PhD Studentship: Nanophotonics for Optimised Food Growth and Lower Energy Consumption in Greenhouses

About this project

Applications are invited for a PhD project on metasurfaces for optimised food growth and lower energy consumption in greenhouses. This project is part of a PhD cluster on Sustainable Terrestrial and Maritime Food Systems: Environmental Technologies and their Implications. This particular PhD focusses on: (1) exploring the use of nanophotonic metasurfaces to tailor transmission of solar spectrum for optimum plant growth, while rejecting unwanted spectral bands, and (2) exploring means of passively adjusting the transmission spectrum of metasurfaces in the near-IR to control greenhouse internal temperature.

The successful candidate will be based on the University of Hull campus and will be provided with physical workspace and the specific equipment and resources needed for their research. The successful student will benefit from joining a collaborative, multidisciplinary and nurturing environment, and will be provided with excellent opportunities for external networking.

For informal inquiries please contact Dr. Jean-Sebastien Bouillard (j.bouillard@hull.ac.uk) or Dr. Ali Adawi (a.adawi@hull.ac.uk)

About the research cluster / about the research environment

Sustainable Terrestrial and Maritime Food Systems: Environmental Technologies and their Implications

This PhD project is part of a cluster of inter-related, inter-disciplinary projects, which between them focus on the implications of environmental technologies for the practices of people involved in primary food production on both land and sea. Our food and energy production systems contribute significantly to environmental problems, including climate change, and technological solutions are often proposed as ways of reducing their carbon footprints. Yet these can be challenging to implement and can have unanticipated effects on the practices of those engaged in farming and fishing. This cluster of projects involves a combination of scientific projects aiming to develop and test different environmental technologies, and social science projects aiming to look at the effects on the practices of primary food producers as society aims for a low carbon world.

Supervisors

Dr. Jean-Sebastien Bouillard (j.bouillard@hull.ac.uk) or Dr. Ali Adawi (a.adawi@hull.ac.uk). For more details you can refer to the Nano³ Research grouping - Nanophotonics group.

Funding

• The successful applicant will receive a fee waiver and a maintenance grant / stipend for three years (full-time) or five years (part-time), which covers the research period of the PhD. The fee waiver for 22/23 is £4,596 (Home fee) and the maintenance grant is £17,668 per annum. This rises each year in line with the UKRI’s recommended stipend allowance.

• If you need to move into a fourth year (full-time) or sixth year (part-time) to complete your thesis, please note that you will not receive a tuition fee waiver or maintenance grant during this period and you will be required to pay a continuation fee.

Submission of thesis

Submission of your final thesis is expected within three years and three months from the start of your PhD scholarship for full-time and within five years and six months if studying part-time.

Eligibility and entry requirements

Please see the University of Hull webpage.

International applicants

This opportunity comes with a Home fee waiver only, which will not cover the full International fee. You will therefore need to pay the difference between the Home fee and the International fee and will need to provide evidence that you have sufficient funds to cover this. 

How to apply

Applications are via the University of Hull webpage  

Closing date for applications 

10 February 2022

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