3 year Industrial CASE PhD Studentship
Department of Medical Physics and Bioengineering
Ref: PS5
Photoacoustic Imaging Group
Applications are invited for a 3 year EPSRC funded Industrial CASE PhD Studentship to work on the development of a novel optical fibre hydrophone based upon the use of a Fabry Perot polymer film sensing interferometer. This new approach to ultrasound field measurement offers the prospect of developing a high performance, miniature, electrically passive ultrasound receiver that has the potential to overcome the limitations of current piezoelectric transducer technology. A key application is the measurement of the acoustic fields produced by diagnostic and therapeutic medical ultrasound equipment for assessing the safety-related and therapeutic bioeffects of ultrasound. The concept also has potential industrial applications in ultrasonic process monitoring and non destructive evaluation for structural and condition monitoring of engineering materials.
The broad aim is to advance the development of the concept and demonstrate its applicability to the characterisation of medical ultrasound. The project will involve the design and construction of optoelectronic instrumentation, the development and experimental validation of models of the optical and acoustic response of the sensor and evaluating the system in various medical ultrasound measurement applications. The project will be undertaken in collaboration with a leading manufacturer of piezoelectric hydrophones, Precision Acoustics Ltd, and a variety of academic collaborators. This studentship offers an excellent opportunity to undertake commercially relevant research in applied optics and acoustics.
Applications are invited from well motivated individuals who have, or are expected to have, at least a good honours degree (or higher, such as an MSc) in Physics, Electronic Engineering or a related discipline. Applications are welcome from those with relevant industrial experience seeking to return to an academic research environment. The studentship will attract a stipend of £18,500 pa.
The closing date for applications is 17 October 2008
Requests for further information and applications (including a covering letter, CV and names of 2 referees) should be sent to Dr. Paul Beard at pbeard@medphys.ucl.ac.uk
Only UK/EU applicants are likely to be eligible for the funding associated with this award. Candidates from EU countries other than the UK are only eligible for the full award (tuition fees and stipend) if they can demonstrate a relevant connection to the UK, usually established by being resident in the UK for a period of three years immediately prior to the date of application. EU candidates who do not fulfill this requirement may be eligible for fees only. Non-EU candidates may in some circumstances be eligible if they meet certain requirements. Details of eligibility requirements for all applicants can be found at:
http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/PostgraduateTraining/StudentEligibility.htm
Further information on the research area and the activities of the Photoacoustic Imaging Group, Precision Acoustics Ltd and the Biomedical Optical Research Laboratory can be found at:
1. Optical fibre hydrophones and ultrasound sensing
http://www.medphys.ucl.ac.uk/research/mle/overview2.htm
2. Photoacoustic Imaging Group
http://www.medphys.ucl.ac.uk/research/mle/index.htm
3. Precision Acoustics Ltd
http://www.acoustics.co.uk/
4. Biomedical Optical Research Laboratory
http://www.medphys.ucl.ac.uk/research/borl/index.htm
