EPSRC - Understanding the irradiation behaviour of AXIOM, a novel Zr-based alloy developed for demanding fuel duties and higher burnups

About the Project

About Us

The Zr Group is a vibrant, welcoming team tackling real-world challenges in nuclear materials. Based at the Henry Royce Institute for Advanced Materials at the University of Manchester, we collaborate with top academic and industrial partners across the UK and worldwide. Your PhD will be supported by Westinghouse Sweden, a global leader in nuclear materials, giving you industrial supervision, hands-on experience, and opportunities to travel to conferences and meetings both in the UK and internationally.

About Your Project:

Inside nuclear reactors, materials face extreme conditions that can change their structure and make them expand, corrode, or weaken over time. AXIOM is a new zirconium-based alloy developed by Westinghouse that performs better than traditional reactor cladding, resisting corrosion and staying dimensionally stable even under high radiation.

Although AXIOM works very well in reactor tests, we don’t yet fully understand why it performs so well. This PhD will explore its structure and chemistry to discover what makes it more resilient than older alloys. You will use modern lab techniques to study how AXIOM changes under irradiation and uncover the key features that could guide the design of safer, longer-lasting nuclear materials.

Key Research Questions

1. How do AXIOM’s added elements affect its structure and response to radiation?
2. How do tiny particles (secondary phase particles) inside the alloy form and change during irradiation?
3. What makes AXIOM different from older zirconium alloys in resisting corrosion and irradiation induced growth?

As part of this project, you will be based in state-of-the-art nuclear laboratories within the Henry Royce Institute utilising advanced materials characterisation techniques such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) to study the radiation damage defects down to the nanoscale. The project has the rare opportunity to work on real world neutron irradiated samples provided by Westinghouse, as well as use the University of Manchester’s Dalton Cumbria Facility to perform ion beam irradiations as a model for neutron radiation damage to elucidate key damage processes. More information on these facilities can be found:

• Henry Royce Institute Nuclear Facilities
• Dalton Cumbria Facility University of Manchester

What We Offer

During your PhD, you will:

• Join the MIDAS and Zr Group, working alongside experts in nuclear materials (https://www.zr-midas.org)
• Develop independence while learning cutting-edge experimental and characterisation techniques
• Present your work at local and international conferences

Rewards:

• Strong mentorship and a supportive team—you’ll never feel stuck
• Flexible and hybrid working options
• Competitive, tax-free stipend
• Opportunities for international collaboration and travel
• Develop a range of transferable skills: presentation, leadership, organisation, mentoring
• Join a group with 100% graduate employability, with alumni taking roles in universities, industry, national labs, and research facilities worldwide

Entry requirement

The standard academic entry requirement for this PhD is an upper second-class (2:1) honours degree in a discipline directly relevant to the PhD (or international equivalent) OR any upper-second class (2:1) honours degree and a Master’s degree at merit in a discipline directly relevant to the PhD (or international equivalent).

Funding

This 3.5-year PhD studentship is open to Home (UK) applicants. The successful candidate will receive an annual tax-free stipend set at the UKRI rate (£20,780 for 2025/26; subject to annual uplift), and tuition fees will be paid. We expect the stipend to increase each year. EU students with settled or pre-settled status and international student can apply but their application eligibility will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

The start date is October 2026.

We recommend that you apply early as the advert may be removed before the deadline.

Before you apply

We strongly recommend that you contact the supervisors for this project before you apply. Please include details of your current level of study, academic background and any relevant experience and include a paragraph about your motivation to study this PhD project.

How to apply

You will need to submit an online application through our website here: https://uom.link/pgr-apply

When you apply, you will be asked to upload the following supporting documents:

• Final Transcript and certificates of all awarded university level qualifications
• Interim Transcript of any university level qualifications in progress
• CV
• You will be asked to supply contact details for two referees on the application form (please make sure that the contact email you provide is an official university/ work email address as we may need to verify the reference)
• Supporting statement: A one or two page statement outlining your motivation to pursue postgraduate research and why you want to undertake postgraduate research at Manchester, any relevant research or work experience, the key findings of your previous research experience, and techniques and skills you’ve developed. (This is mandatory for all applicants and the application will be put on hold without it.
• English Language certificate (if applicable). If you require an English qualification to study in the UK, you can apply now and send this in at a later date.

If you have any queries regarding making an application please contact our admissions team FSE.doctoralacademy.admissions@manchester.ac.uk