polymers PhD Projects, Programs & Scholarships

Funded PhD Project (European/UK Students Only)

PhD Research Projects are advertised opportunities to examine a pre-defined topic or answer a stated research question. Some projects may also provide scope for you to propose your own ideas and approaches.

This project has funding attached for UK and EU students, though the amount may depend on your nationality. Non-EU students may still be able to apply for the project provided they can find separate funding. You should check the project and department details for more information.

This project is focused on developing a predictive framework to control glass-formation and crystallization in polymers, with a particular focus on the efficient design of high performance polymers within the Poly Aryl Ether Ketone (PAEK) family.

Disappearing into thin air? Understanding degradation of plastic polymers in soils and freshwaters

Lancaster University
Lancaster Environment Centre

Dr B Surridge

Applications accepted all year round

Funding Type

PhD Type

Funded PhD Project (European/UK Students Only)

PhD Research Projects are advertised opportunities to examine a pre-defined topic or answer a stated research question. Some projects may also provide scope for you to propose your own ideas and approaches.

This project has funding attached for UK and EU students, though the amount may depend on your nationality. Non-EU students may still be able to apply for the project provided they can find separate funding. You should check the project and department details for more information.

Plastic pollution is one of the most pervasive threats facing global ecosystems. However, very little is known about the processes and governing factors that control the persistence of plastic polymers within environmental matrices such as soil or freshwater.

Characterising sequence-controlled polymers in real space: polymer genome through submolecular imaging

Queensland University of Technology
Centre for Materials Science

Prof L Barner

Application Deadline: 30 September 2020

Funding Type

PhD Type

Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)

PhD Research Projects are advertised opportunities to examine a pre-defined topic or answer a stated research question. Some projects may also provide scope for you to propose your own ideas and approaches.

This project is in competition for funding with other projects. Usually the project which receives the best applicant will be successful. Unsuccessful projects may still go ahead as self-funded opportunities. Applications for the project are welcome from all suitably qualified candidates, but potential funding may be restricted to a limited set of nationalities. You should check the project and department details for more information.

A PhD student is needed for a project focused on developing an approach to the characterisation of sequence-controlled polymers (SCPs) by direct spatial investigation using high resolution scanning probe microscopy.

Programming and Real-Time Monitoring Light Degradability of Polymers

Queensland University of Technology
Centre for Materials Science

Dr H Frisch, Dr B Poad

Application Deadline: 30 September 2020

Funding Type

PhD Type

Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)

PhD Research Projects are advertised opportunities to examine a pre-defined topic or answer a stated research question. Some projects may also provide scope for you to propose your own ideas and approaches.

This project is in competition for funding with other projects. Usually the project which receives the best applicant will be successful. Unsuccessful projects may still go ahead as self-funded opportunities. Applications for the project are welcome from all suitably qualified candidates, but potential funding may be restricted to a limited set of nationalities. You should check the project and department details for more information.

Synthetic polymers are arguably the class of man-made materials that have most shaped the last century. However, the majority of polymers results from radical polymerization techniques yielding all carbon backbones, which critically prevent their degradation and pose a vital threat to the future of our planet.

Polymers for detection of infection

University of Bradford
Faculty of Life Sciences

Research Group: Chemistry and Biosciences

Prof S Rimmer, Dr W Martin

Applications accepted all year round

Funding Type

PhD Type

PhD Research Projects are advertised opportunities to examine a pre-defined topic or answer a stated research question. Some projects may also provide scope for you to propose your own ideas and approaches.

This project does not have funding attached. You will need to have your own means of paying fees and living costs and / or seek separate funding from student finance, charities or trusts.

The increase in resistance of bacteria to antibiotics is one of the biggest issues facing the world and many commentators have written on the catastrophic effects of the descent into a post-antibiotic world.

Polymers for treating amoebic infections in India

University of Bradford
Faculty of Life Sciences

Research Group: Chemistry and Biosciences

Prof S Rimmer, Dr W Martin

Applications accepted all year round

Funding Type

PhD Type

PhD Research Projects are advertised opportunities to examine a pre-defined topic or answer a stated research question. Some projects may also provide scope for you to propose your own ideas and approaches.

This project does not have funding attached. You will need to have your own means of paying fees and living costs and / or seek separate funding from student finance, charities or trusts.

Amoebic parasitic infections are widespread in the tropics. Amoebic dysentery can be fatal if the parasite progresses to the brain.

Microporous polymers for energy and sustainability

University of Sheffield
Department of Chemistry

Dr R Dawson

Applications accepted all year round

Funding Type

PhD Type

PhD Research Projects are advertised opportunities to examine a pre-defined topic or answer a stated research question. Some projects may also provide scope for you to propose your own ideas and approaches.

This project does not have funding attached. You will need to have your own means of paying fees and living costs and / or seek separate funding from student finance, charities or trusts.

Microporous polymers are a class of porous material made from organic building blocks possessing high surface areas and chemical stability.

3D and 4D Printing of Functional Polymers: Adding Function to Printed Objects

Australian National University
Research School of Chemistry

Assoc Prof L Connal

Applications accepted all year round

Funding Type

PhD Type

Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)

PhD Research Projects are advertised opportunities to examine a pre-defined topic or answer a stated research question. Some projects may also provide scope for you to propose your own ideas and approaches.

This project has funding attached, subject to eligibility criteria. Applications for the project are welcome from all suitably qualified candidates, but its funding may be restricted to a limited set of nationalities. You should check the project and department details for more information.

This project will transform commodity polymers used in 3D printing to control their properties for advanced applications. The student will utilise a number of techniques to synthesise and characterize the polymers to create new materials with interesting properties.

Queensland University of Technology
School of Chemistry and Physics

Programming Polymers

Dr H Frisch

Applications accepted all year round

Funding Type

PhD Type

Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)

PhD Research Projects are advertised opportunities to examine a pre-defined topic or answer a stated research question. Some projects may also provide scope for you to propose your own ideas and approaches.

This project has funding attached, subject to eligibility criteria. Applications for the project are welcome from all suitably qualified candidates, but its funding may be restricted to a limited set of nationalities. You should check the project and department details for more information.

PhD position on the interface of organic and polymer chemistry available in the Soft Matter. Materials laboratory located at Queensland University of Technology (Brisbane, Australia).

Formulation of poorly-soluble drugs

University of Reading
School of Pharmacy

Prof V Khutoryanskiy

Applications accepted all year round

Funding Type

PhD Type

PhD Research Projects are advertised opportunities to examine a pre-defined topic or answer a stated research question. Some projects may also provide scope for you to propose your own ideas and approaches.

This project does not have funding attached. You will need to have your own means of paying fees and living costs and / or seek separate funding from student finance, charities or trusts.

Poorly water-soluble drugs is an important class of pharmaceutical compounds that are finding numerous applications for the therapy of different pathological conditions.

Characterisation of the fracture resistance of polymers used in fibre-reinforced composites and its rate dependence

Brunel University London
Mechanical Engineering

Dr G Alfano, Dr G Fern

Application Deadline: 26 June 2020

Funding Type

PhD Type

Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)

PhD Research Projects are advertised opportunities to examine a pre-defined topic or answer a stated research question. Some projects may also provide scope for you to propose your own ideas and approaches.

This research project has funding attached. It is only available to UK citizens or those who have been resident in the UK for a period of 3 years or more. Some projects, which are funded by charities or by the universities themselves may have more stringent restrictions.

Brunel University London (BUL) is recruiting to EPSRC Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) PhD studentships effective 1 October 2020.

Towards the next generation of polymers

University of Auckland
Faculty of Science

Dr E Leitao

Applications accepted all year round

Funding Type

PhD Type

PhD Research Projects are advertised opportunities to examine a pre-defined topic or answer a stated research question. Some projects may also provide scope for you to propose your own ideas and approaches.

This project does not have funding attached. You will need to have your own means of paying fees and living costs and / or seek separate funding from student finance, charities or trusts.

Carbon-based polymers are ubiquitous. From textiles, to electronics, to packaging, to banknotes, to structural materials, we see and use these daily.

Computational and Polymer Sciences to Engineer Microbial Physiology

University of Birmingham
School of Chemistry

Dr S Jabbari, Dr F Fernandez-Trillo

Application Deadline: 31 July 2020

Funding Type

PhD Type

Funded PhD Project (European/UK Students Only)

PhD Research Projects are advertised opportunities to examine a pre-defined topic or answer a stated research question. Some projects may also provide scope for you to propose your own ideas and approaches.

This project has funding attached for UK and EU students, though the amount may depend on your nationality. Non-EU students may still be able to apply for the project provided they can find separate funding. You should check the project and department details for more information.

Mathematical modelling and statistical inference are key tools in understanding the life sciences. In this project, we will develop differential equation models and apply statistical inference techniques to understand how polymers can be engineered to be of practical use in microbiology.

Direct numerical simulation of polymeric-fluid flows

University of Strathclyde
Department of Chemical and Process Engineering

Dr D Kivotides, Dr P Grassia

Applications accepted all year round

Funding Type

PhD Type

PhD Research Projects are advertised opportunities to examine a pre-defined topic or answer a stated research question. Some projects may also provide scope for you to propose your own ideas and approaches.

This project does not have funding attached. You will need to have your own means of paying fees and living costs and / or seek separate funding from student finance, charities or trusts.

Polymers and turbulence are two of the most difficult problems in statistical physics. In the past, the study of polymeric liquids was divided in two categories.

Investigating and Improving the Thermal Degradation Pathways of Polymer and Composites

Sheffield Hallam University
Materials and Engineering Research Institute

Dr F Clegg

Applications accepted all year round

Funding Type

PhD Type

PhD Research Projects are advertised opportunities to examine a pre-defined topic or answer a stated research question. Some projects may also provide scope for you to propose your own ideas and approaches.

This project does not have funding attached. You will need to have your own means of paying fees and living costs and / or seek separate funding from student finance, charities or trusts.

Research Area. Throughout the world people are injured and killed in fires, and many suffer from the effects of inhaling toxic fumes and smoke.