An Aston University researcher has secured a £625,000 fellowship from the Royal Academy of Engineering to investigate ways of reducing the surging power demands of data centres.
Aleksandr Donodin, based at the Aston Institute of Photonic Technologies, is one of just twelve academics to be awarded the funding this autumn. His five-year project will explore fibre-optic networks as a potential route to curbing the sector’s energy use, which the International Energy Agency forecasts will grow by about 15% a year to 2030—more than four times faster than electricity demand across other sectors.
Dr Donodin’s research will focus on combining bismuth-doped fibre amplifiers with optical frequency combs, a pairing that has not previously been studied in detail.
If successful, the approach could cut optical network power consumption by 30–50% per bit and boost transmission speeds to more than 200 terabytes per second, equivalent to 2.3 million times the average UK household broadband connection.
“This project strengthens Aston University’s role as a hub for sustainable, next-generation optical networks, reinforcing the UK’s leadership in critical digital technologies,” Dr Donodin said.
He added that the research would involve collaboration across the telecoms supply chain, including work with suppliers such as Lightera and Pilot Photonics, equipment makers Coherent and Nokia Bell Labs, and the Japanese telecoms operator KDDI.
The fellowships programme, backed by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, supports early-career researchers with up to £625,000 each to establish themselves as future leaders in engineering. Recipients also receive mentoring from senior academy fellows, alongside reduced teaching and administrative loads to focus on research.
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