Course structure

This is a 1-year fully funded MPhil scholarship linked to a follow-on 4-year PhD scholarship. The scholarships cover the tuition fees, tax-free student stipend, and research costs for the entire 5-year research programme.

Topic of study

The project will also develop environmentally compatible chemical and physical modification processes to transform the hydrogels into structures suitable for applications relevant to sustainable development.

Hydrogels are networks of water-soluble polymer chains bound together by chemical couplings so they may take up large amounts of water and yet not be dissolved away. The process of tuning the nature and number of these “crosslink” interactions, and the further modification of the networks, can potentially mimic the phenomenon of biological structure development from soft tissue to, e.g., insect exoskeletons and plant structures. However, current chemical approaches are limited in their abilities to routinely produce hydrogels with sufficient mechanical strength, and both the crosslinking reactions and the chemical modifications required to add further functionality currently require fossil fuel-based reagents and/or conditions incompatible with the environment.

The project will therefore develop biopolymeric hydrogel materials based on green chemistry processes to broadly enable sustainable development and help combat climate change. The materials can also act as superstructures and be further modified to host other functional molecules to enable a wide range of applications. For example, mechanical properties can be tuned for preparing insect-mimetic acoustic sensors, which can be used to monitor sounds and vibrations of buildings indicating energy usage or environmental issues. The chemical functionality of the hydrogels can also be modified to enable separation of biomolecules or capture of toxic species.

The project is part of our new interdisciplinary Leverhulme Doctoral School in Nature-Inspired Acoustics (NIA), and the student will further collaborate with researchers from both chemistry and other departments, including Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Architecture. 

Only applicants who qualify for UK or Scottish Home Fees will be considered. (see Funding Details).

Applicants will ordinarily enter the course with a bachelor’s (honours) degree but some applicants with a master’s degree may also be eligible (see Eligibility). Their degree discipline or work/professional experience should be relevant to the project, for example, but not limited to, chemistry, engineering, physical science, biology, cell culture, materials science, nanotechnology, electronic devices, etc. Applicants should also demonstrate experience in conducting an extended piece of technical work, e.g., placement, research/group/thesis project, professional employment,a  set of technical data analysis, etc.

Apply as soon as possible—applications will be evaluated on a rolling basis starting January 31, 2026. After this date, email to inquire about the availability of the opportunity.