Loughborough University is a top-ten rated university in England for research intensity (REF2014) and an outstanding 66% of the work of Loughborough’s academic staff who were eligible to be submitted to the REF was judged as ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’, compared to a national average figure of 43%. In choosing Loughborough for your research, you’ll work alongside academics who are leaders in their field. You will benefit from comprehensive support and guidance from our Doctoral College, including tailored careers advice, to help you succeed in your research and future career. A full-time EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDTPV) PhD studentship in New and Sustainable photovoltaics, to commence on 1st Oct 2018. CDT-PV is a multicentre team composed of seven universities - Liverpool, Bath, Sheffield, Loughborough, Southampton, Oxford and Cambridge - that will train highly-skilled students capable of transforming state-of-the-art research and development across the sustainable energy and PV sectors. This will in turn aid the country to achieve its renewable energy obligations, and will generate jobs in the technology sectors. For more information please visit the Centre for Doctoral Training website. The studentship starts with a 1-year expert training program of 7 x 2-week intensive courses on photovoltaic science and technologies based at seven universities. The following 3 years will be based at Loughborough University where the PhD research program will be carried out. The project aims to improve the electrical performance of thin film photovoltaic devices by understanding the correlation of the process-microstructure-property of the photovoltaic films. Defects and grain boundaries (GBs) are detrimental to the electrical performance of thin film photovoltaic devices. To optimize the cell efficiency via GB engineering and understand the underlying mechanisms, we will use the world classed characterization facilities in Loughborough Materials Characterization Centre (LMCC), e.g. in-situ TEM, FIB-assisted EBSD, EBIC, etc. In conjunction with the Centre for Renewable Energy System Technology (CREST) in Loughborough University, the optimized fabrication techniques and resulting electrical performance can be evaluated systematically.