Molecular Fluid Dynamics - Multiscale Turbulence Modelling

We are recruiting new Doctoral Researchers to our EPSRC funded Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) PhD studentships starting 1 October 2023. Applications are invited for the project Molecular Fluid Dynamics - Multiscale Turbulence Modelling

Successful applicants will receive an annual stipend (bursary) of approximately £19,668, including inner London weighting, plus payment of their full-time home tuition fees for a period of 42 months (3.5 years).

You should be eligible for home (UK) tuition fees there are a very limited number (no more than three) of studentships available to overseas applicants, including EU nationals, who meet the academic entry criteria including English Language proficiency.

You will join the internationally recognised researchers in the Department of Mechanical Engineering research and PhD programmes | Brunel University London

The Project

This project is the first step in the next generation of fluid-dynamics research. Building on the first ever simulation of molecular turbulence [https://www.edwardsmith.co.uk/mfd.html], we aim to study the molecular origins of drag and turbulence. This will allow unprecedented control over the engineering design process linking chemical and materials design to fluid dynamics. This aims to establish a new research area: molecular fluid dynamics, combining molecular modelling with engineering fluid dynamics.  Using novel molecular code Flowmol and coupling software CPL Library (cpl-library.org), the student will study turbulent flow using a supercomputer and analysing results using a combination of traditional fluid dynamics and cutting-edge machine learning techniques.  

 Please contact Dr Edward Smith at Edward.Smith@brunel.ac.uk for an informal discussion about the studentships.  

Eligibility

Applicants will have or be expected to receive a first or upper-second class honours degree in an Engineering, Computer Science, Design, Mathematics, Physics or a similar discipline. A Postgraduate Masters degree is not required but may be an advantage.

Skills and Experience

Applicants will be required to demonstrate;

A strong background and interest in fluid dynamics;
Proven ability to write code, ideally Python and at least one low-level language,

You should be highly motivated, able to work independently as well as in a team, collaborate with others and have good communication skills.

How to apply

There are two stages of the application:

1.Applicants must submit the pre-application form via the following link https://brunel.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/epsrc-dtp-23-24-pre-application-form-brunel-university-lon-3 by 16.00 on Friday 26th May 2023.

2.If you are shortlisted for the interview, you will be asked to email the following documentation in a single PDF file to cedps-studentships@brunel.ac.uk within 24hrs.

Your up-to-date CV;
Your Undergraduate degree certificate(s) and transcript(s) essential;
Your Postgraduate Masters degree certificate(s) and transcript(s) if applicable;
Your valid English Language qualification of IELTS 6.5 overall (minimum 6.0 in each section) or equivalent, if applicable;
Contact details for TWO referees, one of which can be an academic member of staff in the College.

Applicants should therefore ensure that they have all of this information in case they are shortlisted.

Interviews will take place in June 2023.

Meet the Supervisor(s)

Edward Smith - Edward Smith (www.edwardsmith.co.uk) is a researcher working on multi-scale methods combining particle and continuum simulation. He earned his PhD at Imperial College London, developing theoretical and computational techniques for the coupled simulation of molecular dynamics (MD) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD). After his PhD, he was awarded the post-doctoral excellence fellowship and published the first ever molecular dynamics simulation of near-wall turbulence. He spent time in Swinburne Australia working with experts in non-equilibrium molecular dynamics and statistical mechanics, before moving to Chemical Engineering at Imperial to work on multi-phase flow and the moving contact line. His next move was to Civil Engineering at Imperial to develop software (www.cpl-library.org), linking particles and continuum flows for granular systems. He recently took up a position at Brunel University London as a lecturer in fluid dynamics.