What we are looking for

We welcome highly calibre researchers to join our group. If you are passionate about innovative research in the areas of chemical and process engineering, low-carbon technologies, sustainable resource management, or more broadly, interdisciplinary projects that aim to address environmental sustainability issues using a systems approach, this is the right place! Our Master, PhD, postdoctoral or visiting programmes may be able to support you in any of your career stage. Please let us know your interest by filling out the Expression of Interest form.

Our vision and principles in recruitment

We look forward to working with like-minded and enthusiastic researchers to create a more sustainable future. Therefore, we are very selective in our recruitment process. We appreciate positive attitude, as well as excellent skills and knowledge of candidates, and these will be the main criteria when selecting our researchers. We shall try our best to match your interest and background with your project and future career goal. We promote equality, diversity and inclusivity research environment in our group. We prefer moderate group size so that our researchers will get the best support and supervision. Due to the large number of applications that we are receiving, we will only be able to select a limited number of excellent candidates to join our group annually.

Research programmes, positions and requirements

1.       PhD Research (Full-time)

• Project type: Pre-defined or self-defined projects.
• Funding: Self-funding or studentship.
• Duration: Full-time, on-campus for 3 to 4 years
• Intake: January, April, October.
• Degree: Chemical and Process Engineering / Civil and Environmental Engineering / any equivalent
• Undergraduate degree class: UK First (1^st) or Second Upper (2:1).
• Postgraduate degree class: Distinction or Merit

2.       PhD Research (Visiting)

• Project type: Pre-defined or self-defined projects.
• Funding: Self-funding.
• Duration: Full-time, on-campus exchange students/research visitors for a minimum 3 months and up to 1 year.
• Intake: All year round.
• Degree: Chemical and Process Engineering / Civil and Environmental Engineering / any equivalent
• Undergraduate degree class: UK First (1^st) or Second Upper (2:1).
• Postgraduate degree class: Distinction or Merit

3.       Postdoctoral Research (Visiting)

• Project type: Pre-defined or self-defined projects.
• Funding: Self-funding.
• Duration: Full-time, on-campus for a minimum 3 months and up to 1 year.
• Intake: All year round.
• Degree: Chemical and Process Engineering / Civil and Environmental Engineering / any equivalent
• Undergraduate degree class: UK First (1^st) or Second Upper (2:1).
• Postgraduate degree class: Distinction or Merit
• Early career (1-5 years after completion of PhD) or mid-career (5-10 years after completion of PhD) researchers are welcome.

4.       Postdoctoral Research (Fellowship)

• Project type: Self-defined projects.
• Funding: External funding secured by candidates.
• We are delighted to host:
  • EPSRC Fellowships
  • NERC Fellowships
  • Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellowships
  • Royal Academy of Engineering Fellowships
  • Newton International Fellowships

5.       Postdoctoral Research (Externally-funded)

• Project type: Pre-defined projects.
• Funding: Subject to availability of external funding.
• The requirements vary across different projects and are specified in the job description.

6.       MSc Research (Visiting/Intern)

• Project type: Pre-defined or self-defined projects.
• Funding: Self-funding.
• Duration: Full-time, on-campus exchange students/research visitors for a minimum 3 months and up to 6 months.
• Intake: All year round.
• Degree: Chemical and Process Engineering / Civil and Environmental Engineering / any equivalent
• Undergraduate degree class: UK First (1^st) or Second Upper (2:1).

Types of projects

In general, we accept two types of projects: self-defined projects and pre-defined projects.

1. Self-defined projects – You are welcome to propose any projects if you have a brilliant idea in mind which you wish to pursue. Please check our group’s research interest areas before writing your proposal. Your proposal should include: Aims and objectives, background, description of projects, tasks, expected outcome and timeline (i.e. a Gantt chart).

2. Pre-defined projects – We offer a broad range of projects. You may consider the following exemplar projects or feel free to propose alternative scopes or projects.

• Developing sustainable decarbonised polygeneration system concept for the production of hydrogen, chemicals and energy
• A systems approach to plastic waste valorisation
• Valorisation of biomass for sustainable production of fuels and chemicals
• Sustainable aviation fuel production from biomass and waste using a biorefinery approach

Applying for a PhD research position (Full-time student)

1. If you are unsure whether you have met the admission requirement: Please contact our colleagues at Brunel University London’s Postgraduate Research admission team: admissions@brunel.ac.uk
2. If you have other general queries about our PhD postgraduate research (PGR) programme: Please contact our PGR office at Brunel University London: cedps-pgr-office@brunel.ac.uk
3. If you are uncertain about the project scopes or whether your proposed project is in line with our interest, you can first contact Dr Kok Siew Ng via the Expression of Interest form.
4. If you are confident that you have met all admission requirements, please go through the formal application process through Brunel University London website: Application: https://www.brunel.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/chemical-engineering-phd

Note: Due to the large number of enquiries, please allow us some time to respond to your queries. We regret that incomplete or irrelevant enquiries will not be dealt with.