MRC AIM Doctoral Training Partnership: School of Engineering

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Engineering
Location:  UK Other
Closing Date:  Friday 12 January 2024
Reference:  ENG1721

MRC AIM Doctoral Training Partnership

The AIM (Advanced Inter-Disciplinary Models) DTP is funded by the MRC between three Partners – the Universities of Birmingham, Leicester and Nottingham – and three more Associate Partners – the Research Complex at Harwell, Mary Lyon Centre and Rosalind Franklin Institute. We have a range of exciting and diverse PhD 4-year projects at all 3 partner Institutions which are now open for a September 2024 start and those available at The University of Nottingham are detailed below.

Projects with an industry partner (iCASE projects) offer a unique opportunity to undertake translational research and come with a mandatory placement requirement and an enhanced stipend.

Full information about funding of these projects and application details, including application form, plus Equality, diversity and inclusion form are available at https://more.bham.ac.uk/mrc-aim/phd-opportunities/ .

Application deadline

The deadline for submitting applications is Friday, 12 January 2024. Please ensure that your application is submitted with all required documentation by the above deadline as incomplete applications will not be considered. See full details at the “how to apply” section below. After the closing date, the project supervisors will review all applications submitted for their project and shortlist a maximum of two candidates for interview.

Shortlisted applicants will be contacted by 9 February 2024 via email. If applicants don’t receive an email by this date, then their application has not been shortlisted and they will not be invited for interview. Unfortunately, due to the number of applications the DTP receives, it will not be possible to provide feedback on unsuccessful applications.

Interviews

Interviews will take place during the week commencing 26 February and will be held via Zoom.   Please ensure you are available for the whole week as we are unable to offer any alternative interview dates/times.

We strongly encourage you to contact the supervisor(s) of the project in which you are interested before submitting an application. 

As stipulated by the funders, recruitment for International candidates to the DTP is capped at 30% of the whole cohort.

Academic requirement

Applicants must hold, or be about to obtain, a First or Upper Second class UK honours degree, or the equivalent qualifications gained outside the UK, in a relevant subject. A master’s qualification in a related area could be beneficial, as could additional relevant research experience. 

More details can be found on the MRC website.

How to apply

Applications should include:

• A completed application form
• A CV consisting of no more than 2 sides of A4
• A transcript of module marks
• Completed ED&I form.

Please submit your application for University of Nottingham projects to [email protected] .

What happens after interview?

Candidates who are ranked highest at interview will be offered a place on the DTP and will be recommended for the PhD position. Successful candidates will then be sent details of how to make the formal application at the project host institution and will be subject to standard admissions checks which is standard procedure. The host institution admissions team will then send out formal offer letters and details of how to complete the registration process. The DTP Funding Team will send out formal funding award letters.

Projects open for application

Faculty of Engineering

Project Title: Translation of sustainable bio-instructive materials into medical equipment: reducing infections and antimicrobials in intensive care environments (iCASE)

Supervisors: Derek Irvine, [email protected] , Industrial Partner: Angel Guard Limited (Supervisor Jonathan Waggott), Don Sharkey (UoN), Morgan Alexander (UoN)

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Hospital Acquired Infections (HAI) are a leading cause of death and/or severe long-term illness in premature babies. Preterm infants acquire HAI’s during prolonged residence in intensive care units (ICU), often transferred from medical equipment such as their incubator or water-based aerosols from washing/cleaning. This project will develop new sustainable materials of construction for ICU equipment, that will both resist microbial colonisation (reducing infections and improving outcomes) and reduce the healthcare sectors dependence on petrochemicals (reducing carbon-footprint). 

This is a multidisciplinary project lead by Nottingham’s Centre for Additive Manufacturing (Engineering), comprising ~100 researchers hosted in state-of-the-art facilities. The team also includes a neonatologist (School of Medicine), a biomaterials scientist (Faculty of Science) and our industrial collaborator (Angel Guard Ltd).

The student will develop the new materials and test them in-use, working closely with Angel Guard. There will be opportunities to train at the Harwell Research Complex learning cutting edge analytical skills and spend time at research-active neonatal ICU to better understand the clinical needs. This PhD will suit a highly ambitious chemistry/engineering graduate, wishing to undertake a truly translational clinical/industry linked project. The student will be well placed to secure follow-on funding for clinical trials or on-going development/commercialisation.