Research degree vacancies

Funding source: The Faraday InstitutionLink opens in a new window

Eligibility: UK home students only

Stipend: Standard UKRI stipend,Link opens in a new window plus fully funded UK home tuition fees and £2,000 per year for training and consumables. You will also have access to the Faraday Institution PhD Training ProgrammeLink opens in a new window, valued at approximately £5,000 per year.

Supervisors: Professor Louis PiperLink opens in a new window (WMG), Dr Ashok S. MenonLink opens in a new window (WMG), and Dr Gabriel Perez (ISIS Neutron and Muon Source)

Start date: October 2026 – start date is flexible

Duration: 4 years

Project overview

Lithium plating is among the most hazardous failure mechanisms affecting lithium-ion batteries under aggressive cycling conditions. It often initiates silently, yet can lead to catastrophic outcomes, and the sector urgently needs reliable methods to detect and understand it. At present, however, plating remains extremely difficult to measure non-destructively in industry-relevant cell formats.

This leaves manufacturers and battery management system developers with limited data on which to define safe operating windows, while the computational models intended to predict plating-stripping dynamics remain under-constrained by a lack of experimental evidence. This project addresses that gap directly.

Additional information

The successful candidate will develop a quantitative, non-destructive, in-situ diagnostic methodology for metallic lithium plating in industry-relevant cell formats. The approach is fundamentally based on diffraction and small-angle scattering techniques using both X-rays and neutrons, enabling the direct deconvolution of favourable bulk lithium-ion intercalation from unfavourable lithium plating. This multimodal combination probes the structural and spatial length scales relevant to the problem, with the sensitivity required to distinguish between the different forms of lithium present within a cell.

Beginning with single-layer pouch cells and then extending to larger cell formats, the student will systematically evaluate stimuli known to trigger plating, including cycling rate, negative-to-positive (N:P) electrode capacity ratio, and low-temperature operation, generating quantitative data to underpin both safer operating protocols and more accurate predictive models.

Significance

Lithium plating sits at the intersection of battery safety, performance, and the broader drive towards faster charging and extended cell lifetimes. Establishing a robust, non-destructive detection methodology will have direct implications for cell design, the definition of safe operating windows, and the next generation of physics-based degradation models grounded in measured rather than assumed parameters. This project offers a rare combination of fundamental scientific depth and clear industrial relevance.

Benefits to the candidate

Beyond the scientific outcomes, the student will gain hands-on experience working at the Battery Scale-up Facility at WMG, one of the UK's leading centres for battery research and manufacturing, alongside access to major international X-ray and neutron facilities like the Diamond Light Source and ISIS Neutron and Muon Source. This combination of industrial-scale and large-facility experience provides a distinctive and highly transferable skillset, well suited to a future career in academic research, industrial research and development (R&D), or the wider battery and energy storage sector.

With access to the Faraday Institution PhD Training Programme, the successful candidate will also access a range of networking events, industry visits, mentorship, internships, and skills development opportunities designed to support your career beyond the PhD.

Essential and desirable criteria

Essential

Eligible applicants must have or be expected to gain a minimum of a 2:1 class undergraduate degree in a relevant science subject (e.g. Chemistry, Materials Science, Engineering, or Physics).

Desired

Prior experience with electrochemical diffraction/scattering techniques is advantageous but not essential; what matters most is a genuine interest in quantitative experimental science and a willingness to engage with both large-scale facility work and applied battery research.

Funding source: This project is jointly funded by the Faraday InstitutionLink opens in a new window and the Warwick Industry Fellowship Programme at the University of Warwick

Sponsor/Supporting company: The Faraday Institution and University of Warwick

Eligibility: UK home students (UK nationals or those who hold settled statusLink opens in a new window)

Stipend: Standard UKRI stipend,Link opens in a new window plus fully funded UK home tuition fees. You will also receive £2,000 per year to support training and consumables, alongside access to a bespoke Faraday Institution PhD Training ProgrammeLink opens in a new window valued at approximately £5,000 per year.

Supervisors: Dr Mona Faraji NiriLink opens in a new window (WMG) and Professor James MarcoLink opens in a new window (WMG)

Start date: October 2026

Duration: 4 years

Project overview

This fully funded studentship is at the intersection of Battery Management Systems (BMS), AI, state estimation, and modelling. It will explore how embedded sensing in battery cells can be combined with in-situ artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to create next-generation battery systems that can be controlled and monitored autonomously by BMS.

The project aims to transform an existing battery cell with embedded sensing capability into a foundation for a physical AI-enabled BMS. The research will explore how the internal sensing data of a cell—such as temperature, strain, or impedance—can be used not only for monitoring but also to build adaptive, self-learning models that enhance cell-level decision-making and pack-level optimisation. By embedding intelligence that learns from the physical and electrochemical state of the cell, the studentship seeks to establish new methods for autonomous control, early fault prediction, and distributed energy management in the next generation of battery systems.

Additional information

The successful candidate will benefit from a wide range of development opportunities, including networking events, industry visits, mentorship, and internships, as well as high-quality training experiences designed to further develop their knowledge, skills, and career aspirations. Details of previous training programmes can be found on the Faraday Institution website.

They will also:

• Engage with 50+ members of the Battery Systems GroupLink opens in a new window at WMG, including experts in battery modelling, metrology and BMS
• Work closely with their advisors—Dr Tim VincentLink opens in a new window, Ms Begum GulsoyLink opens in a new window, and Dr Hamidreza Farhadi TolieLink opens in a new window—towards their experiments, AI, and cell instrumentation skills
• Have access to WMG's battery manufacturing, testing and HiL labs; the HPC; real-life data; annual conferences; and career fairs for Early Career Researchers to develop soft skills.

For any enquiries, please contact Dr Mona Faraji Niri at mona.faraji-niri@warwick.ac.uk.

Essential and desirable criteria

Essential:

• 2:1 or higher Bachelor's or Master’s degree (or its international equivalent) in Control Systems, Physics, Electrical Engineering, or Applied AI
• Familiarity with battery systems, state estimation, modelling, and AI algorithms

Desired:

Experience with metrology, sensing, and hardware for AI.

To apply, you must also submit a short Faraday Institution expression of interest formLink opens in a new window.

Funding source: The Faraday Institution;Link opens in a new window UK Research and Innovation (UKRI);Link opens in a new window and Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG), University of Warwick

Eligibility: UK students and EU students (with settlement status)

Stipend: Standard UKRI stipendLink opens in a new window, plus fully funded UK home tuition fees. You will also receive £2,000 per year to support training and consumables, plus access to a bespoke Faraday Institution PhD Training ProgrammeLink opens in a new window, valued at £5,000 per year.

Supervisors : Dr Bora Karasulu Link opens in a new window(University of Warwick) and Professor Emma KendrickLink opens in a new window (University of Birmingham)

Start date: September/October 2026 or January 2027

Duration: 4 years

Project overview

This fully funded, four-year research project is affiliated with the Faraday Institution FAST projectLink opens in a new window and will combine advanced computational modelling with experimental validation to understand and optimise battery formation processes.

Formation is one of the most important, costly and least understood stages in lithium-ion battery manufacturing. During formation, cells are first charged and discharged to establish protective interphase layers on electrode surfaces, commonly referred to as the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI), at the anode and cathode electrolyte interphase (CEI) at the cathode. These layers strongly influence lifetime, safety, fast-charging capability and early capacity loss.

Despite its industrial importance, formation remains difficult to predict and optimise. Its success depends on coupled processes occurring across length and time scales, including electrolyte wetting of porous electrodes and separators; gas generation during electrolyte decomposition; electrolyte displacement by gas bubbles; and the growth, porosity, composition and transport properties of SEI/CEI layers. These processes are often studied separately, which limits the ability to design reliable, faster and more energy-efficient formation protocols.

This project will address this gap by developing a predictive, experimentally validated, multi-scale modelling framework for battery interphase formation. The work will combine first-principle calculations, machine-learned interatomic potentials, molecular dynamics, kinetic Monte Carlo modelling and comparison with experimental data from the Faraday Institution FAST programmeLink opens in a new window.

Project aims and objectives

This PhD project will focus on the mechanistic modelling of SEI/CEI formation during battery formation, with particular relevance to next-generation high-nickel NMC cathodes and Si-graphite anodes. The main objectives are to:

• Identify the factors controlling electrolyte wetting and pore filling in electrodes and separators, including how gas formation can block or reverse wetting.
• Determine which electrolyte components and additives decompose first during formation, how this depends on voltage and formation recipe, and how quickly the first organic interphase layers form.
• Predict how SEI/CEI composition, lithiation state, thickness, porosity and Li-ion transport properties evolve over time.
• Develop practical guidance for formation protocols and electrolyte choices that reduce gas-related problems and produce more stable, ion-conducting interphases.

Methodology

The student will use and develop a range of computational techniques, including:

• Density functional theory (DFT) to study electrolyte decomposition, additive reactivity, gas-forming pathways and electrode/interphase surface chemistry
• Machine-learned interatomic potentials (MLIPs) to extend simulations to larger and more realistic interfaces, surfaces and pore environments
• Molecular dynamics simulations to study electrolyte wetting, gas displacement and interphase evolution under realistic nanoscale conditions
• Kinetic Monte Carlo and event-based growth modelling to simulate how elementary reactions build up interphase layers with specific thickness, porosity and transport properties
• Comparison with experimental data from the FAST consortium and partner laboratories to validate predicted gases, interphase chemistry, layer properties and formation trends.

Essential and desirable criteria

Essential:

• A 2:1 or higher Bachelor's or Master's in Chemistry, Physics, Materials Science, Chemical Engineering, Engineering, Computer Science, or a related discipline
• Enthusiastic about working at the boundary of computational chemistry, battery science, machine learning and experimental validation
• An interest in understanding how atomistic and nanoscale processes control real battery performance and manufacturability.

The project would suit a candidate who enjoys scientific programming, quantitative modelling, data analysis and interdisciplinary teamwork.

Desirable:

Prior experience in one or more of the following areas would be advantageous: electronic structure methods, molecular simulation, Python programming, machine learning, electrochemistry, battery materials, surface science or high-performance computing.

Funding source: Direct company funding

Sponsor company: SMS groupLink opens in a new window

Supervisor(s): Dr Frank ZhouLink opens in a new window (WMG) and Professor Claire Davis (WMG)Link opens in a new window

Stipend: Standard UKRI stipendLink opens in a new window, plus full tuition fees paid for

Eligibility: UK and international students

Start date: 1 October 2026

Duration: 4 years

Project overview

The mechanical properties of hot-rolled flat steel are determined almost entirely by the microstructure formed during run-out table (ROT) cooling - the phase transformation from austenite to ferrite, bainite, or martensite, together with the resulting grain size. Despite its centrality, ROT cooling is currently controlled in an entirely open-loop manner: fixed laminar flow recipes are applied with no real-time measurement of the microstructure being produced. Grade transitions generate off-grade material, and within-coil property scatter is systematic and uncontrolled.

Electromagnetic (EM) sensing offers a principled, non-contact route to real-time microstructure monitoring. The transition from paramagnetic austenite to ferromagnetic ferrite produces a large, detectable change in eddy current sensor impedance. WMG has developed models linking phase fraction and grain size to magnetic properties and EM sensor signals.

This PhD closes the full loop: using the EM signal to infer microstructure state in real time and command the cooling system accordingly - a capability not yet demonstrated in the open literature.

The project builds a four-layer signal chain on the WMG pilot run-out table:

1. A composition-parameterised EM forward model valid at 500–950°C across industrial steel grades
2. A multi-frequency eddy current sensor validated against real ROT measurements
3. A physics-constrained real-time state estimator integrating JMAK transformation kinetics with the EM forward model;
4. A model predictive controller commanding the laminar cooling banks - delivering the first demonstrated closed-loop EM microstructure control.

Essential criteria

Essential:

• 2:1 or higher Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Materials Science, Metallurgy, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, or a closely related discipline

• Strong mathematical background, including differential equations, linear algebra, and signals and systems
• Experience with programming (MATLAB, Python, or equivalent) for data analysis or modelling
• Good written and oral communication skills in English

Desirable:

• Familiarity with electromagnetic theory, eddy current sensing, or non-destructive evaluation

• Experience with physical modelling, finite element methods, or state estimation (Kalman filtering)
• Knowledge of steel metallurgy, phase transformations, or thermomechanical processing
• Experience with experimental work in a laboratory or industrial setting

Funding source: WMG

Sponsor company: Tata Steel

Supervisor(s): Professor Zushu LiLink opens in a new window (WMG), Dr Guishang PeiLink opens in a new window (WMG), Dr Ciaran Martin (Tata Steel), and Dr Bin Xiao (Tata Steel)

Stipend: Standard UKRI stipendLink opens in a new window

Eligibility: UK home and UK-domiciled EU students

Start date: October 2026

Duration: 3.5 years

Project overview

The Advanced Steels Research Centre (ASRC)Link opens in a new window is looking for an enthusiastic individual to work on a steelmaking project as part of the ADAPT-EAF (Accelerating the Development of Automotive and Packaging steel Technology for EAF production) Prosperity PartnershipLink opens in a new window, which will investigate nitrogen behaviour in electric arc furnaces (EAF). The partnership is delivered in collaboration with industry partner Tata Steel UK, which has committed to reducing its CO2 emissions by transitioning to scrap-based EAF production of high-quality flat products. This project aims to create fundamental knowledge of nitrogen's behaviour under future green steelmaking scenarios to support steel industry decarbonisation.

Additional information

Steel is an irreplaceable material in our modern life, yet the industry accounts for 9% of global anthropogenic CO2 emissions. A range of low-emission steel manufacturing processes is therefore being developed, with EAF steelmaking emerging as a key pathway. However, one of the key technical challenges in scrap-based EAF steelmaking (where scrap is the primary metallic charge) is cost-effectively achieving the desired nitrogen content in the final steel.

Some high-quality steels demand good formability and toughness, along with good surface quality, which necessitates controlling nitrogen to very low levels (~20-30 ppm). This is achieved by the current BF-BOF steelmaking route because of its excellent nitrogen removal capability. However, alternative metallic charges with low or no carbon content (e.g., scrap, carbon-free direct reduced iron, remelted direct reduced iron) are expected to adversely impact the thermodynamics and kinetics of N2 in proposed future green steelmaking routes.

Therefore, to enable CO2-free scrap-based EAF steelmaking, this PhD project will thoroughly investigate the nitrogen absorption and desorption mechanisms of alternate metallic charges with varying conditions of composition, temperature, and pressure. A mathematical model based on experimental data and fundamentals will be developed to predict nitrogen in melt with various conditions, validated by industrial-scale data.

The research will be carried out at ASRC's world-leading research facilities, offering high-temperature experiments and advanced characterisation and modelling. This PhD studentship also offers a unique opportunity to work with the leading scientists at Tata Steel UK.

Essential criteria

• 2:1 or higher Bachelor's or Master's degree in a science and technology field (e.g., metallurgy, chemistry, chemical engineering, physics, materials science and engineering, and manufacturing)
• A passion and enthusiasm to challenge the status quo and apply research to the creation of critical knowledge and its industrial applications

Funding source: UKRI IDLALink opens in a new window

Sponsor/Supporting company: Johnson MattheyLink opens in a new window

Supervisor(s): Dr Geoff WestLink opens in a new window (Academic), Dr Carl SlaterLink opens in a new window (Academic), and Dr Santosh Kumar (Industrial)

Stipend: Standard UKRI stipendLink opens in a new window, plus funded tuition fees (UK and UK-domiciled EU students only)

Eligibility: UK home and UK-domiciled EU students; international students who can cover the difference between UK home and international tuition fees are welcome to apply.

Start date: 1 October 2026

Duration: 3.5 years

Project overview

There is a growing interest in ruthenium alloys due to their lower metal value and potential applications across industries, including automotive and AI. Demand for ignition products is currently high, and future opportunities are expected in data storage devices and electrical contacts to supply the demand for higher computational power for AI-driven technologies. However, a limited understanding of the hot workability and oxidation behaviour of ruthenium alloys is a major barrier to commercial product development.

This project aims to gain a fundamental understanding of the high-temperature properties of ruthenium and its alloys; the effect of different alloying elements on high-temperature workability; and the oxidation behaviour of ruthenium alloys under relevant processing conditions.

The PhD will roughly be broken down into the following components:

• A literature search on the processing and formability of ruthenium and its alloys at high temperature
• Thermomechanical processing using a state-of-the-art Gleeble HDS-V40 to test materials' behaviour to stress and recrystallisation kinetics at temperatures around 1400°C
• Alloy development to understand/design how the processing window can be optimised through alloying

Additional information

As a PhD candidate, you will join the Advanced Steel Research teamLink opens in a new window, a group of leading academics, researchers, project engineers and PhD candidates. The group adopts a holistic approach to metallic materials, looking at the fundamentals and how they influence full-scale production.

For further enquiries regarding the position and application procedure, contact Dr Geoff West (g.west@warwick.ac.uk) or Dr Carl Slater (c.d.slater@warwick.ac.uk).

Essential and desirable criteria

Essential criteria:

• 2:1 or higher degree in Engineering or Materials Science
• A demonstrable passion and ability for independent academic research and contribution to scientific publications
• Quantitatively driven and highly numerate
• Working knowledge of metallic systems, fundamental metallurgical phenomena, and basic characterisation

Desirable:

• An MSc in a relevant subject area

Funding source: EPSRC-DLA

Sponsor/Supporting company: This project will run alongside the major UK EPSRC-funded research programme Frontiers in Electromagnetic Non-Destructive Evaluation Research (FENDER), involving multiple universities and over 20 industrial partners.

Stipend: Standard UKRI stipendLink opens in a new window, plus funded tuition fees

Supervisor(s): Dr Frank ZhouLink opens in a new window and Professor Claire Davis FREngLink opens in a new window

Eligibility: UK home students (international applicants may be considered, subject to funding availability or self-funding)

Start date: October 2026

Project overview

This PhD redefines electromagnetic sensing by moving beyond magnetic permeability-dominated approaches to establish a conductivity-driven eddy-current framework for tracking microstructural evolution at high temperature.

The transition towards smarter, lower-carbon manufacturing demands new ways to understand and monitor how materials evolve during processing. This PhD project addresses a fundamental and timely challenge in electromagnetic (EM) sensing: how to quantitatively link electrical conductivity-dominated eddy current responses to microstructural evolution during high-temperature processing.

Conventional EM approaches for microstructure monitoring are often dominated by magnetic permeability effects and are therefore restricted to ferromagnetic materials below the Curie temperature. As a result, large regions of materials processing — including high-temperature steel processing, non-ferromagnetic alloys, and multi-material systems — remain poorly accessible to existing EM techniques. This project intentionally moves beyond that paradigm.

The research will focus on kHz–MHz eddy current sensing frameworks in which electrical conductivity is the primary sensing mechanism. This enables monitoring not only in steels above the Curie point, but also in non-ferromagnetic and weakly magnetic alloy systems, where phase transformations, grain evolution, precipitation, solute redistribution, or defect evolution modify electrical transport properties. While magnetic permeability effects will not be excluded where relevant, the central aim is to establish a robust, physically grounded conductivity-dominated sensing framework applicable across alloy systems and processing routes.

The project is fundamentally interdisciplinary, combining electromagnetism, materials physics, and metallurgy. The successful candidate will investigate how microstructural features — such as phase fraction, grain size, defect density, and thermal history — govern conductivity at elevated temperatures, and how these changes manifest in eddy current sensor responses. This will involve both experimental work and analytical interpretation, linking EM signals directly to underlying physical mechanisms.

Key research themes include:

• Design and optimisation of kHz–MHz eddy current sensors suitable for high-temperature environments
• Experimental studies linking microstructural evolution to electrical conductivity during thermal processing
• Signal analysis and feature extraction from complex, temperature-dependent EM data
• Integration of sensing data with metallurgical characterisation and physical interpretation
• Development of transferable EM sensing principles beyond steels, towards broader alloy classes

Additional information

The project will be based within the Advanced Steel Research CentreLink opens in a new window at Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG), an internationally recognised environment for steel metallurgy, electromagnetic sensing, and high-temperature experimentation. It will run alongside the major UK research programme Frontiers in Electromagnetic Non-Destructive Evaluation Research (FENDER), involving multiple universities and over 20 industrial partners.

Relevant industrial partners include British Steel, Tata Steel Europe, Primetals Technologies, ETher NDE, Advanced Engineering Solutions, Rolls-Royce, EDF Energy, and the National Nuclear Laboratory. FENDER aims to bring game-changing ideas to EM NDE by harnessing advances in electronics, signal processing, modelling, and data science, positioning EM sensing at the heart of future Industry 4.0 manufacturing, advanced materials processing, and circular-economy technologies.

Essential and desirable criteria

This PhD is ideal for candidates with a strong background in Physics, Materials Science, Electrical Engineering, or related disciplines, who are motivated by fundamental questions and experimental research. It will particularly appeal to students interested in electromagnetism, transport properties, phase transformations, and sensing science, and who wish to develop expertise that is both intellectually deep and highly transferable across materials, industries, and future research careers.

Essential criteria:

• 2:1 or higher degree in Physics, Materials Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related discipline
• Motivation for modelling, experimental and fundamental research

Desirable:

• Experience with electrical or magnetic measurements
• Familiarity with signal processing, data analysis, or numerical methods
• Interest in metallurgy and microstructure

Funding source: EPSRC IDLA 26012

Sponsor/Supporting company: BP

Stipend: Standard UKRI stipendLink opens in a new window

Supervisor(s): Professor James MarcoLink opens in a new window and Dr Tim VincentLink opens in a new window

Eligibility: UK students only

Start date: 1 October 2026

Project overview

There exists an inherent variability in how lithium-ion batteries fail – an event commonly referred to as “thermal runway”. This uncertainty drives additional cost and complexity into the design and validation methods employed for battery systems created for electric vehicles, aerospace or stationary storage.

This PhD will aim to deliver a new validated methodology for scientifically assessing lithium-ion cell failure and its implications for system-level battery design.

By creating a new scientifically robust framework to assess and mitigate thermal runaway, this PhD project will develop a unique understanding of system-level battery integration challenges, including, but not constrained to:

• The need to initiate thermal runaway using repeatable techniques that do not influence or bias the resulting failure mode.
• The need to scale up the experimental assessment of a single device to a complete system that accounts for the influence of cell-to-cell propagation, cell topology and the use of active and passive methods of mitigation and containment.
• The need for multi-modal measurement systems to characterise thermal runaway, allowing a deeper understanding of the properties of thermal runaway and supporting the transition towards new methods of modelling and simulating battery failure (e.g., gas venting, fire and explosion).

The PhD is sponsored by BP and will take place within the Battery Systems team at Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG), University of Warwick. The WMG Battery Systems Group combines academics and engineers with industrial experience to address significant challenges of cell manufacture and integration into battery systems across a wide range of applications, including e-mobility, automotive, aerospace, rail, marine and stationary storage.

For further details, please contact Professor James Marco (james.marco@warwick.ac.uk)

Find out more about WMG's:

• Battery Systems Group
• Battery Safety Centre

Essential and desirable criteria

Essential:

• Background in electrical, mechanical, or electrochemical engineering
• 2:1 or higher in a relevant undergraduate degree
• Good understanding of sensor selection and instrumentation

Desirable:

• Proactive, with good organisational skills
• Experience in experimental activities, engineering design, and numerical analysis
• Ability to work well with technicians and laboratory support staff

Funding source: University of Warwick

Eligibility: All fee status - five PhD students in total

Stipend: Four-year enhanced stipend: rate level increases in line with inflation and always remains marginally above UKRI's current forecasts.

Supervisors: Professor Louis PiperLink opens in a new window and Dr Mel LoveridgeLink opens in a new window

Start date: September/October 2026

Project overview

We are recruiting five PhD students (UK and International) to start in September/October 2026, under the supervision of Professor Louis Piper and Dr Mel Loveridge. Each four-year studentship is generously funded with an enhanced stipend, all tuition fees covered, and research support funding, including for participation in conferences.

Students will benefit from bespoke training courses and opportunities for national and international collaboration across the Hartnoll Centre for Experimental Fuel Technologies, of which Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) is a part.

Professor Piper and Dr Loveridge have vast experience in functional materials for energy storage/harvesting applications (e.g., Li-ion batteries and photocatalysts for hydrogen generation), along with the development of various advanced characterisation methods.

WMG has a suite of laboratories for synthesis, electrochemistry and battery scale-up, which boast cutting-edge facilities for accelerating material developments at laboratory scale into pilot line validation.

Key areas for PhD research include:

• Tuning electrode-electrolyte interfaces in batteries for improved performance and lifetime. This area includes the synthetic cathode-engineering of morphology and composition; precise (and scaleable) atomic decoration of electrode interfaces for improving transport and suppressing degradation; and studying reactions at buried interfaces (e.g. operando gas evolution).
• Electrolyte additive discovery to generate more stable and effective SEI layers to extend operational lifetimes.
• Scale-up of industry-grade electrodes for real cell studies. This includes formulation and electrode fabrication technologies (both slurry and dry processing), 3D spectro-microscopy imaging for electrode optimisation, and full cell assembly with operando X-ray/Neutron studies for interpreting electrochemistry.
• Advancing the next generation of electrode technologies that will take anode science beyond graphite with smart design and generation of stabilised interfaces to allow metal anode / anode-free development. All projects will involve the use of advanced characterisation approaches to probing interfaces using state-of-the-art measurement techniques.
• Collaborating with Chemistry to design and incorporate metal-organic frameworks into electrodes and solid electrolytes. This will advance microstructures and enhance Li storage and transport properties.
• A holistic view of electrochemical optimisation: from single-particle electrochemistry to operando full pouch cell battery studies (in collaboration with Profs. Unwin & Macpherson).
• Holy grail Li-metal batteries: how to suppress dendritic formation with lithium metal anodes with interface engineering.
• Pioneering an in-operando technique using emerging table-top terahertz spectroscopy to detect and monitor the onset of lithium plating during fast charging in a customised coin cell. This will be combined with electrochemical and other characterisation studies on fast-charge technologies with WMG and is a collaboration between WMG and the School of Engineering.

Hartnoll Centre for Experimental Fuel Technologies

Students will join the Hartnoll Centre for Experimental Fuel Technologies (HCEFT), which aims to develop innovative fuel cell and battery technologies, underpinned by fundamental understanding. The Centre is an exciting venture, bringing together leading research groups within WMG, the Department of Chemistry, and the School of Engineering at the University of Warwick.

With world-leading expertise and facilities in electrochemistry, materials chemistry, spectroscopy, microscopy, modelling and battery and fuel cell construction and testing, we aim to develop next generation electrochemical energy technologies through holistic views of fuel cells (especially ammonia fuel cells) and different kinds of batteries, including metal and metal ion (Li, Na, Ca etc.), rechargeable aqueous batteries, and redox flow batteries.

Our Centre is able to study processes from the nanoscale to device level, and we complement cutting-edge measurement science and materials synthesis with advanced modelling.

Candidates with first degrees (Bachelors and/or Master's) in all branches of Chemistry, Physics, Mathematical Sciences, Materials Science and Engineering, and Chemical Engineering are welcome to apply.

Please submit your application through the above link only. Applications received through other channels will be redirected, and you will be required to resubmit.

Funding Source: Monash Warwick Alliance

Eligibility: Satisfy UKRI's eligibility criteria; this funding is restricted to Home fees candidates

Stipend: £21,300 to increase with inflation

Supervisors: Andrew McGordon and Truong Dinh (Warwick), Wynita Griggs (Monash), Matteo Dutta (Florence)

Start date: As soon as possible

Duration: 3.5 years

Project overview

This PhD studentship will investigate methodologies for future energy strategies for airports in different geographical areas, working with experts from the following airports: London, Melbourne, Kuala Lumpur and Florence.

We are interested in the challenges that electrification (electrical and fuel cell propulsion) brings to energy provision at an airport ecosystem, and novel solutions that can be investigated to provide an accelerated path to a more sustainable future. Additional considerations will include potential changes in user transportation habits and the increasing role of autonomy both airside and landside.

Successful students will join our Monash (Melbourne, Australia) - Warwick (UK) Alliance on the intersection of sustainable autonomous mobility.

Essential and desirable criteria

A 1st of 2:1 undergraduate degree, or a postgraduate Master’s qualification in Physics, Engineering or Sustainability, is essential.