PhD Studentship in Aeronautics: Machine learning-based control of reacting flow extreme events (AE0092)

Start Date:

Between 1 August 2027 and 1 July 2028

Application Deadline:

23.59 on 4 January 2027 (UK time)

Introduction: 

The development of sustainable propulsion systems, based on hydrogen or sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs), is increasing the risk of extreme events occurring in these. These are rare events where the flow in the combustor suddenly takes extreme states far, potentially with grave consequences. Examples are flashback in hydrogen or thermoacoustic instabilities triggered by the varying SAFs properties. The safe and reliable operation of these future sustainable propulsion systems thus requires the ability to anticipate their occurrence through measurable precursors and the deployment of real-time mitigation based on those precursors.

Traditional methods have generally been unable to tackle this due to the turbulent nature of the underlying flows and the complex multiscale/multiphysics nonlinear interactions at the origin of such extreme events. Recent advances in differentiable solver and machine learning offer a pathway to enable such their mitigation and control.

In this project, you will develop a framework for the control of reacting flow extreme events that combines a differentiable reacting flow solver and a machine learning-based controller. The differentiable solver will provide short-term state dependency used by machine learning-based controller to obtain an optimal mitigation control preventing the reacting flow extreme event. This will be applied across various reacting flow applications, leveraging novel reacting flow actuators such spray water injection or electrically-driven fuel droplet control.

Research Group: You will join a research group on the European project CONTEXT, at the intersection of scientific machine learning and fluid dynamics, under the supervision of Dr. Anh Khoa Doan. You will also have the opportunity to interact with experts in turbulence and machine learning across the department, such as Prof. Luca Magri. Dr. George Rigas or Dr. Andrea Novoa.

Learning opportunities: You will develop expertise in reacting flow physics, machine learning for fluids and control, and high-fidelity simulations. You will have the opportunity of using cutting-edge facilities such as Imperial College HPC facilities.

Professional Development: You will have access to engaging professional development workshops in areas such as research communication, computing and data science, and professional progression through our Early Career Researcher Institute, and will have the opportunity to participate to international conferences.

Supervisors: 

Dr. Nguyen Anh Khoa Doan

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: Aeronautical/Mechanical Engineering, Applied Mathematics, Computer/Data Science, or Applied or Computational Physics

We are looking for students with experience in: Fluid Mechanics, Turbulence, CFD, Machine Learning, Reacting Flows

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 number AE0092
• Research Supervisor: Dr. Nguyen Anh Khoa Doan 
• 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. Nguyen Anh Khoa Doan

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.