Application Deadline: Friday, October 23, 2026
LOCATION: England
Applications are invited for a PhD studentship (home or international) in chemical engineering under the supervision of Professor Erwin Reisner within the Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry at the University of Cambridge. The studentship targets the top candidates worldwide to join our international research team on a 3.5-year scholarship starting in October 2027.
ELIGIBILITY:
The Reisner Laboratory develops innovative technologies to convert solar energy into sustainable fuels and organic platform chemicals for a circular economy using a unique cross-disciplinary and collaborative approach.
Working with and learning from an experienced team of cross-disciplinary scientists and engineers, the PhD student will develop a scalable process for photoreforming technology, which uses solar energy to upcycle plastic waste into fuel such as hydrogen gas and valuable organic chemicals. The PhD student will work together with chemistry and materials experts and design continuous-flow solar reactors to demonstrate this solar chemical technology at a kg plastic and metre square scale under real sunlight irradiation. This project supports a Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Emerging Technologies programme to enable the practical deployment of solar chemical technologies. The outcome of this project is expected to be published in top-tier academic journals and generate novel IP to support the commercial aspirations of this project.
More information about the laboratory and project can be found here:
Website Reisner Laboratory: https://www-reisner.ch.cam.ac.uk/
Publication on meter-square-scale photoreforming: https://www.nature.com/articles/s44286-026-00406-y
Review solar reforming technology: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41570-023-00567-x
They invite applications from candidates who hold, or expect to obtain, the equivalent of a UK first-class Master’s or honours degree in in Chemical or Process Engineering or a closely related discipline. The application deadline is 2 November 2026.
Applicants should submit the following documents by email to pa-reisner@ch.cam.ac.uk:
A cover letter outlining their motivation for applying and describing their specific research interests.
A detailed curriculum vitae (CV).
Full academic transcripts.
In addition, applicants must submit a formal application, including reference letters, via https://www.ch.cam.ac.uk/pgapp/how-apply.
For any queries, please contact Gioia Gregori at pa-reisner@ch.cam.ac.uk.
The university actively supports equality, diversity, and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
BENEFIT:
Competition-Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
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