PhD Opportunities and Funding

PhD opportunities
Graduates of our PhD programmes are active with industrial firms, universities and research establishments, not only within the aerospace sector, but in fields as diverse as deep-sea oil rigs, atomic reactors, submarine and ship design, bridge research, racing car and engine research, atmospheric pollution, and in many other aspects of industrial aerodynamics, structural analysis and materials.
Find out how to apply for a research programme.
Highly qualified prospective PhD students are also encouraged to obtain their own PhD scholarship. Opportunities for this can be found on the postgraduate scholarship webpage (note that most of these are highly competitive).
Prospective students should contact relevant academic staff to agree on a suitable project if interested in this option.
Funded PhD opportunities
- Title: Digital Twin for Transformative Air Vehicle with IoT (internet of thing) sensors (Ref AE0029)
Supervisor: Dr Zahra Sharif Khodaei
Deadline: 6th March 2023
Ref: AE0029 - Title: PhD Studentship in Experimental Fluid Mechanics (AE0027)
AE0027
Supervisor: Dr Oliver Buxton
Deadline: 22nd Feb 2023
Ref: AE0027 - Title: An Investigation into future composite wing constructions for large civil aircraft (AE0026)
AE0026
Supervisor: Professor Lorenzo Iannucci
Deadline: Until filled
Ref: AE0026 - Title: Design, manufacturing and characterisation of sustainable flexible packaging films (AE0025)
AE0025
Supervisor: Professor Koonyang Lee
Deadline: 8th December 2022
Ref: AE0025 - Title: PhD Studentship in Optimization and control of adaptive aerospace structures using machine learning
AE0024v2
Supervisor: Dr Urban Fasel
Deadline: Until filled
Ref: AE0024v2 - Title: PhD students in the Structural Meta-Materials Group
AE0023
Supervisor: Dr Rob Hewson and Dr Matthew Santer
Deadline: Until filled
Ref: AE0023
Title: Computational Aeroelasticity - Variable Sweep Morphing Wingtip
AE0015v2
Supervisor: Professor Rafael Palacios
Deadline: Until filled
Ref: AE015v2
- Title: Nanocarbon reinforced lightweight metal composites
AE0013
Supervisor: Dr Qianqian LI
Deadline: Until filled (originally 15th November 2021)
Ref: AE0013
Fees, Funding and Scholarships
The amount of funding you will need to fund a PhD will vary according to your fee status (UK, EU or overseas). Please see Imperial College's student fees and funding pages for information on fees, living costs and College-administered scholarships.
Students in the department are funded from a variety of sources, including UK Research Councils, industry, College scholarships and departmental funding.
For scholarships administered from either the College or our Department, any applicant is automatically considered for any scholarships they are eligible for, unless stated otherwise by the applicant and unless it is the President’s PhD Scholarship. Special procedures apply when applying for the President’s PhD Scholarship.
There are many funding options available for students, including, but not limited to the below: