¸£Àû×ÅƬ

Ultrafast science is transforming how we see the world. The 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics recognised the power of femtosecond and attosecond X-ray pulses—bursts of light so short they can capture electrons in motion. These pulses are revolutionising fields from molecular physics to biomedical imaging.

In this PhD, you will help design and develop compact, table-top X-ray sources based on high-harmonic generation, where intense femtosecond fibre lasers interact with gases to produce bright, coherent X-ray radiation.

Your role will focus on computer simulations to understand and optimise every stage of this process:

• propagation of ultrashort, high-intensity laser pulses through gases
• ionisation and plasma formation
• laser–plasma interactions
• X-ray emission through atomic recombination

Your simulations will guide experiments carried out in our state-of-the-art labs at the University of Southampton and the Rosalind Franklin Institute at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory.

You will work with models ranging from intuitive semiclassical approaches to large-scale supercomputer simulations, gaining both theoretical insight and practical computational skills.

You will be part of a supportive, collaborative team of students, postdocs, and senior researchers with expertise spanning physics, chemistry, and engineering.

Along the way, you will develop highly transferable skills in nonlinear optics, laser physics, and high-performance computing—preparing you for a career at the forefront of science and technology.

If you are excited by lasers, light–matter interactions, computer modelling, and the challenge of pushing physics into new regimes, we would love to hear from you.