Are you holding Master’s degree and looking for fully funded PhD positions? University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland invites online application for multiple funded PhD Programs / fully funded PhD positions in various research areas.
Candidates interested in fully funded PhD positions can check the details and may apply as soon as possible. Interested and eligible applicants may submit their online application for PhD programs via the University’s Online Application Portal.
1. Fully Funded PhD Position in Adaptive and smart structures for operational variability and life extension
Summary of PhD Program:
Friction is a key limiting factor affecting the motion of liquids in contact with solid surfaces. When water droplets interact with a solid surface, friction can severely limit the speed at which they move, or hamper their motion altogether. Fundamentally, friction between droplets and solid forces is an open field of research in fluid mechanics, with important applications in a range of fields, from microfluidics to self-cleaning and heat transfer.
Application Deadline: October 21, 2025
2. Fully Funded PhD Position in Digitalising buildings at scale for improved environmental performance
Summary of PhD Program:
Most existing buildings in European countries predate the adoption of high energy efficiency standards, and a significant proportion were built well before architectural design processes were digitalised or energy conservation regulations introduced. The result is a diverse stock for which limited information exist. Even in cases where information is available, it tends to be patchy, out of date, or exists in physical documents that cannot be readily consumed by modern processes for facility management.
Application Deadline: January 31, 2025
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3. Fully Funded PhD Position in Design and testing of microflyers for environmental monitoring
Summary of PhD Program:
The successful applicant will work in an Edinburgh team of about ten researchers, including PhD students, postdoctoral research associates, and technicians. These researchers contribute to the design of this novel technology through numerical simulations, experiments, and theoretical model development. The Edinburgh team also collaborates closely with several overseas research leaders who undertake complementary projects and advise on the team’s activities.
Application Deadline: December 31, 2025
4. Fully Funded PhD Position in Designing Structured Surfaces with Superwettability Properties
Summary of PhD Program:
The wetting behaviours of liquids on solid surfaces play an important role for a wide range of engineering applications, including coatings, electronics, oil recovery, microfluidics, and inkjet printing. For many of these applications, the key challenge is to control the static and dynamic wettability of a given substrate against various liquids. To achieve such control, especially over the full range of wettability landscape, surface chemistry, while crucial, is inadequate by itself.
Application Deadline: August 31, 2025
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5. Fully Funded PhD Position in Data-Driven Computational Sensing and Imaging
Summary of PhD Program:
This project will consider a range of algorithmic and machine learning technologies including: low rank models and/or auto-encoder type architectures to identify low dimensional data representations; physics-informed and physics aware neural networks that ensure the machine learning solutions adhere to necessary physics within the sensing problem; machine learning solutions targeted reducing computation or processing time; robustness to noise, outliers and adversarial attacks; and Bayesian and variational architectures that can provide uncertainty quantification.
Application Deadline: February 28, 2025
6. Fully Funded PhD Position in Compressive behavior of self-expanding concrete-filled CFRP tube columns
Summary of PhD Program:
The proposed research addresses these problems by focusing on circular concrete columns, which are critically important structural elements in construction of buildings, parking garages and bridges or piers. In these applications there are many advantages in using precast or in-situ cast concrete filled fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) tube columns using self-compacting concrete (SCC): The columns are – compared to conventional RC columns – lighter in weight, do not need a formwork nor concrete compaction (SCC), and the FRP tube can be designed to (partially or totally) replace the need for a transverse and longitudinal steel reinforcement.
Application Deadline: March 1, 2025
7. Fully Funded PhD Position in Causal AI in understanding medical images
Summary of PhD Program:
We are seeking two highly motivated PhD students to work at the intersection of academia and industry through the CHAI Hub (Causality in Healthcare AI), a newly founded EPSRC AI hub. The CHAI Hub is a consortium of six UK universities, the NHS, industry partners, and government bodies, focused on revolutionising healthcare through causal AI. These PhDs are in collaboration with Canon Medical Research Europe and focus on developing causal AI solutions for rethinking how we develop and use medical imaging, and contribute to an exciting area where AI meets imaging.
Application Deadline: January 31, 2025
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8. Fully Funded PhD Position in Bottom-up assembly of multi-compartment synthetic cells
Summary of PhD Program:
The building blocks will be lipid vesicles, both large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs) and giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs), as well as membrane embedded and encapsulated proteins. To do so, the student will develop methodologies for lipid vesicle formation, including bulk techniques such as water-in-oil emulsions, and microfluidic systems (e.g. micro-droplets). Bottom-up synthetic cells can shed light on natural biological cell functions but can also be used for future industrial applications like biofuel production or in biomedical applications such as drug delivery.
Application Deadline: December 31, 2025
9. Fully Funded PhD Position in Biomimetic membranes for applications in electrosynbionics and biosensing
Summary of PhD Program:
The project will begin with a literature review. This will be coupled to a technoeconomic analysis of biomimetic membranes, the aim of which will be to assess suitability of different materials for applications involving mass production. For training purposes, the student will reproduce selected literature results before moving on to systems of their own design. They will design, build and characterise complex membrane structures, demonstrating the ability to engineer the membrane shape. They will test the effect of using their structures in selected devices.
Application Deadline: January 24, 2025
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10. Fully Funded PhD Position in Biomass conversion to fine chemicals via photocatalysis processes
Summary of PhD Program:
The conversion of biomass into value-added platform chemicals can greatly alleviate the reliance on fossil feedstock. Biomass alcohol such as benzyl alcohol is one of the important biomass-derived platform compounds and a significant feedstock, which are used to produce a series of value-added derivatives, such as benzaldehyde, hydrobenzoin, benzoin, and deoxybenzoin. Among these derivatives, the C-C coupling chemicals, hydrobenzoin, benzoin, and deoxybenzoin have higher value than the rest and can be used as the versatile intermediates for the production of high value-added downstream products, such as various chemical additives, dyestuff, pharmaceuticals as well as the precursor of photo initiator.
Application Deadline: April 30, 2025
11. Fully Funded PhD Position in America’s Cup yacht hydrofoils
Summary of PhD Program:
For the first time, the America’s Cup was sailed with foiling boats in 2013. This led to fast growth in the use of foils on sailing and power boats, both for racing and cruising. Foiling allows unprecedented speed and comfort, but it raises significant design challenges regarding control and safety. In the recent 2024 America’s Cup, boat speeds over 50 knots have been reached.
Application Deadline: December 31, 2027
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12. Fully Funded PhD Position in Aerodynamics of the gliding seeds of the Javan cucumber vine
Summary of PhD Program:
The Javan cucumber (Alsomitra macrocarpa) is a vine that climbs the trees of tropical forests toward the canopy and sunlight. At great heights, it grows pods that contain hundreds of winged seeds. As the wind blows against the opening of the pods, the samaras are peeled away and released. Unlike many gliding seeds that use auto-rotation, the seed of the Javan cucumber vine exhibits a stable gliding flight with its paper-thin wings.
Application Deadline: December 31, 2027
13. Fully Funded PhD Position in Aerodynamics of high-performance yacht sails
Summary of PhD Program:
The proposed project aims to investigate the fluid dynamics of yacht sails. Sails have unique flow features, which allow the generation of very high lift and high lift/drag ratio compared to wings and blades commonly used in other fields such as aeronautics and turbomachinery. The project aims to understand the underlying mechanisms of these flow features in order to further enhance the performance of sails and, importantly, to allow the cross-fertilisation of ideas in research fields where there is a need for fluid dynamic efficiency.
Application Deadline: December 31, 2025
14. Fully Funded PhD Position in Adaptive and smart structures for operational variability and life extension
Summary of PhD Program:
The core objective of this project is to engineer a self-adapting structure that adjusts to the prescribed loading conditions. This adaptation is achieved by integrating local structures that accommodate stiffness variations along the global structure. The local structures will change their geometry and shape in response to the applied loads, resulting in emergent properties in the main global structure. Analytical modeling of the sub-structures will provide understanding and control for stiffness tailoring, which will translate into desirable mechanical properties in the main structure.
Application Deadline: July 27, 2025
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15. Fully Funded PhD Position in Engineering sex-differences to improve science
Summary of PhD Program:
This PhD project proposes an innovative exploration of how sex-specific differences in hormonal profiles and blood flow dynamics impact liver function, utilizing cutting-edge techniques involving liver organoids and microfluidic technology. Males and females differ significantly in their liver function and pathology, thought to be largely due to variations in hormonal environment and hemodynamics. Despite these observations, current approaches to elucidating these effects are limited, and rely heavily on expensive, time-consuming, and ethically challenging animal models and clinical trials.
Application Deadline: January 31, 2025
16. Fully Funded PhD Position in Engineering Nanosensors Using Electrocrystallisation
Summary of PhD Program:
This project seeks to address a significant knowledge gap related to electrodeposition at the nanoscale, with a focus on CTCs from the tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) and tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) family. Recent progress in nanomaterials characterisation and simulations reveals an intricate process involving nanocluster building blocks, their interactions, and multistep crystallisation pathways. Electrodeposition provides a unique means to study early-stage crystallisation because of the additional control provided by the applied overpotential.
Application Deadline: March 31, 2025
17. Fully Funded PhD Position in Elucidating molecular transport mechanisms through atomistic simulations
Summary of PhD Program:
Using molecular dynamics (MD) simulation and free energy calculations, this project aims to computationally design highly selective RO membranes by elucidating the mechanisms governing SNC sorption and transport. The project will focus on SNCs that are insufficiently rejected by state-of-the art RO membranes, e.g., boric acid, a toxic constituent of seawater, and N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), a carcinogenic disinfection by-product whose insufficient removal during RO-based wastewater reuse (rejection ~ 60%) demands additional, and costly, advanced oxidation processes (e.g., high-energy UV).
Application Deadline: June 22, 2025
18. Fully Funded PhD Position in Electrolytes in Zinc ion Batteries
Summary of PhD Program:
This project focuses on the development and optimization of advanced electrolytes for high-performance zinc-ion batteries. Unlike lithium, zinc is abundant, non-toxic, and operates in aqueous environments, making it safer and more affordable. However, challenges such as zinc dendrite formation, limited electrolyte stability, and slow ion mobility need to be addressed for ZIBs to compete with LIBs in commercial applications.
Application Deadline: November 24, 2025
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19. Fully Funded PhD Position in Dropwise Condensation and heat transfer on Patterned Liquid-Like Surfaces
Summary of PhD Program:
Condensation is a heat transfer process in which a vapor releases energy/heat as it changes its phase to become a liquid, which typically occurs when the vapor is cooled below its dew temperature, often upon making contact with a cooler surface. This process is critical in numerous applications, including in HVAC systems, power generation, and refrigeration. The effectiveness of dropwise condensation in transferring heat makes it essential in condensers, where minimizing the surface area for dropwise condensation and optimizing conditions for heat transfer can significantly enhance system efficiency.
Application Deadline: November 30, 2025
20. Fully Funded PhD Position in Droplet Dynamics on Topographically Patterned Slippery Liquid-Infused Porous Surfaces
Summary of PhD Program:
The interaction of droplets with structured surfaces is extremely important in microfluidics, with target applications in medical diagnostics, self-assembly and printing. In this project you will study the dynamic interactions of droplets with structured solid surfaces coated by a thin liquid lubricant layer. Depending on your skills and interests, you will tackle questions about the fluid dynamics of this system using experimental/computational approaches, or a combination of both.
Application Deadline: October 21, 2025
21. Fully Funded PhD Position in Experimental Fire Science: Improved real-time characterization of fuel properties during combustion
Summary of PhD Program:
The project will include the opportunity to gain expertise in the development and use of a variety of established and novel measurement instrumentation to monitor and characterize the variation in structure of a fuel as it burns. For example, utilizing established methods to quantify the spatial and temporal variation of solid fuel temperatures (e.g. colour pyrometry) and burning rate (continuous mass loss measurements). Alongside developing novel approaches to characterising and quantifying the variation in fuel structure (volume, geometry) and the resulting influence on linked physical properties (e.g. drag force, radiative absorption).
