Applied Chemistry
University of Strathclyde
About the Project Pest control is significant for agriculture, as infestations decrease crop yields and can harm livestock, threatening the security of global food supplies. Existing control strategies typically rely on toxic non-sustainable pesticides which often affect the broader ecosystem and surrounding environment.
- Location
- Glasgow, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 30 September 2026
- Funding
- Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)
Applied Chemistry
Heriot-Watt University
About the Project Scotch whisky is one of the UK’s most globally recognised premium beverages, with exports exceeding £5 billion annually. Fermentation lies at the heart of whisky production and represents a critical industrial biotechnology leverage point for improving sustainability. High-gravity fermentation uses increased concentrations of fermentable sugar to produce high-strength alcohol.
- Location
- Edinburgh, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 9 October 2026
- Funding
- Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)
Applied Chemistry
University of York
About the Project In this project we will develop new strategies to chemically modify peptides via late-stage, transition metal catalysed reactions. Peptides are an important modality in modern drug discovery, bridging the gap between traditional small molecule drugs and larger biologics.
- Location
- York, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 13 November 2026
- Funding
- Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Applied Chemistry
University of York
About the Project Protein bioconjugation is a vital tool in modern biomedical and biotechnological research. Our groups recently established a ‘Conjugate Addition/Ring Expansion’ (CARE) approach able to selectively and irreversibly modify the N-terminus of untagged native proteins, including nanobodies for cancer cell and tissue imaging, and human chemokines, with altered downstream activation and processing following modification (Figure 1A).[1,2] Our irreversible…
- Location
- York, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 13 November 2026
- Funding
- Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Applied Chemistry
University of Edinburgh
About the Project Mankind cannot survive without potable water. Despite this, our potable water resources are becoming more polluted due to human activity (e.g., mining, industry and agriculture), rendering them unfit for consumption. Additionally, water scarcity is becoming more common with over 1/3 of the world’s population living in water stressed countries. In order to guarantee our survival, processes that allow obtaining clean potable water are crucial.
- Location
- Edinburgh, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 24 November 2026
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Applied Chemistry
University of Cambridge
About the Project The Mateo Sanchez Lab, located in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Cambridge, works at the interface of chemistry and biology. One of our research aims is to use enzymatic catalysis to create new reactivity profiles, enabling chemical transformations that are challenging or inaccessible using conventional synthetic methodologies.
- Location
- Cambridge, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 30 November 2026
- Funding
- Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Applied Chemistry
Loughborough University
About the Project A major unsolved challenge for environmental agencies is to monitor inorganic phosphate in water, to predict the breakout of harmful algae blooms that lead to aquatic ‘dead zones’. To solve this challenge, in this PhD project we will synthesise molecular probes that bind selectively to phosphate anions and generate a sensitive luminescent signal that enables precise measurement of phosphate in water.
- Location
- Loughborough, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 1 February 2027
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Applied Chemistry
University of East Anglia
About the Project Primary Supervisor: Dr. Stefano Landini Phase change materials (PCMs) offer compact, temperature-targeted thermal energy storage but suffer from leakage during melting, low thermal conductivity and limited mechanical robustness, which restrict their integration into practical systems.
- Location
- Norwich, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 31 March 2027
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Applied Chemistry
Loughborough University
About the Project An exciting self-funded PhD opportunity to join the Advanced Materials Modelling (AMM) Group at Loughborough. Pressurisation, corrosion and other factors may pose a threat to the safety and integrity of nuclear material packages in long term storage. Understanding the surface chemistry of bulk nuclear material during storage is essential in assessing and understanding these risks. A large proportion of this inventory is mixed metal oxide (MOX) material.
- Location
- Loughborough, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 1 April 2027
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Applied Chemistry
The University of Manchester
About the Project Poly, di and monosaccharides are important sustainable feedstocks in the production of biomass-derived fuels and chemicals. 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) represents a key product in the conversion of these, being a key platform chemical which enables diverse subsequent chemical transformations that yield numerous different chemical species.
- Location
- Manchester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 1 June 2027
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Applied Chemistry
The University of Manchester
About the Project Nano- and Angstrom-scale capillaries have been studied intensively because of their importance in many natural phenomena and use in numerous applications. Embarking on a groundbreaking PhD journey, this research endeavours to revolutionize the landscape of biomimetics by developing artificial nanochannels inspired by biological mechanosensitive receptors.
- Location
- Manchester, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 1 July 2027
- Funding
- UK Students, Self-funded Students; £21,805 annual stipend + tuition fees paid
Applied Chemistry
University of St Andrews
About the Project The Greenfield group is seeking highly motivated and ambitious students for a funded PhD position, ( international student fees can be fully-covered ). This opportunity is ideal for individuals with an interest in supramolecular chemistry and molecular machines. The Project...
- Location
- St Andrews, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Applied Chemistry
University of Liverpool
About the Project Cardiovascular disease remains the world’s leading killer, driven in large part by atherosclerosis and its life-threatening consequences. This PhD will develop next-generation nitric oxide-releasing, 3D-printed vascular stents that restore blood flow while actively reducing thrombosis, inflammation and restenosis, enabling smarter, regenerative and personalised treatments for cardiovascular disease.
- Location
- Liverpool, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Applied Chemistry
University of Reading
About the Project Living systems are complex, and are based on the basic building blocks of genes, proteins, chemical reactions, and physical forces. Yet, out of this complexity, with remarkable robustness and precision, cells orchestrate the cooperative action of thousands of specific molecular reactions and interactions to carry out mechanical tasks. For example, 100 billion heart cells can synchronise their oscillation to generate a single pulse.
- Location
- Reading, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Applied Chemistry
Newcastle University
About the Project Background Despite improvements in aseptic procedures and antimicrobial prophylaxis, surgical site infections (SSIs) continue to be a major cause of postoperative morbidity and mortality globally. Traditional sutures, including surface-coated sutures, may serve as a breeding ground for a myriad of microorganisms and only mechanically close wounds.
- Location
- Newcastle, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Applied Chemistry
University of Aberdeen
About the Project These projects are open to students worldwide, but have no funding attached. Therefore, the successful applicant will be expected to fund tuition fees at the relevant level (home or international) and any applicable additional research costs. Please consider this before applying.
- Location
- Aberdeen, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Applied Chemistry
University of Birmingham
About the Project Background and Rationale Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are crystalline, porous, and highly modular materials capable of hosting small molecules, ions, and biomolecules. Over the past decade, bio-MOF research has expanded from simple biomolecule encapsulation to biocompatible scaffolds and enzyme–MOF composites. Yet, a major challenge persists: current MOF–cell interfaces are largely passive.
- Location
- Birmingham, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Applied Chemistry
University of Strathclyde
About the Project Applications are invited for a fully-funded 3.5 year PhD studentship to work in the group of Professor David Palmer at the University of Strathclyde (in Glasgow). The PhD student will work alongside a multi-disciplinary team of synthetic chemists, chemical biologists, and data scientists supported by a £3.9M EPSRC Prosperity Partnership Award centred around the development of next generation medicines beyond Lipinski space.
- Location
- Glasgow, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)
Applied Chemistry
Imperial College London
About the Project The electrification of chemical synthesis is central to the transition towards sustainable energy and manufacturing systems. Non-aqueous electrochemical routes to reactions such as CO₂ and N₂ reduction offer important advantages over aqueous processes, including improved selectivity and access to new reaction pathways. However, these systems are currently limited by the anode reaction, hydrogen oxidation.
- Location
- London, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)
Applied Chemistry
University of Nottingham
About the Project PhD Opportunity: Surfaces, Macrophage Behavior, and Glycopolymer Design We are seeking motivated candidates for a PhD project positioned at the exciting intersection of polymer chemistry and immunology. The research will explore how sugar-containing synthetic polymers (glycopolymers) influence the behavior of specific immune cells, particularly macrophages.
- Location
- Nottingham, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Applied Chemistry
University of Warwick
About the Project Most pharmaceutical treatments, even most recently approved ones, are delivered as solid-state tablets. Thus, once candidate molecules have been identified by drug discovery, and before entering clinical trials, the pharmaceutical industry makes substantial investment in understanding the solid-state landscape.
- Location
- Coventry, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)
Applied Chemistry
University of Aberdeen
About the Project These projects are open to students worldwide, but have no funding attached. Therefore, the successful applicant will be expected to fund tuition fees at the relevant level (home or international) and any applicable additional research costs. Please consider this before applying. In recent years, it has been reported that metal sulfide, phosphides and mixed sulfide/phosphide catalysts are effective catalysts for a variety of hydrogenation processes.
- Location
- Aberdeen, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Applied Chemistry
University of Aberdeen
About the Project These projects are open to students worldwide, but have no funding attached. Therefore, the successful applicant will be expected to fund tuition fees at the relevant level (home or international) and any applicable additional research costs. Please consider this before applying. Crystallization of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) is ubiquitous in the development of various pharmaceutical solid forms as a means of purification and product formulation.
- Location
- Aberdeen, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Applied Chemistry
University of Liverpool
About the Project The project, in collaboration with a major industrial partner, will develop state of the art machine learning models to help predict the melting point of Pb-free solder compositions that will then be synthesised for validation and other physical property testing. The legal requirement to remove Pb and other toxic elements from all products is essential for future sustainable chemistry.
- Location
- Liverpool, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Applied Chemistry
University of Aberdeen
About the Project These projects are open to students worldwide, but have no funding attached. Therefore, the successful applicant will be expected to fund tuition fees at the relevant level (home or international) and any applicable additional research costs. Please consider this before applying. Process streams containing methane present huge potential as a feedstock for chemicals synthesis.
- Location
- Aberdeen, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Applied Chemistry
The University of Manchester
About the Project The transition to a low-carbon energy system requires sustainable methods for converting carbon dioxide (CO2) or N2 into useful fuels and chemicals. However, conventional thermal catalytic processes often require high temperatures and pressures, leading to significant energy consumption and limited compatibility with intermittent renewable energy sources.
- Location
- Manchester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Applied Chemistry
Imperial College London
About the Project Applications are invited for a PhD studentship at Imperial College London in the Department of Chemical Engineering in collaboration with WE Soda. The project will focus on identifying the most sustainable and industrially scalable sodium-ion cathode materials for next-generation batteries. Sodium-ion batteries are emerging as a promising alternative to lithium-ion technologies for stationary storage and selected mobility applications.
- Location
- London, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)
Applied Chemistry
University of Aberdeen
About the Project These projects are open to students worldwide, but have no funding attached. Therefore, the successful applicant will be expected to fund tuition fees at the relevant level (home or international) and any applicable additional research costs. Please consider this before applying. Hydrogen bonding is a fundamental chemical interaction that shapes the structure and properties of many systems across nature and technology.
- Location
- Aberdeen, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Applied Chemistry
University of Reading
About the Project Project Overview: Life begins as a single cell . At this stage, there is no distinction between brain and body, no predefined controller, and no specialised architecture for computation or actuation. Through development, structure and function emerge together: cells divide, differentiate, and organise into tissues, while simultaneously establishing electrical, chemical, and mechanical communication.
- Location
- Reading, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Applied Chemistry
University of Strathclyde
About the Project This project aims to develop and understand advanced semiconductor materials for deep ultraviolet (DUV) optoelectronic devices, a rapidly growing field with applications of major societal and economic impact. Devices such as solar‑blind UV photodetectors are critical for environmental monitoring, biological and chemical sensing, flame detection, and secure communications.
- Location
- Glasgow, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Applied Chemistry
University of Strathclyde
About the Project The conversion of carbon dioxide to useful products is essential not only on Earth for reaching net zero targets, but also for space exploration and future planet colonisation. By using membranes, carbon dioxide can be converted to fuels or chemical useful on Earth, while on carbon dioxide rich planets such as Mars, it can produce pure oxygen to sustain life, as shown through the 'MOXIE' system employed by NASA recently ( https://tinyurl.com/2tdc2xyr ).
- Location
- Glasgow, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Applied Chemistry
The University of Manchester
About the Project The role mitochondria play in disease is ever expanding. Due to their fundamental role in ATP production and cell death, amongst others, there is intense investigation to uncover the roles they play in disease and uncovering novel pathways that can be targeted therapeutically. We are interested in the role of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species and how they may be drivers of disease.
- Location
- Manchester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Applied Chemistry
University of Leicester
About the Project Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major public health concern worldwide. According to the latest statistics, bacterial AMR was responsible for 4.71 million deaths in 2021. If no new antimicrobials are developed, the World Health Organisation predicts that AMR will cost the world economy $100 trillion by 2050.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Applied Chemistry
University of Greenwich
About the Project Location: University of Greenwich, Kent, UK Duration: 3 years, full-time The Project We are seeking an ambitious and talented PhD candidate to join the Lam Research Group at the University of Greenwich, working at the forefront of electrosynthesis, sustainable organic synthesis, and reaction innovation .
- Location
- London, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Applied Chemistry
University of Sydney
About the Project Scholarships are available for PhD candidates to contribute to the development of advanced hydrogen storage systems in a multidisciplinary research team. With the rapid increase in energy demand and potential drastic effects of climate change there is an urgent need for developing effective energy storage systems to finally enable the large-scale deployment of renewable energy (e.g.
- Location
- Sydney, Australia, Australia
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
Applied Chemistry
University of Reading
About the Project We have a vacancy for a PhD student working in the area of physical chemistry. Microorganisms are found on every continent, even in some of the most inhospitable environments on Earth. Some “extremophile” fungi are even found in the ice at the bottom of glaciers, with adaptations that allow them to thrive in such difficult conditions.
- Location
- Reading, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Applied Chemistry
The University of Manchester
About the Project Developing novel and efficient strategies for plastics recycling is critical to achieve the UK Net Zero strategy. Mechanical recycling based on thermal processability of plastics is the only widely adopted technology for largescale treatment of plastic waste. However, the temperature-sensitive plastics, composites and thermosets cannot be processed.
- Location
- Manchester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Applied Chemistry
University of Southampton
About the Project Supervisory Team: Dr Sergio Vernuccio and Prof Chris Skylaris This project aims to rationally design efficient heterogeneous catalysts for sustainable application, including photocatalytic transformation for hydrogen production and CO₂ reduction. Objectives include analysing catalyst surface chemistry, building predictive microkinetic models, and synthesizing new catalyst architectures.
- Location
- Southampton, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Competition Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)
Applied Chemistry
The University of Manchester
About the Project Many technologies essential to a Net Zero future, including sustainable chemical processing, separations, and energy storage, rely on liquids operating inside nanoporous materials. At this scale, liquids behave in unexpected ways that cannot be predicted from bulk properties, yet these effects often control performance and efficiency. This PhD project focuses on data-driven analysis of confined liquids structure, informed by total neutron scattering.
- Location
- Manchester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)
Applied Chemistry
University of Birmingham
About the Project Most chemical products consist of multiple compounds that are formulated together, of which the development process is iterative, laborious, and complex. The formulated products sector, contributing over £149bn to the Gross Value Added of the UK economy, requires innovative method to accelerate the innovation pace and to address the environmental impacts.
- Location
- Birmingham, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)
Applied Chemistry
University of Liverpool
About the Project Develop a new treatment for multidrug-resistant bacterial pneumonia by delivering antimicrobial peptide mRNA directly to the lungs using anti-inflammatory lipid nanoparticles. This interdisciplinary PhD combines mRNA engineering, nanomedicine, microbiology and immunology to kill resistant bacteria while reducing damaging lung inflammation.
- Location
- Liverpool, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only