POTENTIAL PROJECTS FOR 2021 ENTRY
Please keep checking regularly over the coming weeks for new projects.
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Modelling Dust Formation in a Fusion Device (Materials strand project)
Supervisors: Prof. Ed Tarleton (University of Oxford), Dr. Yevhen Zayachuk (UKAEA) & Dr Anna Widdowson (UKAEA) The student undertaking this project will be based at the Culham Centre for Fusion…
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Microwave current drive in prototype spherical tokamak reactors (plasma strand project)
Supervisors/s: Roddy Vann (University of York), Vladimir Shevchenko (Tokamak Energy), Simon Freethy (UKAEA) Tokamaks require an electrical current in the toroidal direction (the “long way” around the doughnut) for both…
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Understanding the ablation of plasma facing components in Tokamak devices using Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (plasma strand project)
Supervisor/s: Dr Steven Lind (University of Manchester), Dr Ben Rogers (University of Manchester), Dr Jack King (University of Manchester) Divertor components in Tokamak devices are subjected to significant thermal loads,…
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High-Field Superconductors under Strain that Enable Spherical Tokamaks for Fusion Power Generation (Materials Strand – Experimental PhD).
Supervisor/s: Prof. D. P Hampshire (Durham University) Background to the PhD Research Project: The ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) Tokomak that is being built in Cadarache in France is one…
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Modular High-Field Superconducting Magnets with Remountable Joints for Fusion Energy Applications (Materials strand project – experimental PhD).
Supervisor/s: Prof. D. P Hampshire (Durham University) Background to the PhD Research Project: Modular magnets with demountable superconducting joints will be required for commercialisation of fusion energy. They will operate…
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Exotic plasma instabilities in strongly rotating tokamak plasmas (plasma strand project)
Supervisor/s: Howard Wilson (University of York), Jonathan Graves (EPFL, Lausanne) Neutral beam injection is often used as a heating system to bring a tokamak plasma to fusion conditions. As the…
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Innovative Fusion Tokamak System Designs using High-Field Superconductors (Materials Strand project – Computational PhD).
Supervisor/s: Prof. D. P Hampshire (Durham University) Background to the PhD Research Project: The ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) Tokomak that is being built in Cadarache in France is one…
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Novel materials synthesis via laser-driven dynamic compression (plasma strand project)
Supervisor/s: Dr Andy Higginbotham (The University of York) One of the most important materials available to society is diamond. For example, its remarkable strength properties make it a key component…
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Atomic level characterisation and mechanical testing of irradiated tungsten alloys (materials strand project)
Supervisor/s: Professor David Armstrong (University Of Oxford), Dr Paul Bagot (University of Oxford), Professor Michael Moody (University of Oxford), Dr Andrew London (CCFE) Materials suitable for use in the divertor…
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Using multi-spectral imaging and advanced data analysis to improve the tokamak fusion concept (plasma strand project)
Supervisor/s: Bruce Lipschultz (University of York), Kieran Gibson (University of York), James Harrison (CCFE) A magnetically confined fusion tokamak reactor does not operate in isolation: Power escaping from the hot…
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Computational Time-Dependent Ginzburg-Landau (TDGL) Theory for High-Field Superconductors in Compact Fusion Energy Tokamaks (Materials Strand project – Computational PhD).
Supervisor/s: Prof. D. P Hampshire (Durham Universty) Background: The ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) Tokomak that is being built in Cadarache in France is one of the most exciting scientific…
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Utilising advanced optimisation techniques to make a quantum improvement in the analysis of divertor plasmas (plasma strand project)
Supervisor/s: Bruce Lipschultz (University of York), Kieran Gibson (University of York), James Harrison (CCFE) A magnetically confined fusion tokamak reactor does not operate in isolation: Power escaping from the hot…
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Hydrogen effect in fusion materials across length scales (Materials strand project)
Supervisor/s: Professor Angus Wilkinson (University of Oxford), Professor David Armstrong (University of Oxford) Development of sustainable power sources enabling the move to zero Carbon for next 10-100 years is a…
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Hydrogen isotope separation across atomically thin membranes (materials strand project)
Supervisor: Marcelo Lozada-Hidalgo (University of Manchester) Abstract: Thousands of tons of hydrogen isotope mixtures are processed annually for heavy-water production and tritium decontamination [1-3]. The existing technologies remain extremely energy…
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Edge-SOL coupling and turbulence in confinement transitions (plasma strand project)
Supervisor/s: Istvan Cziegler (University of York), Simon Freethy (CCFE) Plasmas in a tokamak magnetic fusion device undergo a transition (L-H transition) from a low-confinement state (L mode) to high confinement…
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Development of a Tungsten-Diamond Composite for High Heat-Flux Plasma Facing Components (materials Strand Project)
Supervisor/s: Aneeqa Khan (University of Manchester), Ed Pickering (University of Manchester), Paul Mummery (University of Manchester), Yiqiang Wang (UKAEA), David Bowden (UKAEA), Steve Lisgo (Independent) Laboratory production and testing of…
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Impact of simultaneous W deposition and He plasma exposure on mechanical properties of tungsten (materials strand project)
Supervisor/s: Aneeqa Khan (University of Manchester), Ed Pickering (University of Manchester), Anastasia Vasileiou (University of Manchester), Paul Mummery (University of Manchester), Yiqiang Wang (UKAEA), Cormac Corr (Australian National University) Tungsten…
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Advanced inertial confinement fusion schemes (plasma strand project)
Supervisor: Dr. John Pasley (University of York) The inertial confinement approach to fusion involves assembling small quantities of deuterium-tritium fuel to high densities and temperatures such that thermonuclear ignition and…
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Extreme laser-driven hydrodynamics (plasma strand project)
Supervisor: Dr. John Pasley (University of York) When a high-intensity laser interacts with a dense plasma, steep temperature gradients are produced which in-turn drive hydrodynamic motion. In the inertial confinement…
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Probing the Ductile-to-Brittle Transition in BCC Blanket Alloys (materials strand project)
Supervisor/s: Dr Ed Pickering (University of Manchester), Prof Joao Fonseca (University of Manchester) Conditions inside fusion reactors are exceptionally hostile, involving both high temperatures and severe levels of neutron irradiation….
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Understanding the role of chemical interactions on detached divertors in MAST Upgrade (plasma strand project)
Supervisor/s: Dr James Harrison (CCFE), Dr Kirsty McKay (University of Liverpool) The MAST Upgrade tokamak in Culham will be a world-leading facility to study the physics of divertor detachment, a…
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Functionally graded additive manufacture of nuclear fusion-relevant components (materials strand project)
Supervisors: Professor Lin Li (Department of MACE-The University of Manchester), Dr. Zhu Liu (Department of Materials-The University of Manchester), Dr. David Bowden ( UKAEA-UK Atomic Energy Authority) Functional graded (FG)…
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ICF-relevant Laser Plasma Interaction Studies with Exotic Pulses (plasma strand project)
Supervisor: Dr Chris Murphy (University of York) Conventional laser-driven fusion relies on the interaction of high-intensity lasers (above 10^14 W/cm^2) with plasmas. Novel schemes quite often involve the use of…