Professor Peter Cormack

Pure and Applied Chemistry

Personal statement

Peter Cormack was raised in Fankerton (a small village situated in the upper reaches of the Carron Valley in Stirlingshire, Scotland) and schooled in nearby Denny (at Denny Primary School and Denny High School). He graduated from the University of Strathclyde with a BSc in Chemistry with First Class Honours in 1992, and gained pre-graduation and post-graduation industrial research experience with Raychem Ltd. in Swindon, UK, working on high-performance, thermoplastic polymers for the aerospace sector.

Electing to stay at Strathclyde to pursue his scientific interests further, he graduated with a PhD in Polymer Chemistry in 1996 under the supervision of Professor David C. Sherrington and Dr Barry D. Moore. His PhD research work, funded by Merck Ltd. and the SERC, focussed upon the design and the solid-phase synthesis of monodisperse liquid crystalline peptides, as well as the synthesis of thermotropic polypeptides via the anionic ring-opening polymerisation of mesogenic N-carboxyanhydrides.

In February 1996, Peter moved to the University of Cambridge to take up a position as Post-Doctoral Research Associate in the Melville Laboratory for Polymer Synthesis, working with Dr Joachim H.G. Steinke on the synthesis of hyperbranched vinyl polymers. He then moved to Lund University, Sweden, in March 1997, to work with Professor Klaus Mosbach in the area of molecularly imprinted polymers, initially as a Post-Doctoral Fellow within the Department of Pure & Applied Biochemistry (Tillämpad Biokemi) and latterly as Vice-Director of Research in the Center for Molecular Imprinting and Molecular Recognition.

In September 1998, Peter returned to the Department of Pure & Applied Chemistry at Strathclyde to take up a position as Lecturer in Polymer Chemistry, a position that was sponsored by ICI for the first three years. Subsequently, he was promoted to Senior Lecturer in Polymer Chemistry in April 2004, and awarded the RSC/SCI Macro Group UK Young Researchers' Medal for 2005 in recognition of his contributions to polymer science and his research potential. Thereafter, Peter was promoted to Reader in Polymer Chemistry in 2007 and to Professor of Polymer Chemistry in 2009.

Peter was Scientist in Residence at the Centre for Self-Assembled Chemical Structures, Montréal, Canada in 2008, and has held Visiting Professorships in Canada (2008), Malaysia (2011) and Poland (2015). He served as Associate Dean for International Research in the Faculty of Science at Strathclyde from March 2015 until September 2018, and was Deputy Head of the Department of Pure & Applied Chemistry at Strathclyde from 2016-2017. Since November 2017, he is Head of Materials and Computational Chemistry in the Department of Pure & Applied Chemistry.

Peter’s research interests lie predominantly in the areas of synthetic polymer chemistry and materials science, with special emphasis on the design, the synthesis and the applications of functional organic polymers.

Please click on the Research tab for further details.

Expertise

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Prize And Awards

Gold Medal, 36th International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition (ITEX ‘25): Recipient; 2025
Nominated as Diligent Practitioner in Strathclyde Teaching Excellence Awards: Recipient; 2025
Nominated as Creative Practitioner in Strathclyde Teaching Excellence Awards: Recipient; 2025
Nominated in Strathclyde Teaching Excellence Awards: Recipient; 2024
Nominated in Strathclyde Teaching Excellence Awards: Recipient; 2022
Nominated as Most Enthusiastic Teacher: Recipient; 2019

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Publications

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Publications

Sustainable epoxidation of 1,5-hexadiene in a continuous flow reactor : process optimisation using response surface methodology: Bhuiyan Md Masud Rana, Cormack Peter, Saha Basudeb; ChemEngDayUK 2025 (2025)
A facile route for the chemical functionalisation of polydivinylbenzenes and the application of amphoteric polydivinylbenzene microspheres to the simultaneous solid-phase extraction of acidic and basic drugs from water samples: Borrull Francesc, Cormack Peter AG, Corrigan Alan, Craig Calum, Fontanals Núria, Marcé Rosa Maria, Moral Alberto, Smith Greg; Polymer Chemistry Vol 16, pp. 751-761 (2025); https://doi.org/10.1039/D4PY01312C
Core-shell polymer microspheres with strong cation-exchange character for the extraction of basic pharmaceuticals from aqueous samples: Moral Alberto, Corrigan Alan, Borrull F, Cormack Peter A G, Fontanals N, Marcé R M; Advances in Sample Preparation Vol 12 (2024); https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sampre.2024.100136
Donor-acceptor Stenhouse adduct functionalised polymer microspheres: Wesseler Justus P, Cameron Grant M, Cormack Peter A G, Bruns Nico; Polymer Chemistry Vol 14, pp. 1456-1468 (2023); https://doi.org/10.1039/D2PY01591A
Hypercrosslinked polymer microspheres decorated with anion- and cation-exchange groups for the simultaneous solid-phase extraction of acidic and basic analytes from environmental waters: Nadal Joan Carles, Dargo Stuart, Borrull Francesc, Cormack Peter AG, Fontanals Núria, Marcé Rosa Maria; Journal of Chromatography A Vol 1661 (2022); https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chroma.2021.462715
Polymerizable UV absorbers for the UV stabilization of polyesters. II. Photodegradation study of UV-stabilized PET copolymers: Cormack Peter A G, Erdemli Omer Can, Sankey Stephen W; Arkivoc, pp. 315-330 (2021); https://doi.org/10.24820/ark.5550190.p011.617

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Research

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Research Interests

Within the Cormack Group at the University of Strathclyde, we are particularly interested in the synthesis and use of functional organic materials, especially materials based upon macromolecules, with a variety of end applications in mind (including high performance chemical separations, bioanalysis, environmental and forensic analysis, ion-exchange, metrology, films, coatings, biomedical devices, sensors, proteomics and diagnostics). Typically, the materials are prepared using a broad-range of synthetic methodologies, including radical polymerisation, step-growth polymerisation, template-directed synthesis and solid-phase synthesis. The development and exploitation of molecularly imprinted polymers, microporous solids, functionalised polymer microspheres, branched polymers, and self-assembling systems are of special interest.

At the time of last updating of this section (1st November 2025), recruitment onto a previously advertised industrially-funded PhD scholarship was complete (candidate appointed). However, 2 additional PhD vacancies at Strathclyde - DC3 and DC11 - suitable for highly-qualified Doctoral Candidates (DCs), have arisen on the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Doctoral Network (DN) "MIPrecise" and are now open for applications from eligible candidates. (N.B. A further 11 MIPrecise DC positions are open for applications at the same time as the Strathclyde positions, in the groups of collaborating partners in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Italy and Germany.) For further information about the MIPrecise DN, the eligibility criteria, and application procedures, please visit the MIPrecise homepage - https://miprecise.eu). Please note that MIPrecise applications submitted directly to Professor Cormack will NOT be considered - applications for DC3 and DC11 MUST be made through the MIPrecise homepage. The deadline for the submission of applications for the MIPrecise DC vacancies is 30th November 2025.

If you wish to join the Cormack Group as a postgraduate or postdoctoral researcher and you have your own external funding in place, or if you are a highly-qualified individual who wishes to discuss the potential for a joint studentship/fellowship application on a mutually-interesting topic to to a suitable funding body, then please contact Professor Cormack directly.