Interested in joining the CDT?
Explore our current EngD opportunities and find a project open for applications.
Explore EngD projects that combine academic challenge with real-world industry collaboration. All projects offer generous funding, expert supervision, and a clear route to professional and technical leadership in the UK’s fusion energy sector.
Ongoing projects
- A real-time PINN-based computational framework for data integration and digital twinning – Perumal Nithiarasu, Swansea (2025–2029)
- AI-driven accelerated qualification of fusion reactor materials and components – Leonardo Stella, Birmingham (2026–2030)
- AI-informed control strategies for magnetic confinement in tokamaks – Lee Margetts, Manchester (2026–2030)
- Digitally and dynamically assuring magnet operations in fusion systems – Siyuan Ji, Loughborough (2026–2030)
- Enhancing fusion engineering with augmented and virtual reality and digital twins – Lee Margetts, Manchester (2025–2029)
- Feedback control of tokamak plasmas via deep learning policies with robustness guarantees – Ross Drummond, Sheffield (2026–2030)
- Model-based fusion magnet digital twins – Siyuan Ji, Loughborough (2026–2030)
- Multi-fidelity simulation ensembles for near real-time failure prediction in digital twins – Perumal Nithiarasu, Swansea (2025–2029)
- Multi-modal and multi-fidelity AI for fusion materials: data-centric design, validation and deployment – Sandy Knowles, Birmingham (2026–2030)
- Numerical simulation of boiling flows for high heat flux fusion components – Mirco Magnini, Nottingham (2026–2030)
- One twin, many secrets: enabling secure multi-stakeholder digital twins for fusion systems – Lee Margetts, Manchester (2026–2030)
- Probabilistic digital twins for nuclear engineering – Lee Margetts, Manchester (2026–2030)
- Quantum algorithms for neutron transport in fusion power generation* – Peter Brearley, Manchester (2026–2030)
- Scaled experimental platform for magnetically confined fusion process emulation and digital twin integration – Lee Margetts, Manchester (2025–2029)
- Effects of hydrogen isotope exposure on the performance of fusion breeder blanket materials – Matt Lloyd, Manchester (2026–2030)
- Free-surface film flows of liquid metals under the influence of magnetic fields – Georgios Fourtakas, Manchester (2026–2030)
- High temperature radiation damage and liquid-lithium corrosion in fusion breeder blanket materials – Matt Lloyd, Manchester (2026–2030)
- Hydrogen transport and retention in materials for fusion breeder blankets – Matt Lloyd, Manchester (2026–2030)
- Large-scale tritium transport for commercial fusion: safeguards, non-proliferation and export control – Xingzhong Liang, Bristol (2026–2030)
- Lithium isotope separation: a theoretical approach for material design – Kathryn George, Manchester (2025–2029)
- Lithium-6 for the nuclear fusion industry: complementing the valorisation of battery waste and securing supply for the UK energy sector – Lizzie Driscol, Birmingham (2026–2030)
- Permeation resistant, novel ceramic materials for the fusion fuel cycle – Phil Edmondson, Manchester (2025–2029)
- Solvent extraction for lithium isotope enrichment to fuel fusion power – Kathryn George / Andrew Masters (2025–2029)
- Systems modelling of the tritium fuel cycle – Lee Margetts, Manchester (2025–2029)
- Tritium transport and retention in liquid blankets; multiphysics driven impacts and coupling – Lee Margetts, Manchester (2025–2029)
- An open architecture framework for fusion – Michael Henshaw, Loughborough (2025–2029)
- Developing a diagnostic for measuring in-vessel electromagnetic loads on an operating tokamak – Nicola Bailey, King's College (2026–2030)
- High-performance flow measurement for fusion reactor auxiliary systems: optimisation of differential pressure sensors in extreme environments – Sebastiano Fichera, Liverpool (2026–2030)
- Identifying and implementing optimum information methods to promote understanding and engagement for a new fusion power plant – Emma Heywood, Sheffield (2025–2029)
- Modelling and testing of advanced neutron diagnostics for power producing tokamaks – Paul Norman, Birmingham (2026–2030)
- Navigating the path to commercial fusion: assessing supply chain challenges and inclusive growth of commercial fusion energy in the Trent Supercluster – Nikola Chalashkanov, Lincoln (2026–2030)
- Novel glass-based sensor technologies for wide-range, radiation hard sensing applications in nuclear fusion applications – Paul Bingham, Sheffield Hallam (2026–2030)
- Resilience of net zero energy systems to climate-driven hazards* – Seyed Hoseyni, Sheffield (2026–2030)
- Accelerated creep-fatigue qualification through high-throughput testing and data fusion – Bo Chen, Southampton (2026–2030)
- Additive manufacturing of cooling systems for cryogenic electric propulsion to power zero-emission electric aircraft – Alex Goodall, Sheffield (2026–2030)
- Additive manufacturing of high-performance copper alloys for fusion energy – Biao Cai, Birmingham (2026–2030)
- Advanced manufacturing and thermo-mechanical treatments of vanadium alloys for fusion – Arun Bhattacharya, Birmingham (2026–2030)
- Closed-loop control for EBeam powder bed fusion manufacture of tungsten – Iain Todd, Sheffield (2026–2030)
- Cryogenic cooling of hollow conductors for highly power-dense electric machines* – Alexei Winter, AMRC Sheffield (2026–2030)
- Design and additive manufacturing of heat sinks for fusion reactors – Biao Cai, Birmingham (2025–2029)
- Development of tungsten-based materials for metal recycling of end-of-life parts and machining waste – Martin Jackson, Sheffield (2026–2030)
- Effect of joining/welding on newly developed reduced activation ferritic-martensitic (RAFM) steels under irradiation – Peng Gong, Manchester (2025–2029)
- Effect of metal processing defects on mechanical performance in extreme high temperature environments – Martin Jackson, Sheffield (2026–2030)
- Future fusion steel development and in-process fingerprinting – Martin Jackson, Sheffield (2026–2030)
- Life cycle assessment of scrap-based steelmaking: optimising resource efficiency and element recovery – Richard Thackray, Sheffield (2026–2030)
- Manufacturing and high temperature mechanical evaluation of reduced activation W heavy alloys – Sandy Knowles, Birmingham (2026–2030)
- Manufacturing and structural integrity validation of dissimilar material bonds for tungsten component joining – Sandy Knowles, Birmingham (2026–2030)
- Materials Testing 2.0: Based assessment and modelling of fusion-grade steels for next-generation fusion energy systems – Clive Siviour, Oxford (2026–2030)
- Modifying surfaces of non-metallics to improve their longevity or functionality by atmospheric plasma processing – Kirsty McKay, Liverpool (2025–2029)
- Rapid optimisation of laser welding conditions for joining fusion materials – Russell Goodall, Sheffield (2026–2030)
- Shaping precision: how cutting tool features drive micro milling performance – Hassan Ghadbeigi, Sheffield (2026–2030)
- Understanding phase decomposition in SMART-W alloys in a fusion power plant environment – Tessa Davey, Bangor (2025–2029)
- Understanding the effect of dissimilar Joining/Welding on Reduced Activation Ferritic-Martensitic (RAFM) Steels, W and Cu alloys for fusion reactors – Peng Gong, Manchester (2026-2030)
- Adaptive haptic skill transfer for human-robot collaboration in nuclear teleoperation – Ayse Kucukyilmaz, Nottingham (2026–2030)
- Foundation-model-guided world models and predictive control for autonomous remote handling in extreme environments – Amir Ghalamzan, Sheffield (2026–2030)
- Identifying the bounds of safe human-robot interaction using digital twins – James Law, Sheffield (2026–2030)
- MorphoFusionAssist: developing reconfigurable rolling robot for manipulation assistance in fusion inspection and maintenance – Seyed Amir Tafrishi, Cardiff (2026–2030)
- Remote robotic welding guided by reliable, non-contact, emissivity-independent temperature imaging and machine vision – Jon Willmott, Sheffield (2025–2029)
- Telerobotic manipulation with learned perception for contact-rich tasks in nuclear environments – Yanan Li, Sussex (2026–2030)
- Assessing fusion performance limits of vanadium alloy welds for breeder blanket systems – Arun Bhattacharya, Birmingham (2025–2029)
- Ceramic plasma facing components: plasma-wall interaction effects and engineering integrity – Arun Bhattacharya, Birmingham (2026–2030)
- Design and structural integrity under fusion conditions of water-cooled EU-DEMO divertor components – Arun Bhattacharya, Birmingham (2026–2030)
- Engineering structural integrity and structural design criteria of dissimilar metal joints for fusion plasma facing components – Arun Bhattacharya, Birmingham (2026–2030)
- From defects to durability: scaling fatigue predictions for additive and welded structures in fusion systems – Matt Roy, Manchester (2025–2029)
- Interface engineering in spherical tokamak centre-column shield designs: mapping failure at metallic support structures and ceramic shield interfaces – Arun Bhattacharya, Birmingham (2026–2030)
- Mapping the engineering of plasma- and high heat flux-induced failure modes in plasma-facing divertor components for future fusion reactors – Arun Bhattacharya, Birmingham (2026–2030)
- Multi-scale engineering constitutive models for fusion components under irradiation – Gustavo Castelluccio, Cranfield (2026–2030)
- Probabilistic lifetime assessment of breeding blankets under irradiated conditions – Christos Skamniotis, Imperial College London (2025–2029)