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. Current students from one of the research groups 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 scholarships, please see this page.
The Department actively contributes to Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs) funded by the EPSRC and industrial partners, including the Modelling of Heterogeneous Systems (HetSys) CDT, Diamond Science and Technology and the Analytical Sciences doctoral training centres.
The research undertaken in the department covers the 6 broad areas below, which are described in more detail on the Research Group web pages. You are welcome to contact any potential supervisor directly to discuss PhD projects.
This is a full list of the PhD research projects that supervisors have identified for potential students. Self-funded students and students with external scholarships are welcome to apply for any research project: our funding page has full details on funding options for UK and international students. There are a limited number of PhD scholarships for outstanding UK students to work on any project identified on the full project list. International students can apply for support via the Chancellor's International Scholarships and other schemes.
| 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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Electronic properties of ferroelectric domain walls
Supervisor: Marios Hadjimichael
More details on this project
Start date: September 2024
Funding: The project is fully funded for 42 months
Modelling charged-particle transport and heating in fusion plasmas
Supervisor: Dirk Gericke
More details on this project
Start date: September 2024
Funding: The project is fully funded for 48 months (EPSRC ICASE)
Wideband microwave spectrometry using quantum defects in diamond
Supervisor: Ben Green
More details on this project
Start date: September 2024
Funding: The project is fully funded for 48 months
Non-linear photoelectric processes in quantum paraelectric SrTiO3
Supervisor: Marin Alexe
More details on this project
Start date: September 2024
Funding: The project is fully funded for 42 months
Imaging atomic-level electrochemistry in real-time using 2D material devices
Supervisor: Alex Robertson
More details on this project
Start date: September 2024
Funding: The project is fully funded for 42 months
Modelling energy transport in the Solar corona
Supervisor: Tony Arber
More details on this project
Start date: September 2024
Funding: The project is fully funded for 42 months (STFC)
Optimising robotic platforms for terahertz detection of cancer
Supervisor: Emma MacPherson
More details on this project
Start date: September 2024
Funding: The project is fully funded for 42 months (EPSRC)
New applications of solid-state NMR to the extracellular matrix in health and disease
Chemotaxis of mammalian spermatozoa
Clamp-on ultrasonic transducer arrays for flow measurement
Supervisor: Steve Dixon
More details on this project
Start date: September 2024
Funding: This project is fully funded for 42 months (EPSRC)
Highly frustrated magnetic materials by neutron scattering
2D magnetic materials: probing magneto-electronic coupling.
Unconventional Superconductors
Supervisor: Martin Lees
More details on this project
Start date: September 2024
Funding: The project is fully funded for 42 months (EPSRC)
Materials science and quantum physics of strained germanium semiconductor spin qubit
Non-Destructive Evaluation of micro-cavity defects in steels using digital positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy – NDE-PALS
Quantum-enhanced sensors for the gravity-quantum interface
Topological and skyrmion magnetic materials
Levitating microdiamonds towards a test of the quantum nature of gravity
Supervisor: Gavin Morley
More details on this project
Start date: September 2024
Funding: The project is fully funded for 42 months
Topological optoelectronics through semiconductor / semimetal heterostructures
Polaritonic enhancement of metal halide perovskite photovoltaic performance
Supervisor: Adam Wright
More details on this project
Start date: September 2024
Funding: The project is fully funded for 42 months (EPSRC)
The dynamic universe; variability in crowded fields
Supervisor: Dr Krzsztof Ulaczyk & Prof. Danny Steeghs
More details on this project.
Start date: September 2024
Funding: The project is fully funded for 42-48 months
The dynamic universe; extragalactic transients and stellar explosions.
Supervisor: Prof. Danny Steeghs & Dr Joe Lyman
More details on this project.
Start date: September 2024
Funding: The project is fully funded for 42-48 months
Machine-learning Powered Electron Ptychography For Bio-macromolecule Imaging
Insight of Local Atomic Structure of Metal Organic Frameworks via 4D STEM Imaging
High-Resolution Probing Ferroic-ordering by Electron Ptychography
Emerging electronic properties in quantum materials studied using high magnetic fields
Revealing the atomic-scale mechanisms for next-generation memory – the 2D ‘atomristor’
Constructing an artificial interphase for zinc metal anodes through informed design
Diagnosing the operation and degradation mechanisms in cathodes for rechargeable aqueous zinc batteries
Seismic studies of solar and stellar magnetic activity
Supervisor: Anne-Marie Broomhall
More details on this project
Funding: The project is fully funded for 42 months (STFC)
Start date: September 2024
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.
Multi-dimensional terahertz spectroscopy of organic semiconductors
Quantifying space weather turbulence and extremes and risk at earth
Supervisor: Sandra Chapman
More details on this project
Start date: September 2024
Funding: The project is fully funded for 42 months
Innovative Design and Precision Characterization: Unleashing the Potential of Next-Gen Piezoelectric Thin Films for High-Speed Wireless Communication
Supervisor: Peng Wang
More details on this project
For further details please see How to apply (warwick.ac.uk)
Machine-learning-guided design of efficient sustainable materials for hydrogenation photocatalysis
Supervisor: Reinhard Maurer
More details on this project
Computational design of topological defects in graphene
Supervisor: Reinhard Maurer
More details on this project