Therapeutic drug monitoring using silicon photonics circuits

About the Project

Closing date: 31 December 2026

Supervisory Team: Professor Goran Mashanovich, Dr. Milos Nedeljkovic and Dr. David Rowe

About the project

Help transform how medicines are monitored and delivered.

This project develops silicon photonic sensors that use mid-infrared light to measure drug levels instantly at the point of care. Working with NHS clinicians and experts at Southampton’s world-leading Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC), you’ll gain cutting-edge skills in photonics, fabrication, and healthcare innovation.

Motivation Therapeutic drug monitoring can benefit significantly from the availability of point-of-care devices in the clinic to measure the concentration of administered drugs with a narrow effective target concentration range. Out-of-range concentration can lead to ineffective treatment or toxicity.

For these drugs, rapid, effective and accurate tests of drug levels can result in patients achieving “therapeutic range” doses faster with less chance of periods of time with subtherapeutic or toxic levels. We have consulted NHS specialist clinicians who have suggested drugs that need to be monitored.

Solution In this project you will be working on the design and fabrication of silicon photonics circuits that operate in the mid-infrared wavelength region where the drugs have distinct absorption fingerprints. The main aim is to achieve detection of clinically relevant concentrations of drugs using inexpensive silicon chips that can be mass manufactured.

You will be working with a large research team based in the ORC and University Hospital in Southampton on technologies that will change the way healthcare is managed.

You will have access to one of the best academic cleanrooms in Europe and state of the art photonics laboratories in the largest photonics centre in the UK. You will collaborate with experts across various fields and gain experience in the design, fabrication and characterisation of photonic circuits. A comprehensive training will be available for improving your technical and soft skills.

Entry requirements

A UK 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent

Fees and funding

Full scholarships include tuition fees, a stipend at the UKRI rate plus 10% ORC enhancement tax-free per annum for up to 3.5 years (totalling £22,858 for 2025/26, rising annually) and a budget of £4200 for things like conference travel. UK, EU and Horizon Europe students are eligible for scholarships. Chinese Scholarship Council funded students are eligible for fee waivers. Funding for other international applicants is very limited and highly competitive. Overseas students who have secured or are seeking external funding are welcome to apply.

How to apply

Apply now

Please apply via the online portal and select:

• programme type: Research
• academic year: 2026/27
• if you will be full time or part time
• faculty: Engineering and Physical Sciences
• search for programme PhD ORC (7097)
• please add the name of the supervisor in section 2 of the application.

Applications should include:

• your CV (resumé)
• 2 academic references
• degree transcripts/ certificates to date
• English language qualification (if applicable)