ELECTRONIC AND ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING: FULLY FUNDED PHD STUDENTSHIP IN INTERLAYER INTERACTION-BASED ELECTRONIC TUNING IN TWO-DIMENSIONAL ANTIMONY-BASED HETEROSTRUCTURES (RS795)

13 Mar 2025
Job Information

Organisation/Company

Swansea University

Department

Central

Research Field

Engineering » Electrical engineering
Physics

Researcher Profile

First Stage Researcher (R1)

Positions

PhD Positions

Country

United Kingdom

Application Deadline

31 Mar 2025 - 11:59 (Europe/London)

Type of Contract

Temporary

Job Status

Full-time

Hours Per Week

35

Offer Starting Date

1 Oct 2025

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

Not funded by a EU programme

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

Offer Description

Thin-film layered materials composed of the group V elements materials (pnictogens) have attracted significant attention due to their outstanding electronic properties. At the same time, the comparatively strong interaction between bilayers of these materials offers interesting perspectives for materials design.  

In this spirit, the successful applicant will use state-of-the-art atomistic simulation methods to study few-layer quasi-van-der-Waals heterostructures of antimony with other suitable layered materials, such as Indium Selenide, and assess their potential for applications in highly sensitive thin-film photodetectors or similar optoelectronic devices. The main focus will be exploring the possibility of using twist angle and/or mechanical homo- and heterostrain as tuning knobs for the electronic and optical properties of the heterojunction. Besides a sizeable band gap variation, the manipulation of the interlayer interaction might also lead to structural phase changes. A secondary focus will be put on the effect of structural defects on the electronic properties of the investigated heterojunctions. 

While we will mainly use density functional theory (DFT) to achieve these goals, we will also exploit machine-learning techniques to train more approximate simulation methods with highly accurate reference DFT results. This will allow simulation of system sizes that are difficult to treat with fully ab initio theoretical approaches. 

Due to the project nature, a base requirement for applicants is an interest in simulations of nanosystems using quantum-mechanical methods. 

Ideally, applicants should have:

• prior experience with density functional theory or similar theoretical methods
• a basic knowledge of solid state physics
• Prior knowledge (or an interest to attain) of programming languages, such as Python or Julia

Where to apply

Website

https://www.swansea.ac.uk/postgraduate/scholarships/research/engineering-epsrc-…

Requirements

Research Field

Engineering

Education Level

Undergraduate

Research Field

Other

Education Level

Undergraduate

Skills/Qualifications

English Language
IELTS 6.5 Overall (5.5+ each comp.) or Swansea University recognised equivalent. Full details of our English Language policy, including certificate time validity, can be found here .

ATAS
Please note that the programme requires some applicants to hold ATAS clearance, further details on ATAS scheme eligibility are available on the UK Government website . 

ATAS clearance IS NOT required to be held as part of the scholarship application process. Successful award winners (as appropriate) are provided with details as to how to apply for ATAS clearance in tandem with a scholarship course offer.

Additional Information
Benefits

This scholarship covers the full cost of tuition fees and an annual stipend at UKRI rate (currently £20,780 for 2025/26).

Additional research expenses of up to £1,000 per year will also be available.

Eligibility criteria

Scholarship open to UK and International fee eligible students   
Applicants for PhD must hold an undergraduate degree at 2.1 level (or Non-UK equivalent as defined by Swansea University) in Engineering or similar relevant science discipline. See - Country-specific Information for European Applicants 2019  and Country-specific Information for International Applicants 2019 .

EPSRC DTP studentships are available to home and international students. Up to 30% of our cohort can comprise international students, once the limit has been reached, we are unable to make offers to international students. We are still accepting applications from international applicants.  International students will not be charged the fee difference between the UK and international rate. Applicants should satisfy the UKRI eligibility requirements. 

Website for additional job details

https://www.swansea.ac.uk/postgraduate/scholarships/research/engineering-epsrc-…

Work Location(s)

Number of offers available

1

Company/Institute

Swansea University

Country

United Kingdom

Geofield

Contact

City

Swansea

Website

http://www.swansea.ac.uk

Street

Singleton Park

Postal Code

SA28PP

STATUS: EXPIRED

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