PhD Studentship in Nuclear Engineering

Investing in excellence: studentship opportunities

The University of Derby has an opportunity for a full-time postgraduate research studentship in Zero Carbon area of research in the College of Science and Engineering (SE).

*The successful applicant will receive a maintenance stipend (based on the minimum stipend defined by UKRI, currently £19,237 for the academic year 2024/25) and home MPhil/PhD tuition fees (£4,786 - subject to amendment) only up to the target submission date. The stipend amount may increase for academic year 2025/26 and is reviewed annually.

Please note: due to the nature of the project, only home students can apply.

The successful applicant will be expected to complete their MPhil/PhD within 3 years on the MPhil/PhD route, contribute to the College REF submission and get involved in the wider research activities of the College.

Applicants will become part of a friendly and welcoming team and will be supported and managed by their supervisors.

The vacancy details are as follows:

Project description

Nuclear Forensic Science (often referred to as Nuclear Forensics) has been defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as ‘a discipline of forensic science involving the examination of nuclear and other radioactive material, or of other evidence that is contaminated with radionuclides, in the context of legal proceedings. Nuclear Forensics is an important element in a state's nuclear security architecture and serves to address the threats of nuclear smuggling, nuclear proliferation and nuclear terrorism. The aim of a nuclear forensic examination is to obtain information on the processing history of the material (including its method and date of production) and on its intended use. In some cases, it is possible to link the material to place of production and the last legal owner.

During the nuclear testing era, the US, UK and other countries used radiochemistry techniques to characterise the explosions from collected debris. The application of the radio-chemistry experience and techniques developed over those decades has proved invaluable in generating the key concepts underlying nuclear forensics. The current forensic capabilities have been used in post detonation exercises in which the national laboratories have demonstrated that they can characterize nuclear debris and other forensic data and can infer the key design features for a variety of hypothesized nuclear explosive devices.

However, the design of a detonated device from the explosion debris can be inferred from the shape of the neutron flux spectrum, which serves as a fingerprint for the design. To extract the shape of the neutron flux spectrum for a detonated nuclear device, forensics takes advantage of the very different energy dependencies of nuclear cross sections.

Purpose/objectives

In order to validate the various nuclear forensics models, it is requiring the production of a significant quantity of Am-240 and its subsequent chemical separation to form a target. Thus, only very small targets of Am-240 will be possible, making the fission cross section measurement another challenge. This makes experimental programmes very expensive and sometimes impractical. Therefore, simulation capability is developed as well. However, the results obtained from those simulations will be as good as the nuclear data feed into the tools. For example, the figure below shows the nuclear cross section of Am-241 (n,2n) and Am-240 (n,fission) cross-section and their corresponding uncertainties. Those have a substantial effect on the simulated results, which will determine the solution.

Therefore, it is proposed to utilise advance Machine Learning techniques to help with the reduction on the nuclear data associated uncertainty to enable better understanding of the material characteristics.

Potential project impact

Journal and conference publications, collaboration with stake holders in nuclear data in the UK (like the Atomic Weapons Establishment).

Person Specification

Essential:

• Academic qualification. Applicants should hold a master’s by Research, or an Honours 1st or 2:1 class (or equivalent) undergraduate degree in Nuclear Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, Chemistry, Applied Mathematics, or other relevant disciplines. Candidates with an equivalent combination of professional experience and academic qualifications are welcome to apply.
• Strong programming skills (Python, C, Julia etc.)
• Communication skills in both in writing and orally, presenting research work and outcomes to different audiences

Highly Desirable

• Excellent knowledge of nuclear physics/nuclear engineering and nuclear data
• Strong background in machine learning techniques
• Demonstrated experience in technical research activities and ability to work independently and systematically

To apply

Please review our entry requirements before submitting your application and check out the 'Getting Started' section below.

Completed applications should be submitted via our online application system quoting funding reference: EXT_S&E_NuclearEng_25-26

Apply online

Closing dates for applications: Friday 23 May 2025.

(Please note: we encourage applicants to apply as soon as possible as we reserve the right to close before 23 May 2025 if a high volume of applications is received.)

Interviews: Tuesday 10 June 2025.

If you have not been invited for an interview by the interview date, please assume your application has been unsuccessful.

For other enquiries which are subject-specific please contact:

Lead: Dr Marat Margulis, m.margulis@derby.ac.uk

Co: Dr Lee Barnby, l.barnby@derby.ac.uk

Find out more about our research degrees.

Getting started

Before you begin your application, make sure you have:

Studentship funding reference code

This is provided on the individual studentship advert and must be specified in your application. 

Personal statement

A 500-word personal statement outlining your suitability for the studentship project. This is a mandatory requirement and you must upload it into your application. You should include your reasons for applying for the studentship, your experience in the field, how you feel you would benefit from studying and relevant information about your previous studies.

Your CV

A CV outlining your academic and professional experience.

Qualifications

Your qualification details including grades and dates taken. You will have the opportunity to upload scanned copies of your qualification certificates and transcripts in the application. If you have no formal qualifications, you can also state this in your application.

Passport/birth certificate

A scanned copy of your passport or full birth certificate. This will help us verify your application to study with us. International applicants can provide a copy of their passport only for visa assessment purposes, and their current visa if residing within the UK.

Academic references

Two signed academic references. This is optional at application stage but highly encouraged. If successful in your application, two academic references will be a mandatory requirement of admission. The references should be in written format, signed and dated from either a supervisor or tutor from your most recent studies.