PhD Studies
Obtaining a doctorate degree in University of Tartu is regulated by two university bylaws:
the Procedure for Awarding Doctorates (PAD) and
the Procedure for Publication of Graduation Theses and Dissertations (PPGTD).
More tips to the current students are given at the university doctoral studies page. Multiple details relevant for the progress review of PhD students are explained in the e-learning course Doktoritöö (LOFY.00.006). Students who show sufficient progress during their studies are eligible for a doctoral allowance and university performance stipend.
The principles and dates for enrolling PhD students are described at the Faculty of Science and Technology page.
Many PhD students in the institute are involved in the graduate school „Functional materials and technologies“.
PhD projects 2021
Research groups at the Institute of Physics, University of Tartu (IPUT) are looking for eligible candidates to begin PhD research on the following topics:
- Computational imaging
Computational imaging is a rapidly evolving subfield of photonics, which has applications in microscopy, medicine, robotics, remote sensing and astronomy. The range of applications increases with advances in sensor technology, computer algorithms and on-board computing capacity. Computational imaging uses computational methods to enhance the image quality, resolution or add spatial dimension to the image beyond the physical or technical limits of the imaging system. By nature, the research is interdisciplinary, and embraces the extensive competence of the University of Tartu in optics, spectroscopy, mathematics, computer science and their applications. The field of computational imaging falls under photonics – an application-oriented science of light, which belongs to the Key Enabling Technologies of the European Commission. The position will be associated with the Computational Imaging and Processing with High Resolution project (CIPHR).
Please contact Dr. Heli Valtna (heli.valtna [ät] ut.ee).
- Microstructure optimization of atomic layer deposited chromium containing ternary compound thin films aimed for fabrication of 3D metamaterials
This doctoral project is aimed at extention of the present binary compound atomic layer deposition (ALD) processes of chromium containing materials to a new type of process where three different chemical elements are involved. This work will start from optimization of precursor types and process parameters for growing thin films with composition of (Cr,Me)2O3, (Me =Zr, Ti, Al) by ALD. The project will continue with the enhancement of physical properties (mechanical, electrical, magnetic) of these materials, and be finalized by investigating of a novel, four-stage templating method, instead of the present three-stage method, for the fabrication of nanoarchitectured metamaterials in a new form of cellular hollow beam nano-lattices that are expected to show superior properties compared to those that have been made previously. The control over the physical properties of ternary materials is to be achieved by tailoring the microstructure of the material through solid-solution, strain and grain boundary hardening mechanisms (proper design of ALD processes, optimization of post-treatment conditions). The developed new kind on novel materials are expected to show unprecedented physical-chemical properties that considerably broaden the area of applications of 3D NAMM and contribute to increase the hi-tech competence of Estonian science and industry.
Please contact Dr. Hugo Mändar (hugo.mandar [ät] ut.ee).
- Resummation of leading logarithms in top quark decays co-producing collinear gluons
Due to its large mass, the top quark decays prior to a possible hadronisation, transmitting most of its properties to the decay particles. One of the most interesting parameters in observing the dominant top quark decay t→W+ + Xb is the polarisation of the W boson, caused by the left-handed V − A coupling of the electroweak interaction. If the W boson is one of only two decay particles, its polarisation has to be left handed and longitudinal. However, if an additional gluon is emitted, the two-body configuration is replaced by a three-body configuration. While the helicity fractions of the W boson representing its polarisation are only slightly changed by next-to-leading order (NLO) QCD and electroweak corrections, for a W produced at rest and a gluon produced back-to-back with the bottom quark, one ends up with an isotropic decay configuration. From this it should be clear that the helicity fractions will be substancially altered by the emitted gluon. The proposed doctoral project completes the set of different considerations about the polarisation of the W boson in top quark decays in a natural way, using and refreshing our group experitise on resummation and effective theory methods.
Please contact Dr. Stefan Groote (stefan.groote [ät] ut.ee).