Chemistry Studentship: Supramolecular Chemical Systems

Award details

We seek a creative, independent, PhD student to work in the Surman Lab (surmanlab.com) at KCL Chemistry.

Our world is made with chemical catalysis, to facilitate and guide efficient transformation of raw materials to useful products. A most important aspect of catalysis is selectivity: the ability to guide a reaction ‘cleanly’ to a single desired result, rather than many different products. In an ideal world, all catalysis would be economic and sustainable, selectively guiding reactions to a single result (important both for purity/safety and resource-efficiency). In reality, industrial catalysts tend to fall into two categories: reasonably selective (BUT expensive, using metals like palladium which are depleting even faster than oil), or poorly selective (BUT cheap and sustainable).

This project aims at ‘the best of both worlds’: exploring new/under-developed approaches to achieve selective transformation with cheap sustainable classes of catalysts by incorporating them into modular catalytic systems, involving selective recognition/separation. It will build on successful (so far unpublished) proof-of-concept work carried out within our lab over recent years, imparting regio- and stereo-selectivity to previously unselective systems.

To achieve this, the project encompasses synthesis (substrates, supramolecular ‘hosts’, and potentially catalytic materials) and catalytic method development, as well as characterisation (nature, strength, and kinetics) of the non-covalent interactions which mediate selectivity, and potentially automation of some of these activities. In addition, we are exploring collaboration with computational colleagues, requiring the acquisition of larger volumes of binding data, so the candidate may engage with automation of data acquisition (instruments, pipetting, etc) and data processing.

Award value

Studentship covers the following:

• Stipend: Tax-free stipend set at the standard UKRI rate, currently £22,780 per annum for the 25/26 academic year (including London Weighting Allowance)
• Bench Fees/RTSG: Research Training Support Grant allowance of approximately £4,500 per year for wet lab research
• Tuition fees: Covered by the studentship

Eligibility criteria

Prospective candidates should have a 1st or 2:1 M-level qualification in Chemistry, or a related programme (i.e. one providing skills appropriate to working safely in a wet chemistry lab), of any nationality/residency We’re a small, friendly, research group (surmanlab.com), and welcome eligible applicants from any personal background who are pleased to join a diverse group of scientists. Preference will be given to candidates open to this atmosphere, with experience in some of the following:

• Catalytic method development.
• Organic Synthesis. (e.g. Supramolecular hosts)
• Characterisation of non-covalent interactions. (e.g. specialist NMR, modelling titration data, ITC, etc).
• Materials Synthesis and characterisation. (e.g. heterogenous catalysts)
• General experience of a range of analytical chemistry.
• Automation of sample prep (e.g liquid handlers), data acquisition (instrumental) and processing (scripting/programming), and lab-based ‘tinkering’ (3D printing, CNC, Arduinos).
• A track-record of practical problem-solving, independence, and perseverance: in the chemical research lab and in any other sphere.

A PhD studentship is to learn and ‘ticking all these boxes’ is not a requirement; similarly, other related skills are most welcome. Informal email enquiries to Dr Surman are welcomed at andrew.surman@kcl.ac.uk.

Note: Please read carefully the eligibility criteria on nationality/residence before considering application, and consider eligibility for a UK visa if required.

Application process

To be considered for the position candidates must apply via King’s Apply online application system. Details are available at Department of Chemistry Postgraduate webpage

Please apply for Chemistry Research MPhil/PhD and indicate Dr Andrew Surman as the supervisor and quote the project title in your application and all correspondence.

Please ensure to add the following code “ChemNMES2303With” in the Funding section of the application form. Please select option 5 ‘I am applying for a funding award or scholarship administered by King’s College London’ and type the code into the ‘Award Scheme Code or Name’ box. Please copy and paste the code exactly.

The selection process will involve a pre-selection on documents and, if selected, will be followed by an invitation to an interview. If successful at the interview, an offer will be provided in due course.

Contact Details

Informal email enquiries to Dr Surman are welcomed at andrew.surman@kcl.ac.uk.

If you require support with the application portal please contact the King’s Admission Team – contact details available on the King’s Apply Homepage.

If you require other support with the application process please contact chemistry-pgr@kcl.ac.uk