PhD topics for research students

Find below a list of currently available self-funded PhD topics.

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We encourage all students to contact the supervisor or the alternative contact person for more information and an informal chat to discuss the process of applying and preparing your research statement. For more information on how to apply click here.

Description
Supervisor
Funding
Study of stray current induced corrosion in railway construction
Railway electrification represents an important carbon strategy in the UK. It is estimated that an electric train consumes at least 20% less power (per passenger per mile) compared to a diesel-powered...
Kangkang Tang
Self Funded
Next generation electric vehicles
Electric vehicles (EV’s) offer benefits through energy security, energy efficiency, low emissions and precision in their control, hence the great interest in this technology from industry, academia, g...
Self Funded
The sustainability of hydrogen production for future energy uses
Hydrogen is being promoted as a potentially low-carbon fuel for use in both transport and electricity generation. There are many routes and processes by which hydrogen can be produced, but are any of ...
Colin Axon
Peter Hewitson
Self Funded
Natural Language Processing for Business Intelligence
For over a decade, the Intelligent Data Analysis Research Group has been working in an extensive area of artificial intelligence and data science. Recent projects include medical imaging, bioimaging, ...
Yongmin Li
Self Funded
Development of Design Support Systems and Tools for Distributed Manufacturing
With the ongoing efforts in supply chain resilience, manufacturers are slowly beginning to shift to de-risking their manufacturing strategy by onshoring and re-establishing some of their operations in...
Self Funded
Cross-border cooperation in Europe
This project seeks to examine the factors that influence the shape and success of different cross-border cooperation programmes in Europe, as funded through the EU. Some of these are much more success...
Self Funded
Multi-Agent Learning on Sensory data for Autonomous Systems
In many real world applications data is not static but arrives in data streams. On-line learning methods suits these applications by adjusting the learning policy incrementally as soon as new data arr...
Self Funded
Artificial intelligence technology development for medical applications
In this project, advanced deep learning algorithms will be developed for medical data (e.g. biomedical signals, images, sound, touch, pressure, etc.). The sensors will be studied, signal processing me...
Self Funded
Disrupting the regulatory mechanisms that allow hospital acquired infections to resist antibiotic therapy.
The discovery of penicillin over 90 years ago and its subsequent uptake by healthcare systems around the world revolutionised global health and wellbeing. It marked the beginning of a golden age in an...
Self Funded
The Kardashians, race, whiteness and appropriation.
This sociological and/or cultural studies project will examine questions around race, appropriation, 'mixed-race', popular culture, reality television, social media, and imagery. By focusing on the Ka...
Self Funded