Postgraduate research

The department offers programmes of research and teaching spanning the breadth of chemical engineering.

PhD Programme Structure

The usual duration of a PhD degree at UCL is three calendar years full-time with students initially registered for the Chemical Engineering (MPhil) degree.

The progress of each student will be monitored and reviewed according to the guidance established by the UCL Graduate School, and transfer for registration from the MPhil to a PhD is conditional on satisfactory academic performance.

All first-year students will be encouraged to attend the Skills Development programme offered by the UCL Graduate School.

After a period of 12 months from first registration, research students will be assessed for their suitability for transfer of their registration to the PhD degree. This is done via examination of a 20 000 words MPhil Transfer thesis. Registration is usually retrospective to the start of their original MPhil programme.

Entry Requirements

Before submitting an application, candidates are strongly advised to contact academic staff based on their research interest and nominate at least one potential supervisor for consideration. Otherwise, processing of your application may be delayed.

Students will need the following to be considered for the MPhil/PhD:

Upper second-class Honours Master Level degree or its overseas equivalent (such as a 4 year BSc degree) in a related applied or science subject from an approved university
Students with industrial experience in addition to a suitable degree are particularly welcome.

Further information on entry requirements can be found on the Chemical Engineering Prospective Students website.

Applying and Funding

For more information on how to acquire funding, please go to the Grad School Website. This offers a wealth of information including:

Scholarships,
Funds for current researchers,
Funding provided externally to UCL,
Additional information for prospective students.

The department also offers fully funded studentships which can be found at on the vacancies page in addition to this, you will find details of the Academics specific to each vacancy for you to contact if necessary.

All prospective students should apply via the application portal UCL Select. You should apply for the ‘Research Degree: Chemical Engineering’. As part of your application, it is important that you provide a personal statement explaining why you are suitable for the PhD programme. You must also:

specify at least one Chemical Engineering academic that you expect to supervise you during your studies.
If you are applying for one of the studentships you must detail in your personal statement which studentship you are applying for. Please ensure you read the information about the studentship to ensure you provide any information which may be specified.
List at least two references

Supervision

Before entry to the department, a student will have chosen, or have been allocated to, a supervisor with whom full and continuous contact must be maintained throughout the research.

In addition, a second member of the academic staff will be appointed as an adviser and subsidiary supervisor.

He or she will be able to:

Assist in monitoring progress,
Provide technical support
Provide advice at any stage especially in the absence of the principal supervisor.

The Departmental Postgraduate tutors look after the welfare of the students and assist with the monitoring of the students’ progress.

The UCL Graduate School E-log is used to provide a record of the students’ progress with their research and their meetings with the supervisors.

Important Information for CSC Funding for PhD students from the People's Republic of China

If you want to be considered by the department for the CSC Dean's Prize then you need to submit your application to the department on or before 25 January, 2019.

Please contact an academic member of staff to discuss your project and for application procedure