Phd in Chemistry - Energy, Environmental and Sustainable Chemistry

University of St Andrews

PhD (Doctorate): a research-based degree, normally of three to four years duration. You will engage in a full-time research project and write a thesis of no more than 80,000 words and undergo an oral examination. The School of Chemistry at St Andrews has a thriving PhD community with around 150 PhD students studying here at any one time. Each student’s PhD experience – from their project to their funding. The School values its PhD community and contributes a major component of its own income to funding PhD positions in Chemistry. This funding is assigned to academics directly, and so it is always worth making an application.Two of the defining challenges of this century that Chemistry can tackle are (i) the need for secure energy supplies and (ii) limiting society's reliance on non-sustainable fossil-fuel derived feedstocks. Central to these challenges is (i) the development of renewable energy-generation and storage technologies, and (ii) the development of sustainable methods, that improve existing processes and make use of renewable resources. Energy, Environmental and Sustainable Chemistry research draws upon our expertise in core techniques such as electrochemistry, new materials, spectroscopy, structure, catalysis, computation and gas separation to tackle these challenges.Research in this theme addresses current critical global challenges relating to climate change, sustainability and environment. We investigate new materials for energy applications, developing novel processes for production of sustainable materials, recovery of resources and the fate of natural and pollutant chemical species in the environment. EaStCHEM’s aims in this theme range from understanding fundamental processes through to translation for industrial applications and development of devices.

Chemistry