Studentships (directory/vacancies)

Applications are invited for 4-year PhD studentship based in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology (CEB), University of Cambridge and with a placement at an AstraZeneca UK site. The student will be working on a collaborative project jointly supervised by Prof Laura Torrente Murciano in CEB and Dr Sophie Janbon at AstraZeneca. The project, entitled Accelerating Big Data in material crystallization, will focus on the fundamental understanding of the mechanism and kinetics of co-precipitation and crystallization, underpinning many drug manufacturing processes despite being poorly understood.

We are looking for a highly motivated and enthusiastic individual capable of thinking and working independently. Applicants should have or shortly expect to obtain a first or high second-class degree from a UK university, or an equivalent standard from an overseas university, in all previous degrees and in a relevant subject such as chemical engineering, process engineering or chemistry. Information on overseas equivalencies is available at https://www.postgraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/international/international-qualifications Full details of the University's entrance requirements and scholarships are specified on the following link: https://www.postgraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/

The position is open to UK citizens or overseas students who meet the UK residency requirements for the Home Fee rate. Students will not be allowed to supplement fees via self-funding.

Full funding covering Maintenance fees at £21,500 per annum and the University Composition Fee at the Home rate is provided for the studentship, with effect from 1 October 2025. Students will also be encouraged to attend and present at the annual AstraZeneca students symposium.

To apply for this studentship, you will need to submit an application for our PhD in Chemical Engineering via https://www.postgraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/. You must note Prof Laura Torrente as your prospective supervisor and note vacancy reference number NQ43837 in your research proposal. We are unable to consider incomplete or late applications.

Please quote reference NQ43837 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society. We place major emphasis on the importance of team work and an enjoyable work environment as a foundation for performing internationally leading research. This will allow the student to acquire cutting edge research methodologies in a supportive environment, where they can focus on making the best possible scientific progress.

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.

Applications are invited for a 3.5-year PhD studentship at the University of Cambridge under the supervision of Prof. Markus Kraft as part of the Computational Modelling Group. We are looking for a highly motivated and enthusiastic individual who can think independently and collaborate effectively as part of a dynamic, multidisciplinary team.

The ability to design and predict the existence of materials with properties tailored for specific applications is an important technology with many applications in the energy transition and health care. The successful candidate will join a multi-disciplinary team developing methods for the digital discovery of reticular materials. This is a class of materials with highly structured frameworks formed by linking molecular building blocks into networks with customisable properties. To date, the team has mined the literature to create a database of materials, developed data structures to describe the Lego-like nature of their assembly, developed algorithms that exploit the data structures to predict the existence of new materials, calculated the properties of known and predicted materials, and used large language models to extract information from the literature about synthesis processes, and predict the process steps required to synthesise new materials. The vision is to automate the discovery and synthesis of materials with properties that are tuned for specific applications.

The work performed in the project would contribute to The World Avatar (TWA) project, a disruptive approach pioneered by Prof. Kraft to leverage knowledge graph-based technology to share data and create interoperability across different technical and social domains. As part of their application, the successful candidate should submit a research proposal with a suggestion of how they would harness and develop the ideas underlying The World Avatar to work towards the vision of the automated discovery and synthesis of materials. Some of the recent open access preprints on our group webpage may be a good source of inspiration. The quality of the research proposal will be assessed as part of the application process.

The studentship starts in October 2025 and is part-funded by Cambridge CARES-- the Cambridge Centre for Advanced Research and Education in Singapore. The student would be required to spend years two and three of the PhD at Cambridge CARES in Singapore, with the remainder of the time based in Cambridge, UK.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society. The University has a responsibility to ensure that all students are eligible to live and study in the UK and, for this studentship, also in Singapore.

Applicants should have or shortly expect to obtain a first or high second-class degree from a UK university, or an equivalent standard from an overseas university in a relevant science or engineering discipline. Applicants should have excellent oral and written communication skills. Applicants would be expected to demonstrate a track record that shows some evidence of exposure and significant interest in programming and scientific computing. Exposure to and an interest in one or more of quantum chemistry, molecular dynamics or other aspects of computational chemistry, ontologies and knowledge graphs is desirable.

The studentship is open to UK citizens and overseas students. Applications for a PhD in Chemical Engineering should be submitted via https://www.postgraduate.study.cam.ac.uk. You must specify Prof Markus Kraft as your prospective supervisor and note vacancy reference number NQ43765/ "CARES studentship" in your application. The successful candidate would need to secure funding for the UK part of the studentship, for example by winning a scholarship. Full details of scholarships, the university's entrance requirements and equivalent international qualifications are available online. The deadline for scholarship applications on 03 Dec 2024. We are unable to consider incomplete or late applications.

Please quote reference NQ43765 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.

A fully funded PhD studentship is available under the supervision of Dr Ewa Marek, with a start date of 1 October 2025. Funding will cover the student's stipend and tuition fees at the UK rate. Non-UK applicants will be considered only if they can fund the overseas fees differential or if they are awarded a suitable scholarship

Background: The EU has set a highly ambitious goal to increase the share of SAFs in the aviation industry from 2% in 2025 to 64% by 2050. Microalgae can play a critical role in meeting this fuel target, but the commercialisation of biofuels from microalgae has been hampered by systemic and technological limitations. This PhD will address the current problems in the hydrogenation of algal lipids. The work will be embedded and supported by the EU/UKRI-funded project SusAlgaeFuel. Besides producing SAFs, SusAlgaeFuel aims to develop a range of innovative approaches based on waste treatment, digital sensors, cascading biorefinery, and multifunctional catalysts to enable a more sustainable and cost-competitive production of microalgae aviation fuels. Thus, this PhD is a perfect opportunity to participate in a multifaceted research project, collaborating with 8 project partners.

Objectives: The conversion pathways for algae lipids to HEFA-SPK will be investigated experimentally, developing a novel, algae-specific bifunctional catalyst for hydrogenation reactions. The overarching ambition of this project is to characterise the algae lipid-to-HEFA conversion process and understand the catalytic mechanisms that promote the production of SPK-desired C9-C15 alkanes from algal feedstocks. This will be achieved by analysing high-granularity experimental data obtained for varied feedstock composition/catalyst/support combinations in a single- and two-step process approach. The innovative nature of this research promises to make a significant impact in the field of sustainable aviation fuels.

The experimental work will require building new experimental facilities and modernising our existing bench-top micro-reactors (Autoclave Engineers BTRS and Carberry Spinning Basket), followed by extensive experimental campaigns. The composition of the collected SPK samples will be assessed with GC and LC/MS, with results assessed using Machine Learning- algorithms for future predictions and process optimisations. Results from small-scale experiments will identify the best process parameters and catalysts for HEFA-SPK from the algal feedstock. The final part of this work will focus on scaling up the catalytic process to a lab pilot, producing 1 kg of HEFA-SAF.

Requirements: Applicants should have a First Class (or high Upper Second Class) mark in all previous degrees in a relevant discipline such as chemical engineering, chemical technology, mechanical engineering, chemistry, or a related subject. Those whose qualifications were completed outside the UK should check if they qualify before applying: https://www.postgraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/international/international-qualifications Applicants with relevant research experience, gained through Master's study or while working, are strongly encouraged to apply.

How to Apply: Interested applicants must submit a formal application for admission with the supporting documents, indicating Dr Ewa Marek as the prospective supervisor and note the vacancy reference number, NQ43672, in the research proposal field. For further information about the full entry requirements, application process, and a link to the on-line application please see: https://www.postgraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/courses/directory/egcepdcng

We are unable to consider late or incomplete applications for this studentship, so applicants should ensure that they apply in good time for references to be provided.

Informal enquiries can be addressed to Dr Ewa Marek, ejm94@cam.ac.uk

Please quote reference NQ43672 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.