Open Positions

Fully Funded:  

AI-Enhanced 3D Atomic-scale Imaging of Functional Materials for Clean Energy Conversion

Supervisors: Dr Peng Wang

Department: Physics, University of Warwick

Start Date: January or October 2027

Funding: Please see the EPSRC and BBSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Negative Emission Technologies for Net Zero (CDT in Net²Zero), which includes a complete description of the scholarship benefits.

This project will deliver new methodologies for 3D atomic-scale imaging of functional energy materials at low dose using multi-slice 4D STEM, enabling insights into dynamic processes that are inaccessible with conventional techniques. To address the complexity of reconstructing and interpreting large-scale 4D STEM datasets, the project will integrate artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) approaches to enhance 3D reconstruction and feature recognition. Deep learning models will be developed to accelerate and stabilise image retrieval, improving robustness under low-dose and noisy conditions. ML algorithms will be used to detect and classify surface and subsurface structural motifs (vacancies, adatoms, lattice distortions) and correlate them with physical properties. Overall, the project will establish AI-enhanced multi-slice 4D STEM as a transformative platform for studying complex nanomaterials across energy and storage research. You will have access to world-class facilities, including advanced STEM, and high-performance computing platforms at Warwick.

Please find the PhD project details here.

To discuss future projects, contact: Prof. Peng Wang (peng.wang.3@warwick.ac.uk)

Fully Funded:  

 Seeing Magnetism in 3D: Ptychographic Electron Tomography of Nanostructured Spin Textures

Supervisors: Dr Peng Wang, Prof. Julie Staunton

Department: Physics, University of Warwick

Start Date: October 2026

Funding: Please see the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Modelling of Heterogeneous Systems (CDT in HetSys), which includes a complete description of the scholarship benefits.

Magnetic skyrmions are tiny whirlpools of spins that could form the basis of future low-power data storage devices. However, real skyrmions are three-dimensional and can twist, stretch, or deform when trapped by material defects—behaviour that is still poorly understood. This project will develop advanced computational models to simulate a new imaging technique called electron ptychography, which can map magnetic fields in 3D at nanometre resolution. By combining quantum-mechanical modelling, tomographic reconstruction, and data-science methods, the project will reveal how skyrmions interact with defects, helping to design the next generation of magnetic materials.

This project aims to develop new theoretical and computational tools to visualise magnetic nanostructures such as skyrmions in three dimensions. Using an advanced imaging method known as electron ptychography, the student will simulate how electrons interact with magnetic materials and create algorithms to reconstruct 3D maps of their magnetic fields. The project will also model how skyrmions deform when they encounter defects, linking quantum mechanics, data science, and materials physics to understand their behaviour at the nanoscale.

You will have access to world-class facilities, including advanced STEM, and high-performance computing platforms at Warwick.

Please find the PhD project details here.

To discuss future projects, contact: Prof. Peng Wang (peng.wang.3@warwick.ac.uk)