METAs-AEROFOILS: Metamaterial Embedded Trailing Aeroacoustic Structures for Quieter Flight

About the Project

Project Description:

The College of Business, Technology and Engineering draws on talents, expertise and facilities across Sheffield Hallam University. The vision is to be the leading provider of applied research excellence delivering business, materials, computing, science and engineering innovations meeting the development needs of industry.

This project is part of a Graduate Teaching Assistantship scheme, in which the successful applicant will undertake certain teaching duties associated with the student experience, in addition to working towards a PhD qualification. They will contribute up to 180 hours of support for research or teaching related activity per academic year. This activity forms part of the scholarship and there is no additional payment.

PhD Research Topic:

Aviation noise affects over 35 million people globally. During aircraft approach and landing, airframe noise, particularly turbulent boundary layer-trailing edge (TBL-TE) noise, dominates. Despite decades of research, existing solutions involve trade-offs: reducing noise often degrades aerodynamic performance. This PhD tackles that problem in a fundamentally new way. METAs-AEROFOILS is the first project to investigate auxetic metamaterials, engineered structures with a counter-intuitive negative Poisson's ratio, as trailing-edge inserts in aerofoils for aeroacoustic noise control. Unlike conventional approaches, auxetic materials deform in ways that could simultaneously manage noise, structural deflection, and aerodynamic performance, three factors that have, until now, been studied largely in isolation.

Working across four progressive work packages, you will build and validate a cutting-edge multiphysics simulation framework coupling a state-of-the-art advanced turbulence modelling, acoustics and structural analysis. You will systematically progress from rigid baseline aerofoils, through conventionally flexible trailing edges, to uniform and spatially graded auxetic configurations, each step unlocking new physical understanding. Experimental characterisation of auxetic materials at Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) will directly inform your simulations, ensuring physical grounding throughout. You will have access to SHU's dedicated HPCs with GPU-enabled nodes, already proven in aeroacoustics research, alongside UK’s national supercomputing resources. Existing validated simulation frameworks and experimental datasets are in place, giving you a running start from day one. You will also have access to experimental facilities for testing.

You will be supervised by an interdisciplinary team with combined expertise in computational aeroacoustics, fluid-structure interaction, and auxetic metamaterials. You will join a vibrant national and international community spanning academia, industry, and government agencies. You will have access to mentorship, attend summer schools, thematic workshops across the UK and Abroad, Interact with Aviation Industries, providing exceptional visibility and networking from the outset.

You are expected to produce high-quality journal publications and will present at prestigious international forums including AIAA conferences, UK Turbulence Consortium meetings, UK Fluids Conference, Noise Network Plus and UK-Metamaterials Plus events, building a genuinely international research profile.

The GTA scheme additionally provides structured teaching experience across Aerospace, Automotive, and Engineering modules, developing skills directly valued by industry and academia alike.

This PhD will position you at the frontier of sustainable aviation research, contributing to net-zero transport goals through engineered material innovation rather than add-on devices, a distinction that matters scientifically and industrially.

If you are passionate about computational mechanics, aeroacoustics, or advanced materials, and want a PhD that is technically rigorous, internationally connected, and societally impactful, this is your opportunity.

Eligibility

Applicants should hold at least a 1st or 2:1 Honours degree in an Engineering discipline or a closely related subject (e.g. Applied Mathematics, Computing, or Physics) and have a strong background in computational fluid dynamics and aerodynamics. Knowledge of materials and structures would be desirable.

We strongly encourage applications from individuals from groups underrepresented in postgraduate research, including but not limited to women, LGBTQ+, and minoritised ethnic groups.

Information for international applicants

English language requirements of IELTS 7 with a minimum score of 6.5 in all test areas (or equivalent) are mandatory if English is not your first language. Qualifications should have been taken within the last two years.

How to apply

To apply for this GTA scholarship, please use our online application form.

You must ensure that you upload:

1. A personal statement (up to 2 pages maximum) detailing your interest in the project and how your experience in academia, industry, research or social activities makes you the best candidate (Please upload this in place of a proposal). We’re looking for evidence of:
   • motivation and curiosity for postgraduate research
   • analytical and technical expertise related to the research proposal
   • ability to communicate clearly
   • planning and organisational skills
   • ability to work independently and collaborate with others
   • commitment to integrity and responsible research
   • resilience to setbacks and challenges
   • where you might contribute to teaching
2. Two letters of reference, or details of two referees, at least one from an academic and both dated within the last 2 years
3. Copy of your highest degree certificate
4. Non-UK applicants must submit IELTS results (or equivalent) taken in the last two years and a copy of their passport

We strongly recommend you contact the lead academic, Dr Harish Viswanathan (h.viswanathan@shu.ac.uk),to discuss your application

If you are applying for multiple GTA projects, please clearly list them all in your application. You will need to submit a tailored personal statement for each project.

Application deadline: 07 May 2026

Start date: October 2026

Interviews: TBC

Funding Notes

The GTA scholarship is for 3.5 years of full-time study and provides tuition fees at both the UK (home) and international level plus a maintenance bursary in line with guidance from UK Research and Innovation and the Living Wage Foundation (for illustrative purposes, the Sheffield Hallam University bursary for 25/26 is £22152). GTA scholarships are open to both UK (home) and international applicants.