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PhD Research Students

School of Mathematics and Physics
PHD PROFILES

The School of Mathematics and Physics have a large and diverse PhD student body who contribute enormously to the vibrant research culture of the school. To view the profiles of our students, please click on the links below.

Research Centres

Armagh Observatory & Planetarium

Astrophysics Research Centre

Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Photonic Integration and Advanced Data Storage

Centre for Light-Matter Interaction

Centre for Quantum Materials and Technology

Mathematical Science Research Centre

 

Armagh Observatory & Planetarium

 

 Name of Student PhD Research Theme or PhD Thesis Title Principal Supervisor Secondary Supervisor
Pablo Galán de Anta The Fragility of Nuclear and kpc-scale Galactic Discs against Mergers  Dr Marc Sarzi Dr Massimo Dotti (University Milano-Bicocca),
Dr Lorenzo Posti (University of Groningen) 
Asish Philip Monai
Population Studies of Exotic Hot Subdwarfs

Prof. Simon Jeffery

Dr. Gavin Ramsay
Jeremy Rigney

Stellar Flare Observations with the International LOFAR Telescope

Prof. Peter Gallagher (DIAS) and Prof. Gerry Doyle (Armagh), Prof. Michail Mathioudakis (QUB)

 
Dr. Eoin Carley (DIAS) and Dr. Gavin Ramsay Armagh) 
Saskia Schlagenhauf
Planetary Nebulae in External Galaxies with Integral-Field Spectroscopy
Dr Marc Sarzi Prof. Simon Jeffery

 

Astrophysics Research Centre

 

Name of Student PhD Research Theme or PhD Thesis Title Principal Supervisor Secondary Supervisor

William Bate

High Frequency Waves in the Solar Atmosphere

Prof. David Jess

Prof. Mihalis Mathioudakis

Laura Buchanan

Exploring the Relics of Planet Formation: The Kuiper Belt Colour/Composition Connection

Dr Megan Schwamb

Prof. Alan Fitzsimmons
Fionntán Callan Supernovae: Theoretical Modelling of Light Curves and Spectra

Dr Stuart Sim

 
Andrew Conroy

Calculation of electron-impact excitation cross-sections for neutral iron-peak species

Dr. Catherine Ramsbottom Prof. Francis Keenan
Matthew Dobson From the Centaurs to the Inner Oort Cloud: Exploring the Kuiper Belt Connection Dr Megan Schwamb  
Andrew Fraser Gillan

Spectroscopy and Photometry of Active Comets

Prof. Alan Fitzsimmons Dr Megan Schwamb
Jarod Gouldie Relativistic Dirac R-matrix photoionisation calculations through to their implementation with stellar opacity
codes
Dr Connor Balance Dr Stuart Sim
Harry Greatorex

Multi-Wavelength Observations of Solar Flares

Dr Ryan Milligan Prof. Mihalis Mathioudakis
David Jackson

Terra Hunting-Extreme Precision Mass-Measurements of Earth-like Worlds

Prof. Christopher Watson
 
Dr Ernst de Mooij
Niall McElroy
Atomic Structure and Collisional Data for Heavy Elements Z≥ 50 Involved in Neutron Star Mergers
Dr Connor Balance Dr. Catherine Ramsbottom
Luke Majury
Multi-Wavelength Observations of Solar Flares
Dr Ryan Milligan  
Matthew McCollum Fast optical transients in wide-field surveys: giant flares and extragalactic searches Prof. Stephen Smartt Prof. Christopher Watson
 
Shaun McLaughlin

Multi-Wavelength Observations of Solar Flares

Dr Ryan Milligan  
Aaron Monson

Photospheric Flare Diagnostics

Prof. Mihalis Mathioudakis    Dr Ryan Milligan
Joseph Murtagh

The Outer Solar System at the Dawn of the Legacy Survey of Space and Time

Dr. Megan Schwamb Prof. Alan Fitzsimmons
Sean O'Brien Crowd-Sourced Applications to the Next-Generation Transit Survey Dr Megan Schwamb Prof. Christopher Watson  
Joshua Pollin
Supernovae: Theoretical Modelling of Light Curves and Spectra
Dr Stuart Sim  
Scott Robinson

High-Resolution Characterisation of Exoplanet Atmospheres

Dr Ernst de Mooij Prof. Christopher Watson

Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT)

Name of Student

PhD Research Theme or PhD Thesis Title

University of Glasgow Supervisor

Queen's University Belfast Supervisor

Mahmoud Ahtaiba Integrated quantum photonic sensors and circuits Prof Robert Hadfield Dr Amit Kumar

Ali Al-Moathin

Hybrid Integrated Silicon Photonic Transceiver 

Prof John Marsh, Dr. Lianping Hou, Dr. Hadi Heidari Dr. Bob Pollard

Mugahid Ali

 

Plasmonic Antennas for Extreme Light Concentration and Harvesting

 
Prof Marc Sorel Dr Fumin Huang
Sia Andersson Hybrid optical components for advanced quantum systems  Prof John Marsh  Prof Robert Bowman

Ahmad Azizan

     

Nathan Black

Nanoscale Photo-conductivity in Ferroelectrics
 
Dr Amit Kumar 
Anna Casey

Measuring THz radiation           

Dr. Matteo Clerici  

Matt Colbear

Spintronic Behaviour in Conducting Domain Walls

 
Dr. Ian Maclaren Prof Marty Gregg
Lauren Connell 

Reprogrammable Micromagnetic Transport

 
Prof Marc Sorel
 
Dr. Solveig Felton
Emma Crothers      

Ryan Duddy

Ab Initio Design of Plasmonic Materials

  Dr. Lorenzo Stella , Dr. Myrta Grūning
John Fullerton Ultra-Advanced Characterisation Studies of Three-Dimensional Spintronic Nanocircuits  Dr. Amalio Fernandez-Pacheco

Dr. Miryam Arredondo-Arechavala

 
Hristo Gergov 

Exploring 3D Nanopatterned Structures Fabricated by Plasma FIB

Prof Stephen McVitie  Dr. Solveig Felton 
Christopher Gough

Heterogeneous integration of III-V lasers to optical waveguides

Prof Marc Sorel   Prof Robert Bowman 

Robert Graham

Novel Nanophotonic Devices: From Concepts to Applications

Prof Robert Hadfield  

Mehdi Haji Ebrahim

Measuring photon pairs           Dr. Matteo Clerici    

Sean Hiddleston

Molecule Based Magnets

  Dr. Solveig Felton 

Ross Louis Jordan

Thermal Behaviour of Nanostructured Magnetic Materials

Prof Stephen McVitie  Dr. Solveig Felton 

Rebecca Kelly

Characterisation of integrated photonic chips  

 

Prof Marc Sorel  

Dr Ray McQuaid

Colin Kirkbride 

Skyrmions in Synthetic Antiferromagnetic Multilayer Structures  Prof Stephen McVitie   
Christopher Lambert

High thermal stability plasmonic materials – beyond noble metals – for HAMR antennae

Dr. Donald Maclaren Prof Robert Bowman 
Will Lee      

Arthur Lipinski

Novel Materials Synthesis for HAMR Plasmonics

Prof Robert Hadfield Prof Robert Bowman
Hugh Littlehailes Intermetallic plasmonic antennas Dr. Donald Maclaren Dr Fumin Huang

Josua Lo

Development of 25Gbit/s distributed feedback (DFB) laser devices  Prof Anthony Kelly Prof Marty Gregg 

Pierre Maidment 

Development of a multispectral laser scanner in silicon photonics

Prof Marc Sorel Dr Amit Kumar  

James McCartan

Making and characterising atomic scale 1D P-N junctions for nanoscale logic gates  Dr. Ian Maclaren   Prof Marty Gregg 

Shane McCartan

Structure and Ferroic Ordering at Conducting Domain Walls

Prof Marc Sorel   

Tiernan McCaughery

Integration of Novel Materials for Improved HAMR 3.0 ADC and Reliability

Marcus Mooney, Seagate  Prof Robert Bowman 

Cameron McEleney

     

Simon Munro

Advanced epitaxial solutions for compound semiconductor component integration  Prof Marc Sorel  Prof Robert Bowman 

Anthony Murphy

Advanced materials for photonic integration  Prof Marc Sorel   Prof Robert Bowman 

Daniel Murphy

Bringing Ab-Initio Design Into the Lab: Temperature Dependence of Plasmonic Response 

  Dr. Lorenzo Stella , Dr. Myrta Grūning 
Thomas O'Connor  Boron containing alloys of III-Nitride semiconductors for Ultraviolet emission 

Prof Peter Parbrook,

Dr. Stefan Schulz Tyndall National Institute, UCC

 
Nicola Parry Passive waveguide development for integration of GaN laser devices Prof Anthony Kelly   
Serene Pauly Direct nanoscale mapping of plasmonic heating in nanostructures for HAMR  Dr Amit Kumar  Dr. Donald Maclaren 

Antoine Pissis

High power single mode Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL)  Prof Richard Hogg, Dr. Evgeny Zibik Zürich   
Peter Read Next Generation Laser Development  Prof Anthony Kelly  

Stewart Reid

     

Sarah Ruddell

Novel Materials Synthesis for HAMR Plasmonics

Prof Robert Hadfield  Prof Robert Bowman 

Michael Sloan

Integrated Photonic Devices for Smart Gas Sensors

Prof Marc Sorel     

Ben Smith

The effect high temperatures have on plasmonic functionality  Dr. Donald Maclaren  
Nicholas Stephen
 

Investigating GaAs metamorphic lasers

Dr Emanuule Pelucchi Tyndall National Institute, UCC Dr Miryam Arredondo-Arechavala

 

 

 

Centre for Light-Matter Interaction

 

 Name of Student PhD Research Theme or PhD Thesis Title Principal Supervisor Secondary Supervisor
Asmaa Mohammad S Ali

Respiratory Motion Management during radiation therapy

Dr Jason Greenwood

Dr Allen Hounsell

Dr Conor McGarry

 
Jack Cassidy

Many-body Theory of Positron Interactions with Molecules

Dr. Dermot Green Dr. Myrta Grüning
Niall Cavanagh

Strong Field Quantum Electrodynamics Experiments at SLAC

Prof. Gianluca Sarri   
Matthew Charlwood

Photo-ionised Plasmas in the Laboratory

Prof. David Riley

Prof. Gianluca Sarri

 

Conor Fegan

Proton Radiography Investigations of Laser-Plasma Interaction Dynamics in High-Intensity Regimes

Prof. Marco Borghesi

Dr. Satyabrata Kar

Dr. Colin Brown (AWE)

Colm Fitzpatrick

Applications of High Harmonics Generated from Intense Laser-Plasma Interactions

Prof. Brendan Dromey Dr Mark Yeung  
Kyle Fleck

High-Field Quantum Electrodynamics in the Field of an Intense Laser

Prof. Gianluca Sarri  Prof. Marco Borghesi 
Benjamin Greenwood

Compact, laser-driven ion beamlines for interdisciplinary applications

Dr. Satyabrata Kar

Prof. Marco Borghesi

 
Sarah Gregg

Theory of positron interactions with molecules / condensed matter and related processes

Dr. Dermot Green Dr. Myrta Grüning
Fayza Adel Hanafy Hassan

Spectroscopic investigation of cold technological plasmas

Dr. Thomas Field   Prof. David Riley
Chloe Ho

Compact, high brightness neutron beamline using intense lasers

Dr. Satyabrata Kar  Prof. Marco Borghesi, Dr. Rob Clarke(CLF)
Jaroslav Hofierka

Many-Body Theory of Positron Interactions

Dr. Dermot Green

Dr. Myrta Grüning
Holly Huddleston
Synthesising Extreme Light Pulses for Applications in Intense Laser-Plasma Interactions
Dr Mark Yeung   Prof. Brendan Dromey
Lynda Hutcheson

Ultrafast Spectroscopy of Relativistic Processes

Dr. Andrew Brown Prof. Hugo van der Hart  
Jonathan Kennedy Ultrabright Sources of Attosecond Pulses Dr Mark Yeung

Prof. Brendan Dromey

Brendan Loughran

Laboratory Astrophysics using High Repetition Rate Lasers

Dr. Charlotte Palmer

 
Sinéad A. Mannion

Validation of Atmospheric-Pressure Plasma Jets using Finite Element Analysis

Dr. Thomas Field  Prof. David Riley
Conor McAnespie

The applications of laser-driven particle accelerators for ultra-high dose-rate radiotherapy

Prof. Gianluca Sarri Dr Stephen McMahon
Sean McCallum

Calorimetry techniques for absolute dosimetry of laser-driven ion beams

Prof. Marco Borghesi  Dr. Francesco Romano (NPL/INFN), Dr. Anna Subiel (NPL) 
Adrian McCay
Advanced Mechanisms for Laser-Driven Ion Acceleration

Prof. Marco Borghesi 

Dr. Satyabrata Kar

Orla McCusker

Laser-driven acceleration and control of high energy ion beams

Prof. Marco Borghesi

 

Dr. Satyabrata Kar

 
Carla McDonnell

Characterising an atmospheric pressure helium plasma jet

Prof. David Riley  Dr. Thomas Field  
Aaron McNamee

Proton-Boron Nuclear Fusion Studies in Laser-Generated Plasma for Future Ultraclean Energy Production

Dr Daniele Margarone  Dr. Satyabrata Kar 
Daniel Molloy

Laser Driven proton-Boron Fusion for Future Ultra-clean Energy Production

Dr Daniele Margarone   Prof. Marco Borghesi 
Boris Odlozilik

Biological effects of laser-accelerated proton bursts

Prof. Marco Borghesi

Prof. Kevin M. Prise
Peter Parsons
Development and characterisation of high repetition rate proton sources using novel targets

Dr. Charlotte Palmer

Dr Mark Yeung
Luke Roantree

Attosecond Spin-Orbit Spectroscopy

Dr. Andrew Brown Prof. Hugo van der Hart
Jyotirup Sarma

Ion Acceleration and Related Phenomena in Laser Plasma Interaction

Prof. Marco Borghesi

 
 
Daniel Simpson

Advanced Diagnostics of Low and Atmospheric Pressure Plasmas

Dr. Thomas Field 

Dr Thomas Gilmore (Impedance)
Rachel E. Smith 

Ultrafast Lensless Imaging in the Extreme-Ultraviolet

Dr Mark Yeung Prof. Brendan Dromey

 

 

Centre for Quantum Materials and Technology

 

 Name of Student PhD Research Theme or PhD Thesis Title Principal Supervisor Secondary Supervisor
Jessica Barr

Machine learning-enhanced diagnostics of open quantum networks

Dr Alessandro Ferraro Dr John McAllister
Olivia Baxter

Engineering and mapping entropy changes at the nanoscale in oxide materials

Dr. Raymond McQuaid Prof. Marty Gregg
Sheron Blair

Universal resources for quantum information processing over continuous variables

Dr Alessandro Ferraro  Prof. Mauro Paternostro
Conall Campbell
Machine Learning for Quantum Networking
Prof. Mauro Paternostro Dr Gabriele De Chiara 
Adam Hawkins
Quantum-classical interfaces for the emulation of quantum communication algorithms
Prof. Mauro Paternostro  
Jesi Maguire

 Novel Functional Behaviour in Nanoscale Ferroelectrics

Prof. Marty Gregg   Dr. Raymond McQuaid  
Conor McCluskey

 Investigation of topological defects in ferroelectrics

Prof. Marty Gregg

Dr. Raymond McQuaid
Matthew McMaster

Engineering shielding response of NiFe synthetic magnetic structures for high frequency application

Prof. Robert Bowman Dr Solveig Felton
Adam Murphy
Fourier Optics and Novel Microscopy Techniques
Dr Fumin Huang Cirdan Imaging
Ivan Palmisano
Complex Nanophotonics for a Quantum Internet
Prof. Mauro Paternostro Dr Alessandro Ferraro 
Andrew Rogers
Electrostatic and Surface Potentials in Pyroelectric Materials
Prof. Marty Gregg Dr. Amit Kumar

John J. Scott

Ferroelastic Domain Dynamics by In-Situ Techniques

Dr Miryam Arredondo-Arechavala Prof. Marty Gregg  
Sam Shepherd

Machine Learning for Aqueous Interfaces

Dr. David Wilkins

Dr. Gareth Tribello

Ahmet Suna

Ferroelectric domain wall memristors as artificial synapses

Prof. Marty Gregg Dr. Amit Kumar
Orla Surgeoner

Quantum Interactions in Nanostructures

Dr. Tchavdar Todorov  Dr. Myrta Gruening 

Qiongyuan Wu

Ultracold Quantum Thermo-machines

Prof. Mauro Paternostro Dr Gabriele De Chiara

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mathematical Science Research Centre

 

 Name of Student PhD Research Theme or PhD Thesis Title Principal Supervisor Secondary Supervisor
Olivia Adair

Employing Data Analytics to inform the development of innovative Cost-Effectiveness Cancer Screening Models in the COVID-19 era

Dr. Felicity Lamrock

Prof Mark Lawler, Dr. Ethna McFerran
Melanie Campell

Everything Changes Over Time: Transforming Joint Modelling Methodology

Dr. Lisa McFetridge

 
Karys Dickson

Accretive Operators

Dr. Petr Siegl

Dr. Thomas Huettemann

 
Dulan Dias

Artificial Intelligence as a Health Intervention for Managing Patient Discharge Decision Processes

Prof Adele Marshall  Dr Aleksandar Novakovic  
Jonathan Henderson

Point Pattern Analysis of Retinal Ganglion Cell loss in Glaucoma

Dr Hannah Mitchell

Dr Andrea Munaro
Miao Hu

Knowledge graph embedding and domain adaptation learning

Dr Zhiwei Lin

Prof Adele Marshall
Tasha Montgomery

Algebraic K-theory of projective spaces associated with strongly graded rings.

Dr. Thomas Huettemann

Prof Ivan Todorov
Donal O’Cofaigh

Linear Preservers

Dr Ying-Fen Lin

 
Zachary Waller

Combining machine learning and casual inference to predict cardiovascular disease for use in decision model

Dr. Felicity Lamrock  
Shizhou Yang

Mim-width

Dr Andrea Munaro  
Emel Yavuz

Equivariant Orthogonal Calculus

Dr. David Barnes  Dr. Lisa McFetridge 

 

PhD Research Students
  • Research Culture and Seminars
  • Joseph Murtagh
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