Masters Compare - Find your perfect masters course.
Masters Compare - Find your perfect masters course.
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.
Heat is now one of the main limits on how far power electronics and energy storage can be pushed. Wide-bandgap converters, fast-charging battery packs and more-electric aircraft all put more heat into less space. Conventional cold plates with straight or serpentine channels are reaching their limits. They either leave hot spots or need high pumping power to avoid them.
Biological transport networks solve a very similar problem. They spread fluid over large areas with low pressure loss and keep temperatures even, using branching structure rather than brute force. Applying these principles to the cooling of electrical systems is a new direction for power electronics. Only a handful of papers exist, almost all from the last two years, and most look at single cells or simplified shapes. There is still no clear understanding of how network structure controls heat removal, pressure drop and manufacturability, and no validated design method that engineers can use.
This PhD will address that gap in three stages. First, the student will build coupled electro-thermal-fluid models of nature-inspired cooling structures for battery modules and power electronic assemblies. Second, they will develop a multi-objective optimisation framework, supported by fast surrogate models, to balance peak temperature, temperature uniformity, pressure drop and ease of fabrication. Third, the best designs will be made by additive manufacturing and tested under realistic high-power and fast-charging conditions, and compared against commercial cold plates.
The project sits between power electronics, heat transfer and biology. The student will gain a rare combination of skills in modelling, optimisation and lab testing. Because the field is so young, there is a real opportunity to publish early, high-impact work and help shape the area. The work will be carried out at the University of Bath, in collaboration with the University of Sheffield and Aalborg University.
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.
A good degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Mechanical Engineering or a related subject. Knowledge of heat transfer or fluid mechanics is desirable, as is experience with simulation tools such as COMSOL, ANSYS or MATLAB/Python. Candidates should be interested in both computational and hands-on experimental work.
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.
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 supervisor email address Fang Duan - [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
PhD in Electronic and Electrical Engineering
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