Work and study with us

Anniversary Fellow - University of Birmingham - 102908

Closing date: 12 January 2025

In 2025, we will celebrate 125 years of University status by Royal Charter. One of the ways we are celebrating this 125th anniversary is by significantly investing in the future by appointing 100 new Anniversary Fellows.

Ranked in the top 100 universities globally, we are part of the Russell Group and a founding member of the Universitas 21 global network of research universities.

We are looking for diverse talent from across the world to help us make new discoveries and tackle global challenges. You can look forward to a sector leading package and relocation assistance, so you can make the vibrant city of Birmingham your new home.

Applications are welcome from candidates in the following disciplines. For more information on priority areas please visit the 125th Anniversary Fellows and Chairs website.

Anniversary Chair - University of Birmingham - 102904

Closing date: Our recruitment will remain open until 2025.

In 2025, we will celebrate 125 years of University status by Royal Charter. One of the ways we are celebrating this important milestone is by making a significant investment in our research and appointing 25 new Anniversary Chairs.

As a leader in your field, with a track record of exemplary research, this permanent appointment will offer you sustained and strategic focus on advancing your research.

We’re looking for diverse talent from across the world to help us make new discoveries and tackle global challenges. You will work with the brightest minds at the forefront of different subject areas to tackle the most pressing global challenges, and the opportunity to be mentored and supported by senior leaders at the University and beyond, and to collaborate with our strong networks of partners.

You will be critical in driving the excellence of our research to make an even greater difference to the world around us. Join us as we celebrate our 125th anniversary, and be part of our ambitious, exciting future.

Our inclusive and intellectually challenging education programmes are underpinned by cutting-edge knowledge and taught by leading researchers to encourage independent thinking and develop the next generation of leaders, innovators and problem-solvers. In this role you will contribute to teaching and learning, and management and administration.

PhD: Developing a multi-modal capsule for grading inflammation severity

Department: Engineering, Supervisor: Dr Gerard Cummins

Application Deadline: 1 February 2025

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action (MSCA) Doctoral Networks are joint research and training projects funded by the European Union. Funding is provided for doctoral candidates from both inside and outside Europe to carry out individual project work in a European country other than their own. The Intelli-Ingest MSCA Doctoral Networks is made up of 4 beneficiaries and 6 associated partners, all coordinated by the Biorobotics Institute of Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa, Italy.

This project will develop an ingestible electronic capsule capable of measuring the electrical impedance of surrounding intestinal tissue and imaging the mucosal surface. The capsule will process the sensing and imaging data to detect and grade the severity of inflammatory bowel disease using edge computing and machine learning. This work will be conducted in collaboration with Professor Dimitris Iakovidis of the University of Thessaly, Greece.

PhD: Printed ingestible sensors and systems for sustainability

Department: Engineering, Supervisor: Dr Gerard Cummins

Application Deadline: 1 February 2025

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action (MSCA) Doctoral Networks are joint research and training projects funded by the European Union. Funding is provided for doctoral candidates from both inside and outside Europe to carry out individual project work in a European country other than their own. The Intelli-Ingest MSCA Doctoral Networks is made up of 4 beneficiaries and 6 associated partners, all coordinated by the Biorobotics Institute of Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa, Italy.

This project involves addressing the issue of sustainability with ingestible devices. Ingestible devices are commonly constructed from embedded electronic systems encased in a rigid plastic shell. Typically, these are single-use medical devices that are flushed away after use, which has environmental implications. This project will investigate different manufacturing methods, primarily focusing on printing technologies, to create more sustainable approaches to ingestible devices with similar functionality. This will involve creating one or more proof-of-concept devices containing simple sensing modalities, some electronic processing, and active actuation.

PhD: Flexible triboelectric energy nanogenerators for sustainable ingestible devices

Department: Engineering, Supervisor: Dr Gerard Cummins

Application Deadline: 1 February 2025

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action (MSCA) Doctoral Networks are joint research and training projects funded by the European Union. Funding is provided for doctoral candidates from both inside and outside Europe to carry out individual project work in a European country other than their own. The Intelli-Ingest MSCA Doctoral Networks is made up of 4 beneficiaries and 6 associated partners, all coordinated by the Biorobotics Institute of Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa, Italy.

This project will investigate the potential of triboelectric energy harvesting as an alternative to single-use batteries for powering ingestible devices by intestinal contact forces generated during peristalsis. This work will inform the design of future low-powered electronic ingestibles and provide guidance on the relationship between device size, intestinal contact forces, and average power. In addition to sustainability benefits, removing the batteries from CE would enable smaller devices, reducing the risk of device retention (2% of users) and opening up ingestibles to a wider population. The energy harvesting system will be used to power a commercially available low-power electronic system.

PhD: Smart Switchable Sensors for On-demand Biosensing and Cell Therapy Monitoring

Department of Chemical Engineering, Supervisor: Professor Paula Mendes (The Mendes group)

Funding & Eligibility: Competition Funded / UK/EU Students

Application deadline: Applications accepted all year round

This interdisciplinary project aims to develop smart switchable biosensors for real-time monitoring of cell-secreted, or bioreactor supplemented, cytokine biomarkers. For the first time, we aim to combine this novel switchable technology with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductors (CMOS), enabling on-demand electrochemical biosensing on-chip. Conceptually different from traditional biosensors where the surface immobilised recognition elements act as passive receptors, we introduce nature inspired surfaces with the unique ability to actively manipulate single-domain antibodies ie. nanobodies, conferring antigen-nanobody binding control.

Informal enquiries can be directed to Professor Paula M Mendes.

PhD: Sustainable processes – reducing single use plastics in healthcare

Department of Chemical Engineering, Supervisor: Dr Anita Ghag

Funding & Eligibility: Competition Funded / UK/EU Students

Application deadline: Applications accepted all year round

This multidimensional project aims to look at the impact of sterilisation on medical plastic waste and work with a larger project team to develop technologies and processes which could eliminate single use plastics, and instead allow them to be used multiple times, not only reducing cost to the NHS but also reducing the environmental burden of plastic waste.

We are seeking a passionate PhD candidate to contribute to a highly translational project focused on assessing the impact of sterilisation on the usability of medical plastic waste and in turn looking at ways in which it could be assessed within healthcare settings. This project is part of a larger national project which aims to revolutionise the way in which medical plastic waste is handled in the future.

PhD: Development of Biocompatible 3D-Printed Artificial Blood Vessels through Multidimensional Approaches

Department of Chemical Engineering, Supervisor: Dr Anita Ghag

Funding & Eligibility: Competition Funded / UK/EU Students

Application deadline: Applications accepted all year round

We are seeking a passionate PhD candidate to contribute to a highly translational project focused on the development of biocompatible artificial blood vessels using advanced 3D printing technologies. This multidimensional research initiative aims to bridge the gap between synthetic materials and living tissues, creating new possibilities for patient-specific vascular grafts.

Biomedical Innovation MSc/Diploma/Certificate (1 year, full-time)

Application deadline: The deadline for international students (including EU) to apply is 7 May 2024. The deadline for UK students is 30 August 2024.

Delivered by the Centre for Systems Modelling and Quantitative Biomedicine (SMQB), the MSc Biomedical Innovation programme brings together talented students from a variety of backgrounds to focus on innovating new technologies that advance human health. Embedded within an exciting ecosystem spanning academia, hospitals and medical technology (MedTech) industry, we develop innovators and entrepreneurs who have a real impact on society.

Building on key strengths in data science, engineering, healthcare technologies, mathematical modelling and medicine, training is provided to students in identifying unmet medical needs, inventing new solutions and implementing them in healthcare environments. This programme is designed to enable participants to understand the needs of the healthcare sector and play an active role in the innovation of new health technologies to address these needs. Students develop the necessary skillset and benefit from training and mentorship to enable the innovation and adoption of new intelligent solutions. The programme is ideally suited for prospective careers in the MedTech and biotechnology sectors, healthcare, and business innovation for individuals with undergraduate experience in engineering and physical sciences, biomedical and clinical sciences and/or business and management.

Visit the Chemical Engineering PhD/Doctoral research degrees page for more opportunities.

The School of Chemical Engineering is dedicated to raising awareness of chemical engineering amongst young people by working closely with schools, colleges, teachers and career advisors.

Visit the Chemical Engineering outreach page for more information.

For Work Experience placements, email: hti@contacts.bham.ac.uk.