Chemical, biological and explosives sensing at stand-off with quantum cascade laser dual-comb spectroscopy
Using commercially available frequency combs to develop new techniques for stand-off detection of molecular species at trace levels.
Our research uses advances in science and mathematics to develop solutions to challenges faced by industry and society. These challenges include manufacturing medicines, delivering clean water and providing renewable energy.
We research areas from the controlled assembly of nanostructured materials to the design of advanced reactors, and from combating global warming with novel energy storage and gas separation technology to understanding protein aggregation in degenerative diseases.
We have strong links with other engineering and science departments both within Strathclyde and externally. We also work with many industrial partners.
Using commercially available frequency combs to develop new techniques for stand-off detection of molecular species at trace levels.
Development of high speed gas concentration measurement systems using diode lasers for use in combustion emission measurements
This project aims to develop a new computational tool, combining molecular simulations and machine learning approaches, to predict the solubility of complex pharmaceutical molecules in a variety of solvents.
Focussed on the development of novel sorption systems for water remediation, the project combines materials development, characterisation and testing for a range of pollutants, including pharmaceuticals and heavy metal species.
The proposed project aims to develop new technology for reforming syngas hydrocarbons to promote hydrogen production from biomass, it addresses the issues of global importance, which are committed to making a useful and positive contribution to clean energy challenges locally and globally.
Over 70% of the UK pharmaceutical CO2e footprint comes from drug manufacturing. This project aims to address the challenges of decarbonising medicines development and manufacturing and is committed to making a useful and positive contribution to societal and environmental challenges, locally and globally.
The purpose of this project is to apply a formulation to polymeric turbulent boundary layer flows and, in this way, to make some first, yet decisive, steps in the physics and algorithmics of fully-coupled polymeric boundary layer turbulence.
This work will use a combination of machine learning and molecular thermodynamic modelling to develop a methodology to efficiently develop accurate mathematical representations of the thermodynamics of complex multicomponent mixtures, with a focus on the pharmaceutical industry.
This project will develop improved theories of electrochemical reactions by combining recent advances in the description of the electric double layer with those in electron transfer kinetics.
This modelling and simulation study will investigate processes that occur when foam injection is used to displace fluids from an oil reservoir, and in particular what happens as the foam front changes direction as additional injection wells are brought online.
This project focus on developing catalyst generation technologies for conversion of biomass (e.g., empty fruit bunch) into polyols with the aim to address the global issues on searching alternative energy/carbon sources to replace the limited reserves of fossil resources.
In this project, an integrated system will be designed and developed to ensure efficient generation of liquid transportation fuels whilst maximising the value of biomass into value-added chemicals by controlling structure and functionality as they form.
Redox flow batteries conventionally employ toxic and corrosive transition metals such as vanadium. This project will develop neutral aqueous organic redox electrolytes suitable for high performance flow batteries with benign chemical properties in terms of safety, cost and end-of-life recycling.
This project will employ a wide range of physical and chemical methods to develop a new class of membrane materials for carbon dioxide conversion to fuels, chemicals and oxygen.
This project will employ a wide range of physical and chemical methods to develop a new class of energy conversion and storage materials via nanoengineering.
The project will investigate Machine Learning and Deep Learning approaches to extract and fuse multiple data streams from multi-sensor setups in chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturing through a combination of experimental work, data analytics and process simulation.
This research will investigate the effect of supported nanopaticles size on the reactivity of nanocomposite materials in heterogeneous reactions. The fundamental questions are how the reactivity scales with the nanoparticles size and whether the stoichiometry of the reaction is affected.
The research is a co-operation with researchers at California Institute of Technology, and will pioneer superfluid flow-structure interactions with are of key importance in technological and astronomical applications.
The project will explore the use of Machine Learning for the analysis and fusion of data from multiple sensors in agricultural applications. Satellite and drone multispectral imagery together with ground sensors will inform decision support tools for advanced farm management.
In this project, the student will be involved in an industrial funded project to develop and use spatially offset Raman spectroscopy (SORS) and spatially resolved diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (SR-DRS) for obtaining insight into sub-surface powder drying behaviour.
Exploration by computer simulation of the role of interactions between active particles such as nanomotors, driven colloids, algae, bacteria.
This project aims at understanding and controlling secondary nucleation which plays a key role in many industrial crystallisation processes, bridging the gap from fundamental science to manufacturing processes, facilitating scale-up and process design of pharmaceutical crystallisation.
This project involves conceptual design and modelling of thermal energy storage technologies for sustainable agri-food systems. Based on life cycle cost analysis, parametric relationships will be developed and the feasibility of technologies will be evaluated for costs and benefits.
Typically, pharmaceutical manufacturers use solvents once and then sends them for incineration, this is driven by a desire to minimise risk to product quality. However, this is a major contributor to the industry generating around 100kg of hazardous waste per 1kg of product. The aims to address this problem.
This project will explore established and emerging methods in biogenic carbon capture and utilisation for sustainable value recovery from waste. The biological, physical and chemical mechanisms governing simultaneous CO2 Capture and utilisation will be examined using experimental and modelling approaches.
Crystallisation is widely used for purification of pharmaceuticals. One of the main challenges is to control the process of crystal formation. This project will use simulations and experiments to understand and predict how surfaces and interfaces affect crystal formation.
This modelling and simulation-based project will study foam bubbles flowing rapidly along a microfluidic channel. The models will describe how bubbles arrange into short-lived topological states analogous to short-lived states in an accelerator such as the large hadron collider.
This project uses molecular simulations and High-Performance Computing combined with state-of-the-art experiments to design gels that can be used for protein adsorption. This technology will have applications in water clean-up as well as protein extraction and purification.
The project aims to develop chemical engineering educational strategy for a fully decarbonized economy, asking what decarbonized versions of every sector would look like and how would education enable future graduates to create them. A combination of pedagogical, economic and historical research.
Fibre composites, typically comprised of carbon or glass fibres embedded in a polymer, are widely used in industry. This project will simulate polymer network formation in composites enabling the design of advanced composites and explore mechanisms for their end-of-life recycling.
This project uses computer modelling to understand filter cake washing and drying, as used in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals. This will be complemented by experiments to optimise synthesis conditions to yield processable filter cakes, with direct industrial applications.
This project concerns the development of optical methods for measurement and imaging of total elemental potassium in thermal flows of relevance to biomass processing, with the goal of understanding and controlling its catalytic effects and impact on equipment degradation.
Currently active pharmaceutical ingredient left in crystallization mother liquors is lost in the waste stream. Recovering API would reduce the waste per kg of drug substance produced making a significant contribution to a sector with a particularly low atom efficiency.
New carbon nanomaterials will be synthesised from sustainable precursors and tailored by activation, doping, and/or decoration. They will be explored as potential catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells with scope for other hydrogen-related applications.
The manufacture of sulfonated fluoropolymer electrolytes involves “forever chemicals”, which face increasing scrutiny over their ecological impact. Here, modified cellulose fibres and crystals will be explored as more sustainable alternatives for proton conduction in hydrogen fuel cells and water electrolyzers.
This project will use quantum chemistry and molecular dynamics calculations to explore the mechanism and kinetics of the process of converting CO2 into valuable products.
This project studies the application of advanced numerical and algorithmic methods based on mesoscopic formulation of the complex fluid boundary layer flow and the use of finite volume methods for computational fluid dynamics and Brownian methods for computational polymer dynamics for the solution of the corresponding equations.
Strathclyde Research Studentship Scheme (SRSS) doctoral studentships are available annually for excellent students and excellent research projects.
There are two main sources of funding:
The SRSS 2023/2024 competition will open in Autumn 2022 and students successful in this competition will commence studies in October 2023. Faculties will set their own internal deadlines for the competition.
Academics/Supervisors make the applications for this scheme and there are various deadlines across the Department/Schools and Faculties, therefore, in the first instance, all interested students should contact the Department/School where they would like to carry out their research.
Students can study towards an MPhil in one year or a PhD in three to four years. You can study either option in any of our key areas of research:
There are also opportunities to research engineering education and knowledge exchange.
The Department of Chemical & Process Engineering hosts a busy outreach group called ReallySmallScience. It visits schools and takes part in public events throughout the year. As a PhD student, you can volunteer to take part in activities to inspire the next generation of chemical engineers and turn your research into an engaging activity for all.
All fees quoted are per academic year unless otherwise stated.
Entrants may be subject to a small fee during the writing up period.
Fees may be subject to updates to maintain accuracy. Tuition fees will be notified in your offer letter.
All fees are in £ sterling, unless otherwise stated, and may be subject to revision.
Students on programmes of study of more than one year should be aware that tuition fees are revised annually and may increase in subsequent years of study. Annual increases will generally reflect UK inflation rates and increases to programme delivery costs.
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Funding | Take a look at our funding your postgraduate research web page for funding information. You can also view our scholarships search for further funding opportunities. |
Postgraduate research opportunities | Search for all funded and non-funded postgraduate research opportunities. |
Additional costs | Course materials & costsStudents are provided with lab coats, gloves, etc., and have an allocated budget to cover conference attendance, poster printing, etc. Students have access to print documents via the department's own printers. Placements & field tripsAllocated budget to help with placements and conference attendance. Students are also encouraged to apply for external support where available. International studentsInternational students may have associated visa and immigration costs. Please see student visa guidance for more information. Other costsSome projects will have research costs in addition to the tuition fees. Assessment is made on a case by case basis. Applicants are informed at the point of offer that their project may incur bench fees and are sent a letter if a bench fee applies. Cost of binding two copies of the thesis and a CD copy (£26/copy, not including printing costs) at Cameron bookbinders. |
Please note: the fees shown are annual and may be subject to an increase each year.
Our research applies advances in science and mathematics to develop solutions to challenges faced by industry and society, such as manufacturing medicines, delivering clean water and providing renewable energy.
We research areas from controlled assembly of nanostructured materials to design of advanced reactors, and from combating global warming with novel energy storage and gas separation technology to understanding protein aggregation in degenerative diseases.
Find out more about our research
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Dr Edward Brightman |
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Dr Iain Burns |
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Dr Kate Dobson |
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Prof Ashleigh Fletcher |
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Dr Karen Johnston |
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Dr Miguel Jorge |
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Dr Demosthenes Kivotides |
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Dr Jun Li |
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Dr Leo Lue |
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Dr Stephen Lyth |
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As part of your PhD degree, you'll be enrolled on the Postgraduate Certificate in Researcher Professional Development (PgCert RPD).
This certificate is designed to support you with your research and rewards you for things you'll do as a research student here.
It'll help you improve skills which are important to professional development and employability:
All you have to do is plan these activities alongside your doctorate, documenting and reflecting your journey to success along the way.
The University Careers Service can help you with everything from writing your CV to interview preparation.
From financial advice to our IT facilities, we have a wide range of support for all students here at Strathclyde. Get all the information you need at Strathlife.
The Strathclyde Doctoral School provides a vibrant and comprehensive student-centred research and training environment in order to grow and support current and future research talent.
The School encompasses our four faculties and is committed to enriching the student experience, intensifying research outputs and opportunities, and ensuring training is at the highest level. As a postgraduate researcher, you'll automatically become a member of the Strathclyde Doctoral School.
Find out more about the Doctoral SchoolStrathclyde has a long history of collaborations with other universities and research groups which results in pioneering research with the involvement of experts around the world. From day one I have received support and encouragement from the University, my Department and my supervisors.
I have really appreciated how much encouragement I have been given to travel during my PhD studies, and have been lucky enough to take part in a number of overseas knowledge exchange programmes and conferences. The Department’s environment is also very supportive, with a number of lecturers available for discussion and advice whenever you need them.
I really enjoy the mixed international and local character of Strathclyde, which enables you to get to meet and become friends with other students, not only from Scotland but from all over the world. The atmosphere within the Department is very friendly and there’s always someone you can approach if you are struggling either with your work or with other issues.
We've a thriving international community with students coming here to study from over 140 countries across the world. Find out all you need to know about studying in Glasgow at Strathclyde and hear from students about their experiences.
Visit our international students' sectionOur campus is based right in the very heart of Glasgow. We're in the city centre, next to the Merchant City, both of which are great locations for sightseeing, shopping and socialising alongside your studies.
Life in GlasgowA first-class or upper second-class Honours degree in a relevant engineering/science discipline, or a suitable equivalent qualification.
If English isn't your first language, you'll also need to have a recent UKVI-recognised Secure English Language Test (SELT) qualification.
During the application you'll be asked for the following:
By filling these details out as fully as possible, you'll avoid any delay to your application being processed by the University.
Once you've accepted our offer, we'll need you to fulfil any academic, administrative or financial conditions that we ask.
If you're applying as a UK or EU student, you'll then be issued with your registration documentation.
An ATAS (Academic Technology Approval Scheme) clearance certificate is a mandatory requirement for some postgraduate students in science, engineering and technology.
Eilidh Groden
Telephone: +44 (0)141 574 5306
Email: chemeng-pg-admissions@strath.ac.uk
James Weir Building, 75 Montrose Street, Glasgow, G1 1XJ