, that will act as catalysts in the further transformation of Europe’s manufacturing industry towards global technological leadership. There are in total 15 vacancies for early stage researchers to be hosted at 10 prominent institutes in Europe. All the recruited ESR’s are expected to obtain a PhD from an internationally respected university, build experience in communicating and disseminating their work, applying their research skills in a non-academic context and receive in-depth training in transferable skills such as commercialization, collaboration and entrepreneurship.

Eligibility criteria

• Early-Stage Researchers must, at the time of recruitment, hold a Master’s degree and be in the first four years (full-time equivalent research experience) of their research careers and have not yet been awarded a doctoral degree.
• The Master’s degree must be in the discipline that is relevant to the ESR project that you are applying for.
• The researcher must not have resided or carried out his/her main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of his/her host organisation for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to his/her recruitment. Short stays, such as holidays, compulsory national services (such as mandatory military service) and procedures for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention are not counted.
• Proficiency in English is required, as well as good communication skills, both oral and written. Successful candidates may need to provide an English test (e.g. IELTS, TOEFL, Cambridge English). You may be exempt if you are a national of a majority native-English speaking country, or have qualifications / degree that has been taught and assessed in English.

Open xCTing ESR positions

• ESR 1 (RWTH): Autonomous adaptation of CT acquisition parameters
• ESR 2 (KUL): 2D neural networks for artefact correction during CT reconstruction
• ESR 3 (UNILEIDEN): 3D neural networks for artefact correction during CT reconstruction
• ESR 4 (FHOOE): Smart and autonomous feature detection and quantification for ensemble datasets and single ensemble members
• ESR 5 (IIS): Digital twin for CT analysis chains
• ESR 6 (KUL): Determination of task-specific measurement uncertainty caused by geometrical misalignments
• ESR 7 (FHOOE): Determination of task-specific measurement uncertainty caused by physical effects
• ESR 8 (UNIPD): Enabling Industry 4.0 by fast and accurate CT metrology
• ESR 9 (VG): A-priori-knowledge enhanced CT reconstruction for fast, optimized scanning strategies
• ESR 10 (WGT): Determination of optimal scanning trajectories and related parameters
• ESR 11 (NWO-I): Fast scanning strategies for conveyer-belt setups
• ESR 12 (NWO-I): Adaptive angle-selection for in-line CT
• ESR 13 (MATER): CT-based process planning and build preparation for AM
• ESR 14 (KUL): CT-based improvement of in-process monitoring capabilities
• ESR 15 (UNIPD): CT-based adaptive advanced manufacturing and assembly chains

Apply now

DEADLINE: APRIL 30 2021

Applications and more information via: Jobs – xCTing (xcting-itn.eu)

The Department of Mechanical Engineering (DTU Mekanik) of the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) has an open PhD position in the field of “Process chains and production methods for precision manufacturing of moulds for small batch production of eco-friendly polymer components”.  The PhD will be working in the framework of the national project MADE FAST funded by the Innovation Fund Denmark. The MADE FAST project is a major national initiative comprising a network of 50 companies, 5 universities and 3 research institutes in Denmark. The PhD scholarship is placed in the context of the Work Stream 4 “Digitalization of Manufacturing Processes” which includes 11 PhD students working on related projects and offers unique opportunities with respect to high level training in a multinational and multicultural environment. The PhD project will be carried out in an exciting combination of academic and industrial environments. Responsibilities and tasks The PhD project will focus on establishing methods and process chains for the fast manufacturing of high precision moulds for small batch production of polymer components in environmentally friendly polymers. The focus will be on process chains and production methods that enable considerable reduction of the lead-time for mould elements production and validation while containing all the relevant characteristics of full-scale production moulds. In addition to single material mould inserts, multimaterial combinations will be investigated to achieve desired material properties distribution. To reach the required increased mould accuracy, the work will focus on the development of solutions for offline optimization and automation of individual process steps (e.g. precision freeform machining and polishing of mould surfaces) and implementation of monitoring and real time modulation of processing conditions to achieve fast first-time-right mould manufacturing for batch production. The developed methodologies will be validated though relevant demonstration in realistic industrial production cases at the industrial partners. The position encompasses both theoretical work related to model development and implementation and experimental work, setup development and construction, process implementation, models validation through tests, process monitoring and dimensional, geometrical and surface characterization of surfaces. Sensors selection and implementation, data acquisition and signal conditioning will be part of the experimental activities of the PhD project. The position has both project and academic responsibilities. The scientific development work conducted must be positioned relative to current literature and published in conference and journal articles. Qualifications Candidates should have a two-year master's degree (120 ECTS points) or a similar degree with an academic level equivalent to a two-year master's degree. Good knowledge of production engineering technologies and machine tools is a fundamental requirement. Knowledge of process monitoring, manufacturing metrology, CAD/CAM and programming tools such as Matlab will be desirable. The candidate should have good mathematical/analytical skills as well as good communication skills. Approval and Enrolment The scholarship for the PhD degree is subject to academic approval, and the candidate will be enrolled in one of the general degree programmes at DTU. For information about our enrolment requirements and the general planning of the PhD study programme, please see the DTU PhD Guide. Assessment The assessment of the applicants will be made by Associate Professor Giuliano Bissacco according to the qualification requirements stated above. We offer DTU is a leading technical university globally recognized for the excellence of its research, education, innovation and scientific advice. We offer a rewarding and challenging job in an international environment. We strive for academic excellence in an environment characterized by collegial respect and academic freedom tempered by responsibility. Salary and appointment terms The appointment will be based on the collective agreement with the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations. The allowance will be agreed upon with the relevant union. The period of employment is 3 years. The position is funded on the Danish national project MADE FAST funded by the Innovation Fund Denmark. You can read more about career paths at DTU here. Further information Further information may be obtained from Associate Professor Giuliano Bissacco, gibi@mek.dtu.dk. You can read more about Department of Mechanical Engineering on www.mek.dtu.dk/english. Application Please submit your online application no later than 12 June 2020 (23:59 local time). Applications must be submitted as one PDF file containing all materials to be given consideration. To apply, please open the link "Apply online", fill out the online application form, and attach all your materials in English in one PDF file. The file must include: 

• A letter motivating the application (cover letter)
• Curriculum vitae
• Grade transcripts and BSc/MSc diploma
• Excel sheet with translation of grades to the Danish grading system (see guidelines and Excel spreadsheet here)

The School of Engineering at London South Bank University is an ambitious and progressive centre of research strength, ranked 25th nationally for research power in the last Research Excellence Framework. We have a fabulous central London location and are looking for talented potential students interested in research to work with our academic faculty in areas of strength. We are offering a number of funded PhD scholarships below. These studentships are available to UK nationals & EU citizen’s and overseas applicants*. Those in possession of their own funding (e.g. via a non-EU government scholarship) are also welcome to apply for a place of study. PhD Scholarships available in the London Centre for Energy in the School of Engineering: 1) Modelling and simulation of the laser ablation process 2) Instrumented Nanoindentation for information rich electro-mechanical characterisation 3) The Rehbinder Effect across length scales 4) Finite element analysis and experiments on hybrid laser assisted machining processes 5) Highly Efficient Bifacial Organic Solar Cells 6) Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence (TADF) based Hyperflourescence OLEDs Further details on each PhD project as well as application information are provided via this link but all PhD scholarships benefit from the following: • Training in advanced engineering topics • Mentoring from industry on the application and context of research • Bespoke technical training • Enterprise and innovation skills training • Transferable skills development opportunities to increase employability • 3-year studentships of ~£15,000 per annum living stipend (tax free) • Payment of all tuition fees* • A school supported consumables and travel budget to support additional specialist research training courses, access to specialist equipment and travel to international conferences, seminars and workshops • Industry sponsored* cutting-edge research projects • Wide choice of PhD projects ranging from applied to blue-sky research • State-of-the-art research facilities in the centre of London • Opportunities for overseas secondments to industrial partners and universities • Excellent career prospects on completion of the PhD * for eligible students only LSBU Research Centres Website: http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/research/centres-groups, please click on the link here to see the specific PhD posts available. Closing date for applications: 15th of July 2020 PhD Start: 1st October 2020 Modelling and simulation of the laser ablation process Project description: LASERS are the backbones of present day innovative engineering applications. Ranging from eye surgery to manipulation of coatings and surfaces for biomedical implants and aerospace structures or for the creation of smart materials or nano materials, their application is widespread. The current capability to simulate LASER processes is constrained by the underlying physics and there exist some significant gaps in numerical simulation and real-world applications. The ultimate aim of this project is to improve the laser simulation capability using numerical modelling. This will be accomplished by developing a simple fundamental model of laser ablation of titanium metal as a testbed study to support the idea that an ablation process can be predicted and that the damage occurring due to local heating can be controlled. An understanding of this will directly contribute to the medical sciences by improving the means of carrying out laser surgery and allow the design to be cost-effective for bio-medical implants which are widely manufactured using titanium alloys. On this project, the student will have a unique opportunity to gain familiarity with a new scientific simulation tool known as “Molecular Dynamics” simulations and “high performance scientific computing on local and national facilities”. The project will take advantage of the software such as “LAMMPS and LIGGGHTS” Furthermore, the project will be undertaken in partnership between the “School of Engineering at LSBU” as well as the “Orthopaedic Department” of NHS as well as EU based companies like Multitel and Lasea, and will be highly entertaining and rewarding from the future employment perspective. This unique fully-funded full time PhD studentship supports students from any part of the globe and seeks highly talented candidate in this area. During the research stage, the student will have a chance to work with key players and be part of the research team developing new simulation tool to extend the existing knowledge in this area. The position offers unique opportunity to those who aim to build their career in the direction of analytical modelling skills or who prefer working remotely if they have exceptional professional or personal circumstances. Supervisory Team: The successful applicant will be working Dr Saurav Goel who beside LSBU, also works for Cranfield University and University of Cambridge. He manages two Centres of excellence namely, “Centre for Doctoral Training in Ultra-Precision Engineering” and “Networkplus in Digitalised Surface Manufacturing”. As part of this project, you will be benefitted by a wide range of training tools. Informal enquiries should be directed to Dr Saurav Goel (GoeLs@LSBU.ac.uk). As a PhD student, you will join the London Centre of Energy Engineering and work alongside a range of new and experienced PhD students in a collaborative environment. Requirements: Applicants must be of outstanding academic merit and should have (or be expected to gain) either a first class or an upper second class Honours degree (or the international equivalent), or an MSc/MRes with distinction. Enthusiastic and self-motivated candidates from all countries with a background in either Engineering, Physics or Mathematics or a related discipline are encouraged to apply. Candidates should be able to demonstrate that they are highly motivated, have excellent communication skills and undertake challenging tasks using their own initiative. They should have willingness to go beyond what’s just stated. Instrumented Nanoindentation for information rich electro-mechanical characterisation Nanoindentation (ISO 14577 and ASTM E2546–07) is a high resolution technique to precisely characterise the mechanical behaviour of various materials. Usually, the process of nanoindentation relies on pressing an unknown substrate by a sharp diamond tip. In its native form, the process of nanoindentation can be carried out in two modes i.e. load controlled and displacement controlled. The technique relies purely on establishing mechanical contact to deform the substrate. With the advent of new materials, new capabilities are required to evaluate not just mechanical but also chemical and electric properties of the substrate. This is particularly useful to do a combined electro mechanical characterisation especially in situation where a contact mode mechanical loading may not be allowed as it can damage the smaller surfaces such as those obtained from the museum and in such cases a non-contact electrical characterisation may instead be performed. Towards these thoughts a conductive atomic force microscopy has been developed in the past (https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5044518) however, it looks at very small samples, requires the probe to be conductive and is still destructive in nature. A Nanoindentation machines comes equipped with a displacement control to precisely place a probe at a site as well fitted with a scanning microscope gives good information of the localised area. As part of this project activity, the aim here is to equip a nanoindenter with unprecedented capabilities, in particular to bring either a contact or non-contract electrical measurement capability which will boost the use of this technique for assessment of energy devices in solar area as well as that of functional coatings. Thus, the ultimate aim of this project is to instrument electrical capability into the newly bought nanoindentor at LSBU. An initial idea is to bring capacitive or impedance based measurement into place such that the indenter can probe a measurand like work function of the localised area. There is also an opportunity to bring an additional instrumentation for making a nanoindentation device to behave like an ultra-precision diamond milling system. On this project, the student will have a unique opportunity to gain familiarity with the instrumentation process and to learn more about Kelvin probes and its utility in expensive electronic wafer manufacturing process. The project will have a deep involvement of the UK leading nanoindentation instrument manufacturing “Micro Materials Limited” who will provide necessary enabling training to work on the project. This unique fully-funded full time PhD studentship supports students from any part of the globe and seeks highly talented candidate in this area. Supervisory Team: The successful applicant will be working Dr Saurav Goel who beside LSBU, also works for Cranfield University and University of Cambridge. He manages two Centres of excellence namely, “Centre for Doctoral Training in Ultra-Precision Engineering” and “Networkplus in Digitalised Surface Manufacturing”. As part of this project, you will be benefitted by a wide range of training tools. Informal enquiries should be directed to Dr Saurav Goel (GoeLs@LSBU.ac.uk). As a PhD student, you will join the London Centre of Energy Engineering and work alongside a range of new and experienced PhD students in a collaborative environment. Requirements: Applicants must be of outstanding academic merit and should have (or be expected to gain) either a first class or an upper second class Honours degree (or the international equivalent), or an MSc/MRes with distinction. Enthusiastic and self-motivated candidates from all countries with a background in either Instrumentation, Control, Engineering, Physics or Mathematics or a related discipline are encouraged to apply. Candidates should be able to demonstrate that they are highly motivated, have excellent communication skills and undertake challenging tasks using their own initiative. They should have willingness to go beyond what’s just stated. Understanding of the Rehbinder effect across length scales Rehbinder in 1928 reported that when a wetted surface is brought into contact with a metallic surface, it results in reduction of surface energy and hence diminishing strength of the material (doi:10.1038/1641127a0). The theory in its native form has implications on many fields including machining, tribology (biomedical implants remain in contact with body fluid), imaging (ultra-sound imaging) and many more including turbine blades where a metallic part comes undergoes several wetting cycles. Rehbinder effect in essence, may result in elastic strain, defect formation, plastic failure, defect formation, diffusion and heat and mass transport – all of which would have implications on the tribological performance of many mating engineering components. It is likely that the Rehbinder effect will have a large implication on the coefficient of friction in a broader sense which would have deep effects across a more-wider range of scientific problems. However, it is not clear from the literature as to what role does effects like change in length (length scale) roughness, microstrength of the surface etc plays in influencing the Rehbinder effect. The ultimate aim of this project is to deepen the current understanding on Rehbinder effect using numerical modelling (Multiscale modelling using FEA and molecular dynamics) and experimental approaches (nanoindentation and single point diamond turning). This will be accomplished by developing a simple fundamental model of nano and micro scratch tests in presence of liquid media. An understanding of Rehbinder will help augment measures necessary to overcome the strength degradation of metals as was earlier reported by Rehbinder. On this project, the student will have a unique opportunity to gain familiarity UK’s national High performance computing platform like “ARCHER” and will work with a team of scientists at multiple research labs of global standards. The project will take advantage of the software such as “LAMMPS”, “Abaqus” and LIGGGHTS”. Also, the project will largely also be benefitted by experiments performed at LSBU on a Nanoindentation device and that of Single point diamond machining experiments performed in the UK and in India thus bringing lot of travelling opportunities for the interested people. The project will involve several key EU wide companies such as Airbus, Rolls Royce, M-Solv, PVATepla, Stryker to name a few. Supervisory Team: The successful applicant will be working Dr Saurav Goel who beside LSBU, also works for Cranfield University and University of Cambridge. He manages two Centres of excellence namely, “Centre for Doctoral Training in Ultra-Precision Engineering” and “Networkplus in Digitalised Surface Manufacturing”. As part of this project, you will be benefitted by a wide range of training tools. Informal enquiries should be directed to Dr Saurav Goel (GoeLs@LSBU.ac.uk). As a PhD student, you will join the London Centre of Energy Engineering and work alongside a range of new and experienced PhD students in a collaborative environment. Requirements: Applicants must be of outstanding academic merit and should have (or be expected to gain) either a first class or an upper second class Honours degree (or the international equivalent), or an MSc/MRes with distinction. Enthusiastic and self-motivated candidates from all countries with a background in either Engineering, Physics or Mathematics or a related discipline are encouraged to apply. Candidates should be able to demonstrate that they are highly motivated, have excellent communication skills and undertake challenging tasks using their own initiative. They should have willingness to go beyond what’s just stated. Finite element analysis and experiments on hybrid laser assisted high-speed machining Depending on the specifications (type, pulse, energy and power), a Laser can either be used for efficient material removal, forming, bending, joining or for deposition. Due to being such a versatile tool and the fact that is a contact-less manufacturing method, laser manufacturing has gained world-wide attention. A lot of research in the past has been done on improving our understanding on the lasermatter interaction but the subject is so rich in knowledge that is still offering many new insights and has continued to remain one of the most researched area in manufacturing at present. A hybrid manufacturing method relying on laser assistance is lately gaining popularity. It is also called as thermally assisted machining. The method relies on traversing a laser source ahead of the cutting tool. The presence of laser heating just ahead of the cutting makes the cutting material more compliant and amenable to be machined especially, difficult-to-cut metal alloys. The laser source by preheating the material, enhance plasticity by the virtue of thermal softening. While the concept, its principal and a limited understanding on this laser hybrid machining process exist, a lot of questions are still unanswered such as: 1. What should be the ideal horizontal gap between a laser source and the tool tip? 2. Is this distance dependent on the strain rate applied during cutting? 3. What is the correlation between the laser parameters, cutting speed and material’s absorptivity? 4. Can a combination of laser heating and high pressure jet coolant be used to improve the machinability even more than what is usually achieved by simple laser machining? 5. In light of the recent knowledge (https://openresearch.lsbu.ac.uk/item/88v54) which suggests that at specific laser wavelengths, the absorptivity of material decreases with increased temperature can the laser energy be saved to make the operation energy efficient? To answer such questions, the project will aim to use analytical and numerical models in conjunction with the experiments to unravel and elucidate fresh insights onto the laser assisted cutting process. On this project, the student will have a unique opportunity to gain familiarity with ABAQUS numerical FEA modelling as well as performing cutting experiments. Supervisory Team: The successful applicant will be working Dr Saurav Goel who beside LSBU, also works for Cranfield University and University of Cambridge. He manages two Centres of excellence namely, “Centre for Doctoral Training in Ultra-Precision Engineering” and “Networkplus in Digitalised Surface Manufacturing”. As part of this project, you will be benefitted by a wide range of training tools. Informal enquiries should be directed to Dr Saurav Goel (GoeLs@LSBU.ac.uk). You will also join the London Centre of Energy Engineering and work alongside a range of students as a team member. Requirements: Applicants must be able to demonstrate merit and willingness to learn and should have (or be expected to gain) either a first class or an upper second class Honours degree (or the international equivalent). Enthusiastic and self-motivated candidates from all countries with a background in either Engineering, Physics or Mathematics or a related discipline are encouraged to apply. Candidates should be able to demonstrate that they are highly motivated, have excellent communication skills and undertake challenging tasks using their own initiative. Figure 1: Schematic illustration of laser hybrid PhD Scholarship in Highly Efficient Bifacial Organic Solar Cells Description: There has been an alarming increase in the atmospheric CO2 content since the mid19th century primarily due to the use of fossil fuels for energy generation. Significant portion of this is associated with the transport sector, the building sector also accounts for a large portion of energy. According to the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive by the European Commission (2019), 40% of the total energy consumption in Europe is due to growth in population and the building sector. This has led to the adoption of renewable energy sources for power generation for the building sector. The majority of the solar cells available to the consumer use the classical siliconbased photovoltaic technology, which is expensive and generates very low power under indoor lighting conditions, making it less attractive for indoor energy harvesting. Therefore, there is a need for a technology that enables high power outputs under both indoor and outdoor lighting while being capable of incorporation into building components. Organic photovoltaics (OPVs) are expected to play a major role in future power generation because of their capability to deposit solar cells on flexible substrates by printing from solution or spraycoating. Flexible OPVs solar modules are now becoming commercially available and the first largearea installations have been demonstrated for outdoor and indoor power generation. However, these modules are produced by thermal evaporation in a vacuum which is an expensive technology. This project aims to develop novel active and interface materials to make low-cost and nextgeneration flexible bifacial organic solar cells by solution methods (ink-jet printing or spray-coating) for both outdoor and indoor energy harvesting. The outcomes of this project for the PhD candidate are listed below: • Investigate the photophysical properties using transient optical spectroscopies; • gain experience in time-resolved spectroscopy and other characterisation techniques; • develop the strategies to enhance light absorption, charge generation and extraction; • fabrication and characterisation of highly efficient bifacial solar cells using non-toxic organic materials; • present the findings of the project in international conferences; • perform high-quality research and publish it as journal articles. This will be a 3 .5-year fully funded studentship for an EU/UK and overseas applicants who are keen to conduct research in the development of renewable energy sources at LSBU in the School of Engineering. Supervisory Team: The successful applicant will be working with Dr Tariq Sajjad (https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=cN5jPLMAAAAJ&hl=en ) at LSBU. As a PhD student, you will join the London Centre for Energy Engineering (http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/research/centresgroups/advanced-materials) and work alongside a range of new and experienced PhD students in a collaborative environment. Informal enquiries should be directed to Dr Tariq Sajjad (sajjadt@lsbu.ac.uk). Please send a copy of your CV with a covering letter directly to Dr Tariq Sajjad before applying. Requirements: Applicants must be of outstanding academic merit and should have (or be expected to gain) either a first class or an upper second class Honours degree (or the international equivalent), or an MSc/MRes with distinction. Enthusiastic and self-motivated candidates from all countries with a background in either Material Science, Chemistry, Physics, Engineering or a related discipline are encouraged to apply. A good knowledge or experience in Material characterisation along with device fabrication would be advantageous. PhD Scholarship in Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence (TADF) based Hyperflourescence OLEDs Description: Currently lighting is consuming more than 20% of total global energy due to energy inefficient lighting source. The development of efficient lighting sources will not only have economic impact but will also address the urgent need to reduce carbon emissions. Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), a multibillion pound market has the potential to provide cheap and clean solid-state lighting with minimal environmental impact. The devices with heavy metal-induced spin-orbital coupling effect, i.e. phosphorescence emitters, and purely organic TADF emitters, are now regularly been reported with more than 20% external quantum efficiencies. However, due to the nature of charge transfer and long exciton lifetime, many devices exhibited broadband emission profiles and serious efficiency roll-offs, this will sacrifice the colour purity for high-performance displays and efficiency loss at high brightness. This PhD project, joint between LSBU, University of St Andrews and industrial partner “Edinburgh Instruments Ltd”, aims to solve above mentioned problems via sensitization process by separating the exciton generation and recombination sites. For that, PhD student will design, synthesize, and screen the thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) compounds with short exciton lifetimes, high radiative and reverse intersystem crossing rate as the sensitizers. To efficiently sensitize an emitter, the project aims to correlate the energy transfer efficiency with the quantum yield, rate constants of the sensitizer. The outcomes of this project for the PhD candidate are listed below: • synthesis of highly efficient TADF sensitizer; • gain experience in time-resolved spectroscopy and other characterisation techniques; • perform experimental measurements to develop the general rules of a good TADF sensitizer; • fabrication of highly efficient Hyperflourescence OLEDs; • present the findings of the project in international conferences; • perform high-quality research and publish it as journal articles. This will be a 3.5-year fully funded studentship for an EU/UK and overseas applicants who are keen to conduct research in TADF Hyperflourescence OLEDs at LSBU in the School of Engineering and also willing to travel to St Andrews and Edinburgh. Supervisory Team: The successful applicant will be working with Dr Tariq Sajjad (https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=cN5jPLMAAAAJ&hl=en ) at LSBU, Prof Eli ZysmanColman (https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?hl=en&user=PtoQFloAAAAJ) at St Andrews and Alistair Rennie at Edinburgh Instruments, who aim to develop new emitters for lighting and communication. As a PhD student, you will join the London Centre for Energy Engineering (http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/research/centres-groups/advanced-materials) and work alongside a range of new and experienced PhD students in a collaborative environment. Informal enquiries should be directed to Dr Tariq Sajjad (sajjadt@lsbu.ac.uk) or Alistair Rennie (Alistair.Rennie@edinst.com). Please send a copy of your CV with a covering letter directly to Dr Tariq Sajjad before applying. Requirements: Applicants must be of outstanding academic merit and should have (or be expected to gain) either a first class or an upper second class Honours degree (or the international equivalent), or an MSc/MRes with distinction. Enthusiastic and self-motivated candidates from all countries with a background in either Material Science, Chemistry or Physics or a related discipline are encouraged to apply. A good knowledge or experience in Material synthesis, material characterisation along with device fabrication would be advantageous.

A PhD position sponsored by Airbus in numerical modelling of physical processes, focusing on solving the challenge in landing gear friction by the use of atomic simulation studies is available. Advanced physics and material modelling concepts will be used as an instrument for the modelling. The candidate will have exposure to work with high performance computing (HPC) clusters to write and design their own programming interface to model and assimilate the nature of friction existing at the interface of landing gear during the landing of an aircraft system. The project also provides a rich opportunity to interact with shop floor engineers and management of Airbus, as well as occasional secondment to their site premises in Bristol, visiting International countries to present the research results via International Conferences and to work across various other departments by leveraging advantage of Cranfield Doctoral Training theme.

Applications are invited for the above position to join the Manufacturing Metrology Team, as part of the Institute for Advanced Manufacturing, at the University of Nottingham. The Manufacturing Metrology Team conducts fundamental research to enable the next-generation of off-line and in-line metrology tools for advanced manufacturing methods with focus on precision manufacturing and additive manufacturing. More information can be found on our website (www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/manufacturing-metrology). The research within the MMT is developing a camera-based photogrammetry system capable of addressing additive manufacturing applications. By acquiring multiple 2D component images, the system software reconstructs a 3D point cloud which represents the component’s surface geometry. The current prototype software performs the calibration, set-up, data capture, and post-processing tasks relatively slowly – the objective is to develop a system they can deliver process cycle times to industrial requirements. This project will deliver system control software as described above, and will seek to incorporate the principles of information-rich metrology (IRM), developed within MMT. IRM features artificial intelligence (AI) and CAD model recognition (as well as other apriori data), allowing the system performance to be optimised by determining camera and object orientation, accelerating feature-matching, and positioning the cameras during data capture. Candidates must have an excellent degree in (preferably) engineering, physics, computer science, or equivalent, and a PhD (or equivalent experience). Strong skills in optics and computational methods are essential, and specific experience with machine learning is highly desirable. It is also expected that the candidate will demonstrate high level communication and organisational skills and an aptitude for liaison with industrial partners. This full-time post is available from October 2018 and will be offered on a fixed-term contract for a period 6 months. Job share arrangements may be considered. The Faculty of Engineering was the first in the UK to be awarded an Athena Silver SWAN Award, in recognition of our commitment to supporting and advancing women’s careers in Engineering (STEMM). You can read more about this initiative at www.nottingham.ac.uk/engineering/athena-swan. Informal enquiries may be addressed to Prof. Richard Leach, tel: 07467 085 482 or email: richard.leach@nottingham.ac.uk. Please note that applications sent directly to this email address will not be accepted. Further details: The University of Nottingham is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all sections of the community.

The EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Ultra Precision Engineering is currently recruiting motivated postgraduate students interested in designing and advancing the ultra-precision manufacturing technologies on strong footings of materials science/surface engineering/nanotechnology. The aim of this programme is to develop employable skills required in the modern manufacturing or nanotechnology landscape. This is including ultra-high precision manufacturing, in-process metrology, optomechanical engineering, precision laser processing; focused ion beam processing, surface engineering, advanced functional coatings and hybrid micromachining technologies using cutting edge simulations and experiments.

Course overview

The 4-year long programme is structured in two phases; offering one-year taught programmes co-organised with University of Cambridge and National Physical laboratory via class room lectures and hand-on trainings on state-of-the-art equipment’s followed by three years of intense independent research. The first year comprises of taught modules, laboratory modules, and a research project. Taught module is focused on developing scientific, engineering and transferable skills. Presentation skills, writing skills, entrepreneurial talks and conference organising are complementary activities that enhance the academic experience. As part of this programme, the conference visit to selected International destinations are complimentarily provided free of charge to the home students. Previous graduates have developed skills in the areas of manufacturing engineering; laser processes; materials science; atomic simulations and finite element analysis of complex manufacturing processes; and machine design. During their PhD many students will be offered the opportunity to work alongside industrial partners allowing them to gain valuable industrial experience whilst receiving an additional maintenance top-up, bringing their stipend up to a possible tax free yearly stipend of £19,000 pa.   Click Here to apply >>