PhD Programme

Our PhD programmes provide the opportunity to learn whilst working alongside some of the world’s leading scientists in their fields. The majority of your time will be spent conducting novel research either individually or in collaboration with other students or research fellows. In addition you will need to keep up to date with research literature in both optoelectronics in general and your specific area of interest.

All candidates are invited to meet with prospective project supervisors to ensure a ‘good match’ between students and supervisors.

We offer PhD projects in the areas of:

• Fundamental photonics
• Nanophotonics and meta-materials
• Optical fibres and materials
• Planar lightwave integration
• High-power, high energy lasers
• Ultrafast lasers and applications
• Optical networks and systems
• Biophotonic microsystems

For a full list of projects available for 2009 please take a look at the ‘Research Projects’ section.

All research students enrol initially for an MPhil, with conditional transfer to PhD on the successful completion of their transfer report and viva 16 months after the start of their studies.

Duration of MPhil/PhD studies:

Full time: 2.5-4 Years

Part time: 4-6 Years

Internal 8-month and 16-month reports and oral examinations will determine progression and transfer to PhD.

Students are required to have either a first or upper second class degree or equivalent in a relevant subject area from a recognised University - and a basic background in Mathematics.

Our work crosses the normal boundaries of different subjects, so we are keen to get a diverse spread of students with science and engineering backgrounds. This includes the obvious subjects like Physics, Electronics, Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Chemistry, with the less obvious such as Biology. The requirements may vary depending on your background and the projects that you may be working on.

Students whose first language is not English will need to complete either an IELTS or TOEFL test, we require a minimum IELTS score of 6.0, or TOEFL score of 560 (computer-based TOEFL 220) for our research courses.

We have a number of fully funded positions available to UK/EU students including tuition fees and a tax free bursary of £13,200, equivalent to a salary of approximately £17,000.

Several scholarship places are also available for international students.

For further details please visit the funding information section.

Applications for 2009 will be open from November 2008. The deadline for application is Mid January for International students and September for UK/EU students.

Please download an application pack or alternatively please contact us for a printed copy.

If you would like to recieve a course information pack or if you have any questions that you would like to ask us, please complete our information request form.

Find out more at about our PhD programme at our open day, including the chance to meet some of the team, tours of our labs and an insight into life as a research student at the ORC.

 Register for a place