About the Project
A fully funded PhD opportunity to participate in the world-leading research undertaken by the EPSRC Doctoral Landscape Award and the Fusion Engineering Centre for Doctoral Training at the University of Sheffield.
Supervised by Prof Sam Clarke and Dr Felicity Freeman.
The University of Sheffield is one of the leading Russell Group universities in the UK. We carry out cutting-edge research with strong links to industry. When you enrol to do a PhD with us, you will be working with world-leading academics and have access to top of the range facilities. As a PhD student you will have the opportunity to gain skills not only to conduct research, but also to take your career to the next level, whether you want to stay in academia, go into industry or the public sector, or set up your own company. You will have access to a range of training and support services to help you excel in your studies and beyond.
For this PhD you will also be part of the UKAEA Fusion Engineering Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT), and, along with your cohort of other doctoral students from universities across the UK, will receive training on cutting edge topics in fusion energy from academic and industry experts. You should expect to engage fully with the training programme within the Fusion Engineering CDT, including 3-months of full-time training that is provided at the start of your PhD. The CDT training will involve some overnight stays at other locations (Culham, Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool), funded by the CDT, throughout your 4-year PhD duration.
Project Description
Fusion energy is approaching the stage of power plants, with prototype power plants under construction in a number of locations globally. Many of these use a tokamak design, where plasma is confined in a doughnut shape, due to the challenges in confining such a high-energy situation. The confinement is not always perfect, and transient events, such as Edge Localised Modes (ELMs) in the plasma, can result in high energy flux being transferred to the walls in a very short period of time.
These events can transfer a significant amount of heat, but can also produce impact effects due to thermally and magnetically induced forces, and the short time periods (microsecond duration) involved. The impact behaviour of fusion materials is generally unknown and needs to be studied to understand the full implications of these events. If found unsuitable, more advanced options for impact-resistant designs should be explored.
Mechanical metamaterials offer a unique solution to many engineering challenges by allowing designers to modify functional properties across a component, tailoring performance to need at a local level. For blast protection, we need metamaterials with variable properties that help to dissipate the impact energy through a structure. Metamaterials are at the forefront of the UK's research landscape, delivering across application areas from aerospace to healthcare, but we need robust, scalable and affordable manufacturing processes to be able to realise their potential. In this PhD, you will also develop the advanced manufacturing processes necessary to engineer novel microstructural metamaterials for enhanced blast protection capability.
Your project will start with metallurgical characterisation and high strain-rate mechanical testing (split-Hopkinson pressure bar) of a variety of fusion-relevant materials. You will then transfer this learning across to use techniques such as hot rolling, heat treatment and deformation processing to manufacture large-format microstructural metamaterial panels. In the final stages of the project, you will characterise these metamaterial panels using the unique blast testing facility at Buxton.
The project leverages the world-class capabilities available at the University of Sheffield in advanced manufacturing, mechanical and microstructural characterisation and high strain rate testing. We are a key partner in the Henry Royce Institute, the UK's national centre for advanced materials research, which will give you access to additional facilities across the UK, supported by dedicated application scientists.
The primary application for this research is in understanding and mitigating the physical effects of shock events in Fusion energy. There is wider impact in the developing area of phase-controlled metamaterials, looking towards protecting satellites against space debris, lightweighting crumple zones in cars and mitigating stress shielding in orthopaedic implants. You will be encouraged to disseminate your research through scientific papers and conferences.
How to apply
Interested candidates are strongly encouraged to contact the project supervisors to discuss your interest in and suitability for the project prior to submitting your application.
Please refer to the EPSRC DLA webpage for detailed information about the EPSRC DLA and how to apply. Applicants must ensure that they use the correct application form linked to the EPSRC DLA webpage and must submit an application for October 2027 entry. The form is unique to the EPSRC DLA. It contains the list of advertised projects from which to select, and three questions specific to the DLA.
The application deadline is 17:00 GMT 13 January 2027.
The majority of our DLA studentships will be allocated to candidates who qualify for Home fee status, in accordance with EPSRC funding regulations which place strict limits on international recruitment.
Funding Notes
The award will fund the full tuition fee and a maintenance stipend at the UKRI rate (currently £21,805 per annum) for 4 years, as well as a research grant to support costs associated with the project.