PhD Research Ceramics & Glasses: The University of Manchester

Course description

The Ceramics and Glasses research programmes are part of a progressive research area within the school; they have close links with industry and research councils and we work collaboratively with them on many areas of research within the subject.

Their research is concerned with the processing, characterisation and applications of structural and functional ceramic materials. Structural ceramics are used in engineering applications due to a combination of high strength, chemical / thermal resistance and extreme hardness. In contrast, functional ceramics exhibit unique electrical, magnetic and optical properties, which lead to applications in a diverse range of electronic components - filters in mobile telecommunications, exhaust gas sensors and pyroelectric thermal imaging cameras.

They are engaged in research to understand the structure-property relationships in a wide range of ceramic materials and to develop materials / components with enhanced properties. Materials are developed by conventional powder processing methods and by novel processing procedures.

Research projects

Active projects in this area involve a wide range of processing techniques for functional and structural materials - these techniques are employed in industries as diverse as power generation, mobile telecommunications, aerospace and medical implants. To understand the microstructure-property relationships for the ceramics, they make extensive use of specialist characterisation facilities available in the school and in partner institutions nationally and internationally.

Entry requirements

Academic entry qualification overview:

For direct entry from your undergraduate degree, you will need to be a science and engineering graduate with at least a 2.1 Honours degree or equivalent. There are alternative routes to a PhD, through completion of other postgraduate qualifications.

English language:

If English is not your first language, you will need to take and meet minimum requirements for the following recognised English language qualifications: IELTS (6.5 with no sub-test under 5.5); TOEFL (570 with 5.0 in TWE); CBTOEFL (230 with 5.0 in TWE).