PhD Studentship: Electromagnetic Non-Destructive Evaluation for Critical Applications

This 3.5-year PhD studentship is open to Home (UK) applicants and EU students with settled status. The successful candidate will receive an annual tax-free stipend set at the UKRI rate (£20,780 for 2025/26; subject to annual uplift), and tuition fees will be paid. We expect the stipend to increase each year. The start date is October 2026. We recommend that you apply early as the advert may be removed before the deadline.

The detection and characterisation of damage, material properties and foreign objects by Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) is crucial to society and throughout industry. These technologies underpin the safe operation of critical structures and equipment, which are essential to modern life. As industry undergoes a digital revolution, with greater use of robotics, lights-out manufacturing, flexible forming techniques and additive manufacturing, it must also meet the challenges to reach Net Zero through greater recycling of materials, reduction of waste and increase efficiency, all whilst maintaining a competitive advantage. In response, the NDE sector is innovating and adapting rapidly to address these changes. It is a key enabling technology which can allow industry to meet these often-contradictory requirements.

Within the suite of NDE sensing techniques, electromagnetics has an important role offering portable, non-contact, low-cost and rugged inspections. However, EM NDE is currently held back; industrial users often consider EM NDE to be only a qualitative, surface technique, which requires expert interpretation. The commercial view of EM NDE is of a technique which has not reached its potential and is hindered by complex theory and limited cross-over with technologies from other fields causing a lack of synergy and best practice between applications.

Research into EM NDE suggests that this need not remain the case, and that there is a wealth of information which only EM NDE can unlock. Our ambition is to harness cutting-edge advances in electronics, signal processing, computational modelling and data science to put EM NDE at the heart of the so-called Industry 4.0 revolution. EM NDE is poised to tackle forthcoming industrial challenges due to its applicability to complex geometries (in intricate additive manufactured parts), advanced materials (in composites and multi-materials) and new applications in the circular economy (where increased use is made of recycled material to minimise waste).

This PhD project will run alongside a major programme, Frontiers in Electromagnetic Non-Destructive Evaluation Research (FENDER), involving several universities and 20+ companies, which aims to bring game changing technologies and ideas to exploit advances in complimentary areas of science, generating the opportunity to trigger a renaissance in EM NDE.

The project involves the investigation and realization of improved EM probe design, data processing, and visualization techniques to provide a robust method of data analysis, flaw characterization and sizing. AI/machine learning algorithms for data processing, assisted or automated flaw detection, 3D EM solvers, and synthetic focusing will be used to refine spatial resolution.

Applicants should have, or expect to achieve, at least a 2.1 honours degree or a master’s (or international equivalent) in a relevant science or engineering related discipline.

To apply, please contact the main supervisor, Prof Anthony Peyton - a.peyton@manchester.ac.uk. Please include details of your current level of study, academic background and any relevant experience and include a paragraph about your motivation to study this PhD project.

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