The UK's hub for 3D Nanoscale Metamaterials Research - Going Beyond Nature @ the Nanoscale.
Stuart Brocklehurst, Deputy Vice Chancellor, posts a great review of the Metamaterials Industry Showcase on LinkedIn.
Centre for Metamaterial Research and Innovation
Novel solutions for today's technological problems; new science for tomorrow's challenges.
The CMRI is a community of academic, industrial, and governmental partners that harnesses research excellence from theory to application, and enables simulation, measurement, and fabrication of metamaterials and metamaterial-based devices.
Our breadth is our strength: we are uniquely positioned to solve multi-faceted research questions and industry challenges. Our academic expertise spans electromagnetism (from visible and infra-red through to THz and microwave), acoustics and fluidics. The materials we work with have wide application, e.g. imaging, sensing and spectroscopy, acoustic and RF signature reduction, energy storage and harvesting.
A metamaterial is a 3D structure with a response or function due to collective effects of their building blocks (or meta-atoms) that is not possible to achieve conventionally with any individual constituent material (UKMMN definition 2025).
The response/function of a metamaterial results from the ensemble effects of designed and engineered meta-atom elements. These can take many forms. The response or function may be electromagnetic (photonic, RF & microwave, THz etc), acoustic (audio, ultrasonic, vibrational), magnetic, mechanical/structural, thermal, or chemical.
A metasurface is a 2D version of a metamaterial where the structural elements are confined to a 2D plane.
We believe that excellence in research and impactful science comes from great collaboration and networking. Our long-standing experience in working with industrial partners in ICT, energy, healthcare, and defence & security sectors enables us to provide fit-for-purpose collaborations, adjusted to the needs of a variety of businesses, from SMEs to large companies.
We work with national and international academic and industry partners, through research projects, PhD studentships, and consultancy.
Contact us: metamaterials@exeter.ac.uk
Leadership team: Prof Alastair P Hibbins (Director) and Prof C David Wright (Co-Director for Technology and Applications).
Why join us as a Postdoctoral Researcher
By studying for a PhD aligned with the CMRI, you would be part of one of the largest hubs for metamaterial research in the UK. We lead the UK's Metamaterials Network (funded by EPSRC and Dstl) and, with world class partners, MetaHUB (EPSRC), a new national research hub for 3D nanoscale metamaterials, one of the most exciting frontiers in materials science. We are also partners in other large funded research programmes (e.g. Meta4D).
You would also be part of a centre that is uniquely positioned to solve multi-faceted research questions, addressing national and global priorities and rising to industry challenges. Our academic expertise spans electromagnetism (from visible and infrared through to THz and microwave), acoustics and fluidics. The materials we work with have wide application. e.g. imaging, sensing and spectroscopy: acoustic and RF signature reduction; energy storage and harvesting.
Since it's inception in 2014, we have been home to more than 100 PhD students who have gone on as alumni to varied and interesting leadership roles in a wide range of sectors. Our PhD students are cohort based, with shared office space, strong peer, academic, and CMRI support and involvement in an environment that is involved in the exciting and challenging cutting edge of metamaterials research.
Current advertised projects (November 2025)
- A CMRI and UK government (Dstl) fully funded project supervised by Professor Alastair Hibbins and Professor Simon Horsley. Metasurfaces for mm-wave communications
- EPSRC DLA metamaterials aligned projects are now open for application. To find out more, please go to EPSRC Doctoral Landscape Award Studentships. We have several listed:
Pushing the frontier of ultrasensitive on-chip sensing - advanced metamaterials for Surface-Enhanced infrared Absorption (SEIRA) sensing. Supervisors: Dr Calum Williams, Professor Isaac Luxmoore and Dr Adam Polak
Miniaturised mid-infrared sensing of environmental exposures using 3D-printed photonic metamaterials. Supervisors: Dr Calum Williams, Professor Geoff Nash
Magnetically Controlled Quantum Emitters in 2D Heterostructures. Supervisors: Dr Maciej Dabrowski, Prof Isaac Luxmoore
Developing sustainable, scalable methods for fabricating 2D material metastructures via Chladni-patterned acoustic self-assembly. Supervisors: Dr Ievgeniia Kovalska, Dr Steven Hepplestone
Development of Nanoengineered Wireless Graphene Sensors for Real-Time Neurochemical monitoring. Dr Rupam Das and Prof Monica Craciun
