A fully funded PhD studentship (funding for 3 years)
Applications are invited for a PhD studentship in the Radar Group, Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering at University College London (UCL), partly funded by EPSRC and the charity Find A Better Way www.findabetterway.org.uk
Description
The United Nations estimates that there are more than 110 million abandoned landmines in 70 countries and that it would currently take more than 1,100 years and cost more than 33 billion US Dollars to clear them. Not only do such weapons cause injury and death to innocent civilians, but also they deny the use of substantial areas of land for agricultural and other economic purposes, which may be critical in countries where the threshold of poverty is already low.
There is therefore a pressing need to develop new ways of detecting and clearing landmines. The aim of this research is to investigate novel configurations of ground penetrating radar (GPR). In particular, separating the transmitter and associated power supply (which may be bulky and heavy) from the receiver will revolutionise GPR demining techniques permitting new bistatic and multi-static configurations which can exploit differences between the radar signatures of landmines and clutter.
This project will carry out a set of measurements and simulations to characterise the bistatic signature of landmines. It will investigate and define optimal multistatic geometries to maximise detection and discrimination between landmines and other clutter objects.
Applicants should have a First class or Upper Second Class Honours degree (or equivalent qualification) in electronic engineering or a related field and ideally some experience of working in a research environment. He/she should have good knowledge and preferably project experience working in sensor systems, signal processing and computer modelling.
Nr of positions available : 1
Research Fields
Engineering
Career Stage
Early stage researcher or 0-4 yrs (Post graduate)
Research Profiles
First Stage Researcher (R1)
Benefits
The studentship is available for three years and covers tuition fees at the UK/EU rate, plus a stipend at c. £17,000 pa (tax free).
Due to funding restrictions the position is only open to UK/EU nationals or those with suitable residence criteria.
Comment/web site for additional job details
To make informal inquiries, please send a CV to Professor Hugh Griffiths (h.griffiths@ucl.ac.uk) who will also be happy to answer any questions about this project.
Applications: should be made using the UCL postgraduate study application form.
Start Date: January 2015 but flexible due to funding
Closing date: 30 November 2014