Synthetic Chemistry PhD Projects, Programs & Scholarships in Sheffield

Dr P Portius

Application Deadline: 30 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.

Energetic or high energy-density materials are the key ingredient in the manufacture of propellants, explosives and pyrotechnics.

Macromolecules for drug delivery

Dr L Twyman

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.

We have worked with a number of water soluble polymer systems that are capable of encapsulating and solubilising various hydrophobic drug moieties.

Oxidative transformations of alkylboronic esters.

Dr BM Partridge

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.

Building on work in the Partridge group, this project will explore new oxidative transformations of alkylboronic esters. This work is suitable for ambitious students with a strong interest organic synthesis, and will involve aspects of catalysis, organoboron chemistry, and asymmetric synthesis..

Synthesis of specific macromolecular ligands for protein binding, recognition and purification.

Dr L Twyman

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.

Proteins bind and recognise each other using large surface areas. Sensing and recognizing specific proteins is therefore important for a number of applications, including medicine, biology and chemistry.

Synthesise of new macromolecules for application in photodynamic therapy.

Dr L Twyman

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.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is an effective and licensed treatment for a number of conditions, including various cancers and certain skin and eye conditions.

Artificial blood

Dr L Twyman

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.

Inspired by Nature, we have developed a number of macromolecules that can bind a release oxygen. These have included polyfluorinated micelles, polyion complexes and porphyrin cored polymers.

A Pd-catalysed cyclisation strategy to chiral nitrogen heterocycles

Prof JPA Harrity

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.

We have recently devised a novel conjunctive reagent that is generated in the presence of a palladium catalyst, and demonstrated that this can be exploited in the synthesis of chiral heterocyclic products.

An asymmetric synthesis of atropisomeric functionalised intermediates

Prof JPA Harrity

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.

Atropisomers are stereoisomers that occur because of hindered rotation about a single bond, and this leads to two or more conformers that interconvert slowly enough to be isolated as single components.

Investigating mechanism, reactivity and catalysis in organic, supramolecular and biological chemistry

Prof NH Williams

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.

We are interested in designing and synthesising organic molecules to investigate the basis of catalysis, and to apply these principles to designing our own, artificial catalysts.

Mechanisms in organometallic chemistry and homogeneous catalysis

Dr A Haynes

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.

Homogeneous catalysis by transition metal complexes plays an important role in many significant industrial processes. Understanding the mechanisms underlying these reactions is key to improving catalytic activity and selectivity to enhance overall process efficiency.

Microporous polymers for energy and sustainability

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.

Novel synthesis & characterisation methods for metal-organic nanosheets

Dr J Foster

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.

Nanomaterials are set to revolutionise every aspect of our lives from electronics to medicine. The remarkable properties shown by graphene have led to the development of a wide variety of other two-dimensional materials.

Synthesis of saturated nitrogen heterocycles and alkaloids by using organolithiums or dipolar cycloaddition chemistry

Prof I Coldham

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.

Our research group focuses on the synthesis of nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds, especially with chiral organometallic compounds and dipolar cycloaddition reactions.

Ynone trifluoroborate salts: Versatile reagents for organic synthesis

Prof JPA Harrity

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.

We have recently developed a new class of functionality rich intermediates based on ynone trifluoroborate salts. These compounds can be elaborated in multiple ways e.g.

Metal-organic nanosheets (MONs): Programmable 2D materials for use as sensors, catalysts, membranes and devices

Dr J Foster

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.

Two-dimensional nanomaterials such as graphene hold enormous potential for use in advanced electronics, energy, separation and composite materials applications.