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Deadline: 29 November 2026
South West, All England
This project is one of a number in competition for a studentship from the Faculty of Engineering and Design at the University of Bath. If successful, this studentship is expected to commence 04 October 2027.
An alternative start date may be possible if agreed with your intended supervisors and the Doctoral College.
Project Description
| Joint replacements have been performed in the UK since the 1960s with the first hip implants. Over 250,000 joint replacements are now carried out per year in the UK, with knee and hip replacements accounting for the vast majority of these numbers. A major issue affecting implant success is wear of the implant surfaces. Wear debris can build up within the joint and cause tissue inflammation and in turn loosening of the implant. Beyond this, there are many other adverse biological responses to wear debris; metallic ions in the lymphatic system, blood and urine of joint replacement patients are linked to lymphadenopathy and necrosis. An analysis of the lubrication mechanisms affecting wear are central to extending the life of joint prostheses. The lubricating fluid for joints is synovial fluid, which is a complex water-based mixture of proteins, glycoproteins, hyaluronan, phospholipids and cholesterol. Patient specific studies have shown that the concentration of macromolecules in synovial fluid can vary significantly. Synovial fluid shows clear shear-thinning behaviour in experiments and the concentration of protein content plays an important role in the rheological properties of synovial fluid. Aggregation of proteins in synovial fluid lubricated joints leads to high viscosity regions and a computational model for this phenomenon has previously been created [1]. This proposed PhD project would use further numerical methods, such as multi-species transport modelling to incorporate shear-breakdown behaviour of protein aggregates [2,3] and multiscale modelling of mixed lubrication regimes [4] to capture more of the underlying physics of synovial fluid lubrication. Parallelisation of code at all stages will also play a large factor in this investigation, as this work will aid in creating a digital twin of a hip implant that can assess performance for prescribed patient needs and enable bespoke optimised prosthetic geometry. Candidates for this project should have a solid background in fluid mechanics and numerical methods; experience with writing numerical solvers and/or enthusiasm to learn is essential. Candidates should be interested in developing expertise and skills in the fields of non-Newtonian fluids, tribology and High Performance Computing (HPC). |
Applicants must have, or be about to obtain, a UK Honours degree 1st or 2.1, or international equivalent. A master’s level qualification would also be advantageous.
Non-UK applicants, who are not currently studying in the UK, must meet the programme’s English language requirement before the application deadline – no exceptions will be considered.
| Candidates for this project should have a solid background in fluid mechanics and numerical methods; experience with writing numerical solvers and/or enthusiasm to learn is essential. Candidates should be interested in developing expertise and skills in the fields of non-Newtonian fluids, tribology and High Performance Computing (HPC). |
Applicants will be considered for a studentship. Studentships cover tuition fees, provide a £1k per annum training support fee, and a maintenance stipend (£21,805 2026/27 rate). International students will be required to cover the cost of a Student visa and Immigration Health Surcharge from personal funds.
Informal enquiries are encouraged. Direct these to
| [email protected] |
Please follow the below instructions carefully.
You must make a formal application via the University of Bath’s online application form for a
Please note that you can apply for a maximum of two PhD projects on this programme.
In the ‘Funding Your Studies’ section, you must select ‘University of Bath URSA’ from one of the drop-down menus.
In the ‘Your PhD project’ section, you must quote the project title in the PhD project title field, and you must quote the lead supervisor’s name in the field ‘Name of intended supervisor at University of Bath.’
If you are applying for two projects, you must quote the project title for your second choice project in the field ‘Project 2 Title’ and the lead supervisor’s name in ‘Name of intended supervisor for 2nd choice project at University of Bath.
You must ensure that you follow the above steps correctly. Failure to complete these steps will cause errors in the automated processing of your application and may mean that you are not considered for a particular project.
The Faculty of Engineering and Design at the University of Bath has studentships available for Home and Overseas students. However, in line with UKRI policy, the number of studentships available to Overseas students are capped.
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Wed 21 Oct 2026