Postgraduate Studentship: Mathematical Modelling of Membrane Operation

University of Oxford

Vacancy Reference:  BK/12/019
Applications are invited for a CASE studentship, funded by EPSRC and the Pall Corporation, to work on “Mathematical Modelling of Membrane Operation” under the supervision of Dr Ian Griffiths and Professor Colin Please. This D.Phil. studentship will start on 1 October 2013, and will be based at the Oxford Centre for Industrial and Applied Mathematics. The studentship includes a standard stipend (currently £13,590 per annum), CASE student enhancement (£3,000 per annum), and College and University fees at the UK/EU rate. This studentship is open to all EU citizens, but those from outside the UK are eligible for a fees-only award. This studentship is attached to Mansfield College.
Filtration and separation using membranes are lucrative industrial businesses, spanning natural, industrial and biological applications, such as water filtration, protein separation for gene therapies, blood fractionation and tissue engineering bioreactors. In order to maximize the capability and efficiency of any membrane filtration process, it is essential to understand and exploit the relationship between the controllable quantities of the system (such as the wall permeability) and the resulting particle separation achieved. Methods for determining cost-effective operating regimes of membrane filtration devices are currently heavily reliant on experimental observations. However, the inherent complexity present in such systems renders the use of experiments by themselves as insufficient to determine the optimal operating strategy. In this project, we will use a combination of mathematical modelling, asymptotic analysis, PDE methods and scientific computation to provide guidance into design criteria of membrane filtration devices and lead to their effective operation.
The student will spend time at the Pall Centres of Excellence in New York, U.S., and Portsmouth., U.K., during which time they will design experiments to validate the theories developed in Oxford. The student will also visit the academic partner, Princeton University's Complex Fluids Group, where they will interact with experimentalists with research expertise in the field of microfluidics and filtration and separation science.
Applications should be made online at www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/postgraduate_courses and should include a CV, covering letter, three references and a transcript of your undergraduate degree. If you are unable to apply online, you can request a paper form from https://uni-of-oxford.custhelp.com/app/ask/.
Applications must arrive by noon on Tuesday 30 April 2013. Please quote the correct reference BK/12/019 in your covering letter. References can also be sent directly to Sandy Patel