New and Sustainable Photovoltaics

This course looks to train future leaders in advanced photovoltaics (PV) for research and industry with a view to finding new approaches, including nanotechnology, low temperature processing and photon engineering coupled with enhancements to emerging thin film and conventional PV device technology.

Students will be well trained in all aspects of physics, engineering, material science with a focus on photovoltaics and optoelectronics. This training will provide a springboard for a career in academia and industrial research organisations and the financial sector to name a few.

This DPhil is a research-based four-year course. You will be supervised throughout the entire duration of the programme and join the research group of your supervisor. There will usually be opportunity to attend conferences or conduct experiments in other institutions inside or outside the UK.

During the first year you will be required to attend a comprehensive instruction course about all the mainstream PV technologies and underlying science.

You will be assigned to a research group: work on your original research project will start immediately and continue for the duration of your DPhil. You will attend eight residential taught courses in PV during the first year. The course will run from October to March and be delivered in two-week blocks hosted by each of the participating universities. This involves a mixture of lectures, group exercises, master classes and industrial lectures/visits. You will therefore get the benefit of the different facilities, expertise and approaches of the leading PV groups in the UK.

After the first term of the second year, you are expected to submit a report on your research and to defend it in an interview with the Graduate Studies Panel and a specialist reader. The Panel will determine whether you can transfer status from Probationer Research Student to DPhil Student.

In the following years you will concentrate on your research work.

Towards the end of the second year you will present a poster to the Department of Physics sub-department of condensed matter physics. Discussion of your research project with panel members at the poster session will contribute to your decision whether to confirm your status as DPhil student.

At the end of the third year you are expected to give a talk to the sub-department and to answer questions following the presentation.

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 or engineering. The degree must be at the level of MPhys, MSc, MSci or equivalent. Bachelor's degrees with a minimum of four years standard duration also satisfy the entry requirements. 

For applicants with a degree from the USA, the minimum GPA sought is 3.0 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).

In exceptional cases professional or research experience might be accepted as a substitute for a master's degree. 

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

• Official transcript(s)
• CV/résumé
• Statement of purpose/personal statement:Up to 500 words
• References/letters of recommendation:Three overall, generally academic

ENGLISH LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS

Higher level

• Global Education
• Hill Foundation Scholarships