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• DPhil in Materials, University of Oxford, 2008
• MSci (Hons) in Natural Sciences, University of Cambridge, 2004

Dr Claire Dancer is a 125th Anniversary Fellow and Associate Professor of Ceramic Science and Engineering in the School of Metallurgy and Materials at the University 麻豆精选.

Claire holds a DPhil in Materials from the University of Oxford and an MSci (Hons) in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge, where she specialised in Materials Science and Metallurgy. Her DPhil was awarded for a thesis entitled “Ceramic Processing of Magnesium Diboride” supervised by Professor Chris Grovenor and Professor Richard Todd. She subsequently worked as a Research Fellow at the University of Oxford for 5 years working on processing and characterisation of structural and functional ceramic and composite materials.

In 2013 she became an Assistant Professor at the University of Warwick, where she established her research group focused on development of ceramic processing routes. At Warwick her work was funded by EPSRC (New Investigator Award, New Horizons Award, NetworkPlus Grant, Strategic Equipment Award), the Royal Society (Research Grant), InnovateUK, High Value Manufacturing Catapult, the ERDF, and several industrial partners.

Since moving to Birmingham in January 2025, she continues to work on ceramic processing routes, particularly on the development of new sintering routes and structures to enable low energy, sustainable ceramic processing for complex structures and devices while mitigating and managing residual stresses through processing-mediated microstructural control.

Claire is a member of the Midlands Industrial Ceramic Group, the Institute of Physics, the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, and the European and American Ceramic Societies. She sits on the editorial board of the Elsevier journal “Open Ceramics” and is a member of the Royal Society International Exchanges Committee, EPSRC College, and serves as an Expert Reviewer for several Horizon Europe funding schemes. She has engaged in Outreach activities including at the British Science Festival, Cheltenham Science Festival, and as a STEMNET Ambassador.

Beyond her own research, Claire is the Joint Director of the EPSRC UK Metamaterials Network, where she leads activities focused on overcoming technical and capability-related barriers to manufacturing metamaterials for a wide range of applications, potentially using any material and requiring novel and scalable manufacturing techniques. Claire has been involved in the EPSRC UK Metamaterials Network since its foundation in 2021, initially as the lead for the special interest group in Manufacturing and Scale Up and subsequently as co-investigator and joint director with Professor Alastair Hibbins of the University of Exeter.

She has undertaken a wide range of policy activities and impact-generating initiatives to strengthen and grow the Metamaterials community in the UK, including writing a broad yet distinctive definition for metamaterials adopted widely in the community, involvement in Government consultations, and an Impact Pathfinder Project with the Institute of Physics to establish routes to build impact and accelerate the commercialisation of metamaterial technologies.

Dr Dancer is happy to consider supervision of projects with a focus on processing of ceramic-based materials. Past PhD supervision includes projects focused on ceramic processing and characterisation for applications in solid state batteries, microwave communication devices, and thermal and structural components. Many projects have been in collaboration with industrial partners including Lucideon, Carnot Engines, and Nikalyte.

Future PhD opportunities will be advertised via . Students interested in PhD research with Dr Dancer should e-mail her with their CV and a statement outlining their areas of interest and expertise, as well as how these align with her research.

Research Grants

• 2022-28: EPSRC Network and NetworkPlus Grant “The UK Metamaterials NetworkPlus” (Co-I). Joint Director with Prof. Alastair Hibbins, Exeter.
• 2023-24: Henry Royce Institute Research Grant “Recycling Ceramics for High Value Second Life Use in Domestic Worksurfaces”, with Bellagio Marble Ideas (PI).
• 2023-25: EPSRC New Horizons Grant “Sintering Ceramics at Room Temperature using Phase-Changing Additives” (PI).
• 2023: EPSRC Transforming the Foundation Industries Network Plus Grant “Overcoming the Barriers to Adoption of Next Generation Processing Technologies in the Ceramic and Glass Industrial Value Chains” (Co-I).
• 2023: EPSRC Impact Acceleration Account Funding “Enabling Cross-sector Digital Transformation in the Foundation Industry” (Co-I).
• 2021-25: EPSRC Strategic Equipment Grant “The Warwick Analytical Science Centre” (Co-I).
• 2020-21: High Value Manufacturing Catapult Project Award “Cold and Flash Sintering for Solid State Battery Ceramics” (PI).
• 2018-21: Innovate UK / Faraday Challenge “Sodium-ion batteries for automotive power applications”. With Faradion, Croda, University 麻豆精选 (Co-I).
• 2018-20: Innovate UK grant “Multi Optimal Solutions for Energy Storage Systems (MoSESS)” With MacLaren, Illika, A123, and University 麻豆精选 (Co-I).
• 2018-23: EPSRC New Investigator Award “Flash Sintering of Composite Ceramic Materials and Structures” (PI).
• 2013-14: Royal Society Research Grant “Flash Sintering of Ceramic, Composite and Graded Materials” (PI).

Research themes

• Low energy ceramic processing routes including flash sintering and cold sintering
• Additives for optimisation of ceramic processing routes
• Characterisation of residual stress and phase content in ceramic materials
• Processing routes for ceramic-based metamaterials and related structures
• Understanding technical and socio-economic barriers to the adoption of next generation ceramic processing routes in industry (in collaboration)
• Processing of recycled ceramic wastes to high value products