Donnerstag, 30. Juli 2009

Ph.D. studentship at Nottingham Trent University

Fully funded Ph.D. studentship at Nottingham Trent University

A PhD studentships is available in the following area:
· Portable MRI scanner for security applications

Minimum entry requirement: a first class or upper second class Honours degree (or equivalent) or Masters degree in one of the Physical Sciences (Physics, Chemistry, Materials, Forensic Science), Engineering Sciences (Electrical and Electronic), or related subjects.

Award: the studentship offers a stipend at Research Council rates (tax free) for 3 years and Home/EU student fees.

Eligibility: applicants from the UK or from an EU country are eligible for a full award of stipend and tuition fees. International candidates are not eligible to apply for this studentship.

Informal enquiries, please contact:

Prof. Carl Brown
E-mail : carl.brown@ntu.ac.uk
Tel : 44 (0)115 8483184

For an application form, please contact:
Mrs Doreen Corlett
Research & Graduate Studies Office
Erasmus Darwin Building
Nottingham Trent University
Clifton Lane
Nottingham NG11 8NS
UK
Email: sat.research@ntu.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0)115 848 3269

Please return completed applications, with copies of academic certificates, to Doreen Corlett by Friday 31 July 2008.


The studentships are offered in the School of Science. All our research units were rated as internationally recognised in the last Research Assessment Exercise (2008) and this included research rated as world-leading in Unit of Assessment 25 (please see below). We currently hold twenty three million pounds in external funding which includes a leading EU grant of 4.2 million Euros for research into cancer immunotherapy, the Anthony Nolan Trust cord blood programme and the £7.6m John van Geest Centre to research cancer vaccines (http://www.ntu.ac.uk/sat/index.html).

The academic staff, together with over 50 postdoctoral fellows and 100 research students, support a large Graduate School which provides opportunities for study on PhD/MPhil and Masters by research programmes in a stimulating and caring environment (http://www.ntu.ac.uk/research/academic_schools/sat/index.html).

Our Cutting Edge Research portfolio in the Physics and Electronic Engineering currently includes £3.2m funding for such diverse areas as: displays and photonics; X-ray security imaging; solid state lighting; and applications of optical coherence tomography, optical tweezers, acoustic wave sensors, superhydrophobic surface treatments and MRI imaging. NTU Physics holds a prestigious EPSRC Platform Grant: the recipients of these Grants are required to have an Internationally-Leading reputation and to hold a substantial research grant funding portfolio.

(please see: http://www.ntu.ac.uk/sat/research/index.html)

Physics staff were entered in an Engineering and Physical Sciences submission into RAE2008 under Unit 25. Our submission was rated as having research that is 95% "Internationally Recognised" of which 40% is "Internationally Leading" and a further 15% is "World-leading". This places us joint 14th out of all the 52 universities in this unit in the UK according to the Times Higher Education Supplement.

Further particulars of the studentship

Portable MRI scanner for security applications

This project will produce a non-invasive detection technique for dangerous substances (hazardous, flammable or explosive liquids) in sealed containers. Low cost and portable magnetic resonance will be used to measure the T1/T2 relaxation times and the effective self-diffusion coefficient of the hydrogenated molecules present in a liquid (or a soft solid) under investigation. These parameters together offer a 'fingerprint' that may be measured through both transparent and optically opaque sealed containers. By limiting the capability of the magnetic resonance hardware to just the measurements of these properties, extremely low cost and highly portable devices for security screening will be developed.

Please contact : Dr. Martin Bencsik
E-mail: martin.bencsik@ntu.ac.uk Tel: 0115 8488057