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
Development of an Optical Shape Sensing Method Using Optoelectronic Sensors for Soft Flexible Robotic Manipulators in Minimally Invasive Surgery
Over the last two decades, many soft continuum manipulators have been developed by many academic institutions and industries for MIS (minimally invasive surgery), endoscopy, and colonoscopy because th...
Yohan Noh
Self Funded
Sustainable Aviation Fuel Production from Biomass and Waste using a Biorefinery Approach
Aviation fuel is conventionally supplied from kerosene produced from crude oil. The aviation industry accounts for nearly 2% of global CO2 emissions. There is hence a pressing need worldwide to improv...
Kok Siew Ng
Self Funded
A systems approach to plastic waste valorisation
The inherent limitations of conventional mechanical recycling technologies in dealing with highly contaminated plastic waste streams and the economic barriers for new chemical recycling technologies a...
Kok Siew Ng
Self Funded
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