PhD opportunities

PhD OPPORTUNITIES

Browse all of our current PhD opportunities below.

Funded PhDs and studentships

What is a studentship?

This is a form of doctoral funding that is often attached to a specific project. They sometimes cover tuition fees and living costs.

Browse our current studentship opportunities below. The funding amount and duration of the studentship can vary depending on the funder and the project so please read the funding section of the studentship advert carefully.

Available funded PhDs and studentships

Aston Institute for Membrane Excellence (AIME)

Visit the Aston Institute for Membrane Excellence (AIME) website for more information about their research, priorities and the AIME team.

Research project title	Supervisor	Full details	Deadline
Digital Discovery of Polymer Nanoparticles	Dr Sam Parkinson	View advert	25th August 2025 23.59 UK time
Sustainable design of high-performance polyester membranes for separation technologies	Dr Valentin Beyer	View advert	25th August 2025 23.59 UK time
Swarming Microrobots as Targeted Therapeutics in Confinement	Dr Samuel Wilson-Whitford	View advert	25th August 2025 23.59 UK time
Delineating stages of Aquaporin biogenesis	Dr Grant Pellowe	View advert	9th September 2025 23.59 UK time

Engineering and Physical Sciences

Research project title	Supervisor	Full details	Deadline
Improving Asphalt/Mastic Resilience Against Low Temperature Cracking in a Changing Climate	Dr Ahmed Abed	View advert	15th August 2025 23.59 UK time
Early detection of distress in concrete-based infrastructure using near infrared sensing techniques	Dr Sam Adu-Amankwah	View advert	15th August 2025 23.59 UK time
Digitalising Circular Supply Chains: Leveraging Smart Technologies for Enhanced Sustainability, Efficiency, and Resilience	Dr Muhammad Azmat	View advert	15th August 2025 23.59 UK time
Wire Arch Additive Manufactured hybrid beams for construction applications	Dr Marina Bock	View advert	15th August 2025 23.59 UK time
Energy-Efficient Optical Amplifiers for Next-Generation O-band Networks	Dr Aleksandr Donodin	View advert	15th August 2025 23.59 UK time
Ultrabroadband Optical Fibre Amplifier	Dr Vladislav Dvoyrin	View advert	15th August 2025 23.59 UK time
Coherent Upgrades to Terrestrial Free Space Optics	Prof Andrew Ellis	View advert	15th August 2025 23.59 UK time
CHARM - Connected Human-Autonomous Research for Mobility: Designing Human Machine Interfaces to Reduce Passenger Anxiety in Connected Autonomous Shuttle Services	Dr Jisun Kim	View advert	15th August 2025 23.59 UK time
Recycling and Remanufacturing Ecosystems for Sustainable Circular Economy	Dr Martins Obi	View advert	15th August 2025 23.59 UK time
Future-ready computing with nonlinear photonics	Dr Egor Manuylovich	View advert	15th August 2025 23.59 UK time
Modular Representations for Efficient Robot Learning	Dr Martin Rudorfer	View advert	15th August 2025 23.59 UK time
Computational Model of Rain Erosion in Offshore Wind Turbine Blades	Dr Emad Tandis	View advert	15th August 2025 23.59 UK time
Unlocking the potential of vehicle tracking data to inform intelligent transport decision making	Dr Hing Yan Tong	View advert	15th August 2025 23.59 UK time
Novel methods for the isolation of bone sarcoma biomarkers from liquid biopsies	Dr Eirini Theodosiou	View advert	15th August 2025 23.59 UK time
Reinforcement Learning Control of Unmanned Surface Vehicles for Environmental Monitoring and Conservation	Dr Jian Wan	View advert	15th August 2025 23.59 UK time
Revolutionizing Photocatalysis for a Sustainable Future	Dr Zhentao Wu	View advert	15th August 2025 23.59 UK time
Event Cameras for Object Detection and Image Enhancement	Dr David Benton	View advert	15th September 2025 23.59 UK time
Privacy-preserving Human Attention Tracking for Human Robot Collaboration	Dr Zhuangzhuang Dai	View advert	19th December 2025 23.59 UK time

Health and Life Sciences

Research project title	Supervisor	Full details	Deadline
Using large electronic health records to address mental health research priorities	Dr Adrienne Chan	View advert	27th July 2025 23.59 UK time
Association between lipid profile and coronary artery morphology in a multi-ethnic cohort	Dr Sri Bellary	View advert	15th September 2025 23.59 UK time

Net²Zero Centre for Doctoral Training

Research project title	Supervisor	Full details	Deadline
AI-Driven Catalyst Discovery for Engineered Greenhouse Gas Removal in Net-Zero Chemical Processes	Prof. Sai Gu	View advert	Open until filled*
Biofuel Chemical Looping Combustion for Clean Energy Production with CO₂Capture	Dr. Fatih Gulec	View advert	Open until filled*
Dual Functional Materials for enhanced CO₂ capture and utilisation through process integration	Prof. Chunfei Wu	View advert	Open until filled*

The Net^₂Zero application form is being redesigned - if you would like to apply for a project, you can do so via the current form here.

Visit the Net²Zero Centre for Doctoral Training website for more information about their research themes, priorities and the Net2Zero team.

Aston Business School

Research project title	Supervisor	Full details	Deadline
Cyber Violence Against Women and Girls: Leveraging AI to Evaluate Impact by Social Media Platforms	Dr Anitha Chinnaswamy	View advert	15th August 2025 23.59 UK time

Specific self-funded projects

Engineering and Physical Sciences

Research project title	Supervisor	Full details	Deadline
Privacy-preserving Human Attention Tracking for Human Robot Collaboration	Dr Zhuangzhuang Dai	View advert	19^th December 2025

Health and Life Sciences

Research project title	Supervisor	Full details	Deadline
Understanding developmental trajectories underlying the effects of early life stress on neurodevelopment and function	Dr Helen Eachus	View Advert	Until position is filled
3D printing of ocular films for treatment of ocular diseases of the anterior segment	Dr Affiong Iyire	View advert	Until position is filled
Building knowledge of minority communities’ lived experience of gambling and gambling related harms	Prof Richard Tunney	View advert	Until position is filled
The effect of immunosuppressant mycophenolic acid on gene expression, DNA damage and genomic stability	Dr Theo Kantidakis	View advert	Until position is filled
Do mechanical cues regulate the decision to make or break scar tissue?	Dr Emma Shepherd	View advert	Until position is filled
Representing neurodiversity in children’s literature: impacts on attitudes and wellbeing in primary school classrooms	Dr Laura Shapiro	View advert	Until position is filled
Cell membrane engineering for biotechnology	Dr Alan Goddard	View advert	Until position is filled
Developing psychobiological approaches to predict the acceptance and rejection of cultivated meat	Dr Jason Thomas	View advert	Until position is filled
Using psychology to inform sustainable diets: acceptability of cultivated meats by parents and young children	Dr Jason Thomas	View advert	Until position is filled
Bioerodible inserts as a platform for controlled ocular drug delivery	Dr Affiong Iyire	View advert	Until position is filled
The role of shadows in 3D vision: a computational approach	Dr Andrew Schofield	View advert	Until position is filled
Antimicrobial resistance and gene regulation in Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli	Dr Douglas Browning	View advert	Until position is filled
Computational Investigation of Inhibitors for β –Lactamases	Dr Dan Rathbone	View advert	Until position is filled
Design, construction and testing of recombinant protein production systems for industrial biotechnology applications	Dr Douglas Browning	View advert	Until position is filled
Experimental and computational investigation of the stabilisation of drug molecules in their amorphous state by mesoporous polymers	Dr Dan Rathbone	View advert	Until position is filled
Linking ADHD traits to neural measures of response inhibition and testing reliability	Dr Johanna Zumer	View advert	Until position is filled
Novel functions of the hydroxylase and arginine demethylase JMJD6	Dr Theo Kantidakis	View advert	Until position is filled
Surfaces for the elimination of Clostridiodes difficile spores	Dr Dan Rathbone	View advert	Until position is filled
Synthesis and Screening of Inhibitors for β–Lactamases	Dr Dan Rathbone	View advert	Until position is filled
What do we need to teach undergraduate MPharm students in dermatology and how does the current provision fulfil this need?	Professor Ian Maidment	View advert	Until position is filled

Propose your own research

If your area of interest is not advertised in our current projects, you can apply with your own research topic. You will need to submit a full research proposal.

Review the page below that's most relevant for you to see programme structures and entry requirements:

Find out how to start your own proposal