Chemistry Scholarships

The Department typically admits 65-70 PhD and 90 - 100 MRes students each year. Funding for these students comes from a diverse range of sources, including the EPSRC, industry, scholarships and self-funded students. A selection of PhD Studentships currently available are detailed below.

Accordion - available studentships

Department of Chemistry Departmental PhD Scholarships

The Department of Chemistry has 4 departmental scholarships for PhD applicants starting in 2023/24.

This scheme is only eligible to applicants who have home fee status. The scholarship will cover the full fees and stipend (UKRI London rate - £20,622 for 2023-24) for the 3 years 6 months of the student’s PhD studies.

We encourage applications from all backgrounds to apply. The Departmental Scholarship Panel will consider academic excellence, research potential and extracurricular activities. The Panel will also take into account other aspects, such as overcoming adversity, outreach and community activities and widening participation.

Interested candidates should make contact and discuss a research project with a PhD supervisor based in the Chemistry Department. After discussions with the chosen supervisor, candidates must complete a Chemistry Department scholarship application form. The supervisor will then return the documentation to the department for consideration by the Scholarship Panel. The date for submission of this documentation is Friday 1st December 2023. There will be no panel interview.

We are committed to equality and valuing diversity. The Department of Chemistry is an Athena SWAN gold Award winner, a Stonewall Diversity Champion, a Two Ticks Employer, and is working in partnership with GIRES to promote respect for trans people. We particularly encourage applicants from underrepresented backgrounds to apply.

EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Chemical Biology: Innovation in Life Sciences

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The ICB CDT is a postgraduate training programme, which forms the heart of the ICB at Imperial College London. The ICB is an institute which brings together more than 130 research groups across Imperial College London with 20 industrial partners and a SME business club with over 40 members.

The aim of the ICB CDT, one of the longest standing CDTs in the UK, is to train students in the art of multidisciplinary Chemical Biology research, giving them the exciting opportunity to develop the next generation of molecular tools and technologies for making, measuring, modelling and manipulating molecular interactions in biological systems. Students on the programme apply these advances to tackle key biological/biomedical problems and clinical/industrial challenges. In addition, students gain experience of industry 4.0 technologies such as 3-D printing, machine learning and robotics with a view to increasing the impact of Chemical Biology research.  This is a skill set which is in great demand from industry and addresses the future needs of employers in the pharmaceutical, biomedical, healthcare, personal care, biotech, agri-science and SME sectors.

To find out more or to apply to our 4 year studentships, visit our webpage at https://www.imperial.ac.uk/chemical-biology/cdt

Frost Group PhD Studentship

The Frost group welcomes applications for 2024 starting PhD students. The priority areas for funding are in method development in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics. The two headline projects projects are: using machine-learning and probabilistic numerics approaches to improve sampling in (path integral) quantum Monte-Carlo; and in developing path-integral based methods (SMatPI, QuAPI, Transfer Tensor Method) of simulating nonadiabatic dynamics and applying these methods to molecular materials for photovoltaics and the upconversion of light. The two fully funded positions are supported by the Royal Society, with a 48-month London-weighted tax-free stipend of £22410 for year 1, £23204 for year 2, £23901 for year 3, and £24618 for year 4, and full home-fees.


An initial informal discussion is very welcome: jarvist.frost@imperial.ac.uk

More details are available on Google Docs: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Bcra0WqoRaVACxPvCAr8kF9m7RgBl_dunGGWbrev-cg/edit?usp=sharing

Scalable Kinetic Dynamic Resolution Strategies for the Production of Chiral Compounds

Scalable Kinetic Dynamic Resolution Strategies for the Production of Chiral Compounds

 

Supervisors: Prof King Kuok (Mimi) Hii (Imperial College London), Dr Christian Holtze (BASF), Dr Philipp Staehle (BASF)

 

Home Department: Department of Chemistry at Imperial College London (White City Campus)

Funding and Deadline: To be eligible for support, applicants must be “UK Residents” as defined by the EPSRC. The studentship is for 4 years starting as soon as possible and will provide full coverage of standard tuition fees and an annual tax-free stipend of approximately £20,622. Applicants should hold or expect to obtain a First-Class Honours or a high 2:1 degree at Master’s level (or equivalent) in any relevant chemistry or science subject. Funding is co-funded through Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and BASF.

 Project summary

The Industry Case (I-Case) PhD student will join an interdisciplinary cohort of students working under the umbrella of the IConIC Prosperity Partnership An internship of min. 3 months will be facilitated and sponsored by BASF for the utilization of specific infrastructure and technology transfer.

Enantioselective synthesis remains to be a major challenge in classical organic synthesis both technically and economically. In collaboration between BASF and Imperial College London we have developed a novel processing concept that combines an an immobilized enzymatic transformation with flash thermal racemization for the racemization of chiral amines, i. e. a dynamic kinetic resolution approach. It can be applied to amines and stereoinversion reactions.[1] At the heart of the technology is the development of a flow module that can realize rapid racemization of the amine with high selectivity, afforded by residence time control, increasing the productivity of the process by several orders of magnitude. In this proposed follow-on work, we will extend the concept to the synthesis of other optically active compounds that are essential to the fine chemicals and pharmaceutical industries and demonstrate scalability in a lab setup. [1] M. J. Takle, B. J. Deadman, K. Hellgardt, J. Dickhaut, A. Weija, K. K. Hii, ACS Catal. 2023, 13, 10541-6. DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.3c02859.

Key questions to be addressed during the PhD will be: Establishing an integrated process that couples transition metal catalysis with biocatalysis in flow, using spatial and residence time control to achieve kinetically compatible systems to maximise productivity. - Expanding the concept to a range of different chemical transformations. This may entail the integration of an enantiomer separation step into the processing concept. - Preparing the opposite enantiomer/epimer of natural materials through stereocentre inversion, including unnatural (D-)amino acids. - Scaling up the process to yield relevant demonstrator samples and prove the applicability of the methodology for commercial purposes.

To apply, please complete an application form Application process | Study | Imperial College London.   Informal enquiries about the post and the application process can be made to Bhavna Patel (iconic-pp@imperial.ac.uk)