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Start Date:

Between 1 August 2027 and 1 July 2028

Application Deadline:

23.59 on 4 January 2027 (UK time)

Introduction: 

Wind turbines clustered together for reasons relating to land availability, onwards power transmission to the grid, and maintenance scheduling amongst others. Unfortunately, wind-turbine clustering is aerodynamically disadvantageous. Each turbine produces a turbulent wake that interacts with downstream turbines to reduce the efficiency of power generation and accelerate the accumulation of fatigue damage. Improved understanding of the spreading, and propagation of wind-turbine wakes is therefore essential to design more efficient wind farms.

Wakes increase in size with distance downstream, similarly to a plume of smoke expanding as it leave a chimney. The processes by which turbulent flows expand are, collectively, known as entrainment. Wind-turbine wakes are complex flows; they involve a background that is already turbulent (due to atmospheric processes) and contain multiple coherent motions such as the blade-tip vortices. All of these features complicate our understanding entrainment into wind-turbine wakes.

In this PhD you will perform cutting edge experiments to directly observe entrainment, and how the wake’s coherent motions affect these processes, in a laboratory-scale wind-turbine wake from a Lagrangian perspective (i.e. one that moves with the flow), by undertaking state-of-the-art particle tracking velocimetry (PTV) measurements. Our research group has conducted groundbreaking research in recent years on turbulent entrainment and this is the next, exciting step in the journey.

A key feature of this PhD project is that it will run in parallel to a project running at DTU (in Copenhagen) aiming to produce reduced-order models of wind-turbine wakes accounting for the coherent motions and entrainment that you will study. This project will therefore grant you the opportunity to collaborate with one of Europe’s leading research groups in wind energy as well as travel between London and Copenhagen. You will also:

• gain hands-on experience of PTV and running experiments in a water facility that is well optimised for entrainment measurements, 
• work in a research group that has taken a leading role in studying turbulent entrainment,
• be expected to write cutting-edge papers and present your findings at international conferences,
• gain access to º£½ÇÉçÇø’s network for professional development, helping you to make future career decisions.

Supervisors: 

Duration:

3.5 years

Funding:

Full coverage of tuition fees and an annual tax-free stipend of £23,805 for Home, EU and International students. Find out more about fee status on our Fees and Funding webpages.

Eligibility: 

Due to the competitive nature of our studentships, candidates will be expected to achieve/have achieved a First class honours MEng/MSci or higher degree (or international equivalent) in:  Aeronautical, Mechanical Engineering; Mathematics or Physics.

Students with a strong motivation, the ability to think and work independently, and a passion for fluid mechanics are welcome to apply. Previous experience with experimental fluid mechanics is desirable but not essential, a willingness and aptitude to learn new things is a far more important quality.

How to apply

Submit your application via our Apply webpages - you will need to upload the following:

• CV
• personal statement
• transcripts
• contact details for two references

When applying, you will need to complete the following fields:

• Search course/Programme: Aeronautics Research (PhD)
• Research Group: Aero
• Research Topic: Please use reference number AE0091
• Research Supervisor:  Prof. Oliver Buxton
• Entry term: Autumn 2027/8 or Spring 2027/8 

You can find out more general guidance on how to apply on our Admissions webpages.

Applying to two projects

You can apply for a maximum of two PhD projects in any academic year – this includes PhD projects in other departments at Imperiaand the Doctoral Programme in Sustainable Aviation (DPSA) within our Brahmal Vasudevan Institute for Sustainable Aviation.

If you are submitting two applications for different PhD Studentships in the same academic year, you will need to select different entry terms – one application must be for the entry term Autumn 2027/8 and one application must be for the entry term Spring 2027/8. If you are successful in receiving an offer, we can amend the entry term of the relevant PhD Studentship.

References

You will need to provide the contact details of two referees – we will then contact them directly to request the references after you have submitted your application. Find out more about the importance of references and how to check the status of your references on our application references webpage.

It is your responsibility to ensure that your referees respond to any reference requests. To ensure we do not delay the admissions process for our applicants, any incomplete applications without references by 23.59 on 5 February 2027 (UK time) will be rejected. 

Contact

For more information about this specific PhD project, please contact: Prof. Oliver Buxton

For questions about the application process, please first read our Frequently Asked Questions. If your question has not been answered, please email the PhD Administrator (Admissions)

Frequently Asked Questions

 You can find answers to common application questions on our Frequently Asked Questions webpage.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:

Imperiais committed to equality and valuing diversity. We are an Athena SWAN Silver Award winner, a Stonewall Diversity Champion, a Disability Confident Employer and are working in partnership with GIRES to promote respect for trans people.