Fully funded PhD scholarship in Flash Energy Storage
Duration of study: Full time - 4 years fixed term
Starting date: October 2025
Application deadline: 5pm Monday 6th January 2025
Primary Supervisor: Dr John Labram, Associate Professor in Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering, University College London (UCL)
Project Description: One positive story in the fight against anthropogenic climate change has been the astonishing reduction in the cost of renewable sources of energy over the past 10 – 15 years. However, the intermittent nature of renewables makes them much more challenging to incorporate into grids than traditional energy sources. For example, solar cells only generate power when the sun is shining, wind turbines only generate power when there is wind, and so on. An energy storage solution is therefore required which can quickly and reliably respond to match supply with demand.
While lithium ion (Li-ion) batteries are beginning to be deployed for utility-scale storage, they are unlikely to be versatile enough to fulfil all the needs of the grid on their own. Unfortunately, they have a decidedly short storage duration, with even so-called long-duration technologies only targeting 10-100 hours. Ideally, we would want the capability to store electrical energy between seasons, or perhaps even years. If this were possible, one could imagine electrical energy being stored as a strategic reserve, or traded as a fungible asset, like oil. While this sounds ambitious, technologies already exist with extremely long retention times. Flash memory (as used in memory cards, USB flash drives, and solid-state drives) for example can retain information, without power, for durations on the order of decades.
In this PhD project, you will design, develop and study devices analogous to flash memory but intended to store energy rather than information. This will involve the growth of thin (<100 nm) layers of metals, semiconductors, and insulators, the characterisation of these materials, and electrical measurements of your finished devices, both at room temperature and using cryogenics. You will also be expected to develop theoretical device models governing their behaviour and carry out simulations to predict their performance.
You will gain expertise in thin film deposition methods such as sputtering, thermal evaporation, and solution growth, electrical measurements (e.g., current vs voltage), and a range of materials characterisation techniques including atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, ellipsometry, and many others.
Funding: This is a fully funded 4-year studentship to cover the Home (UK) student's tuition fees plus a £21,870/year stipend (estimated value for 25/26) for living costs increasing with inflation. Although the fees are only covered at the Home rate, Overseas candidates are still welcome to apply. However, they would need to fund the difference between home and overseas fees themselves (e.g. through another award or self-funding) and specify this in their application.
More details about the stipend and fees can be found here: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/research-innovation-services/award-services/research-studentships/studentship-budgets.
The candidate should pass the entry requirements of PhD programme at UCL EEE: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/graduate/research-degrees/electronic-and-electrical-engineering-mphil-phd
Eligibility: Candidates must have received an undergraduate degree, with a minimum classification: 2:1 or equivalent, in Electrical Engineering, Materials Science, Physics, or a related discipline by October 2025. Full funding is available for home students only.
How to apply: Applications must be made using the UCL online application system by using the UCL postgraduate study application form. Please mark it to the attention of Dr John Labram.
Equality, diversity, and inclusion: Our research is driven forward by talented researchers and PhD students who come from countries and backgrounds across the globe. We strongly encourage applications from underrepresented backgrounds in engineering, such as women, ethnic minorities, or people with disabilities.
Contact: For informal inquiries please contact Dr John Labram (j.labram@ucl.ac.uk) who will be happy to answer any queries about the project.
