synthetic chemistry PhD Projects, Programs & Scholarships

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.

This interdisciplinary project will involve the synthesis of twisted polyaromatic hydrocarbons with functionality suitable for organic solar cells and energy storage applications.

Regioregular phthalocyanines for phototherapy

University of Strathclyde
Pure and Applied Chemistry

Dr R Edkins

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.

This project based within Dr Robert Edkins’ Group will use synthetic chemistry and photophysical measurements to develop phthalocyanines for photothermal and photodynamic therapy with combined photoacoustic or fluorescence capabilities.

Decision making through artificial chemical intelligence

University of York
Department of Chemistry

Dr J Slattery, Prof I J S Fairlamb

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.

Automation will transform the chemical landscape. Powerful robotic platforms can perform reactions or analyses much more rapidly than traditional approaches.1 Ever faster computers allow huge numbers of molecules to be studied in an automated way using computational chemistry.

PhD in Chemical Biology -- Neuropeptide Research -- University of Vienna

University of Vienna
Institute of Biological Chemistry

Prof M Muttenthaler

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.

Neuropeptides are key mediators in many biological functions and understanding their interaction with target proteins is fundamental to unravel the underlying mechanism of diseases.

Glycosylated coordination complexes for luminescent imaging of lectins

University of Warwick
Department of Chemistry

Prof M Gibson, Prof M Ward

Application Deadline: 23 October 2019

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.

A 3.5 year PhD studentship is available on a Leverhulme Trust funded grant entitled 'Glycosylated coordination complexes for luminescent imaging of lectins’ with Prof Mike Ward and Prof Matt Gibson of the Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick.

High Power Renewable Energy Nano Catalysis – Fundamental and Applied Electrochemistry

Ariel University
Department of Biological Chemistry

Prof A Schechter

Applications accepted all year round

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.

The development of a low-cost, high-performance fuel cell is hindered by the lack of an active and electrocatalysts at the anode and cathode.

The University of Manchester
Department of Materials

Polymeric Frustrated Lewis Pairs

Research Group: Polymers and Composites

Prof M Shaver

Application Deadline: 6 December 2019

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.

Functional materials that respond to external stimuli are of growing importance to fields as varied as computing, electronics, health and well-being and sustainability.

Minimal Peptide Scaffolds for Modelling and Catalysis

University of Nottingham
School of Chemistry

Dr N Mitchell, Dr A Croft

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.

Iron-sulfur clusters are ubiquitous cofactors in nature; present in a variety of metalloproteins, these clusters mediate a broad variety of essential biological processes, including electron transfer, reaction catalysis (hydrogenase, nitrogenase, etc.), oxygen-sensing and the regulation of gene expression.

Photocatalysis supported by non-innocent ligands

University of York
Department of Chemistry

Prof A-K Duhme-Klair

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.

Photocatalysis allows light energy to be harnessed to drive catalytic reactions via single-electron transfer. However, many redox-catalytic processes, including those that involve oxygen atom transfer, require the transfer of more than one electron.1.

Exploring organic materials chemistry is available in the Peeks group at UNSW

UNSW Sydney
School of Chemistry

Dr M Peeks

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.

We are exploring the properties and applications of aromatic and antiaromatic molecules, with a particular interest in seeing how unusual (anti)aromatic building blocks can be combined, including in supramolecular assemblies, to deliver new properties.