The Leverhulme Centre for Functional Materials Design at the University of Liverpool is offering exciting 16 PhD studentship opportunities covering a broad spectrum of research areas including; chemistry, chemical engineering, theoretical and computational solid state chemistry, materials science, physics, atomistic materials modelling or condensed matter physics, computer science, management, or related disciplines.

We are seeking motivated and enthusiastic applicants for 42-month PhD studentships (to begin in October 2018) in the following research projects:

• • Computational Materials Discovery: theoretical modelling of materials for electronics applications project supervised by Dr Alessandro Troisi
  • Development of structure determination methods combining experimental, computational, and data-driven approaches for a high-throughput materials discovery framework project supervised by Dr Sam Chong and Dr Linjiang Chen
  • NMR-driven design of ion transporting materials project supervised by Dr. Frédéric Blanc and Prof Matthew J. Rosseinsky
  • Computational Prediction of Gel Properties project supervised by Dr Neil Berry and Prof Dave Adams (University of Glasgow)
  • Discovery of high-temperature superconductors using advanced machine learning project supervised by Dr Danushka Bollegala, Prof M Rosseinsky and Dr M Gaultois
  • Combinatorial analysis of the energy graphs under operations of composition project supervised by Dr Igor Potapov and Dr Matthew Dyer
  • Analysis of energy landscapes of molecular crystal structures employing combinatorial and topological methodologies project supervised by Dr Yannis Goulermas, Dr Vitaliy Kurlin and Prof Graeme Day (University of Southampton)
  • Automated On-line Optimisation of Flow Chemistry Synthesis project supervised by Professor Simon Maskell and Dr Anna Slater
  • Crystal structure determination of complex oxide hetero-structures using surface x-ray diffraction and Coherent Bragg Rod Analysis project supervised by Dr Jonathan Alaria, Pro. Matthew Rosseinsky and Dr Chris Nicklin (Diamond Light Source)
  • Soft Manipulator for next generation of chemical lab robots project supervised by Dr Paolo Paoletti, Dr Ben Alston and Prof Andy Cooper
  • Advanced multilayer materials for efficient and durable solar fuel photo-electrodes using atomic layer deposition guided by an artificial intelligence research advisor project supervised by Dr Richard Potter and Dr Alexander Cowan
  • Designing assembler for bottom-up formulations with tunable rheology project supervised by Dr Ester Garcia-Tunon and Prof Andy Cooper
  • The computational prediction of synthetically accessible supramolecular materials (Based at Imperial College London) project supervised by Dr Kim Jelfs
  • Discovery of Porous Organic Crystals Guided by Energy–Structure–Function Maps project supervised by Professor A I Cooper

• Data Driven Discovery of Functional Molecular Co-crystals project supervised by Dr M Dyer and Dr V Kurlin

• Molecular Engineering of Two Dimensional Organic – Inorganic Hybrid Functional Materials project supervised by Professor P Chalker and Professor A I Cooper

For further specifics about the projects and qualification requirements please click on the specific project title.

This Leverhulme Research Centre will drive a design revolution for functional materials at the atomic scale by fusing chemical knowledge with state-of-the-art computer science. This Centre is one of just four £10 M Research Centres selected from bids across all areas of research and funded by the Leverhulme Trust.

The Centre will integrate, in a single, physical hub, an interdisciplinary blend of experts in chemical synthesis, physics, computer science, robotics, engineering, and management and social science research. It will combine, for the first time, leading-edge synthesis concepts from the physical sciences with the forefront of computer science. The world leading multidisciplinary team includes partners from the Hartree Centre, Imperial College, the University of Southampton, Diamond Light Source, the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology and the Max Planck Institute for Microstructure Physics.

This team will help bridge the current design gap by fusing leading-edge synthesis concepts from the physical sciences with ideas from the forefront of computer science, alongside experts in robotics, engineering, management and social science.

The Centre will co-locate core staff and students within the Materials Innovation Factory on the Liverpool University campus, a state-of-the-art materials research facility for both academic and industrial users, unless otherwise stated.

Eligibility

The award is primarily available to students resident in the UK/EU and will pay full tuition fees and a maintenance grant for 3.5 years (£14,553 pa in 2017/18).

Non-EU nationals are not eligible for this position and applications from non-EU candidates will not be considered unless you have your own funding.

Please apply by completing the online postgraduate research application form here.

Further Information:

For further information please email [email protected], stating your area of interest or by contacting the supervisor for the specific project of interest.