Research topics and projects
The Physics Department at Warwick offers postgraduate degree programmes leading to either a PhD or a MSc by Research. The intake of students is typically around 35 per year and we have a thriving postgraduate research community within the department. Students and other researchers give their views on life in the Physics Department here.
The UK's research councils, principally the EPSRC and the STFC, are major funders of PhD studentships in the Department, along with the University and a wide range of other funding bodies. For more details about funding and available scholarships, please see this page.
The research undertaken in the department falls into six broad areas, with more details available on our Research web pages. You are welcome to contact any potential supervisor directly; they will be happy to discuss their research and any potential PhD or MSc projects with you.
Below is a full list of the PhD research projects that supervisors have identified for potential students. Projects identified as funded typically only cover UK national students; however, some funded projects can be extended to cover international fees. Please contact the supervisor to discuss this. Projects listed as unfunded may become funded in the future, so if the topic interests you we encourage you to apply to it and contact the indicated supervisor. We anticipate that potential funding may come available to be allocated to exceptional students who apply to unfunded projects around March 10th 2025.
In-person interviews for Astronomy & Astrophysics projects will be on February 10-13th 2025, and for Condensed Matter Physics and Theoretical Physics projects on February 5th 2025.
| Condensed Matter Physics Filter PhD projects: Funded / all. |
Theoretical and Computational Physics Filter PhD projects: Funded / all. |
Medical and Biophysics Filter PhD projects: Funded / all. |
| Astronomy and Astrophysics Filter: All projects. |
Centre for Fusion, Space and Astrophysics Filter PhD projects: Funded / all. |
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Predicting the crystal structures of polymorphs using machine learning approaches
Supervisor: Albert Bartók-Pártay and Steven Brown
More details on this project
Start date: Sept 2025
Funding: The project is fully funded for 48 months
Quantum algorithms for fusion and plasma physics
Supervisor: Animesh Datta and Tom Goffrey
More details on this project
Start date: Sept 2025
Funding: The project is fully funded for 48 months
CDT in Modelling of Heterogeneous Systems - HetSys
The HetSys Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) at Warwick recruits students from across physical sciences, mathematics and engineering who enjoy using their mathematical skills and thinking flexibly to solve complex problems.
More information on the research topics and how to apply can be found on the HetSys webpages.
Multidimensional vibrational spectroscopy of defects in diamond
Supervisor: Prof James Lloyd-Hughes & Prof Mark Newton
More details on this project.
Start date: Sept 2025
Funding: The project is fully funded for 48 months
Imaging atomic-level dynamics in real-time using graphene-based devices
Supervisor: Alex Robertson
More details on this project
Start date: September 2025
Funding: The project is fully funded for 42 months
Nanoscale Imaging of Hybrid Metal Halide Perovskites for Photovoltaic Applications
Supervisor: Rebecca Milot
More details on this project
Start date: September 2025
Funding: The project is fully funded for 42 months
Active Smectics in Developing Tissues
Supervisor: Gareth Alexander
More details on this project
Start date: September 2025
Funding: The project is fully funded for 42 months
THz sensing and optimisation for biomedical applications
Supervisor: Emma MacPherson
More details on this project
Start date: September 2025
Funding: The project is fully funded for 42 months
Probing two-dimensional ferroic heterostructures
Supervisor: Neil Wilson
More details on this project
Start date: September 2025
Funding: The project is fully funded for 42 months
Studies of the new nickel oxide high temperature superconductors
Supervisor: Geetha Balakrishnan
More details on this project
Start date: September 2025
Funding: The project is fully funded for 42 months
Quantum light spectroscopy of complex quantum systems
Supervisor: Animesh Datta
More details on this project
Start date: September 2025
Funding: The project is fully funded for 42 months
Topology of magnetic structures in solar wind plasma
Supervisor: Bogdan Hnat
More details on this project
Start date: September 2025
Funding: The project is fully funded for 42 months
The dynamic universe; extragalactic transients and stellar explosions.
Supervisor: Prof. Danny Steeghs & Dr Joe Lyman
More details on this project.
Start date: September 2025
Funding: The project is fully funded for 42-48 months
Elementary Particle Physics
A short overview of the project areas can be found on the group website. Enquires can be made to Dr. John Marshall (John.Marshall@warwick.ac.uk)
Areas of activity:
The Warwick EPP group is strongly involved in the ATLAS and LHCb experiments at the LHC (at CERN), and also in the field of neutrino physics. Within neutrino physics, we’re involved in the DUNE and MicroBooNE experiments (in the USA), the T2K and Hyper-K experiments (in Japan) and the JUNO experiment (in China). We’re also involved in a number of projects developing new detector technologies.
Emerging properties in quantum materials studied using high magnetic fields
Combatting Light-Induced Halide Migration in Perovskites for Tandem Solar Cells
Phase diagrams and functional properties of nanoscale ferroelectric domain walls
Topological optoelectronics through semiconductor / semimetal heterostructures
Advanced photocathodes integrated with gaseous electron multipliers
Altermagnetic heterostructures
Altermagnetic heterostructures
Quantum physics of compressively strained germanium on silicon semiconductor spin qubits
Exploration and Synthesis of Topological Magnetic Systems
Chemotaxis of mammalian spermatozoa
Low-dose 3D Dynamical Characterisation of Si-Vacancy Colour Centre in Diamond
Highly frustrated magnetic materials by neutron scattering
Chirality and Odd Mechanics in Active Liquid Crystals
Diamond magnetometer for Space, Medical and Fusion Power
Modelling of electron diffraction for crystal structure solution and refinement
Supervisor: Richard Beanland
More details on this project
Start date: September 2025