This fully funded four-year PhD studentship is offered within the University of Cambridge, under the supervision of Dr. Paul Cosgrove sponsored by Rolls Royce Plc.  

During reactor operation, fuel can deform due to temperature gradients or the build-up of fission gas due to fuel burn-up. This deformation can affect reactor performance and safety: there may be more or less moderation and/or cooling, inducing local heating or affecting the worth of control poisons.  

Resolving these effects in simulations has historically been very challenging. This is because neutronics simulation geometries are often built of simple shapes (cylinders, boxes) to make fuel assemblies, but these are not easily deformed – if they were deformed, the geometry construction becomes dramatically more complicated or would require using tet/hex meshes, which are both more approximate and computationally expensive generally.  

Recent work has proposed a proof-of-principle method which preserves the simplicity of reactor geometries while allowing deformations to be efficiently induced. Essentially a deformation field is applied across the geometry, and the transport of particles is carried out in the resulting distorted reference frame (where the shape appears undeformed and so particle movement is easy to evaluate) rather than in the original reference frame (where the shape is deformed and particle movement is difficult). This has been applied to Monte Carlo calculations, where individual neutrons are followed as they traverse a reactor and reproduced the effect of assembly ‘flowering’ accurately. However, this approach is currently preliminary, and there are many improvements required to make it production worthy.   

The first objective is to make the method compatible with ray tracing, which is commonly used in Monte Carlo methods but is currently limited with this new approach. This might use developments from numerical general relativity, which must trace paths warped by space time. The second objective is to evaluate how this approach translates to more approximate neutron transport algorithms which also rely on ray tracing. This is because a variety of calculation types are employed in nuclear analysis in order to have both methods used for reference calculations and those used for routine design and optimisation. One such promising approach is the random ray method, which generally allows geometric flexibility, but requires the aforementioned ray tracing developments to be compatible with deformation fields. The final aim is to apply this method to design calculations in both fission and fusion. These deformations are essentially not considered in fission calculations, while fusion simulates them only at great cost. This would involve coupling the more general neutron transport solver to fuel performance and/or thermos-mechanics solvers which would produce the deformation field. The results would be compared against current approaches in both speed and accuracy, potentially providing a new standard, less conservative approach for the analysis of nuclear systems. 

 PANDA is committed to widening access; we welcome applications from mid-career switchers and those returning from career breaks. Due to the fast-paced research area, part time study is not possible for this project.  

 Students will receive an enhanced, tax free, stipend of £26,000 per annum   

 This position is due to start in October 2026. This project includes a placement with Rolls Royce, located in Derby. 

Eligibility 

A first-class or 2:1 honours degree in a relevant STEM subject (e.g. Engineering, Physics, Chemistry, Materials Science, or Mathematics) is preferred. Equivalent industrial experience will also be considered during the eligibility assessment.   

Students are required to be able to achieve MoD Enhanced BPSS status, as a condition of ongoing enrolment and funding. A specific requirement of this project is that applicants must be able to achieve SC clearance.  

Due to conditions of funding, applicants must have Home Fees status and be eligible to work in the UK nuclear industry upon graduation.  

About PANDA 

This studentship is part of the PANDA (Programme for Accelerating Nuclear Development and Applications) Nuclear Doctoral Focal Award. PANDA is a consortium of researchers led by Bangor University and delivered with the universities of Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Derby and Manchester, Imperial College London alongside UK National Nuclear Laboratory. PANDA will train up to 100 doctoral researchers to help meet the UK’s future nuclear, clean energy and defence needs. It is funded by UKRI, the Ministry of Defence and the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero. 

Alongside your research activities you will undertake a rich programme of events including a training programme that includes Nuclear Science and Engineering; Methods for Innovation and the PANDA Professionalism Programme. Due to our close links with industry, there will be opportunities for extended placements with industrial partners, allowing a deeper understanding of what it is like to be a nuclear professional during your studies. 

This studentship covers full tuition fees at the home student rate and an enhanced tax-free stipend of £26,000. The studentship also comes with access to additional funding in the form of a research training support grant which is available to fund research activities including training events, conference attendance, and placements. Students are also supported by the UKRI family leave and pastoral provisions that apply to UKRI-funded studentships, including maternity, paternity, adoption and neonatal care leave. A PANDA hardship fund is also available.