Research Project Topics

(See also Dmitriy Rumynin, Marco Schlichting, Weiyi Zhang)

Christian BoehningLink opens in a new window is interested in algebraic geometry, representation and invariant theory, derived category methods in birational geometry, birational automorphism groups.

Gavin BrownLink opens in a new window can supervise projects in algebraic geometry, including the projective geometry of curves and surfaces and applications of Riemann-Roch, and (obliquely related) computational algebra projects around Groebner bases for power series involving programming.

Ruadhaí Dervan is interested in complex geometry, which is roughly the intersection of algebraic geometry and differential geometry. Students should contact him to discuss potential projects in more detail.

Martin Gallauer is happy to supervise projects in algebraic geometry, algebraic topology, category theory and representation theory.

Christian IkenmeyerLink opens in a new window is interested in the study of GL orbit closures that are of interest in computational complexity theory and tensor rank.

Chunyi Li Link opens in a new windowis interested in Algebraic Geometry.

Martin Lotz Link opens in a new windowcan supervise projects in effective, computational and numerical algebraic geometry.

Diane MaclaganLink opens in a new window can supervise projects in several different areas of algebraic geometry, including tropical geometry. Contact her for details. (See also Algebra and Combinatorics.)

Miles ReidLink opens in a new window has a variety of possible projects on offer related to modern research in algebraic geometry, and to MA4A5 Algebraic Geometry or MA426 Elliptic Curves. He can also propose problems related to advanced topics in Galois theory, commutative algebra and algebraic number theory for suitably motivated students.

• Finite subgroups of SL(2, CC) and SL(3, CC). Explicit generators, invariant theory. Work of Klein around 1870, but recently developed in many directions. Start from my preliminary chapter on cyclic quotient singularities. See for example my Bourbaki seminar or the references given on my McKay correspondence website.
• Quaternions, octonions, special geometric structures and exceptional Lie groups. See any introductory text on quaternions (for example, Balazs Szendroi and Miles Reid, Geometry and Topology, Chapter 8), followed by John C Baez, The Octonions, 56 pages, preprint available from uk.arXiv.org as math.RA/0105155, and John H. Conway and Derek A. Smith, On quaternions and octonions: their geometry, arithmetic, and symmetry, A K Peters, Ltd. 2003 IBSN 1568811349.
• Topology, projective geometry and enumerative geometry of Grassmann varieties and projective homogeneous spaces.
• Applications of Riemann Roch on curves and surfaces. Graded rings, computer algebra calculations. Computer enumeration of graded rings of interest in algebraic geometry. Work of mine and my students. It contains lots of fairly simple minded combinatorial problems that lend themselves to computing. Start from my preliminary chapter on graded rings, then look at Gavin Brown's GRDB websiteLink opens in a new window.

Damiano TestaLink opens in a new window is interested in Algebraic geometry and Number Theory. Prospective students would have to contact him to discuss further details.

(See also Tim Austin, Thomas Hudson, Peter Topping, Tim Sullivan, Maxwell Stolarski, Han Yu and Fluid Dynamics)

David BateLink opens in a new window is interested in geometric measure theory and metric geometry.

Bryn DaviesLink opens in a new window can supervise a range of projects related to spectra of ODEs/PDEs, waves in complex materials, non-linear dynamical systems, metamaterials, non-Hermitian spectral theory and asymptotic analysis.

Bertram Düring's research interests are in applied and computational partial differential equations, spanning modelling, analysis, numerical analysis and optimal control, with a particular interest in applications from finance and socio-economics.

Charles ElliottLink opens in a new window’s research is centred around the analysis and numerical of partial differential equations with applications including differential geometry, mathematical biology, material science, fluids, phase transitions. Particular topics are finite element methods, free boundary problems, geometric evolution equations and surface growth, two phase flow, cell motility, biomembranes and PDE optimisation. Projects may be in any of applied analysis, numerical analysis, computation and modelling. Prospective students would have to contact him to discuss further details. Please consult his web page for more details of his research interests.

Josephine Evans is interested in analysis of PDEs, stochastic processes or functional inequalities related to many body systems (kinetic theory) coming from both physics and biology.

Susana GomesLink opens in a new window is interested in modelling and control for real world problems, in particular using interacting particle systems (ODEs or SDEs) and PDE models for applications such as pedestrian dynamics, opinion dynamics or some problems in fluid dynamics.

András MáthéLink opens in a new window is interested in geometric measure theory, fractal geometry and real analysis (of combinatorial nature).

Filip Rindler research concerns singularities in nonlinear PDEs and the modern theory of the calculus of variations. In particular, he is interested in oscillation and concentration phenomena and what can be rigorously proved about their "shape". Applications include elasticity and elasto-plasticity theory.

Jose RodrigoLink opens in a new window is interested primarily interested in nonlinear partial differential equations (fluid mechanics, reaction-diffusion systems with mass conservation, fractional diffusion, ...) but is also happy to supervise projects on some areas of harmonic analysis (following on from MA433 or MA4J0). Prospective students should contact him to discuss further details.

James Robinson has three possible projects:

1. in the theory of differential equations, how the minimal period of a periodic orbit is related to the Lipschitz constant of the right-hand side in the ODE x'=f(x),
2. in functional analysis, definition and properties of Schaeffer's "girth", one way to measure the size of the unit ball in a Banach space, and
3. in 'analysis' a little more broadly, how to interpret various definitions of 'dimension' in terms of how 'finite-dimensional' sets can be embedded into Euclidean spaces.

Vedran SohingerLink opens in a new window  is interested in nonlinear dispersive PDEs and their connections with mathematical physics and probability theory. He is happy to offer projects based on the module MA4J0 (Advanced Real Analysis) and on related modules.

Florian Theil offers projects in PDE analysis with a focus on applications. Recent examples include PDE models of dislocations, inverse problems arising in Li-ion batteries, and the analysis of convergence in machine learning models.

Marie-Therese WolframLink opens in a new window  is not taking on any students in 2026/27 is interested in partial differential equations, mathematical modeling in socio-economic applications and the life sciences, numerical analysis.

Ewelina Zatorska  Offering projects in analysis of PDE systems describing hydrodynamic models of interacting agents. Prospective students with background and/or interest in Functional Analysis, Measure Theory, Numerical Analysis and theory of PDEs, are encouraged to discuss details individually.

(See also Joel Moreira, Akshat Mudgal)

Agelos GeorgakopoulosLink opens in a new window is not taking on any students in 2026/27 offers projects in graph theory and nearby areas .

Christian IkenmeyerLink opens in a new window is interested in the algebraic combinatorics related to representation theory.

Vadim LozinLink opens in a new window offers projects in graph theory, combinatorics, discrete mathematics

Diane MaclaganLink opens in a new window offers several projects related to matroids. Contact her for details. (See also Algebra and Algebraic Geometry.)

Oleg PikhurkoLink opens in a new window is interested in combinatorics and graph theory, including their connections to other areas (such as analysis, descriptive set theory, probability, etc).

(see also Joe Webber and Applied Analysis, Computational mathematics and numerical analysis, Fluid Dynamics, Mathematical Biology)

Ed BrambleyLink opens in a new window works on applied mathematical modeling, particularly in aeroacoustics and metal forming. Examples of potential projects can be found hereLink opens in a new window.

Ferran Brosa PlanellaLink opens in a new window is not taking on any students in 2026/27 research interests are in the broad area of industrial and applied mathematics, in particular heat and mass transfer, continuum mechanics, moving boundary problems, and dynamical systems. In his work, he combines analytical techniques and numerical techniques to develop and study mathematical models.

Randa Herzallah interests are in complex systems modelling and control, dynamical systems, signal processing, data analytics and machine learning, uncertainty characterisation and consideration, quantum systems modelling and control.

Thomas Hudson is interested in modelling physical systems at different scales, along with the rigorously analysis and simulation of such models. Some examples of project ideas include: fitting stochastic differential equation models of dislocation motion to atomistic data, modelling the interaction of dislocation lines with precipitates, studying the interaction of periodic arrays of dislocations, and sampling breakthrough curves for diffusion in random porous media. Projects could involve modelling (deriving a model from physical principles), analysis (proving existence of solutions), and numerical simulation (computing approximate solutions), or a combination of these aspects, depending on the interests of the student.

Kawa Manmi offers a project that falls within modeling fluid dynamics and multiphase phenomena. It specifically focuses on modeling the behavior of microbubbles or encapsulated microbubbles (EMBs) under acoustic excitation, examining spherical oscillations, surface oscillations, and surface stability. EMBs are of significant interest due to their potential applications in medical imaging as ultrasound contrast agents and in targeted drug delivery. Particularly emphasis might be on extending existing mathematical models to account for non-Newtonian fluid effects, membrane properties, and wave parameters.

Markus KirkilionisLink opens in a new window' interests are in complex systems, mathematical biology, dynamic network models, numerical analysis, pattern formation, physiologically structured Population models, (monotone) dynamical systems. Prospective students should contact him to discuss further details.

Robert MacKayLink opens in a new window offers projects in a range of applications of mathematics, especially of dynamical systems theory. For the current list, see https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/maths/people/staff/robert_mackay/mackayma4k9projects.docxLink opens in a new window

(See also Bertram Düring, Charles Elliott, Tobias Grafke, Radu Cimpeanu, Randa Herzallah, Tim Sullivan, and Marie-Therese Wolfram)

Andreas DednerLink opens in a new window is not taking on any students in 2026/27 interests are in numerical analysis and scientific computing, with particular emphasis in high-order methods for non-linear equations and applications in geophysical flows, radiation magnetohydrodynamics, and reaction-diffusion equations. Prospective students would have to contact him to discuss further details.

Martin LotzLink opens in a new window can supervise projects on numerical linear and non-linear algebra, compressed sensing, and deep learning (theory and applications).

• Compressed Sensing: we know that it is impossible to reconstruct a vector of dimension N from less that N measurements, but what if we knew that the sought-after vector has some special structures (after all, most of the objects we are interested in are not random), can we construct from fewer measurements?
• Computational optimal transport: In data science, it is important to be able to effectively compare different objects (e.g. two pieces of text), and the Euclidean distance is generally not a good metric! One approach is to encode the objects as probability distributions and use optimal transport distances.
• Super-resolution of point-wise sources: The goal is to study how one can reconstruct sums of Diracs from low resolution data. Examples of applications include astronomy, studying protein structures in nuclear magnetic imaging and single cell fluorescence microscopy.

Björn StinnerLink opens in a new window has expertise in modelling with partial differential equations, their analysis, and their numerical approximation with finite element methods. He is specifically interested in evolutionary problems on evolving domains with applications in materials, cell biology, or fluids. Topics for 4th year projects are:

1. Scalar auxiliary variables (SAVs) for stabilising numerical schemes: Introducing a scalar, time dependent variable can support the construction of stable numerical schemes for time-dependent partial differential equations. The method is well outlined in a recent preprint (spring 2026). After working through it we can apply it to develop a scheme for a more complicated problem, such as a diffuse interface model for two-phase micropolar flow that has been recently derived. Further objectives then can be comprehensive parameter studies or a numerical analysis.
2. Image segmentation with phase field models: The final aim of this project is to extract blood vessel geometries from 3D ultrasound images. Using the phase field methodology, the problem is transformed to an optimisation problem, which then can be solved by approximating its gradient flow dynamics (a parabolic equation). The procedure is outlined in a recent paper. The project can be developed in various directions. There are questions around well-posedness and convergence of the numerical scheme, or one could compare with other computational methods, including machine learning tools.
   
   

(See also Ruadhaí Dervan, and see Applied Analysis, Fluid Dynamics, Computational Mathematics for further topics in PDEs).

Felix SchulzeLink opens in a new window’s research interests lie in Geometric Analysis, more specifically geometric flows, minimal surfaces and their applications to geometric problems such as for example isoperimetric inequalities. Interested students should have a strong background in Differential Geometry and PDE as well as interest in Geometric Measure Theory. Interested students should contact Prof. Schulze by the end of week 11 of term 3. Interested MASt students are welcome to contact Prof. Schulze also after this date.

Maxwell Stolarski's research interests lie in geometric analysis with an emphasis on singularity analysis of geometric flows. Interested students should have a background in differential geometry and PDE. Prospective students should contact him to discuss further details.

Peter Topping offers various options in geometric analysis. There will be many different challenging projects possible in this active area. The suitable student will have interest both in differential geometry and in PDE theory (and should normally be taking Advanced PDE). It might be some effort to understand enough to start the project, but it should leave you in a great position to start PhD research in the area. Interested students must contact Prof. Topping by the end of week 9 of term 3.

(See also Robert MacKay, James Robinson, and David Wood)

Tim Austin is not taking on any students in 2026/27 works in ergodic theory and its connections to combinatorics, probability and representation theory. He is willing to supervise projects in these areas, but generally expects project students to have some relevant previous Masters-level experience, such as taking MA427 in year 3.

Adam EpsteinLink opens in a new window offers projects in Complex and Arithmetic Dynamical Systems, for example:

• Arithmetic Questions in Holomorphic Dynamics: Consider the polynomials F_n(c) = p_c o ... o p_c(0) (n-fold self-composition) where p_c(z) = z^2 + c. It is known that all roots of F_n(c) are simple. The polynomial F_n splits into factors, some of which arise as F_m for smaller m dividing n: when such factors are divided out, the resulting polynomials are conjectured to be irreducible. Questions of this nature arise for other interesting families of rational maps, and little is known in general. Well-organised computer experimentation would be a good start. This would be an appropriate project for a student who has taken, or will be taking Algebraic Number Theory (or Galois Theory). Familiarity with basics from Complex Analysis and Dynamical Systems would also be useful.
• Adam is also willing to supervise appropriate mutually agreed projects in set theory and logic.

Vasily GelfreykhLink opens in a new window’s research interests lie in the area of dynamical systems. Prospective students should contact him to discuss potential projects in more detail.

Oleg KozlovskiLink opens in a new window is interested in Dynamical systems, ergodic theory, mathematical physics, financial mathematics. Prospective students should contact him to discuss potential projects in more detail.

Ian MelbourneLink opens in a new window is interested in Ergodic theory and Dynamical systems, including probabilistic or stochastic aspects of deterministic dynamical systems, as well as dynamics in systems with symmetry. Prospective students should contact him to discuss potential projects in more detail.

Joel Moreira is interested in Ergodic theory and applications to combinatorics and number theory and is willing to supervise projects in these areas.

Cagri SertLink opens in a new window is willing to supervise various projects related to Ergodic Theory, dynamics of group actions, relations with geometry and number theory, probabilistic, geometric and analytic group theory. Prospective students would have to see him to discuss further details.

Richard SharpLink opens in a new window is interested in Ergodic Theory and its applications to other areas of pure mathematics. He is happy to discuss potential projects with prospective students but normally expects project students to have taken at least one of MA424 or MA427 in Year 3.

John SmillieLink opens in a new window is interested in translation surfaces and complex dynamics in higher dimensions.

(See also Tobias Grafke and the Applied Analysis and Computational Mathematics sections above)

Thomasina BallLink opens in a new window is interested in mathematical modelling of fluid dynamical phenomena motivated by observations of the natural world. The applications predominantly originate from geophysical flows at both large- and small-scales but can also have significant relevance to many flows found in industrial processes. Specific topics include gravity-driven flows, non-Newtonian rheologies, Hele-Shaw flows, instabilities (Saffman-Taylor instability, fracture instability of soft gels, buckling instabilities due to rheology contrasts). Projects are likely to include a range of theoretical and computational modelling of PDEs. An interest in modules such as MA3D1 Fluid Dynamics and MA4L0 Advanced Topics in Fluids is useful.

Radu CimpeanuLink opens in a new window supervises projects at the intersection between mathematical modelling, asymptotic analysis, solutions for ordinary/partial differential equations and high performance computing (including computational linear algebra and large scale system solvers). Specific topics in fluid mechanics include interfacial flows (modelling, analysis, simulation and applications of drops, bubbles and liquid films), rheological flows (from chocolate to de-icing fluids) and novel mathematical models for the cultivated meat industry. Some projects are likely to include multi-physics aspects such as acoustics, heat transfer and electromagnetism. From a mathematical standpoint, there are exciting opportunities to combine classical (continuum) modelling with discrete and data scientific streams, as well as integrating approaches such as control theory or hybrid modelling into areas previously unexplored with such tools. More generally, work on any of the above will likely involve a mixture of analytical and computational techniques (which can be tailored depending on your own interests and what skillset you wish to develop), as well as the interplay between them.

Ellen Luckins is interested in modelling physical and industrial problems using applied continuum mechanics (PDEs), such as fluid dynamics and heat/mass transfer. She is particularly interested in free-boundary problems and using asymptotic analysis, including homogenisation analysis to study problems involving multiple time- and/or length-scales. Applications include the remediation and reactive decontamination of chemical warfare agents, and phase-change phenomena such as evaporation or solidification. Projects will be likely to include modelling with PDEs, asymptotic analysis, and numerical simulations.

Tom Montenegro-Johnson offers projects across a broad range of topics in soft/fluid mechanics, with industrial and biological applications. These include, but are not limited to:

1. Microbot propulsion: Improving modelling methods for autophoretic propulsion of active colloids, theory and simulation of filament-like microbots (slender body theories), dynamics of suspensions of microbots.
2. Responsive gel modelling: Designing and simulating microscale actuators made from hydrogels which change volume upon a stimulus (such as temperature change).
3. The sense of touch: various projects including modelling the decline of touch associated with aging, haptic feedback devices, and the future uptake of human augmentation.

Projects will typically involve at least some component of programming, including numerical solution of PDEs, ODEs, and agent-based modelling.

James SprittlesLink opens in a new window offers project on the mathematical modelling and computational simulation of fluid mechanical phenomena. His work focuses on the behaviour of interfaces (so-called ‘free surface flows’), which govern micro- and nano-flows.

• Collisions of Droplets (when/where will it rain?): knowing whether two liquid droplets will merge or bounce when they collide is crucial for a range of processes. For example, cloud droplets need to merge with their colleagues in order to become large enough to fall (i.e. to initiate rain). From a theoretical perspective, this problem requires a combination of classical fluid mechanics for the droplets coupled to new models for the gas flow between them, which dictates whether or not the drops join. We have recently made progress on this problem, see this reviewLink opens in a new window, but many open problems remain, including considering off-centre collisions and the effects of background turbulent flow. In this project, we will use mathematical modelling to build simplified computational approaches that capture the essence of this problem, validating these against both experiments and larger-scale simulation capabilities we have developed. Relevant parameters will be obtained from our collaborators at the Met Office, who are interested in building our results into their weather forecasting models.
• Stability of Nanofilms (when does a layer of liquid break into droplets?): understanding when a thin film of liquid will break is crucial for an array of phenomena, ranging from the manufacturing of solar cells through to the stability of liquid emulsions and foams (e.g., in your bath). Interestingly, a stability analysis of the conventional fluid mechanical approach suggests that films are always stable… but we know they can break! This project will look into how thermal fluctuations within the liquid can break thin films of liquid. Mathematically, this means considering the dynamics of stochastic partial differential equations which capture this physics. Recently, we have made progress in understanding how ‘rogue nanowavesLink opens in a new window’ can break these films and in this project you will develop these ideas in one of many possible directions, for example, looking at ‘free films’ (such as occur in foams). It will require a combination of mathematical and computational development with the possibility of connecting to recent experiments.
• Optimal Strategies in Cycling (how much effort should I put in over a hill?): selfishly, I have recently become interested in how best to use power/energy when cycling a given (probably hilly) route. If this interests you, we could look at what has been done mathematically in this arena and to develop some simplified mathematical models to begin to answer these questions.

Joe Webber'sLink opens in a new window research interests are into the mathematical modelling of soft, squishy materials using techniques from fluid mechanics and elasticity theory. In particular, the focus of recent work has been on responsive gel materials that swell and deswell in response to chemical or thermodynamic triggers, and the complex coupled dynamics of such systems. I intend to offer projects based around designing and testing flexible and squishy machinery using mathematical models for gels that swell and dry, or into applying insights developed in materials science to model geophysical processes (e.g. freezing damage to soils and permafrost).

(See also Martin Gallauer, Dmitriy Rumynin, Marco Schlichting)

Raad Al Kohli would be interested in supervising projects about groups of homeomorphisms of Cantor space. In particular, any of the following general topics are of interest: Thompson groups (in a general sense), Full groups of etale groupoids, and the Rational group. TDLC groups are also of interest. More specific projects could include:

1. Ville Salo proved that all right-angled Artin groups (RAAGs) embed into the Brin-Thompson group 2V. The student would be required to understand the proof and use it to find explicit generators of RAAGs in 2V. If there is time they would then use the embedding of Belk and Bleak of 2V into the Rational group (of Grigorchuk, Nekrashevych and Sushchansky) to express the generators of RAAGs as transducers.
2. Hiroki Matui proved that under certain conditions on a groupoid, the full group of the groupoid has simple commutator subgroup. The student would be required to understand this proof. Moreover, the student should show that using this, one can recover the now well known simplicity of groups in the Thompson family.

Students should get in touch to discuss potential projects in more detail.

Emanuele DottoLink opens in a new window is not taking on any students in 2026/27. can supervise projects in various areas of algebraic topology, homotopy theory, algebraic K-theory and category theory.

John Greenlees is interested in algebraic topology, homotopy theory, commutative algebra and representation theory.

Robert KrophollerLink opens in a new window would be interested in supervising projects in geometric group theory and low-dimensional topology. Students should contact him to discuss potential projects in more detail.

Martin Lotz Link opens in a new window can supervise projects in topological data analysis and persistent homology.

Harry PetytLink opens in a new window can supervise projects in geometric group theory

Saul SchleimerLink opens in a new window is interested in geometric topology, group theory, and computation. Students should contact him to discuss potential projects in more detail.

Davide SprianoLink opens in a new window is interested in geometric group theory and algorithmic aspects of group theory.

Karen VogtmannLink opens in a new window is interested in geometric group theory, low-dimensional topology, cohomology of groups.

Ric WadeLink opens in a new window is happy to supervise topics in geometric group theory and algebraic topology.

Weiyi Zhang is interested in symplectic topology, complex geometry and low dimensional topology.

(see also Charles Elliott, Tom Montenegro-Johnson, Björn Stinner)

Nigel Burroughs Link opens in a new windowapplies mathematical and statistical methods to biological systems. He is primarily interested in understanding the mechanics and functional mechanisms of cells, in effect how they work and achieve the spectacular range of behaviours that are observed. He uses a combination of model development, mathematical analysis (eg dynamical systems methods), simulation and Bayesian statistical computation (Markov chain Monte Carlo methods), with both deterministic and stochastic models. The examples below should give you some idea of what projects I can suggest across a variety of biological and medical problems, utilising a variety of mathematical and computational methods.

1. Dynamics of chromosomes during cell division. During cell division the 46 duplicated chromosomes (humans) have to be spatially organised so that at cell division each daughter cell receives a complete set of chromosomes. This is a complex self-organising problem with sophisticated collective dynamics. You would use collective dynamics mechanistic models based on noisy ODEs and could analyse human cell division data.
2. Data driven modelling. How do you take data and design appropriate models? This is a well developed area in machine learning and statistics. I have large datasets on multiple biological systems, from molecular motor movements to chromosome dynamics. I typically use Bayesian methods to fit models to data, a powerful methodology that is now able to handle complex models and high volumes of data. We use STAN (an easy probabilistic programming language), and python.Experience with/exposure to hidden Markov chains and probability theory is advisable.
3. Using rough path signatures in biology. Rough paths refer to noisy trajectories such as Brownian motion. They have transformed analysis of financial markets and provide a powerful set of machine learning tools. For instance, they can be used for trajectory classification. Their use in biology is nonexistent, but they have massive potential. Come and explore signatures! Python essential.
4. Multi-objective optimisation (MOO) in cancer therapy. Cancer therapy optimisation is a multi-objective problem - one wants to minimise the toxicity effects to the patient but also maximise impact on the tumour. These are competing objectives. The project will involve analysis (theory and numerics) of the lifetime payoff within a MOO framework, using an ODE formulation of cancer dynamics integrated with Poisson process survival models.

Prospective students should contact him to discuss further details.

Louise DysonLink opens in a new window works on mathematical modelling of biological systems, especially the epidemiology of COVID-19 and neglected tropical diseases and the analysis of biological systems in which noise plays an important role.

Lukas EigentlerLink opens in a new window offers projects on the modelling of (i) pattern formation in ecological systems, and (ii) eco-evolutionary dynamics. For all projects, students should have taken at least one of ‘MA256: Intro to Math Biology’ or ‘MA390 Topics in Math Biology’ and be competent in a programming language. For projects on pattern formation, students should intend to take ‘MA4N4: Transport Processes in Math Biology’ alongside the project.

1. Pattern formation: Self-organised patterns occur in many ecological systems, for example dryland plants or intertidal mussel beds. For many ecosystems, mathematical modelling is the only feasible way to develop an understanding of these patterns due time and cost constraints of field studies or experimental approaches. Models typically comprise partial differential equations admitting patterned solutions. Project could involve studies that investigate how transitions between different patterned states occur due to environmental change, how energy storage processes (e.g., seed dormancy in plants) affect pattern formation, or how modelling data can be related to remotely sensed satellite data.
2. Eco-evolutionary dynamics: Classically, evolutionary theory has focussed on determining single “evolutionary stable strategies”. However, field data highlights that often there exists large degrees of individual variability within single populations. Mathematical modelling can increase our understanding of how such levels of variability are maintained over evolutionary timescales. Projects could include studies that investigate how continuous variation of resources maintains continuous individual variation, whether ecological population cycles select for individual variation, or whether local competition among small groups lead to variability in large populations.

Recent projects have included the evolution and competition of influenza strains, diffusion approximations to disease spread on networks, optimal control of spatial epidemics, Nicholson-Bailey lattice models.

David RandLink opens in a new window's research is in Systems Biology, particularly understanding the design principles of regulatory and signalling systems in cells. His main current interests concern integrating developmental and stem cell biology with dynamical systems theory (in collaboration with labs at The Francis Crick Institute and Rockefeller University) and machine learning tools for understanding the role of the circadian clock in cancer and other diseases. A possible R-project is a collaboration with Dr Robert Dallmann in the Warwick Medical School. It would involve applying a machine-learning/AI algorithm TimeTeller to analyse the human circadian clock and its interaction with medically important systems such as the immune system in a unique human gene expression dataset. Prospective students would have to contact him to discuss further details.

Kat RockLink opens in a new window is a mathematical epidemiologist interested in population-level disease dynamics. In particular her focus is on transmission of vector-borne (insect-transmitted) infections, infections in low- or middle-income countries, and bringing together dynamic transmission modelling and health economic evaluation. She teaches the MA4M1 “Epidemiology by Example” course and it would be recommended to have taken this and/or “Population Dynamics” (MA4E7) already or alongside an R-project.

Albane TheryLink opens in a new window offers projects at the intersection of soft/fluid mechanics and mathematical biology, with models and simulations motivated by experimental biological and medical systems. These include:

1. Potential wave propagation in biofilms: (math bio, PDEs, pattern formation) bacteria in colonies exchange nutrients and ions and, as a result, electrochemical signals propagate through the colony. The goal is to derive a system of equations for the experimentally observed wave propagation and study the solutions analytically and numerically.
2. Cell sensing in fluids: (fluid mechanics, inverse problems, reinforcement learning). These projects focus on the ability of cells to sense surrounding flows, with a range of theoretical, numerical and possibly experimental questions depending on the students’ interests.
3. Gradient sensing in complex environments (agent-based simulations, PDEs, stochastic processes). The objective of these projects is to derive models for the navigation of particles in complex environments with external signals. These have applications for bacterial chemotaxis and can have collaborative components with microbiologists.

Mike TildesleyLink opens in a new window works on the development of mathematical models to simulate the spread of livestock and zoonotic diseases.

Dave Wood would be willing to discuss possible topics given the information below. His main interests for projects include ecological/industrial type modelling, investigating systems with symmetry (including but not limited to applications to arthropod locomotion), networks of coupled cells.

Systems with symmetry could be theoretical or applied, but would concentrate on using methods from MA3J3 Bifurcations, Catastrophes and Symmetry, so this may interest students who plan to take that in term 2 since they would have a head start. Networks of coupled cells is a generalisation from systems with explicit symmetry and patterns you may expect to see, a particular topic could be how networks of neurons produce patterns that are stably "fed-forward" along paths of connected cells. Ecological (and/or industrial) modelling I would be happy to consider any suitable application that a student feels passionate about (see below for a couple of past such projects).

Previous titles he has supervised include: “Coupled cell networks, bifurcations and symmetry”, “The effects of tuna fishing on dolphin populations”, “Symmetry in coupled cells and neuronal networks”, “Applications of maths in industry”, “Discrete maths in industry”, “Modelling the Future of the Hawaiian Honeycreeper: An Ecological and Epidemiological problem”.

(see also Vedran Sohinger, Nikos Zygouras, and Stochastic Analysis and Probability)

Siri ChongchitnanLink opens in a new window offers projects on cosmology and theoretical astrophysics. Potential topics include: cosmological inflation, cosmological perturbation theory, cosmology from the JWST, primordial gravitational waves, large-scale structures and statistical methods in cosmology (e.g. Bayesian and extreme-value statistics). These projects will involve the use of Python. Background knowledge of cosmology or astrophysics, whilst ideal, is not necessary. An ideal student would be someone who is deeply curious about the nature and the origin of the Universe.
Siri is also interested in the history of mathematics especially from ancient China, Japan, India and the Islamic world.

Daniel UeltschiLink opens in a new window's offers projects in various areas of probability theory and statistical mechanics, such as classical and quantum spin systems; random loop models; random partitions and random permutations. Please contact him for a discussion about possible detailed topics.

Roger TribeLink opens in a new window is not taking on any students in 2026/27 Three possible projects are: (i) D eterminantal Point Processes - randomly arranged points whose distribution is characterized via determinants. (See Terrence Tao blog on https://terrytao.wordpress.com/2009/08/23/determinantal-processes/Link opens in a new window) - needs only Year 1 probability (ii) Random Fractals on Z^d - needs a student who has taken our fractal geometry module; (iii) Negative Association - needs only Year 1 probability.

(See also Adam Epstein, Joel Moreira)

Sam ChowLink opens in a new window supervises projects in analytic number theory, diophantine equations, and diophantine approximation.

Adam HarperLink opens in a new window is interested in analytic and probabilistic number theory, and would be willing to supervise projects in these areas. The basic goal is to use methods of analysis (real, complex, Fourier, probability) to understand the distribution of number theoretic objects, like prime numbers. A project would likely involve working through a couple of papers from the (fairly) recent research literature, and trying to understand and synthesise them.

Akshat Mudgal supervises projects in additive combinatorics, analytic number theory and combinatorial geometry. Prospective students would have to contact him to discuss further details.

Harry SchmidtLink opens in a new window offers projects in Diophantine geometry and arithmetic dynamics. Such a project might involve applying p-adic analysis, special functions, complex analysis, algebraic geometry or height theory to problems in number theory.

Samir SiksekLink opens in a new window is unable to take on project students because of his Director of Teaching duties.

Helena VerrillLink opens in a new window offers projects in arithmetic geometry; number theory; algebraic geometry. In particular topics involving modular forms, elliptic curves, algorithmic number theory, especially computational topics, including but not limited to applications of elliptic curves to cryptography. Also topics involving Picard-Fuchs equations, hypergeometric functions, etc. She also supervises projects in combinatorial game theory and is also willing to supervise projects in algebra related to quantum computing.

(see also Tim Austin, Josephine Evans, Adam Harper, Ian Melbourne, Han Yu, Oleg Zaboronski, as well as the Complexity Science and Mathematical Physics)

Tobias GrafkeLink opens in a new window is interested in numerical methods and mathematical tools to analyse stochastic systems. Applications include fluid dynamics and turbulence, atmosphere and ocean dynamics, and biological and chemical systems.

Tim SullivanLink opens in a new window offers projects in uncertainty quantification and inverse problems, understood as the meeting point of numerical analysis, applied probability and statistics, and scientific computation. He also has interests in data science and machine learning.

Nikos Zygouras: I am working in the area of probability theory and I am interested in studying phenomena that arise from statistical mechanics of disordered systems (random polymers, motion in random media, stochastic growth etc) and stochastic analysis (SPDEs). I am also interested in the connections to random matrices, algebraic combinatorics, representation theory. I am happy to supervise fourth year projects focused on two topics

1. INTEGRABLE PROBABILITY : this is a rather new area within probability which explores remarkable connections between probability and algebraic structures (representation theory, algebraic combinatorics etc). A motivation for this development has been the understanding of the so called Kardar-Parisi-Zhang universality, which governs fluctuations of stochastic growth model (colonies of bacteria, spread of fluid in porous media etc). Remarkably, these fluctuation are not governed by the standard central limit theorem but rather from distributions related to random matrix theory. Some favour on this topic is provided by these notes
   https://arxiv.org/pdf/1812.07204.pdf
   https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/statistics/staff/academic-research/zygouras/florence.pdf
2. SCALING LIMITS OF DISORDERED SYSTEMS AND SPDEs: Stochastic PDEs (SPDEs) have been proposed as continuum scaling limits of statistical mechanics models. However, both the well posedness of the SPDEs and the convergence of the discrete models to these are very challenging problems. The first problem has been recently largely settled below the so-called "critical dimension”) through the theory of Regularity Structures (by Hairer) or Paracontrollled Districutions (by Gubinelli-Imkelle-Perkowski). At the critical dimension things are much more challenging. This project can spin around the above theories, some exploration of critical dimensional statistical mechanics and/or scaling limits. Some flavour of the topic can be obtained in these notes
   https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/maths/people/staff/zygouras/research_work/discrete_stochastic_analysis.pdf
   https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/maths/people/staff/zygouras/research_work/bonn.pdf

Oleg Zaboronski offers the following four projects.

• Metastability and large deviations for system of SDE's.
  • Description: An interesting phenomenon has been observed recently for systems of differential equations inspired by hydrodynamics: the addition of noise to a system of ODE's with a single fixed point leads to the emergence of multiple (quasi) fixed points. The aim of the project is to study classes of such ODE's and possibly apply the findings to the study of metastability in turbulence.
  • Key words and phrases: metastability; stochastic differential equations; time scale separation; large deviations; Wentzell-Freidlin theory; instanton trajectory; Fredholm determinants; Szego's theorems
• Matrix valued Brownian motions
  • Description: Random matrix theory is a multi-disciplinary subject possessing an intrinsic mathematical beauty and having applications to a range of applied sciences from string theory to data science and statistics. A dynamical version of random matrix theory is matrix valued Brownian motion. For the Hermitian matrices this gives rise to such a classical stochastic process as Dyson Brownian motion. The aim of the project is to study random matrix evolution for the non-Hermitian case.
  • Key words and phrases: matrix-valued Brownian motion; Berezin caclulus; supersymmetry; determinant; pfaffian; stochastic differential equations; point processes
• Markov dualities and interacting particle systems in one dimension
  • Description: More often than not, Markov interacting particle systems in one dimensions exhibit strong fluctuations which render their approximate description using differential equations ('mean field theory') useless. One of the methods of analysing such systems is based on Markov duality which allows to extract at least partial information about the system from its dual. But how do you find these dualities? The aim of the project is to learn about Markov dualities and investigate the dualities for certain classes of strongly fluctuating interacting particle systems.
  • Key words and phrases: Markov processes in continuous time, interacting particle systems, Markov duality; Hecke algebras; Yang-Baxter equation; R-matrix; determinatal point processes; pfaffian point processes
• Moment factorisation for the stochastic heat equation.
  • Description: It has been discovered recently, that the exponential moments of the solution to the stochastic partial differential heat equation satisfy classical integrable PDE's such as Kadomtsev-Petviashvili equations. The discovery came from the analysis of exact formulae for the exponential moments available for certain initial conditions. One of the consequences is that certain moments for the stochastic heat equations must factor into the linear combinations of products of the lower order moments. The aim of the project is to investigate the factorisation phenomenon from the point of view of stochastic analysis studying the solutions to the stochastic heat equation itself.
  • Keywords: Stochastic heat equation: stochastic processes, Ito's calculus; KPZ equation; KP integrable hierarchy; Fredholm determinants; intermittency; moment problem