Diamond Science and Technology

This EPSRC-funded CDT brings together for the first time the range of UK expertise in diamond science and technology (DST) to train the next generation of researchers, industrialists and entrepreneurs enabling them to play important roles in the emergence of diamond as a high-tech material for a range of applications. You will benefit from a multidisciplinary training programme aimed at providing a solid and comprehensive platform for a career in DST.

The CDT brings together a consortium of eight universities – Warwick, Aberystwyth, Bristol, Cardiff, Imperial, Newcastle, Oxford and Strathclyde – and forty academic partners who provide the necessary complementary research excellence and breadth to enable transformative breakthroughs in DST. Over thirty companies and many international partners are also involved, advising and supporting the CDT and its students in a wide variety of ways. Oxford is offering PhD projects for this course based in four different departments - Materials, Physics, Chemistry and Engineering Science. 

In the first year you will undertake a purpose-designed MSc in Diamond Science and Technology at the University of Warwick. The course will be taught by academics from the partner universities and by industry experts. It will cover the fundamentals of the material science and technological applications – present and future – of diamond and related materials, from its use in abrasives and cutting tools to biomedical sensors, high power lasers, and quantum information systems.

The course begins with a pre-sessional week at Warwick during which social and networking sessions are organised for the cohort. The formal focus will also be to help chemists, physicists, material scientists, engineers and scientists from related disciplines, speak the same scientific language. This will be organised through workshops and small group interactions deliberately mixing different disciplines to discuss different basic concepts taught at undergraduate level.

During the two ten-week teaching terms (from the end of October to early December and then from mid-January to mid-March) the course is based around 11 two-week modules, nine of which are compulsory and two optional. Each module comprises a range of taught lectures, seminars, problems classes, workshops and laboratories. Teaching and assessment styles will be varied from module to module to best deliver and examine the training content. Lectures, seminars and workshops will be reinforced with a substantial practical or laboratory component. This will make use of the instrumentation and computational resources at Warwick, for example, state-of-the-art suites in magnetic resonance, electrochemical analysis, spectroscopy, electron microscopy, dedicated clean-rooms for the growth, characterisation and processing of new materials and next generation power electronics etc. The facilities will also be supplemented by the loan of specialised equipment from collaborators. The practical aspects of the modules will enable you to gain essential hands-on experience of a wide variety of techniques/instrumentation, eg CVD growth, laser processing, device fabrication, characterisation and instrumentation such as Raman, microscopy, XPS, data analysis and modelling.

Examination of the taught elements of the MSc will be by a mixture of continuous assessment of practical and class work, and written examinations which will take place in mid-April. From late April to early July and from mid-July to mid-September you will undertake two ten-week mini-projects at two different universities or industrial partners, which link to the theme of your chosen DPhil (PhD). The first mini-project will be examined by a poster presentation at the annual Diamond Conference, and the second by a written report. The chosen PhD programme will then commence in early October, subject to passing the MSc.

During the Oxford DPhil part of the CDT programme in years 2 to 4 there will be regular activities aimed at building the DST community, including seminars, away days and attendance at the annual Diamond Conference.

Other than these activities, the Oxford DPhil part of the CDT programme will primarily follow the standard three-year DPhil programme offered by the relevant department at Oxford. For further information on each course, please refer to the links in Group B (Non-CDT DPhils) under 'Multiple applications' below.

Applicants are normally expected to be predicted or have achieved a first-class or strong upper second-class undergraduate degree with honours (or equivalent international qualifications), as a minimum, in physics, chemistry, materials science, earth science, engineering or in an appropriate related discipline.

For applicants with a degree from the USA, the minimum GPA sought is 3.7 out of 4.0.

If you hold non-UK qualifications and wish to check how your qualifications match these requirements, you can contact the National Recognition Information Centre for the United Kingdom (UK NARIC).

No Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or GMAT scores are sought.

Other appropriate indicators will include:

• Official transcript(s)
• CV/résumé
• Statement of purpose/personal statement:500 words
• References/letters of recommendation:Three overall, of which at least two must be academic

Scholarships

• Global Education
• Hill Foundation Scholarships