{"id":1479,"date":"2024-09-11T08:52:20","date_gmt":"2024-09-11T08:52:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mechanicalecology.exeter.ac.uk\/?p=1479"},"modified":"2024-09-11T08:52:20","modified_gmt":"2024-09-11T08:52:20","slug":"fully-funded-phd-opportunity-apply-by-4th-october-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mechanicalecology.exeter.ac.uk\/?p=1479","title":{"rendered":"Fully funded PhD opportunity &#8211; apply by 4th October 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Controlling liquid flow on surfaces underpins diverse technologies for critical 21st Century applications that can help to optimize production processes, save resources, mitigate effects of climate change and transform medical care. Examples range from resource-efficient tool lubrication to fog water harvesting in coastal deserts or the precisely targeted delivery of drugs. Unfortunately, a lack of scientific understanding of the principal mechanisms of surface fluid transport currently hampers the design and deployment of optimal surfaces for the microscale control of liquid flow. This project will take inspiration from the super-wettable trapping surfaces of\u00a0carnivorous pitcher plants to design and manufacture bioinspired micropatterned surfaces (bio-metasurfaces)<br \/>\nfor directional fluid transport, optimized for different manufacturing techniques and materials.<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 720px;\" class=\"wp-video\"><video class=\"wp-video-shortcode\" id=\"video-1479-1\" width=\"720\" height=\"576\" preload=\"metadata\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"video\/mp4\" src=\"https:\/\/mechanicalecology.exeter.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Peristombefeuchtung.mp4?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/mechanicalecology.exeter.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Peristombefeuchtung.mp4\">https:\/\/mechanicalecology.exeter.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Peristombefeuchtung.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>We will take a three-step approach: 1) \u2013 Characterize the diversity of natural plant surfaces and quantify their capacity to guide and transport water. 2) \u2013 Develop synthetic surface replicas and artificial surfaces using inexpensive cleanroom fabrication techniques. We will prioritise simplified structural design to help us disentangle the contributions of surface chemistry and topography on wetting and water spreading. The results will allow us to identify the functional limits of water transport on pitcher plant-like surfaces. 3) \u2013 Optimize surface topography for fluid transport within the constraints of manufacturing techniques and materials. The culmination of the<br \/>\nPhD will be the realisation of bioinspired fluid transporting meta-surfaces and demonstration of liquid-flow control as proof of concept.<\/p>\n<p>Full project description <a href=\"https:\/\/www.exeter.ac.uk\/v8media\/recruitmentsites\/documents\/Bioinspired_micropatterned_metamaterials_for_directional_fluid_transport_(Dr._Ulrike_Bauer).pdf\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Application details <a href=\"https:\/\/www.exeter.ac.uk\/study\/pg-research\/funding\/phdfunding\/epsrc-dtp-studentships\/important_information_epsrcdtp\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Application deadline: midday 4 October 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Project start: January 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Interested students with a background in engineering or physics please <a href=\"https:\/\/mechanicalecology.exeter.ac.uk\/?page_id=115\">get in touch<\/a> to discuss the project in more detail.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Controlling liquid flow on surfaces underpins diverse technologies for critical 21st Century applications that can help to optimize production processes,&hellip; <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/mechanicalecology.exeter.ac.uk\/?p=1479\">Read more <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Fully funded PhD opportunity &#8211; apply by 4th October 2024<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mechanicalecology.exeter.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mechanicalecology.exeter.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mechanicalecology.exeter.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mechanicalecology.exeter.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mechanicalecology.exeter.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1479"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/mechanicalecology.exeter.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1479\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1491,"href":"https:\/\/mechanicalecology.exeter.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1479\/revisions\/1491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mechanicalecology.exeter.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mechanicalecology.exeter.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mechanicalecology.exeter.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}