The University of Bristol (UK) is seeking a full-time PhD student and a joint postdoctoral fellowship.

Scholarship: Fully funded
Degree: B.S./M.S./Ph.D
Nationality: International Students
Location: UK
Application deadlines: autumn 2024


Scholarship Description:

Dr Lichou Wang will join the Department of Physics at the University of Bristol, UK, as an Assistant Professor (tenure-track) in December 2023 and is a member of the University’s world-renowned High Temperature Superconductivity Group. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oxford, UK, and Cornell University, USA, under the supervision of Professor Seamus Davis, a member of both US Academies (2019-2023). She completed her PhD at the University of Oxford, UK, under the supervision of Professor Martin Castell (2015-2019). She has published 10 papers as first or corresponding author, including in Nature, Nature Communications, Nanoscale, Advanced Materials Interfaces and other journals, and was awarded the 2023 Rising Star in Physics at UC Berkeley.

The group’s research interests are in experimental condensed matter physics, with a focus on macroscopic quantum effects, quantum materials such as high-temperature superconductors, topological superconductors, heavy fermions and other strongly correlated systems, and two-dimensional thin film growth. Research tools include very low temperature, high field scanning tunneling microscopy, Josephson scanning tunneling microscopy and Andreev scanning tunneling microscopy.

The University of Bristol was founded in 1876 and is located in Bristol-on-Avon, South West England. The University of Bristol is a world-renowned institution, a founding member of the Russell Group of UK universities, one of the six Red Brick Universities and a former Chancellor of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. It is ranked the 4th most popular university for business. The university has produced 13 Nobel Prize winners, including four in physics.

 Available Subjects:

  • the study of macroscopic quantum effects, unconventional superconductors including high-temperature superconductivity and topological superconductivity for superconducting pairing mechanisms.
  • Search for new quantum states in strongly correlated systems, such as pair density waves and nematicity.
  • Search for topological properties of topological superconductors and heavy fermionic superconductors.
  • design and build a new generation of milli-Kelvin scanning tunnelling microscopes.

Eligibility criteria:

  1. Full-award PhD places currently available (starting Autumn 2024)
  • Applicants from physics, applied physics, electronics, materials science, automation and other related disciplines are welcome.
  • Experience in low temperature physics, scanning probe microscopy and thin film growth preparation is welcome.
  • Applicants with experience in low temperature physics, scanning probe microscopy and thin film growth preparation are welcome.

2. Deadline for applications for PhD fellowships for 2024: 1 December 2022.

  • Joint applications for individual independent postdoctoral research grants such as EU Marie Curie Fellowships and Royal Society Newton Fellowships are welcome and encouraged.
  • The group welcomes joint postdocs, joint PhD students and visiting researchers throughout the year.

Application Procedure:

  1. Interested applicants should send their CV, research interests, reference contact information and transcripts to Dr Wang at [email protected].