PhD Studentship in Aeronautics: Generative Neural-Operator Surrogates for Real-Time Multiphysics Design (AE0094)

Start Date:

Between 1 August 2027 and 1 July 2028

Application Deadline:

23.59 on 4 January 2027 (UK time)

Introduction: 

This PhD addresses a central bottleneck in engineering design: generating a candidate geometry is fast, but evaluating its physical performance is not. Neural operators can predict multiphysics fields in milliseconds once trained, and generative models can propose new geometries in seconds. Yet these two capabilities are rarely combined into a single, closed-loop system. Doing so would let a designer generate, evaluate and refine a component in real time, rather than waiting on costly simulation cycles. This has direct relevance to thermal management, electromagnetic components and multifunctional lightweight parts.

You will train neural-operator surrogates — Fourier Neural Operator and DeepONet-style architectures — on thermal and electromagnetic performance data, for example, from multifunctional metastructures. You will then embed these operators directly inside a conditional diffusion or transformer-based generator, so physics feedback becomes differentiable and near-instantaneous during generation, rather than computed afterwards. You will embed governing equation constraints as physics losses within the generative architecture, develop conditioning schemes letting users specify target performance directly, and validate designs computationally. You will quantify the trade-off between operator fidelity and generative design quality. You will test whether a single joint multiphysics operator (thermal and electromagnetic together) can replace two separate surrogates without losing accuracy. You will build towards an interactive design-exploration tool with sub-second feedback, benchmarking throughout against conventional solver-in-the-loop generative pipelines to prove where your closed-loop approach genuinely wins. You will work across both computational validation and, where feasible, experimental testing via 3D-printed prototypes, keeping the work tied to physically realisable structures rather than a purely theoretical exercise.

You will be supervised by Dr Ajit Panesar and Prof. Rob Hewson, whose complementary expertise spans generative design, engineering optimisation, structural metamaterials and scientific ML, and you'll be working alongside a talented group of researchers in a dynamic, intellectually stimulating environment.

Supervisors: 

Dr Ajit Panesar and Prof. Rob Hewson

Duration:

3.5 years

Funding:

Full coverage of tuition fees and an annual tax-free stipend of £23,805 for Home, EU and International students. Find out more about fee status on our Fees and Funding webpages.

Eligibility: 

Due to the competitive nature of our studentships, candidates will be expected to achieve/have achieved a First class honours MEng/MSci or higher degree (or international equivalent) in: Aeronautics or Mechanical Engineering

How to apply

Submit your application via our Apply webpages - you will need to upload the following:

• CV
• personal statement
• transcripts
• contact details for two references

When applying, you will need to complete the following fields:

• Search course/Programme: Aeronautics Research (PhD)
• Research Group: Aero
• Research Topic: Please use reference AE0094
• Research Supervisor: Dr Ajit Panesar and Prof. Rob Hewson
• Entry term: Autumn 2027/8 or Spring 2027/8 

You can find out more general guidance on how to apply on our Admissions webpages.

Applying to two projects

You can apply for a maximum of two PhD projects in any academic year – this includes PhD projects in other departments at Imperial and the Doctoral Programme in Sustainable Aviation (DPSA) within our Brahmal Vasudevan Institute for Sustainable Aviation.

If you are submitting two applications for different PhD Studentships in the same academic year, you will need to select different entry terms – one application must be for the entry term Autumn 2027/8 and one application must be for the entry term Spring 2027/8. If you are successful in receiving an offer, we can amend the entry term of the relevant PhD Studentship.

References

You will need to provide the contact details of two referees – we will then contact them directly to request the references after you have submitted your application. Find out more about the importance of references and how to check the status of your references on our application references webpage.

It is your responsibility to ensure that your referees respond to any reference requests. To ensure we do not delay the admissions process for our applicants, any incomplete applications without references by 23.59 on 5 February 2027 (UK time) will be rejected. 

Contact

For more information about this specific PhD project, please contact: Dr Ajit Panesar

For questions about the application process, please first read our Frequently Asked Questions. If your question has not been answered, please email the PhD Administrator (Admissions)

Frequently Asked Questions

 You can find answers to common application questions on our Frequently Asked Questions webpage.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:

Imperial is committed to equality and valuing diversity. We are an Athena SWAN Silver Award winner, a Stonewall Diversity Champion, a Disability Confident Employer and are working in partnership with GIRES to promote respect for trans people.