Please note that I do not generally respond to unsolicited emails that are obviously mass mailings with generic subject matter. If you would like to work with me, I do encourage you to contact me, but please don't be upset if you receive a slower response than you had hoped (This is why.)

Undergraduate Students

If you are currently completing your A-levels (or their equivalent) and are interested in coming to Oxford for an undergraduate physics course, you will need to apply for admission. This is a fairly involved procedure, described in detail here.

If you are already at Oxford and are considering condensed matter theory as a possible direction for further study, I am happy to discuss this with you. In applying to graduate degree programs, particularly in the United States, it is very desirable (and in some cases, practically essential) to show some sort of research experience beyond a strong performance in taught courses. I typically work on a range of sub-topics within condensed matter, so it might well be possible to find an interesting undergraduate research project for you to pursue, e.g. during your vacation. Programming skills and/or familiarity with numerical software packages (such as MATLAB or Mathematica) is always useful. The primary goal of an undergraduate project is for you to learn something new and to have fun in doing so!

Graduate Students

I usually plan on accepting one student per year, but this will depend on available funding. It is possible that I will take on one or more D. Phil student to start at Oxford in Michaelmas Term (i.e., October) 2023.

How to Apply: Deadlines for application are in January and you can apply as described here. We invite many candidates from the UK to interview at Oxford sometime in February. If you are not from the UK, don't worry, apply the same way and we will still consider your application. We may ask to interview you by skype or phone. As many people know, if you are not from the UK, most British universities will have problems funding you. Oxford's intended policy is that if you are a good candidate, and we make you an offer, we will find a way to fund you. However, if you come with your own money (grants or fellowships of some sort) that often makes it easier for us to accept you.

Before applying, it would be useful for you to look over my research description and recent papers to get a sense of my current interests. While much of my research involves analytical, 'pencil and paper' theory, I do a modest amount of numerical work as well, so it's useful if the thought of writing the odd program doesn't faze you; stronger numerical background and experience is a positive asset that you should clearly mention in an application. A sound knowledge of quantum mechanics, thermodynamics and statistical mechanics is essential; knowing some advanced topics such as field theory or numerical methods is a useful bonus. Beyond that, I have a reading list of papers and topics that I encourage students to be familiar with (at least in part) before they graduate, whatever their specific thesis project. I am also open to working in new directions initiated by a student, but that will demand a concomitantly higher degree of independence on their part.

Please note that in contrast to many of my colleagues in the UK, I do not "offer PhD projects". It is my view that a PhD is a personalized education, and the specific topic(s) should be chosen by the student after some immersion in the field. So, you'd get a better sense of the sorts of things you might end up working on with me by looking over my recent publications (i.e., within the past two years or so). Research in condensed matter is pretty fast moving and I like to stay reasonably current, which means that projects much older than these might not be representative of the state of the field at the present time.

Postdocs

The Oxford CMT group tends to hire in the winter (Jan-April). Vacancies will be advertised here.

There are many other options for how to get funds to come to Oxford as a postdoc. For example, there is the prestigious All-Souls Postdoctoral Fellowship , the Glasstone Fellowship, the UK national Newton Fellowships, EPSRC Fellowships , and so forth. Fellowships that require an Oxford sponsorship often have very early internal shortlisting deadlines in order to secure the required Departmental and/or University support, so you are advised to apply early and contact a sponsoring faculty member before you do so.

Sometimes the Oxford colleges have Junior Research Fellowships available as well (look here for announcements). NOTE: Some of these JRF positions are not enough money to live on and are meant to supplement other fellowships. There may also be fellowships available from your home country.

In all cases, coming here as a postdoc must be approved by our entire group so make sure you send an official application or contact us.