Current research degree projects
Explore our current postgraduate research degree and PhD opportunities.
Explore our current postgraduate research degree and PhD opportunities.
Supermassive black holes need gas to grow and power their activity. How the gas is transported all the way from the galaxy to the black hole is still a topic of research, but we have recently found evidence that interactions between galaxies can provide this gas. The reason why this is important, is because when black holes are active, the so called ‘Active Galactic Nuclei’ or AGN, they can release a copious amount of energy into their surroundings, possibly affecting the galaxy in which they are hosted.
The microstructure evolution of alloys during additive manufacturing is expected to be complex and some feature sizes could range from tens of nanometers up to several hundreds of microns that need to be mapped in 3D. 2D microstructure information is insufficient to understand and develop models of the fundamental mechanisms that determine the properties of the alloys. Thus a combination of EBSD and Focused Ion Beam (FIB) milling is conventionally used to access 3D information. However, long milling times of Ga source FIBs have limited analysis volumes on the tens of micron dimensions, which cannot provide the required microstructure information.
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.
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.
Two-micron fibre laser technology has the potential to yield a wealth of new applications in areas such as industrial laser processing, medicine, defence and optical communications. Moreover, significant power scaling advantages can be gained by moving from traditional ytterbium-doped fibre lasers operating in the one-micron band to the two-micron band.
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.
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.