Join our vibrant community of PhD students and researchers. We're part of the growth of the photonics industry, including the optical telecommunication technology that underpins the internet as well as solutions in medicine, biosciences sensing, security and manufacturing.
Our inventions are making the world a better place – in air travel, the internet and in life-saving medical devices. We received the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for our expertise in fibre optics and photonics.
You'll study at our dedicated Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) based at the Zepler Institute. We have more than 90 state-of-the-art photonics labs to work in and over 200 researchers working in photonics, physics and advanced materials.
We'll make sure you have a thorough grounding in photonics and you'll be supported by a supervisor who'll guide your research. Your supervisor will encourage you to attend international conferences and write journal papers and also recommend additional courses to develop your skills. Courses include training in report writing, project management, time management, presentation skills and safety training.
Our PhD students and postdoctoral researchers have made successful careers in universities worldwide or as scientists and business leaders in industry. The quality of our research outputs, the cluster of spin-off companies and the worldwide network of successful alumni place the ORC amongst the top institutes worldwide for doctoral research.
We'll also introduce you to the the University of Southampton Optics and Photonics Society (OPSoc), which is the hub of a wide variety of social and professional activity among our students.
Our approach is multidisciplinary. You could be working with lasers, metamaterials, optoelectronics, photonics, fibre optics, hollow core fibres and more advanced materials. Our research areas include:
The University of Southampton is pleased to announce that PGR students from EU and Horizon associated countries joining us in 2024-25 will pay the same as UK PGRs for their PhD.
We regularly advertise projects with guaranteed funding. We are currently working to advertise our available projects in the section below. In the meantime, please visit the Optoelectronics Research Centre to find and apply for our structured studentships.
Taking one of our structured studentships will give you access to additional training, conferences and secondments.
Integrated photonics has come of age, enabled by nano-fabrication technologies. We seek a talented applicant to advance the development of novel on-chip sources in the 2-micron wavelength window, coupled with integrated modulation and detection schemes.
There is an urgent need for diagnostic tools capable of swiftly delivering results directly at patients' bedsides and within doctors' practices. The prompt and precise outcomes obtained will enable rapid therapeutic decisions, ultimately leading to lives being saved at a reduced cost. In contrast, current technologies necessitate the transfer of samples to centrally located laboratories that are equipped with sophisticated instruments and staffed by highly skilled personnel.
This project focuses on developing a cutting-edge quantum sensing platform based on Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs) and 2D materials such as Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (TMDCs) for ultra-sensitive point-of-care diagnostics and environmental monitoring.
Are you ready to take a quantum leap in your career? Join the Hollow Core Fibre group at the University of Southampton, in partnership with Microsoft Azure Fiber, and help create the optical fibres necessary for quantum technologies to become a reality.
Do you aspire to contribute to the forthcoming AI revolution? If so, join the world-leading Hollow Core Fibre group at the University of Southampton, in partnership with Microsoft Azure Fiber, and be part of a ground-breaking research project called “FASTNET”.
Join our pioneering PHD project and be part of the future of laser technology. Fibre lasers are revolutionizing the field, providing unmatched stability without the need for moving parts or mirrors, making them an ideal solution for next-generation laser systems.
Novel crystalline photonic devices offer exciting opportunities for creating efficient lasers and manipulating the properties of light. Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) is an extraordinary technique using light to create new materials and devices.
We’re looking for a passionate PhD student to join our team and push the boundaries of what’s possible with Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD).
Embark on a ground-breaking Ph.D. journey poised to revolutionize the field of large aerial drone condition monitoring.
This project will explore and develop advanced photon entangled source to realize quantum enhanced microscopy imaging application.
Are you ready to embark on a journey of otherworldly research? Do you want to be part of the space revolution that is pushing the frontiers of humankind and helping us understand our world and our climate? If so, then join the world-leading Hollow Core Fibre group at the University of Southampton and develop advanced sensors that are enabling the next generation of space missions.
This is an unparallel opportunity to redefine the landscape of distributed sensing systems and contribute to groundbreaking developments in healthcare, environment monitoring, and beyond.
This project is focused on transforming respiratory care at the bedside to develop a user-friendly, palmtop spectrometer that brings rapid bedside biomarker diagnosis within easy reach for clinicians.
This is a predominantly experimental project that makes use of the strong facilities of the telecommunication systems laboratory of the ORC.
Two-dimensional (2D) materials have attracted global interest for atomically thin next-generation electronic and optoelectronic devices, opening up exciting opportunities for technological applications at the monolayer limit. Their extraordinary properties could revolutionise areas ranging from printed electronics to life sciences, imaging and quantum technologies to name just a few. However, the synthesis of these materials is often complex and capital intensive, relying mainly on vacuum based processing tools.
The aim of this project is to explore new frontiers in the design of photonics integrated circuits (PICs) by using artificial intelligence (AI). The project has potential to revolutionise chip design and manufacturing processes by reduction of circuit footprint, optimisation of various elements and devices and their integration, and enabling more efficient packaging. It can play a crucial role in shaping the future of PICs and their implementation in various applications.
The aim of this project is to develop the next generation of hollow core optical fibres (HCF) using the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
The aim of this project is to establish a new class of sensing system that is capable of mapping strain distribution at thousands of points using a single strand of optical fibre thinner than a human hair.
Atom interferometry uses laser light to split, steer and recombine atomic wavefunctions, and promises inertial and magnetic field sensors of exquisite sensitivity. Practical realization requires a combination of photonic and atomic physics with optimal control techniques borrowed from magnetic resonance. This project involves experimental construction, computational optimization, and field testing.
Global internet traffic has been growing exponentially over the past two decades with a predicted growth rate of around 40% year-on-year. This growth is driven primarily by bandwidth-hungry applications such as cloud computing, Telemedicine, and 4K live streaming and is expected to continue in the era of the Internet of Things (IoT) and 5G. However, the present optical fibre communication network’s capacity is solely based on the 11THz (C and L bands) gain bandwidth of erbium (Er) doped fibre amplifiers (EDFA) invented three decades ago. The scaling of the overall transmission capacity requires next-generation optical fibre amplifiers with ultra-broad gain bandwidths to further utilise the low-loss window offered by the solid- and hollow-core silica optical fibres.
We are looking for a PhD student to join our interdisciplinary team of students, postdocs, and senior researchers developing chip-based, microscale optics for advancing quantum technologies.
We are looking for a student to join an exciting new project in the field of bio-imaging. The project, recently awarded funding of ~£5M, aims to use laser-generated soft X-ray radiation for coherent imaging of nanoscale biological structures.
Advances in lasers now allow the laser-based processing of almost any material. Innovation in this field is now therefore becoming heavily focussed on making existing processing techniques more precise and efficient.
This project will develop detectors for topologically structured light at the few- and single-photon level, enabling applications in imaging, metrology, and telecommunications.
Hollow-core optical fibres represent a transformative advancement in fibre technology, enabling exceptional light confinement and performance. However, the intricate microstructure required to guide light and dynamics of the fibre drawing process present significant challenges. By developing high-fidelity CFD models that simulate the interactions between molten glass and pressurized gas, you will help optimize fibre geometries and enhance optical performance, paving the way for advanced manufacturing solutions.
We are looking for a new PhD student to join our growing team, working on the design and development of next generation optical fibres to enable novel distributed gas sensing networks. Key applications include environmental and industrial process monitoring.
This PhD is at the cutting edge of optical fibre technology, pioneer unconventional methods for laser-based glass 3D printing, focusing on tailored materials for highly customized optical devices—a potential industry game-changer.
Over the course of the project, the successful candidate will focus on development and characterisation of highly customized materials and feedstocks, which shall be then evaluated in laser-based fibre fabrication.
In this project you will be working with a large research team in Southampton and with our colleagues from the University of Texas, USA on heterogeneous integration of silicon photonics devices with barium titanate (BaTiO3 or BTO), a material that has one of the largest modulation effects, using mass manufacturable techniques and new design ideas.
This PhD project will focus on developing cutting-edge optical fibre amplifier technologies designed to reduce power use, lower the cost-per-bit, and enhance overall data capacity.
Global climate change is the biggest challenge faced by humanity. Not many people realise that most of the data at the scientist disposal is sparse and limited. It is sufficient for evaluating trends, but falls short in capability of tracking real time processes. This information is essential for scientists, policy makers and whole society to fully understand current situation.
We are looking for a new PhD student, with a background in Physics, Chemistry or Engineering, to join our friendly team, working on a novel gas sensor for applications including next generation energy sources (such as nuclear fusion reactors), sustainable process monitoring and point of care medical diagnosis. If you are looking for hands-on, primarily experimental project, working with an exciting new technology, which spans between academic research and commercial instrument development, then this project could be for you.
This project aims to fabricate novel fibres and collaborate with our partners at Microsoft Azure Fiber, owners of one of the world’s largest global communication networks, to jointly create the future of data communications. We will explore, with existing collaborators worldwide, applications of these revolutionary fibres in quantum photonics, space exploration, high energy physics and nuclear fusion.
The project will create a world leading femto/pico-second pulsed fibre laser source as well as advanced nonlinear frequency conversion techniques, overcoming the technical challenges that currently limiting progress in the field.
This exciting multidisciplinary PhD project aims to develop a new class of marine sensors based on cutting-edge MID-IR silicon photonics research. The ocean, which acts as an environmental buffer by absorbing heat and carbon dioxide (CO2) from human activity such as burning fossil fuels and changing land use (e.g. deforestation), is paying a heavy price. Ocean heat is at record levels and there have been widespread marine heatwaves. The past decade was exceptional in terms of global heat, retreating ice and record sea levels driven by greenhouse gases from human activities. Sea water is 26 percent more acidic than at the start of the industrial era, which poses an extreme hazard. The ocean absorbs about 38% of the CO2 released in the atmosphere. As atmospheric CO2 increases, the amount absorbed by the ocean also increases. When CO2 is absorbed by seawater, a series of chemical reactions occur resulting in the increased concentration of hydrogen ions and acidification. This process has far reaching implications for the ocean and the creatures that live there.
This project, co-funded by QinetiQ, aims to develop advanced technologies for defence and security by creating a heterogeneous SiN-GaAs platform for a coherent Frequency-Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) LiDAR operating at the 1-µm wavelength band.
New femtosecond fibre laser-based ultrafast pulse sources and novel hollow-core optical fibres have the potential to produce brighter and shorter-wavelength X-ray pulses. This project will investigate theoretically and numerically how these new sources can be developed and optimised, in parallel with the experimental work in our labs.
This project will focus on investigation of advanced mode-locked techniques to realize high-performance ultrafast fibre lasers.
This PhD project aims to investigate a route to high-power visible sources through cladding pumping of RE-doped silica fibres using GaN-LDs.
Fusion reactors, which promise a nearly limitless and clean energy source, require innovative solutions to overcome some of the world’s most significant scientific and engineering challenges. One critical hurdle is the integration of fibre sensors that can withstand ultra-high radiation and extreme temperatures. In this project, you can contribute to the development of sustainable fusion energy, helping to overcome a key challenge for our society and creating a green future for our world.
At the Optoelectronics Research Centre, we are leading the world in developing a new generation of optical fibres that promise a revolution in applications ranging from optical communications to ultraprecise optical sensors. Our hollow-core optical fibres harness some truly intriguing physics to guide light in an air-filled core region over tens of kilometres distance and are now rivalling and outperforming standard optical fibres. However, their transformative potential in many areas remain largely unexplored.
Quantum technology often requires non-classical, quantum light. Hollow-core fibres, a highly interesting speciality optical fibre where light is guided in a gas filled core, offer a promising route to generate, transmit, and distribute this non-classical light, and this will be the focus of this project.
In this PhD studentship, you will further develop novel composite material ARF (CM-ARF) technology, spanning the multidisciplinary remit between cleanroom based, 2D materials fibre integration technology for the highly innovative CM-ARF platform, with applications in active photon management and light processing functions.
Quantum photonics is key to develop the next generation of quantum technologies. This project will develop a silicon-nitride platform for visible-wavelength quantum photonics.
This project aims to develop the next-generation photonic integrated platform operating across the UV-NIR spectrum for quantum applications.
This interdisciplinary project aims to develop chip-based, microscale optical resonators for quantum technologies. Optical resonators strongly enhance the interaction between matter and light and integrating them on a microchip will allow scalable quantum computing, communication, and sensing.
This project seeks to develop a simple, low-cost laser materials processing procedure to fabricate high-quality polysilicon photonic platforms that will ease issues associated with optoelectronic integration.
Integrated ring resonators are a key component in photonics and will be an enabling technology in several areas, including the stabilisation of atom trap clocks, rotation sensors and narrow-linewidth lasers.
The mid-infrared wavelength range is a new frontier for integrated photonics with a huge potential for the realisation of compact and efficient sensors for point of care diagnostics in healthcare, detection of green house gases or toxins in food, for monitoring air quality, or industrial process control, to mention a few.
This project aims to study how light propagating in the hollow-core fibres interacts with vibrations and sound waves.
The aim of the project is to use a laser-based direct-writing technique developed and patented by our group to pattern microfluidic devices in paper for the creation of the diagnostic sensors or tests.
Unlike optical telecoms, where amplifiers compensate losses, in the world of Quantum Technology, every photon is precious. This project will create new ultra-low-loss optical components, reducing losses and allowing us to create large, entangled quantum states.
This project will develop the core components of superconducting and atom/ion trap quantum systems using ultra-precision diamond machining. You will work with leaders in the field (academia and industry) to create vacuum systems with integrated photonics and electrical functionality.
Materials and devices for photonic co-processors: Design and application of phase-change media for next-generation data processing.Modern society depends massively on the generation, processing and transmission of vast amounts of data: it is predicted that by 2025, 175 zettabytes (175 trillion gigabytes) of data will be generated around the globe. Processing such huge amounts of data demands ever increasing computational power, memory and communication bandwidth - demands that cannot be sustainably met by conventional digital electronic technologies. Indeed, CMOS-based von Neumann architectures are now approaching a widely accepted ‘efficiency-wall’ – a fundamental limit on the number of operations per unit energy, while the number of operations required continues to grow at unprecedented rates.
The main goal of the project is to design metamaterial structures for efficient sensing systems. Silicon Photonics can offer small and low cost sensors for environmental monitoring (e.g. green house gases), industrial process control, agriculture or healthcare. Metamaterial structures can be used for the realisation of low loss waveguides with large evanescent field, efficient optical fibre–to–silicon chip coupling or for the integration of detectors on silicon chips.
The balance among elastic, electromagnetic and quantum forces changes dramatically at the nanometre scale. This project will explore the remarkable range of functional materials and devices that can be reconfigured with light and electromagnetic forces.
In this project we will develop hollow-core optical fibres (HCFs) for mid-infrared laser delivery. HCFs offer a radically new solution for laser delivery as they guide light in a gas-filled core, instead of the glass in conventional optical fibres.
University of Southampton is seeking a committed candidate for laser research towards green aviation and net-zero carbon emission from gas turbines within the LITECS programme.
Applications are invited for multiple PhD studentships to be undertaken within the silicon photonics group at the University of Southampton. The successful applicants will join a world leading research group of more than 50 postgraduate students and researchers working on silicon photonics technologies and photonic interconnects technologies in close collaboration with academia (University of Cambridge, University College London and Cardiff University) and industrial partners. The work is linked to a 5-year multimillion pounds project funded by Industry and UKRI/EPSRC UK .
This project aims to develop novel fibre lasers where the interaction among spatial modes is the keystone to achieve light generation over a wide spectral bandwidth, well beyond what is possible with current fibre laser technology.
Multimode optical fibres have recently emerged as a promising breakthrough technology to boost the data transmission speed of the Internet network to unprecedented levels. In these fibres each spatial mode carries an independent data channel, and the interaction (cross-talk) among different modes is a problem to avoid.
A novel nano-opto-electro-mechanical (NOEM) tunable SiC entangled photon source will be developed for future on-chip quantum photonic circuits technology. Design optimisation, device fabrication and single photon measurements are planned to prove the working principle and tunability of the device.
Current photonic quantum systems suffer from the poor brightness of the single photon sources used as a source for the qubits. The PhD position will explore ways of enhancing light extraction from photon sources and ways to detect meaningful qubit information.
This project will advance optics and electromagnetism in the first radically new direction to emerge since Hertz, Marconi, Popov and Tesla originally developed technology for generating, detecting, and communicating with transverse electromagnetic waves. It will study the generation, propagation and interaction with matter of “Flying Toroids” - a new type of light pulses.
This PhD project aims to open new frontiers in nanophotonics by designing and fabricating a new class of miniaturized optical sources.
Scaling laser power in the visible and ultraviolet (UV) bands remains as one of the most significant challenges facing laser scientists, motivated by the needs of a growing number of applications in areas such laser processing of materials, medicine, sensing and defence. Traditional methods for accessing this wavelength regime are not compatible with operation at high power levels and so a different approach is needed.
This project will focus on research into the next generation of optical data communication technology enabling key applications such as high-performance computing and artificial intelligence to thrive.
We are looking for an enthusiastic PhD candidate to join our research team for a project focused on developing photonic integrated circuits for UV-green wavelengths.
This is an opportunity to carry out a PhD at the Communications Systems Lab of the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC). The group has been at the forefront of optical fibre communications since the very earliest days of the field providing several critical contributions, including the invention of the erbium doped fibre amplifier – a device that eliminated fibre loss as the fundamental limiting factor to signal transmission and which is installed in all modern optical communication networks. Optical communications remains by far the largest market for photonics and as such it represents one of the ORC’s primary research areas.
In collaboration with a large EU consortium, we work to create a reprogrammable neuromorphic photonic platform for a variety of applications from telecommunications to biosensing. While working with us, you will benefit from state-of-the-art cleanrooms with access to silicon and silicon nitride integrated photonics platforms. You will employ the latest generation of phase change materials to create highly efficient in-memory photonic functionality with novel materials that allow the upscaling of the technology.
This is an opportunity to carry out a PhD at the Communications Systems Lab of the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC). The group has been at the forefront of optical fibre communications since the very earliest days of the field providing several critical contributions, including the invention of the erbium doped fibre amplifier – a device that eliminated fibre loss as the fundamental limiting factor to signal transmission and which is installed in all modern optical communication networks. Optical communications remains by far the largest market for photonics and as such it represents one of the ORC’s primary research areas.
The optical fibre communications industry has been facing some significant challenges in recent years. As transmission rates in optical networks constantly increase, and with the concerns over the energy consumption of communication networks becoming ever more relevant, there is a compelling argument for adopting new techniques for the implementation of signal processing of communication signals. On the other hand, the rise in demand for internet traffic is such that necessitates the adoption of new transmission techniques in order to ensure that the available bandwidth is sufficient.
Ocean monitoring is a critical need, and it is closely related to human survival: from the long-term impact on global climate change to sustainable development of ocean resources.
This project will explore the radiation pressure of laser light, to levitate, guide and accelerate particles within novel hollow core fibres (HCFs), targeting both fundamental studies and new applications such as radiation sensing and hypervelocity particle acceleration.
At the Optoelectronics Research Centre, we are leading the world in developing a new generation of optical fibres that promise a revolution in applications ranging from optical communications to ultraprecise optical sensors. Our hollow-core optical fibres harness some truly intriguing physics to guide light in an air-filled core region over tens of kilometres distance and are now rivalling and outperforming standard optical fibres. However, their transformative potential in many areas remain largely unexplored.
Magnetometers are crucial in aerospace, geological mapping, and drone technology. Our innovative project leverages distributed quantum sensing, implemented on an array of optomechanical metasurfaces, to create room-temperature, chip-scale remote magnetometers with high signal-to-noise sensing capabilities in complex environments.
This project combines state of the art optical fibre laser amplifiers with machine learning control to produce next-generation lasers. These “smart” phased-array lasers promise to revolutionise materials processing and other important near-term and futuristic laser applications, including even starship propulsion.
Time crystals are an eagerly sought phase of matter in which time-translation symmetry is broken. This project will explore the physics of optically-driven transitions to the time crystal state in nanostructured materials, and potential applications to ”timetronics” - a new data processing technology harnessing the unique functionalities of time crystals.
We’re on the lookout for a passionate and innovative PhD student to push the boundaries of on-chip sources in the 2-micron wavelength window.
This multifaceted project targets the development of an all-in-one photoreactor described using multi- phase chemical models to incorporate the kinetics of photocatalysts, reactant flow and photon behaviour.
This project will develop new concepts of optical imaging, metrology and device functionality at the atomic scale, leveraging recent advances in topology, the structuring of optical fields, metamaterials, and artificial intelligence.
This project will focus on the development of reliable and efficient programmable photonic integrated circuits (PICs) on a silicon photonics platform.
Gas sensing is a vital technique for many applications, including medicine and environmental monitoring. However, there can be difficulties with many commonly used techniques. The use of quantum technology (such as entangled photons and single photon counting techniques) may be able to alleviate these, and this project will explore this.
An exceptional point is a singularity point in the energy bands of non-Hermitian systems, which possesses exponential sensitivity to external perturbations. Such exceptional points appear in open quantum optical systems such as nanocavities, nanomechanical resonators, and quantum interferometers. This project aims to build exceptional points in quantum optical systems and use them for sensing applications.
In this project we will develop novel ways to interconnect a new class of optical fibres with single photon sources and detectors used in quantum memories, computers and networks. The Optoelectronics Research Centre is world-leader in design and manufacturing of these novel fibres that guide light through a hole (hence the name, hollow core fibres) rather than through glass.
This PhD project invites you to transform specialty fibre fabrication through the application of machine learning.
Embark on a transformative journey at the forefront of laser technology with our ground-breaking PhD opportunity, titled “Revolutionizing laser technology through multicore fibre innovation”. In an era where technological boundaries are continually redefined, fibre lasers stand out as the epitome of innovation, offering unparallel advantages with no moving parts or mirrors in the light-generating source.
The scope of this project is to advance our knowledge in nanophotonics by designing and fabricating nanoantennas that allow full control of the scattered field at the nanoscale. Single nanoantennas with arbitrary shape as well as arrays of coupled nanoantennas will be designed, fabricated and tested.
This research project will follow the development of silicon devices fabricated both from conventional planar waveguides on-chip as well as those based on an emerging platform that incorporates semiconductor materials directly into the cores of optical fibres.
This project will investigate a novel nano-opto-electro-mechanical (NOEM) qubit that has been realised on a nanoscale suspended beam, controlled electrically and read out via optical interaction.
Applications are invited for a PhD studentship to be undertaken within the silicon photonics group at the University of Southampton. The successful applicants will join a world leading research group of more than 50 postgraduate students and researchers working on silicon photonics technologies and photonic interconnects technologies in close collaboration with academia and industry. The project will be undertaken as part of a €10M research effort ongoing within the two Horizon Europe EU projects Octapus and Ambrosia.
Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas whose emissions have caused about 30% of global heating to date. At COP-26 a multinational alliance of 105 countries pledged to cut their methane emissions by 30% in the next decade, because it is thought to be the most effective way to reduce near-term global warming. One of the most important levers for doing so will be to reduce natural gas leakage from fossil fuel production infrastructure, but to achieve this new low-cost technologies for immediately detecting the leaks will be needed.
Space is a new but inevitable frontier for Silicon Photonics technologies. The “New Space economy” has drastically lowered satellite launch costs such that constellations of communications satellites have become a reality, and small satellites for imaging, environmental monitoring, and global positioning are proliferating. The surge in satellite traffic will demand a corresponding surge in satellite data communications capacity.Satellite based free-space optical (FSO) communications links will come online over the next few years to complement existing radio frequency links, to enhance the bandwidth, power efficiency, and security of satellite communications. All of the “Prime” aerospace contractors are in the process of demonstrating initial FSO systems, using fibre and bulk optics components. Low size, weight, and power consumption are critical for all space technologies, and especially for small satellite payloads. With Silicon Photonics whole optical systems or subsystems can be integrated onto single chips, giving huge advantages in each of these metrics, and giving resilience to vibrations.
The project focuses on advancing quantum photonics through the development of scalable, on-chip single-photon sources using nitrogen rich silicon nitride (N rich SiN).
This project will exploit computer simulations to investigate the dynamics of the generation of light in such large, few-mode or multimode, optical fibres.
Recent discoveries of exotic forms of light, structured in space and in time, promise novel ways of transferring information, delivering energy, and even manipulating matter. The project will focus on the generation, light-matter interactions, and applications of spatiotemporally structured electromagnetic waves.
Cryogenically cooled lasers have proven themselves a platform-architecture for future high-energy and high-average power systems in large-scale-facilities institutes across the world. We seek a capable applicant to advance small-scale “turn-key” state-of-the-art highly energetic solid-state lasers operating in the visible and UV wavelength bands. The project objectives are targeting modes of operation that will lead to new laser parameters suitable for advanced-manufacturing applications.
Most of our digital data is coming via an optical fibre in form of short optical pulses. University of Southampton is one of pioneering institutions in optical fibre development. But are optical fibre limited to optical domain?Terahertz waves sit between infrared and microwave bands. This is fascinating region where optics meets with radio-technology. Its unique properties offer new solutions for medical imaging, security checks and data transfer. Next wireless communication standard 6G will heavily rely on terahertz technology enabling higher bandwidth and greater data transmission rates.
Topological photonics is a rising field of research that combines geometric ideas with optical physics. The topological states are robust against sharp corners, defects, and disorders. They then make excellent solutions for building low-loss optical devices in on-chip systems. This project will explore the engineering of topological states based on metamaterials or nanostructures, aiming to deliver recipes for building topological devices.
Cancer continues to be one of the most prevalent diseases worldwide. Cancer is associated with a very high mortality rate (50% survival at 10 years) as most cancers are diagnosed at a late stage. Recent advances have been made in early detection, though the assays employed are still experimental, highly expensive and can suffer from poor sensitivity and specificity. On the other hand, vibrational spectroscopy (Mid-IR and Raman) has shown to be robust in detecting cancer-specific analytes within the blood and other bodily fluids.
Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a widespread respiratory condition affecting all ages, causes respiratory failure due to inflamed, fluid-filled lungs hindering gas exchange. COVID-19 highlighted ARDS globally, leading to hospitalizations and deaths.
This project will investigate how the new hollow-core fibres can revolutionize highly-stable lasers, of interest in various fields including accurate time keeping, positioning, or study of Earth seismic activities.
The aim of this project is to provide a solution for intra data centre communications which is sustainable, and uses minimal power.
High-capacity ground-to-satellite communications have long relied on microwaves for data transmission, as they have since the very first communications satellites were launched. However, the surge in demand for data-intensive digital services and the evolution of sophisticated satellite-borne sensors have pushed microwave links to their limit, transforming them into a critical data transmission bottleneck.
This project aims to push the limits of what is possible with hollow core fibres by removing the air from the air-filled core. Currently, the central hole of the hollow core fibre is filled with air, which for some of the most advanced applications, such as transmission of quantum states or high-power signals, limits the fibre performance.
This project will initially focus on developing, demonstrating, and characterising fibre laser sources and will subsequently aim to utilise the developed technology in a range of application areas.
Applications are accepted throughout the year but you should apply as early as possible in order to get the best choice of projects.
Contact the supervisor of each project for more information or email Eric Plum with any more general queries at orcadmis@soton.ac.uk.
We offer one of the most attractive packages for talented PhD students resident in the UK with full tuition funding, plus, for UK students, a stipend at the UKRI rate plus £2,000 ORC enhancement tax-free per annum for up to 3.5 years (totalling around £21,000 for 2024/25, rising annually).
While this is available for any of our PhD projects, a handful of our research projects have dedicated industry funding and offer an even more attractive package. This would be specified in the project description.
To encourage applications from EU and Horizon Europe Associated Countries, University of Southampton treats PhD students from these countries the same as UK students for fees purposes. We can offer several partial/full scholarships for fees and living expenses. These are available for any of our PhD projects and will be awarded to strong applicants in need of a scholarship.
See here for full information terms and conditions
We offer scholarships and teaching bursaries ourselves. Your potential supervisor can guide you on what is available.
If you’re an international student you may be able to apply for a scholarship from your country.
Find out more about scholarships
Competition for funding for international applicants is intense. We can offer only a small number of partial/full international scholarships, which are allocated to the strongest applicants based on need. Therefore, BEFORE you consider an application you should seek external funding such as from your own government or other external funds which may be available, including self-funding, well ahead of preparing your application.
Find out more about scholarships
You may be able to fund your postgraduate research with funding from your current employer or from industry.
You can borrow up to £29,390 for a PhD starting on or after 1 August 2024. Doctoral loans are not means tested and you can decide how much you want to borrow.
Find out about PhD loans on GOV.UK
You may be able to win funding from one or more charities to help fund your PhD.
We charge tuition fees for every year of study. If you’re applying for a fully funded project, your fees will be paid for you.
EU Fee Waiver: If your country is part of the Horizon Europe Programme, you will pay the same fees as UK students.
Find out if your country is part of the Horizon Europe programme
2023 to 2024 entry:
| Subject | UK fees and Horizon Programme applicants | International fees |
|---|---|---|
| Optoelectronics full time | tbc | £25,500 |
| Optoelectronics part time | tbc | £12,750 |
| Optoelectronics Research Centre full time | tbc | £25,500 |
| Optoelectronics Research Centre part time | tbc | £12,750 |
2024 to 2025 entry:
| Subject | UK fees and Horizon Programme applicants | International fees |
|---|---|---|
| Optoelectronics full time | £4,786 | £26,100 |
| Optoelectronics part time | £2,393 | £13,050 |
| Optoelectronics Research Centre full time | £4,786 | £26,100 |
| Optoelectronics Research Centre part time | 2,393 | £13,050 |
2025 to 2026 entry:
| Subject | UK fees and Horizon Programme applicants | International fees |
|---|---|---|
| Optoelectronics full time | tbc | £26,700 |
| Optoelectronics part time | tbc | £13,350 |
| Optoelectronics Research Centre full time | tbc | £26,700 |
| Optoelectronics Research Centre part time | tbc | £13,350 |
You're eligible for a 10% alumni discount on a self-funded PhD if you're a current student or graduate from the University of Southampton.
We have 30 research groups working on a variety of individual and collaborative projects. A common theme of our research is to apply our extensive optical toolbox to new and developing areas, such as biosensing and manufacturing.
Applicants should choose an advertised research project or a research group. (They should not create their own proposal.)
Each of our research groups has funding available for their projects. They can offer funding to the right candidates. If you see something you're interested in, then contact the group supervisor to discuss your options.
It's a good idea to email potential supervisors to discuss your research project. It's best to do this well ahead of the application deadline.
You’ll find supervisors’ contact details listed with the advertised project, or you can search for supervisors in the staff directory.
As part of your online application, you’ll need to send us:
The application process is the same whether you're applying for a funded project, or have created a research proposal.
You'll need a UK bachelor’s or master’s degree 2:1 honours or higher in a relevant subject or equivalent qualification.
If English is not your first language, you'll need an IELTS minimum level of 6.0 with a 5.5 in writing, reading, speaking and listening, or equivalent. More information can be found here.
Your awarded certificate needs to be dated within the last 2 years.
If you need further English language tuition before starting your degree, you can apply for one of our pre-sessional English language courses.
Check the specific entry requirements listed on the project you’re interested in before you apply.
Research degrees have a minimum and maximum duration, known as the candidature. Your candidature ends when you submit your thesis.
Most candidatures are longer than the minimum period.
| Programme | Full time | Part time |
| Optoelectronics Research Centre | 2 to 4 years | 3 to 7 years |
