Available Projects
The EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Digital and Automated Materials Chemistry will train cohorts of researchers with capabilities in materials chemistry, digital intelligence and automation.
Students joining the DAMC CDT will develop core expertise in robotic, digital, chemical and physical thinking, which they will apply in their domain-specific research in materials design, discovery and processing. By working with each other and benefiting from a tailored training programme they will become both leaders and fully participating team players, aware of the best practices in inclusive and diverse R&D environments.
Applicants are advised to review our "how to apply" guide and submit an online application as soon as possible (no later than the application deadline indicated in the project advert).
Please see the full list of projects starting in academic year 2026-27 below. For the latest announcements, please follow our LinkedIn or revisit this page regularly.
List of PhD projects starting in academic year 2026-27
OPEN PROJECTS:
- Molecular Simulation and Data-Driven Discovery of Smarter, Greener Formulations (Deadline 31st August 2026)
- Digital and Experimental Mechanochemistry for Next-Generation Elastomers (Deadline 30th November 2026)
FILLED PROJECTS
- A Fast Validation of the Symmetry Principle for Molecular Synthesisability
- Automated Virtual and Physical Screening of Molecules for Application in Optoelectronics Devices
- Autonomous, On-Demand Manufacture of Polymer Nanomaterials in Continuous-Flow
- Crystal Structure Generation by Constrained Combinatorial Sampling
- Digital Exploration of Novel Polymeric Materials for Structural Composites
- Digital Exploration of Sulfur-Polymer Development
- Discovering CO2-capture materials using robots and ‘Hive Mind’ hybrid intelligence
- Discovering Design Rules in Product Formulation using Automated Rheo-Dialysis and Scattering
- Discovering New Materials in the Laboratory with Automated Reasoning and Explainable AI
- Introducing Temperature and Disorder into Digital Materials Discovery Workflows
- Mitigating Synthesisability Loss in 3D Generative Models
- Putting a (Better) Brain in the Mobile Robotic Chemist
- Real Time Mixing Control in Flow Chemistry
List of previously advertised PhD projects
ACADEMIC YEAR 2025-26
- Adaptive Robotic Chemists for Resilient Pharmaceuticals
- Automated Approaches for Efficient, Scalable, and Sustainable Synthesis of Material Precursors
- Computational Identification of Catalytic Covalent Organic Frameworks
- Digital Discovery of Polymeric Materials
- Digital Exploration and Structural Modelling of Hybrid Glass Formers
- Digitally-led Discovery of Solid Electrolyte Materials for Net Zero Applications
- Explaining Structure-Property Relations in the Materials Space
- Guaranteed Structure Prediction With Machine Learning
- High Entropy Alloys for new PGM (Platinum Group Metal) applications
- High Throughput Discovery of Iridium Free OER Catalysts
- Intelligent Optimisation of Inline Purification – Delivering Automated Product Profiling for Pharma
- Machine Learning for Material Performance Predictions Across Climates
- Optimisation Algorithms for Flow Chemistry
- Optimised Flow Pathways for Monodisperse Nanoparticles of Porous Materials
- Polarised Rheo-Microscopy and Dynamic Coarse-Grained Modelling of Hydrogels
- Understanding, and High-Throughput Development, of the Formulation of Spray Coating Solutions for Industrial Applications
ACADEMIC YEAR 2024-25
- A Robotic Soft Matter Scientist: Transforming the Sustainability of Personal Care Products
- Accelerating Computational Materials Discovery with Diverse Toolsets for Verification and Optimisation
- Accelerating Energy Landscape Exploration Through Optimisation, Approximation and Parallelisation
- Automated Powder Coating Platform for Long-Life Lithium-ion Batteries
- Computational Exploration of Substrates and Interfaces for Thin Film Solar Cells
- Deploying Safer Robot Chemists in Real Laboratory Environments
- Development Of Bespoke Algorithms for Autonomous Optimisation in Flow
- Digital Discovery of New Photocatalysts for Photoredox Catalysis
- Digital Routes to Next Generation Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cells
- High Throughput Solid State Synthesis of Functional Inorganic Materials for Net Zero Applications
- High-Throughput Discovery of New Materials as Functional Coatings on Glass For Net-Zero Applications.
- Non-Metal Organic Frameworks for Proton and Iron Conduction
- Predictive Molecular Models of High-Performance Elastomers in Demanding Environments
- Simulating Dynamic Battery Interfaces