The UK Microsystems Network held its first PhD Summer School on the 8th of July 2026 at Homerton College, University of Cambridge, drawing PhD students from across the UK for a lively day of teaching and discussion.
The UK Microsystems Network held its first PhD Summer School on the 8th of July 2026 at Homerton College, University of Cambridge. Running after the inaugural UK Microsystems Symposium, the school was set up to support and train the next generation of microsystems researchers, and it was well attended throughout.
The turnout showed a real appetite for the event. PhD students travelled from Queen’s University Belfast, the University of Nottingham, Loughborough University, the University of Exeter, the University of Birmingham, and beyond, and stayed engaged throughout a full programme of sessions over the day.
The teaching covered a broad span of the field. Gerard Cummins (University of Birmingham) opened the school with an introduction to the Network. Jize Yan (University of Southampton) spoke on microfabrication for microsensors and metasurfaces and the design of MEMS devices. Andrew Flewitt (University of Cambridge) covered thin film bulk acoustic resonator sensors, from the underlying engineering through to applications and commercialisation. Julian Gardner (University of Warwick) spoke on thermal MEMS devices for flow and gas sensing, and joined the discussion on taking MEMS sensors to market. Rishad Shafik (Newcastle University) closed the programme with a session on the use of AI and machine learning in microsystems design.
A welcome dinner at Homerton College the evening before gave students and faculty the chance to meet and settle in before the teaching began.
Our thanks go to the faculty who gave their time to teach, and to every student who took part and made the event a success. On the strength of this first outing, we look forward to running the Summer School again.
