Research Projects Available 2026

• Supervisor: Philip Jones.
• Eligible for: Brian Duff studentship (Yr 2 BSc or MSci/Yr 3 MSci registered undergraduate studying at UCL in the department of Physics and Astronomy or UCL Natural Sciences undergraduate with Physics as the mainstream)
• On campus or hybrid project.

The aim of this project is to design and fabricate custom chips that combine the capabilities of microfluidics for picolitre volume fluid handling with micron-scale optical manipulation and femtonewton-range force application.  This range of parameters is ideal for the control of biological species such as single cells, or colloidal objects such as emulsions or vesicles.

The department has recently acquired a Datron Neo 3 axis high-speed high-precision CNC milling machine, capable of machining features with 2 micron precision in a range of materials, from metals to acrylic.  This project will make use of the Datron Neo for rapid prototyping of custom-designed optofluidic chips for a range of experiments including trapping, manipulating and sorting biological ‘soft’ matter objects.

The goal of the project is to design, commission and test a range of custom optofluidic chips that will integrate with ongoing work in the UCL Optical Tweezers Laboratory (www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucapphj).  This may include, for example, simple microfluidic channels, microfluidic junctions for controlled droplet manufacture, or chips with embedded optical fibres.  Other (macroscopic) components can be designed and 3D printed as necessary.  Experimental work will involve an introduction to optical microscopy and laser trapping.

The project can be carried out as a combination of remote and on-campus work, with chip design being done remotely if desired, but testing taking place in the laboratory.

• Supervisor: Nguyen TK Thanh
• Eligible for: Brian Duff studentship (Yr 2 BSc or MSci/Yr 3 MSci registered undergraduate studying at UCL in the department of Physics and Astronomy or UCL Natural Sciences undergraduate with Physics as the mainstream)
• On campus project.

The heat magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) generate when exposed to an alternating magnetic field is the base for many applications including catalysis [1], antimicrobial materials [2, 3], but most well-known and challenging, magnetically induced hyperthermia (MIH) for cancer treatment [4]. 

Prof. Thanh's group has developed a synthetic procedure for magnetic iron oxide nanoflawes (IONFs) that exhibit heating rates that are 4 times higher than those of any commercial MNPs available [5]. However, IONFs tend to aggregate, oxidize, or lose colloidal stability at high concentration, especially in physiological or high-ionic-strength environments. Bio-surface functionalization is therefore critical. 

In this project, the student will synthesise nanoflowers by following our best synthetic routes and few protocols in the literature and characterize them using several techniques using a system set up in Prof Thanh’s laboratory. The student will be tasked with finding an improved synthetic procedure of IONFs bio-surface modification for obtaining ultrastable IONFs suspensions with high concentration (20-80 mg/ml). Then IONFs heating performance will be tested. 

1. J. M. Asensio, A. B. Miguel, P. Fazzini, P. W. N. M. van Leeuwen and B. Chaudret, Angew. Chemie Int. Ed., 2019, 58, 11306–11310.
2. T. K. Nguyen, H. T. T. Duong, R. Selvanayagam, C. Boyer and N. Barraud, Sci. Rep., 2015, 5, 1–15.
3. H. Nguyen, N. Ohannesian, P. C. Bandara, A. Ansari, C. T. Deleo, D. Rodrigues, K. S. Martirosyan and W. C. Shih, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2020, 12, 10291–10298.
4. Rubia-Rodríguez, I.; Santana-Otero, A.; Spassov, S.; Tombácz, E.; Johansson, C.; De La Presa, P.; Teran, F.J.; Morales, M.d.P.; Veintemillas-Verdaguer, S.; Thanh, N.T.K.; Besenhard, M.O.; Wilhelm, C.; Gazeau, F.; Harmer, Q.; Mayes, E.; Manshian, B.B.; Soenen, S.J.; Gu, Y.; Millán, Á.; Efthimiadou, E.K.; Gaudet, J.; Goodwill, P.; Mansfield, J.; Steinhoff, U.; Wells, J.; Wiekhorst, F.; Ortega, D. Whither Magnetic Hyperthermia? A Tentative Roadmap. Materials 2021, 14, 706. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma140407
5. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2021, 13, 38, 45870–45880

• Supervisor: Claudia Miranda (Pearce Group).
• Eligible for: IPLS studentship (Yr 2, Y3 or Y4 BSc/MSci registered undergraduate studying at a UK university for a basic science degree including but not limited to biology, physics, chemistry, engineering and computer science).
• Requirements: basic Python programming knowledge.
• On campus or hybrid project.

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a genetic blood disorder where sickle haemoglobin (HbS) polymerises inside red blood cells (RBCs) under low-oxygen conditions. This makes RBCs acquire abnormal shapes and get stiffer, which increases the likelihood of developing blood vessel blockages, leading to the so-called vaso-occlussive crises (VOCs) in SCD patients. Despite decades of investigation of HbS aggregation mechanisms, single-cell measurements of HbS polymerisation in heterogeneous cell populations are only recently starting to be made. This data shows high variability both within the same patient and across different patients in SCD. To this date, there is no universal biomarker for SCD, making it very hard to manage the disease and its treatment. In this project, we will build up on the well-established Eaton-Ferrone kinetic model for HbS polymerisation. We will implement a cyclic oxygenation function that simulates periodic oxygen fluctuations RBCs encounter during circulatory transit. Using control theory, we will explore drug dosage strategies targeting different polymerisation pathways. This project is a great opportunity for the student to learn about mathematical modelling and applied programming in the context of SCD.

Can resonance of oscillatory molecular signalling pathways explain the efficacy of “oscillatory radiotherapy”?

• Supervisor: Jamie Dean.
• Eligible for: IPLS studentship (Yr 2, Y3 or Y4 BSc/MSci registered undergraduate studying at a UK university for a basic science degree including but not limited to biology, physics, chemistry, engineering and computer science).
• On campus, hybrid, or remote project.

Glioblastoma is an incurable brain tumour with a median survival of 15 months. Radiotherapy, a standard-of-care treatment for glioblastoma, is typically administered once daily over several weeks. Recent research demonstrates that delivering multiple doses per day, separated by 3-hour intervals (“oscillatory radiotherapy”), significantly improves survival in a glioblastoma mouse model compared to standard schedules. However, the mechanisms underlying this effect remain unclear, making it difficult to identify patients likely to benefit or to design drug-radiotherapy combinations to further improve survival.

Notably, oscillatory radiotherapy is effective only with a 3-hour interval, not 1-hour or 6-hour gaps, suggesting a frequency-dependent mechanism. This observation points to the involvement of an oscillatory molecular signalling pathway with a natural frequency of 3 hours. Oscillatory stimuli can trigger resonance in such pathways, driving cells towards certain fates, e.g. apoptosis. Several molecules critical to the radiotherapy response of glioblastoma exhibit oscillations with a period close to 3 hours, e.g. p53 and NFkB, making them potential candidates for mediating this effect.

In this project you will develop mathematical models of these oscillatory signalling pathways to simulate their dynamics in response to different radiotherapy schedules. In doing so you will reveal the most likely molecular signalling pathways underlying the effectiveness of oscillatory radiotherapy, which will be experimentally validated in the future. These findings could guide the development and optimisation of novel glioblastoma treatment strategies.