PhD

Engineering: Fully Funded European Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network MAESTRO PhD Scholarship at Swansea University: Roll to roll processing of flexible perovskite modules

Subject areas:

Roll to Roll Printed Electronics

Start date:

October 2018 (or earlier if desired by candidate)

Brief Intro

The European Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network MAESTRO brings 10 academic and 7 industrial beneficiaries together. MAESTRO is focused on perovskite semiconductors, a material shown in the last 4 years to have a major impact on solar power and potentially also in display technology. Research carried out by this intersectoral and multidisciplinary network aims to make perovskite based devices commercially viable. 15 doctoral researchers/PhDs employed by MAESTRO will have an opportunity to develop their skills in a broad area while involved in cross sector excellent research. PhDs will be trained in (i) science and technology across physics, chemistry, materials science, electrical engineering, in two major application areas, solar cells and light emitting diodes, and other uses such as lasers and photodiodes; (ii) exploitation from laboratory to fabrication; (iii) transferable skills of communication, information technology, organization, planning, teamwork, leadership; (iv) skills needed for innovation, such as understanding markets, product life cycles, business models, return on investment.
MAESTRO Partners are the following: University of Bath (UK), Fondazione Istituto italiano Di Tecnologia (IT), Universitat Jaume I De Castellon (ES), University of Oxford (UK), National Center for Scientific Research Demokritos (GR), Universita Degli Studi Di Roma Tor Vergata (IT), Bar Ilan University (IL), Swansea University (UK), Universitat Konstanz (DE), Ecole Polytechnique Federale De Lausanne (CH), Oxford Photovoltaics Ltd (UK), 3GSolar Photovoltaics (IL), Greatcell UK Ltd (UK), UAB Modernios E-Technologijos (LT), Saule SP Zoo (PL).
During the course of employment/enrolment in PhD programme you will undertake 2-3 secondments, each lasting 2 months or more. We are looking for an Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) to be appointed as staff at the host organisations within MAESTRO. ESRs will be enrolled in a three years PhD programme at Swansea University.
The successful ESR candidate will be employed within Professor Trystan Watson’s group at Swansea University. As an ESR you will carry out research developing methods suitable for producing perovskite solar cells by roll to roll production on flexible metal substrate. This will involve development of processes to enable uniform deposition and annealing of a number of layers by roll to roll technologies as well as analytical techniques to assess quality inline and off line.
This role is a great opportunity to gain valuable experience and expertise within the field of printed electronics, in an academic setting that has very close links with industry. Previous experience in either printing or electrochemical devices is preferred but not essential. The successful candidate will be expected to work well in a multi disciplinary team of academics and industry professionals and be able to represent the group and the University on an international stage.

Eligibility

The applicant shall at the time of recruitment be in the first four years of their research career and have not been awarded a doctoral degree. (This time is measured from the date of award/diploma of the most recent taught degree.)The applicant must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the host institute for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the recruitment. Compulsory national service, short stays such as holidays, and time spent as part of a procedure for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention are not taken into account.The applicant can be of any nationality.

Academic requirements:

Applicants should have at least an upper second class (2.1) honours degree in a relevant discipline (Physical Science or Engineering).We would normally expect the academic and English Language requirements to be met by point of application. For details on the University’s English Language entry requirements, please visit – http://www.swansea.ac.uk/admissions/englishlanguagerequirements/ If you have any questions about language requirements please contact Professor Trystan Watson ([email protected]).

Other requirements:

Willingness to travel around Europe and Israel.Highly motivated candidate wishing to develop their skills and work with industry to improve the impact of their work, whilst still producing high quality academic output.

Benefits

This scholarship covers the full cost of UK/EU/International tuition fees and a stipend of £31,907 + per annum.