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Currently the following studentships are available:
At present, 95% of all potential new drug compounds cannot be directly administered as a pharmaceutical due to poor biocompatibility. This can be overcome by encapsulating the compounds in nanoparticles, which can also act as depositories for controlled drug release and can actively target specific sites within the body. The mechanisms by which nanoparticles travel through, interact with, and modify tissues and how this relates to the improved drug performance are still unclear. Answering these questions is currently hindered by the lack of an imaging modality to visualise such small particles without the using contrast agents. This project aims to develop a novel type of label-free optical microscopy, Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Scattering (CARS) for performing such measurements.
Applicants should have (or be about to receive) an honours degree (at least 2.1 or equivalent) in Physics, or other relevant discipline. Experience in the following areas is desirable: working with ultra-fast systems, optical spectroscopy, digital signal processing, and computer programming.
For more details please contact: Dr Julian Moger or visit http://newton.ex.ac.uk/research/biomedical/multiphoton/.
Applications should include a CV, publications list, contact details for two professional referees, and should be sent to Dr Julian Moger, School of Physics, University of Exeter, Exeter, EX4 4QL
The admission process for PhD studentships is detailed here.
It is well known that weak optical responses can be enhanced by the strong local electric fields associated with surface plasmon resonances of metallic nanostructures. Molecules can be tethered to nanostructured metallic surface where local fields are several orders of magnitude higher than the driving field. This results in signal enhancements of several orders of magnitude. In principle, it is possible to obtain even higher signal gain by surface enhancement of a non-linear process, since signals scale non-linearly with the intensity of the local electromagnetic field. Several early publications report enhancement of optical nonlinearities at metallic surfaces, by factors up to 6 orders of magnitude. However, it is as yet unclear whether it is feasible to harness these field enhancements to help distinguish weak molecular signals, as is often then goal for biological applications. We propose to investigate and optimize the non-linear enhancement of metallic structures for such applications. The project will require two lines of investigation: (1) development of novel detection schemes to heighten discrimination of molecular signals over the metallic response. (2) A comprehensive and methodical investigation into how the non-linear response of metallic nanostructures can be altered by geometric factors, exploring high Q structures such as ring resonators which can exhibit high local-fd enhancements outside the metal.
Applicants should have (or be about to receive) an honours degree (at least 2.1 or equivalent) in Physics, or other relevant discipline. Experience in the following areas is desirable: working with ultra-fast systems, optical spectroscopy, digital signal processing, and computer programming.
For more details please contact: Dr Julian Moger
Applications should include a CV, publications list, contact details for two professional referees, and should be sent to Dr Julian Moger, School of Physics, University of Exeter, Exeter, EX4 4QL
The admission process for PhD studentships is detailed here.
For more details please contact: Dr Peter Petrov
Applications should include a CV, publications list, contact details for two professional referees, and should be sent to Dr Peter Petrov, School of Physics, University of Exeter, Exeter, EX4 4QL
The admission process for PhD studentships is detailed here.
This work follows on from two successful EU-funded collaborations to develop a multimodal computer interface for the display of virtual objects. The Exeter contribution to those projects was a prototype system to present virtual surface texture to the skin, by means of a touch stimulator with multiple contactors on the fingertip. The virtual object is described in software and active exploration by the user generates the appropriate touch stimuli to represent encounters with virtual objects. The proposed project is intended to develop this system, in terms of both hardware and software, with the intention of producing realistic virtual surfaces.
For more details please contact: Dr Ian Summers or visit http://newton.ex.ac.uk/research/biomedical/tactile/.
Applications should include a CV, publications list, contact details for two professional referees, and should be sent to Dr Ian Summers, School of Physics, University of Exeter, Exeter, EX4 4QL
The admission process for PhD studentships is detailed here.
