Postgraduate Study

The Department

The Department of Chemical Engineering is a busy research community comprising 19 academic staff, in addition to research students, post-doctoral workers and visitors, drawn from all over the world.

We have around 300 undergraduates, 34 MSc and 50 PhD students, engaged in innovative research programmes in both established and fast developing areas, such as nanotechnology, bioengineering and pharmaceutical processing.

Rated 3rd for Chemical Engineering

The Times Good University Guide 2012

Our research is aimed to have impact on current industrial and societal needs ranging, for example, from the commercial production of stem cells, to disinfection of hospital wards, to hydrogen transportation through the gas distribution network.

The breadth and depth of research is reflected in our scientific publications and close links with industry through spin-out companies, sponsorship, knowledge transfer projects and generation of intellectual property. In the last Research Assessment Exercise, 95% of the staff were rated as of an “international standard” and in the latest National Student Survey, we were ranked 3rd amongst UK Chemical Engineering departments.

Our postgraduate students undertake challenging projects leading to MSc, MPhil or PhD degrees. We have a stimulating seminar programme throughout the year, where both external invited speakers and our own postgraduate students present their research work. There is a healthy cross-fertilisation and exchange of ideas between researchers, a strong emphasis on collaborative work done with other universities and industry, and an increasing amount of interdisciplinary research that is relevant to the needs of end-users of our research.

The Department has high quality laboratories and services for both bench and larger scale work. These are complemented by excellent computational and IT resources, and backed up by mechanical and electronic workshops. The Department is home to the EPSRC Doctoral Training Centre in Regenerative Medicine and houses a recently refurbished class 2 biological laboratory; we also have facilities in the Centre for Biological Engineering in Holywell Park.

The Department offers advanced postgraduate taught programmes leading to an MSc, Postgraduate Diploma or Postgraduate Certificate. The programmes are made up of intensive specialist and generic taught modules, along with a substantial, industry-relevant research project.