PhD Studentship: Bioinspired fluidic metamaterials for passive directional water transport
University of Exeter
Metamaterials use engineered structures to achieve functionality that the constituent materials alone cannot provide. This project explores novel bioinspired fluidic metamaterials which use hierarchical surface patterns inspired by carnivorous plants to control the speed and direction of water transport. Precision control of wetting and liquid flow on surfaces has the potential to transform medical care, save resources, mitigate the effects of climate change and optimise production processes. Engineered surfaces...
Metamaterials use engineered structures to achieve functionality that the constituent materials alone cannot provide. This project explores novel bioinspired fluidic metamaterials which use hierarchical surface patterns inspired by carnivorous plants to control the speed and direction of water transport. Precision control of wetting and liquid flow on surfaces has the potential to transform medical care, save resources, mitigate the effects of climate change and optimise production processes. Engineered surfaces...
Opportunity details
Metamaterials use engineered structures to achieve functionality that the constituent materials alone cannot provide. This project explores novel bioinspired fluidic metamaterials which use hierarchical surface patterns inspired by carnivorous plants to control the speed and direction of water transport. Precision control of wetting and liquid flow on surfaces has the potential to transform medical care, save resources, mitigate the effects of climate change and optimise production processes. Engineered surfaces with defined fluid transport properties can revolutionise healthcare applications such as microfluidic point-of-care diagnostics, automated drug delivery, or more efficient wound drainage. Capturing and directing water is essential for fog water harvesting in arid regions. Passive micro-irrigation systems save water and energy while increasing crop yields. Passive fluid transport surfaces can also improve the sustainability of manufacturing processes by optimising the supply of lubricants and extending the lifetime of moving parts. Insect-eating pitcher plants have hydrophilic trapping surfaces with extraordinary capacity to transport and direct water. The collar-shaped rim of their pitfall traps features ridges and grooves on two distinct length scales, with the microscale grooves further intersected by acute angled, overhanging arches. This is a natural metasurface: the anisotropic hierarchical microtopography makes water spread against gravity within milliseconds and form a thin film on which insects aquaplane to their death. However, no study to-date has systematically investigated how the microtopographical features interact with each other and with the intrinsic hydrophilicity of the surface to determine wetting and fluid flow. Without this understandin...
Eligibility
The student will join a culturally diverse, interdisciplinary lab with two decades of experience studying specialised plant surfaces and carnivorous plant traps, supported by two co supervisors with backgrounds in Physics (Calum Williams, Exeter Centre for Metamaterial Research and Innovation) and Engineering (Halim Kusumaatmaja, Institute for Multiscale Thermofluids, University of Edinburgh). They will develop a diverse skillset including surface design, microfabrication and characterisation, experimental design and execution, data analysis, modelling, communication and teamwork.
Requirements
The student will join a culturally diverse, interdisciplinary lab with two decades of experience studying specialised plant surfaces and carnivorous plant traps, supported by two co supervisors with backgrounds in Physics (Calum Williams, Exeter Centre for Metamaterial Research and Innovation) and Engineering (Halim Kusumaatmaja, Institute for Multiscale Thermofluids, University of Edinburgh). They will develop a diverse skillset including surface design, microfabrication and characterisation, experimental design and execution, data analysis, modelling, communication and teamwork.
Funding and benefits
Funding eligibility: UK Students, EU Students, International Students. Funding amount: The studentship will provide funding of fees and a stipend of £21,805 per annum for 2026/7.
How to apply
Engineered surfaces with defined fluid transport properties can revolutionise healthcare applications such as microfluidic point-of-care diagnostics, automated drug delivery, or more efficient wound drainage. The data generated from this PhD will provide the foundation for the development of computational models that can accurately predict fluid behaviour on hierarchically ridged surfaces, ultimately the first step towards evidence-based precision design of bioinspired metasurfaces with application-optimised fluid transport properties.
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Recorded source check: October 27, 2026. A stored check date does not guarantee that every field is complete or still current. Compare the provider, eligibility, funding and deadline with the live official call before applying.
Benefits
Funding eligibility: UK Students, EU Students, International Students. Funding amount: The studentship will provide funding of fees and a stipend of £21,805 per annum for 2026/7.
Eligibility summary
The student will join a culturally diverse, interdisciplinary lab with two decades of experience studying specialised plant surfaces and carnivorous plant traps, supported by two co supervisors with backgrounds in Physics (Calum Williams, Exeter Centre for Metamaterial Research and Innovation) and Engineering (Halim Kusumaatmaja, Institute for Multiscale Thermofluids, University of Edinburgh). They will develop a diverse skillset including surface design, microfabrication and characterisation, experimental design and execution, data analysis, modelling, communication and teamwork.
Requirements
The student will join a culturally diverse, interdisciplinary lab with two decades of experience studying specialised plant surfaces and carnivorous plant traps, supported by two co supervisors with backgrounds in Physics (Calum Williams, Exeter Centre for Metamaterial Research and Innovation) and Engineering (Halim Kusumaatmaja, Institute for Multiscale Thermofluids, University of Edinburgh). They will develop a diverse skillset including surface design, microfabrication and characterisation, experimental design and execution, data analysis, modelling, communication and teamwork.
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