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EPSRC Doctoral Landscape Award 2026/27: Electronic & Electrical Engineering

The EPSRC Doctoral Landscape Award offers 2 talented budding researchers the opportunity to join the thriving community of leading researchers within the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences at the University of Leeds. These are highly competitive studentships that provide full tuition fees, together with a tax-free maintenance grant (currently £20,780 for academic session 2025/26) for 3.5 years, along with comprehensive training and support. This opportunity is open to UK applicants only and selection is based on academic merit through a competitive process. Applicants study in a world-leading research environment (REF 2021) with access to UK-leading facilities, close industry links, professional skills development, and comprehensive wellbeing support. The award is linked to specific research projects in the School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, including topics such as carrier transport modelling in semiconductor lasers, digital twinning of energy hubs, digital twin of open radio access network, and terahertz frequency devices for future communication systems.

Terahertz frequency devices for future communication systems

This PhD project is part of a £7M research programme between the Universities of Leeds, Swansea and UCL to develop the first high throughput wireless communication systems operating at terahertz carrier frequencies for both terrestrial and low-earth-orbit satellite applications. The research aims to enable a two orders-of-magnitude increase in data rates over state-of-the-art radio frequency and microwave systems, beyond 100 Gbit/s and towards 1 Tbit/s. The project focuses on developing quantum cascade lasers (QCLs), semiconductor devices comprising more than 1000 separate layers, each patterned with atomic monolayer precision. Research areas include developing edge- and surface-emitting QCLs tuned to atmospheric windows, with suitable output powers, beam quality and operational temperatures. The candidate will gain extensive experience in semiconductor device modelling, device fabrication, and electrical and optical characterisation of lasers. Related research opportunities also include developing new terahertz amplitude and phase-resolved coherent detectors, as well as fast optical and electrical signal modulation methodologies. This opportunity is suitable for applicants with a good first degree in Physics, Electronic Engineering, Materials Science, or an aligned subject. The project offers a highly competitive EPSRC Doctoral Landscape Award providing full academic fees and a tax-free maintenance grant at the standard UKRI rate for 3.5 years, with training and support.