Difference between revisions of "Vacancies"

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<metadesc>Research vacancies in the Coherent X-ray Science Group. Please discuss further with Marcus Newton. </metadesc>
  
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== Vacancies: ==
  
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== Vacancies: ==
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=== Research Fellow in Coherent Diffraction Imaging ===
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This exciting research post is part of the recently funded UKRI FLF project in the area of x-ray imaging of quantum materials. The aim is to utilise coherent diffraction imaging (CDI) techniques to study quantum phenomena in a range of multifunctional materials using our newly completed state-of-the-art in-house x-ray imaging facility and various synchrotron x-ray facilities. We have designed a novel pulsed laser deposition (PLD) system to automate the design and fabrication of nanoscale materials that permits rapid preparation and optimisation.  Our current focus is on perovskite materials for energy efficient technologies and lithium-ion batteries. 
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You will utilise our facilities to synthesis and characterise materials for synchrotron experiments. We have developed cutting edge tools that include machine learning methods for analysis of data from synchrotron experiments. You will work as a team and jointly with our collaborators to prepare samples, attend synchrotron experiments and analyse the resulting data. Field work will initially take place at the Diamond Light Source in Oxford.
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To be successful you will have a PhD* or equivalent professional qualifications and experience in one of the following Physics; Materials Science;  Optoelectronics; Engineering or a related field along with knowledge of coherent x-ray diffraction imaging or related techniques.  In addition, you will have experience of coherent x-ray diffraction imaging or related techniques and a good understanding of a scientific computing language such as Python.
  
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=== PhD studentship on Nanoscale Piezoelectric Materials for Energy Harvesting (2 posts available) ===
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This post is offered on a full-time, fixed term basis for 2 years due to funding requirements, with a possible extension to 4 years.
  
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There is growing economic and social need to transition to renewable energies to meet the impending challenges of climate change. Renewable energy will contribute to safeguarding energy security and help to reduce fossil fuel dependency. Our everyday environment has an abundance of energy sources, the choice of which depends on accessibility, implementation and conversion efficiency. These include solar, geothermal, mechanical, magnetic, chemical and biological. Due to the potential benefits of nanostructured materials, there is currently a vibrant research effort for their utilisation in low cost and robust devices. With the drive to device portability and miniaturisation beyond the nanoscale, development of robust renewable power sources as an alternative to batteries is an attractive prospect. The aim of this project is to develop low cost solution processable mechanical and vibrational energy harvesting technologies based on low cost and environmentally friendly nanomaterials.  The objective will be to deliver functional devices with energy densities sufficient for remote applications. The scientific challenge is to develop the materials and methods for integration into a range of energy harvesting device structures. We have identified a class of nanomaterials that are an ideal choice for device integration due to their unique properties that can lead to enhanced functionality. A key theme in this project is to investigate the optimal choice of nanomaterial-polymer composite that provides the optimal energy conversion efficiency. Another key aspect is the evaluation of the material in a practical energy harvesting application. In this project, you will focus on either (1) the fabrication and optimisation of nanostructured materials and their application onto an energy harvesting structure for use in a real application scenario or (2) materials design using coherent X-ray imaging at the Diamond Light Source. Both aspects will use the state-of-the-art facilities within the Southampton Nanofabrication Centre. This project is a collaboration with the Electronic Systems and Devices Group (Prof. Steve Beeby) in the faculty of Electronics and Computer Science (ECS).
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Apply now [https://jobs.soton.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx?ref=1869622WF here].
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Applications are invited from bright and highly motivated students with a background in physics, materials science, inorganic chemistry or a related field. The successful candidates will need to be UK nationals and have obtained either a First or Upper Second class honours degree.
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=== Imaging Multifunctional Nanomaterials in Three-Dimensions with Coherent X-rays ===
  
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Informal enquiries should be directed to Dr. Marcus Newton ( M.C.Newton(a)soton.ac.uk ).
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Multifunctional materials that simultaneously exhibit more than one ferroic property including ferromagnetism, ferroelectricity, ferroelasticity or ferrotoroidicity are of great interest because the different properties may work together in different ways and lead to exciting new potential applications, if we could understand this better. For example, the coupling between magnetic and ferroelectric ordering can be utilised to develop low power magnetoelectronic devices (such as non- volatile magnetic computer memory) where the spin polarised transport of electrons can be used to flip magnetic memory bits. As a result there is a vibrant effort to understand the underlying mechanisms at work in bulk and thin film materials. Often the role of crystal defects and other topological structures remains unclear as (to date) no reliable means exists to image in three-dimensions and observe such effects in real-time.
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In addition, common Li-ion battery cathode materials such as Li<sub>x</sub>CoO<sub>2</sub> (LCO) allow high capacities and reliable cyclability, but suffer from structural degradation over repeated charging cycles.
  
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To apply, please complete an online application form. Further information can be found [http://www.southampton.ac.uk/postgraduate/pgstudy/howdoiapplypg.html here].
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The aim of this project is to image time-varying correlated phenomena in a range of multifunctional materials. The results will (1) facilitate in identifying new and potentially novel applications for the materials of interest, (2) provide insight into scale-invariant properties of correlated material systems and (3) provide improved performance of battery materials.  
  
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=== PhD studentship on Ultra-fast X-ray Imaging of Nanoscale Structures ===
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To better understand these materials we will use a technique called Bragg coherent X-ray diffractive imaging (BCXDI) without lenses to reveal how novel phases emerge and influence the material properties. The application of BCXDI to the study of multifunctional materials will enable a wide range of next generation technologies that otherwise are inaccessible due to an incomplete understanding of their properties. The successful candidate will spend approximately 50% of their time on the project working at the Diamond Light Source, located at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire.
  
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A long standing dream of chemical physics is to directly observe atomic motions during the event of a chemical transition from one state to another. The ability to quantitatively observe atomic motions within the transition state region where atoms exchange nuclear configurations would greatly facilitate our understanding of the physical process. This is particularly true for strongly correlated electronic materials where the interaction between the valence electrons can strongly influence the materials properties. Such materials are interesting as their unique properties are of considerable utility for device physics, functional materials and the study of fundamental condensed matter physics.
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Applications are invited from bright and highly motivated students with a background in physics, materials science, inorganic chemistry or a related field. The successful candidates will have obtained either a First or Upper Second class honours degree.
  
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The aim of this project is to understand the initial stages of the femtosecond structural phase transition in strongly correlated electronic materials such as vanadium dioxide. The candidate will become proficient in the use of femtosecond coherent X-ray diffraction imaging (CXDI) for studying femtosecond structural dynamics in nanometre scale self-assembled structures.
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To investigate strongly correlated phenomena the student will focus on one or more components to this multidisciplinary project. They include (1) nanoscale materials fabrication and characterisation; (2) time-resolved femto-second coherent X-ray diffraction imaging (CXDI); and (3) supercomputing based finite element materials modelling of light matter interactions.
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=== General Purpose Machine Learning Tool-Kit for Bragg Coherent Diffraction Imaging ===
  
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The successful candidate will work with an international team of research scientists with a broad range of skills. The successful candidate will also visit a number of research facilities across the world including the SACLA XFEL facility in Japan and the Diamond Light Source to perform experiments.
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Deep learning has has emerged as a powerful alternative to the iterative phase retrieval approach, that can provide robust reconstruction of Fourier-space diffraction pattern data where iterative methods often fail to solve the phase retrieval problem. Although emphasis to date has focussed on inversion from Fourier-space to real-space images, the process of recovering real-space images remains unclear due to the inherent and currently intractable complexity of deep learning methods. In this project you will develop Physics-Aware Super-Resolution convolutional neural network tools to enhance the visibility of Fourier-space diffraction patterns thus enabling rapid and accurate reconstruction of phase information. This project is a collaboration between the [https://adalovelacecentre.ac.uk/ Ada Lovelace Centre], the [https://www.diamond.ac.uk Diamond Light Source] and the University of Southampton.
  
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Applications are invited from bright and highly motivated students with a background in physics, materials science, inorganic chemistry or a related field. International students are required to provide evidence of their proficiency in English language skills. Informal enquiries can be made by contacting Dr. Marcus Newton via email at M.C.Newton at soton.ac.uk.
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Applications are invited online [https://www.southampton.ac.uk/courses/how-to-apply/postgraduate-applications.page here]. When completing the online form, Select "Programme type: Research", "Academic Year: 2024/25", "Faculty: Faculty of Physical Sciences and Engineering". Then select the "PhD Physics (Full time)" course title. Once logged on, in the supervisor name field, insert "Marcus Newton".
  
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Informal enquiries should be directed to Dr. Marcus Newton ( M.C.Newton(a)soton.ac.uk ).
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=== Imaging Quantum Materials with an XFEL ===
  
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To apply, please complete an online application form. Further information can be found [http://www.southampton.ac.uk/postgraduate/pgstudy/howdoiapplypg.html here].
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Quantum materials can often exhibit novel and multifunctional properties due to strong coupling between lattice, charge, spin and orbital degrees of freedom. When perturbed into an excited state, non-equilibrium phases often emerge on the femtosecond timescale. They include light-induced superconductivity, terahertz-induced ferroelectricity and ultra-fast solid-phase structural transformations. Understanding non-equilibrium phases in quantum materials is of great interest for the development of next generation technologies and to better understand the underlying mechanisms. To further understand these hidden phases, tools to probe quantum materials with femto-second time-resolution are required.
  
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=== Diamond Light Source Summer Placements 2015 – Open for Applications ===
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X-ray Free Electron Laser (XFEL) facilities provide ultra-short pulses of coherent x-rays that make it possible to measure ultra-fast dynamics in quantum materials simultaneously with nanoscale spatial resolution and femto-second time resolution. While preliminary work has begun on the use of XFELs to study quantum behaviour in materials, there are a wide range of strongly correlated materials that exhibit novel behaviour that is not well understood. 
  
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The Diamond Student Summer Placement scheme allows undergraduate students studying for a degree in Science, Engineering, Computing or Mathematics (and who expect to gain a first or upper-second class honours degree) to gain experience working within a scientific environment at Diamond. These 8-12 week placements are paid positions and will provide successful students with an opportunity to work on a research or development project within Diamond. The placements will be paid at a rate of £14,069pa on a pro-rata basis. They are available to students within the European Union, who are registered as undergraduate students at the time of the placements – typically during the summer following their penultimate year.
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This project will investigate strongly correlated phenomena in nanoscale quantum materials using time-resolved Bragg coherent diffraction imaging (CDI) at various XFEL facilities. Initial emphasis will reside on the study of structural phase changes in strongly correlated quantum materials such as vanadium dioxide but will continue to expand to other material systems throughout the duration of the project. The overarching goal is to directly observe atomic motions during the event of a quantum phase transition. The ability to quantitatively observe atomic motions within the transition state region where atoms exchange nuclear configurations will greatly facilitate our understanding of the physical processes.
  
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In addition to working on a specific project, the students will have an opportunity to visit research teams based at Diamond and other facilities on site. Training will be provided to allow the students to give a short presentation on their work and to summarise their activities in a poster.
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This project is fully funded for 3.5 years, supervised by Dr Marcus Newton and will benefit from access to the European XFEL, Swiss XFEL, SACLA XFEL and PAL XFEL.  A background in physics, materials science or inorganic chemistry is desirable but not essential.
  
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Short-listed candidates will be invited to a student day on 1st or 2nd of March 2016, where they will visit Diamond to be interviewed for one or more projects and find out more about our scientific and technical activities.
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Applications are invited online [https://www.southampton.ac.uk/courses/how-to-apply/postgraduate-applications.page here]. When completing the online form, Select "Programme type: Research", "Academic Year: 2024/25", "Faculty: Faculty of Physical Sciences and Engineering".  Then select the "PhD Physics (Full time)" course title. Once logged on, in the supervisor name field, insert "Marcus Newton".

Revision as of 10:55, 11 March 2024



Vacancies:

General Purpose Machine Learning Tool-Kit for Bragg Coherent Diffraction Imaging

Deep learning has has emerged as a powerful alternative to the iterative phase retrieval approach, that can provide robust reconstruction of Fourier-space diffraction pattern data where iterative methods often fail to solve the phase retrieval problem. Although emphasis to date has focussed on inversion from Fourier-space to real-space images, the process of recovering real-space images remains unclear due to the inherent and currently intractable complexity of deep learning methods. In this project you will develop Physics-Aware Super-Resolution convolutional neural network tools to enhance the visibility of Fourier-space diffraction patterns thus enabling rapid and accurate reconstruction of phase information. This project is a collaboration between the Ada Lovelace Centre, the Diamond Light Source and the University of Southampton.

Applications are invited online here. When completing the online form, Select "Programme type: Research", "Academic Year: 2024/25", "Faculty: Faculty of Physical Sciences and Engineering". Then select the "PhD Physics (Full time)" course title. Once logged on, in the supervisor name field, insert "Marcus Newton".

Imaging Quantum Materials with an XFEL

Quantum materials can often exhibit novel and multifunctional properties due to strong coupling between lattice, charge, spin and orbital degrees of freedom. When perturbed into an excited state, non-equilibrium phases often emerge on the femtosecond timescale. They include light-induced superconductivity, terahertz-induced ferroelectricity and ultra-fast solid-phase structural transformations. Understanding non-equilibrium phases in quantum materials is of great interest for the development of next generation technologies and to better understand the underlying mechanisms. To further understand these hidden phases, tools to probe quantum materials with femto-second time-resolution are required.

X-ray Free Electron Laser (XFEL) facilities provide ultra-short pulses of coherent x-rays that make it possible to measure ultra-fast dynamics in quantum materials simultaneously with nanoscale spatial resolution and femto-second time resolution. While preliminary work has begun on the use of XFELs to study quantum behaviour in materials, there are a wide range of strongly correlated materials that exhibit novel behaviour that is not well understood.

This project will investigate strongly correlated phenomena in nanoscale quantum materials using time-resolved Bragg coherent diffraction imaging (CDI) at various XFEL facilities. Initial emphasis will reside on the study of structural phase changes in strongly correlated quantum materials such as vanadium dioxide but will continue to expand to other material systems throughout the duration of the project. The overarching goal is to directly observe atomic motions during the event of a quantum phase transition. The ability to quantitatively observe atomic motions within the transition state region where atoms exchange nuclear configurations will greatly facilitate our understanding of the physical processes.

This project is fully funded for 3.5 years, supervised by Dr Marcus Newton and will benefit from access to the European XFEL, Swiss XFEL, SACLA XFEL and PAL XFEL. A background in physics, materials science or inorganic chemistry is desirable but not essential.

Applications are invited online here. When completing the online form, Select "Programme type: Research", "Academic Year: 2024/25", "Faculty: Faculty of Physical Sciences and Engineering". Then select the "PhD Physics (Full time)" course title. Once logged on, in the supervisor name field, insert "Marcus Newton".

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