Applications for our undergraduate vacation studentship scheme are now open!
Closing date: Applications have now closed
About the scheme
The scheme aims to encourage students to consider a career in Chemical Engineering/Chemistry. During the scheme, selected undergraduate students will be based at either Newcastle University or University of York for the duration of 6-8 weeks over the summer to complete a short-term research project within the Chemical Engineering or Chemistry discipline.
Eligibility
Students must meet the following criteria to be eligible for the scheme:
- Be undertaking their first undergraduate degree studies (on integrated Masters).
- Be expected to obtain a first or upper second-class UK honours degree.
- Be eligible for subsequent EPSRC PhD funding within PINZ CDT (ie. UK or right to remain in the UK).
- Be in their penultimate year of studies.
Applications
To be considered for this opportunity, please apply to pinz.cdt@newcastle.ac.uk by the closing date of 25 April 2025. You should provide the following:
- A cover letter with details of the project you would like to be considered for and reasons for applying.
- A CV.
- A reference from your personal tutor.
- A copy of your latest transcript.
Selection process and timescales
Applications will be screened for suitability and nominated candidates will be shared with the PINZ CDT panel.
Successful candidates will be notified no later than 6th June 2025 with an indicative start date for the project of Monday 16th June 2025.
Payment
Students will be paid for their placement via their host institution. Both partner universities pay hourly rates which is based on the national living wage (£12.22 per hour).
Reporting
Following the placement, students will be required to prepare a summary report based on the outcome of their placement.
Available Projects:
Placement Title: Upscale of exsolved catalysts for biogas reforming
Location: School of Engineering, Newcastle University
Industry Partner: Northumbrian Water Ltd
Supervisors: Dr Wenting Hu and Dr Evangelos Papaioannou
Placement Description:
Recently, the production of constrained nanoparticles via exsolution has been developed as a novel platform to produce tuneable arrays of emergent nanoparticles, intended as catalysts in small-scale devices. Exsolved nanoparticles are socketed and confined into the oxide support surface, a feature that seems to unlock superior functionality inaccessible through conventional synthesis routes1. This approach also brings new opportunities for the efficient utilisation of biogas as a clean energy source at a large scale, including the dry reforming of biogas, which would otherwise rely on expensive platinum-group metals. However, this new class of catalysts still faces several major challenges related to scaling up, namely low internal surface areas due to intrinsic material properties necessary for industrial-scale applications, costly and energy-intensive synthesis routes, among others. This project aims to develop low-cost exsolved nickel catalysts that can overcome the above challenges and can be produced at scale. This work proposes to develop thin-film heterostructures on catalyst supports that can be exsolved under mild, energy-efficient conditions. The catalysts will be tested in the dry reforming of biogas in the presence of poisoning species as part of a collaboration with Howdon Sewage Treatment Works (part of Northumbrian Water Ltd) to find new applications for biogas produced by sewage sludge treatment.
1. D. Neagu, E.I. Papaioannou, W.K.W. Ramli, D.N. Miller, B.J. Murdoch, H. Ménard, A. Umar, A.J. Barlow, P.J. Cumpson, J.T.S. Irvine, I.S. Metcalfe, ‘Demonstration of chemistry at a point through restructuring and catalytic activation at anchored Nanoparticles’, Nature Communications 8: 1855, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-01880-y.
Placement Title: Predicting the onset of powder caking
Location: School of Engineering, Newcastle University
Industry Partner: Syngenta
Supervisors: Dr Colin Hare
Placement Description:
Products in the pharmaceutical, agrochemical, food, commodity chemicals (and many more) sectors are often in powder form. Throughout production and end usage its essential that these powders can flow relatively easily, however exposure to elevated temperature and humidity throughout production, transportation and use can result in problematic caking occurring. Everyday examples of caking include powder detergents forming large clumps when stored under a sink, or the lumps seen in a jar of hot chocolate powder or flour. On the industrial scale though, this problem can lead to blockages, process downtime and wasted product. In this lab-based project supported by Syngenta, you will use a commercial powder rheometer to develop a new methodology for predicting the critical environmental conditions for caking to occur. The new approach will aid in formulation and process design.
Placement Title: Exploration of ‘greener’ oxidation condition
Location: Department of Chemistry, University of York
Supervisors: Prof Helen Sneddon
Placement Description:
Previous work by GSK and the ACS GCI PR has looked at whether recommendations for “greener” reaction conditions can be made for certain common synthetic transformations. Use of computational tools to explore literature scope is proposed, followed by further medium / high throughput screening of some less well used, arguably greener, conditions to try to overcome the inherent biases in the literature – where precedent builds up simply based on people defaulting to tried and tested protocols.
Placement Title: Greener Peptide Synthesis
Location: Department of Chemistry, University of York
Supervisors: Prof Helen Sneddon
Placement Description: Solid phase peptide synthesis, first developed in the 1960s, has been hugely important in facilitating on demand synthesis of almost any peptide, with really high coupling efficiencies, and really impressive levels of purity. But all the necessary washings involved in each coupling and deprotection means synthesising 1 kilogram of peptide by a solid phase route, can take 13 000 kilograms of material – mainly solvent. At present the solvent usually used in dimethyl formamide which is reprotoxic. Previous work at the UoY has focused on exploring greener, more benign, alternative solvents to DMF in this process., In addition we now have work ongoing looking at more efficient coupling conditions that can be conducted in these newer solvent mixtures (typically propylene carbonate and ethyl acetate, or propylene carbonate and tetramethyloxolane). What this placement would focus on is the use of smaller, more atom efficient amine protecting groups, and how these can be removed in these more benign solvent mixtures. Whilst initially consisting of screening of reaction conditions in solution phase, it is to be hoped that the work could subsequently be applied to solid phase synthesis, and that analysis of the conditions, yields, purities would confirm whether this was likely to be a robust, widely applicable greener alternative or not.
Placement Title: Flexibility in Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage (CCS) Systems
Location: School of Engineering, Newcastle University
Industry Partner: SSE Thermal
Supervisors: Dr Greg A. Mutch and Dr Wenting Hu
Placement Description:
As Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technologies are deployed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, operational flexibility becomes a challenge. This project will investigate how fluctuations in CO₂ capture processes, especially during startup, shutdown, and load changes, affect the quality of captured CO₂ and its impact on downstream transport and storage. Process flexibility is essential to accommodate variations in power demand, intermittent renewable energy integration, and economic factors influencing plant operation. However, such variations can lead to changes in the captured CO₂ stream, affecting its compression, transport efficiency, and long-term storage integrity. The project will analyse how dynamic operational conditions influence CO2 stream quality, assessing the effects on e.g., pipeline transport, geochemical interactions in storage sites, and potential safety concerns. Through simulations and literature analysis, we aim to define key operational guidelines that balance capture efficiency with downstream process requirements. The findings will support the development of CCS systems that are not only effective in reducing emissions but also resilient to operational changes, ensuring safe, cost-effective, and sustainable long-term carbon storage.
Placement Title: Biorenewable Detergents
Location: School of Engineering, Newcastle University
Industry Partner: P&G
Supervisors: Dr Fernando Russo Abegao and Professor Kamelia Boodhoo
Placement Description:
Fast moving consumer goods, such as fabric and home care products, have a high market volume and can contribute positively for industrial and consumer sustainability. This summer internship is co sponsored by Procter and Gamble and will be focused on testing the viability of making a novel detergent building block through a circular economy approach. You will learn about catalyst preparation
and test a green reaction to convert a biomass-based molecule into a biorenewable monomer. There will be opportunities to learn about analytical techniques to characterise the catalyst and/or reaction products.
Placement Title: Recovery of ammonia from waste waters
Location: School of Engineering, Newcastle University
Industry Partner: MetZero
Supervisors: Dr Richard Law and Dr Elizabeth Heidrich
Placement Description:
Ammonia is a common pollutant in industrial and municipal wastewater, leading to algal blooms, dissolved oxygen depletion, and toxicity of aquatic life. In addition, conventional ammonia production is highly energy-intensive, accounting for 2% of total final energy consumption globally. This results in significant greenhouse gas emissions and a large carbon footprint (1.3% of global CO2 emissions).
Our innovative approach uses microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) to extract ammonia, the environmental impact of wastewater discharge can be significantly reduced. This aligns with the growing demand for more sustainable and resource-efficient wastewater treatment technologies. In this project we will test and optimise this process through improved reactor configuration and operational parameters, understand its limits. This can be used to inform basic models of the amount of resource available. It will be multidisciplinary working across chemical and environmental engineering.
This work will be supported by METzero Technologies, a Newcastle University spin-out company which aims to become the leading provider of industrial size Microbial Electrochemical Technologies that will be implemented in wastewater treatment plants globally. The expansion of MET applications into ammonia recovery, if successful, offers a promising commercial avenue with great positive environmental impact.
Placement Title: Evaluation of a dynamically-mixed flow reactor to increase crystallisation efficiency
Location: School of Engineering, Newcastle University
Industry Partner: AM Technology UK
Supervisors: Dr Fernando Russo Abegao and Professor Kamelia Boodhoo
Placement Description:
The pharmaceutical industry has generally relied on batch manufacturing, but inefficiencies, labor demands, and quality inconsistencies have driven an appreciable shift toward continuous production. This approach has extended to include continuous crystallization, enabling better control of particle size, solid form, and opening up the potential for end-to-end continuous manufacturing. Another key driver is the increased energy efficiency, avoiding the long cooling cycles of large tanks commonly employed in batch crystallisation.
This project will evaluate a dynamically-mixed flow reactor for a continuous crystallisation. The Agitated Cell Reactor (ACR) is a versatile flow reactor that has demonstrated excellent capacity for handling slurries and performing continuous crystallisations. A key metric is obtaining a uniform particle size distribution, which has significant impact on the efficiency of downstream steps. The project will involve proof-of-concept experiments assessing a batch crystallisation against a continuous crystallisation to explore the potential for this system to significantly reduce energy consumption. The student will gain hands-on experience in continuous crystallisations, in collaboration with key industry partners in the field of flow chemistry.
Yesterday we hosted 65 people from over 30 businesses for the first PINZ Conference at Newcastle University!
The PINZ team, including our colleagues from University of York, delivered a series of talks and discussions about the Process Industries and how we are training our PhD students to be able to work towards making Net Zero a reality. We also heard directly from our students about their projects and what they hope to achieve over the next four years.
Our PINZ CDT Co-directors Professor Adam Harvey and Professor Helen Sneddon opened the day with a welcome talk, giving an insight in to the formation of the PINZ CDT and how the Process Intensification Group at Newcastle and the Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence came together. This was followed by our special guest speaker, Jon Hetherington from NEPIC, who delivering an excellent session on the North East Process Sector and set the scene for an amazing day.
We also had sessions on the range of training opportunities that are provided for our students, and our approach and commitment to ensuring EDI best practice is followed throughout the student journey. Delegates heard directly from our first cohort of students, discussing their aims and hopes for the wide range of projects they are working on, and also took part in an interactive cocreation session, looking at the challenges facing the industry and how we can work together to make improvements for the future.
Thank you to everyone who attended this conference – we will be holding more events in the future so if you’d like to attend please follow our LinkedIn page for updates here.
Thanks to Biofuel Evolution, Huber Uk Temperature Control Ltd, Asynt and HORIBA UK LIMITED for joining us as exhibitors and making sure our Stephenson building foyer was buzzing throughout the day.
Join us on the 22nd January 2025 9.30am – 4pm for the first annual PINZ Conference.
The EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Process Industries: Net Zero (PINZ CDT) is a collaboration between the Process Intensification Group at Newcastle University and the Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence at the University of York.
Focusing on three key research themes of Energy, Feedstocks and Data, we bring together diverse expertise from academia, industry, and beyond, to foster an environment of interdisciplinary synergy – where ideas flourish, and solutions are born.
This free event will bring together our current PINZ students, Newcastle University and University of York staff, our industry partners and esteemed guests. This will be an opportunity to learn more about the past, present and future of Process Industries and how we are supporting our students to become future leaders in this area.
This conference will take place in the Stephenson Building at Newcastle University – our recently refurbished, state of the art engineering facility. The event will run from 9.30am – 4pm with opportunities to network after the event closes. There is also an option to take a tour of our engineering facilities – if you would like to take the tour, please select this option on the registration form.
The deadline for registration is Wednesday 11th December 2024.
PINZ CDT Staff members and students attended the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) Awards Dinner on the 24th October. This event celebrated Chemical Engineering in the North East region, and we were thrilled to be able to sponsor a table and speak to a lot of people about the PINZ CDT.
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Centre for Doctoral Training in Process Industries: Net Zero (PINZ CDT) is a collaboration between the Process Intensification Group at Newcastle University and the Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence at the University of York.
Projects for academic year 25/26 will open in October.
To realise net zero, the process industries (bulk and fine chemicals, food and beverages, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing and utilities etc) must fundamentally change the way they handle energy, feedstocks and data. Gradual change is not enough; order-of-magnitude improvements in efficiency and environmental impact are required. In the UK alone, there are 500,000 new low-carbon jobs expected in the next decade. With more than 20 global industrial partners, to meet this training and research challenge, the Process Industries: Net Zero CDT will train process intensification and green chemistry experts, with the unique combination of skills needed to develop radically new processes, process technologies, and process chemistries.
Join our PhD programme and become one of the architects and leaders of the global process industries’ net zero transition. You will develop the skills to lead and transform the UK’s low-carbon businesses and supply chains and help to deliver the UK’s Net Zero Strategy. All projects have an industrial partner and you’ll benefit from a centre for doctoral training programme that has industrial collaboration at its core. The aim is to produce multi-skilled researchers equipped to tackle cutting-edge environmental science of global significance, embedded within a unique, supportive training environment.
And that’s a wrap on the 2024 edition of the Process Intensification Network Meeting (hashtag#PIN30) which took place yesterday at Newcastle University. Just wanted to take the time to share my thoughts on how the day went:
We had a packed schedule covering a range of topics such as flow chemistry, reactor technologies, and bioresource utilisation from both industrial and academic perspectives. I am extremely grateful to all the speakers for taking the time to share their knowledge, which clearly resonated with the audience.
Speaking of which, this event would not work without the people attending – it’s in the name – Network! We had a total of 50 attendees yesterday from 17 organisations, with a 20-30 split between industrial and academic guests. Thank you all so much for giving up a day from your busy schedules to learn more about Process Intensification. It was great to see so many questions being asked after each talk, and it was fantastic to see lots of networking taking place during the breaks. I felt that I gained some new ideas myself from the presentations and many conversations that I had during the day.
I would like to specifically thank Amanda Lane and Angela McLaughlin for their administrative support; I don’t think the event would have ran as smoothly or as professionally without them! Obvious thanks to my fellow organiser Adam Harvey for helping to arrange speakers and booking the venue. Finally, thanks to PhD students Tom Carr and Henry Baker for organising a successful poster session – it was great to see PhD students showcasing their research to all of the guests.
Adam and I already have speakers lined up for the 2025 edition of the meeting! But until then, I now have nearly a year off of organising duties before it all starts again.
I hope to see you again next year!
Newcastle University will lead a new Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) which will deliver a four-year training programme to produce 55 PhD graduates.
Newcastle University will collaborate with the University of York and more than 25 industrial partners to produce 55 PhD graduates with expertise in Process Intensification and Green Chemistry as part of the £11 million “Process Industries: Net Zero” (PINZ) Centre for Doctoral Training.
The new CDT, which is part of the UK’s biggest-ever investment in engineering and physical sciences doctoral skills totaling more than £1 billion, will produce the next generation of internationally renowned researchers who are anticipated to go on to a wide variety of careers, including in industry, academia, and government.
The researchers will help the process industries transition to more sustainable practices: this includes the pharmaceuticals, food and beverage, chemicals, and utilities sectors.
‘Our graduates will become architects and leaders’
Matthew Grenby, Pro-Vice Chancellor, Research and Innovation at Newcastle University, said: “The transition to Net Zero is one of the great challenges of our age, and we are delighted that universities like ours will be able to lead the response on the back of this announcement.”
“This CDT is a perfect example of how we can do it, training the next generation of scientists and engineers, and collaborating directly with partners in industry.”
The investment will allow industry partners, such as the North East of England Process Industry Cluster (NEPIC), Procter & Gamble, SSE, Nestle and Northumbrian Water to benefit from collaborating with North East academics. A key focus for the CDT will be technology transfer from laboratory to industry.
Newcastle University is already world-leading in Process Intensification (PI) and runs one of the largest PI groups in the world, with more than 80 researchers on campus. This collaboration with the world class Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence at York will create a formidable partnership in process engineering and chemistry.
Professor Adam Harvey, PI Group Leader, and Director of the Centre for Doctoral Training, at Newcastle University, said: “The CDT will put Newcastle University at the forefront of the drive to Net Zero.
“Two world-leading groups, the Process Intensification Group (Chemical Engineering, Newcastle) and the Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence (Chemistry, University of York), will collaborate with over 25 industrial partners on more than 55 PhD projects.
“Every project will be co-created with industrial partners to address the challenges they face in their transition to Net Zero.
“Students will receive intensive training throughout their PhDs to become the Net Zero-enabled engineers and chemists that the future process industries need.
“Based on their research and training, our graduates will become architects and leaders in the transition to Net Zero for process industries in the UK.”
‘The CDTs will train and support more than 4,000 doctoral students’
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is the main funding body for engineering and physical sciences research in the UK and will create 65 CDTs as part of the total funding.
The CDTs will train and support more than 4,000 doctoral students in areas of national importance including the critical technologies AI, quantum technologies, semiconductors, telecoms and engineering biology.
Professor Charlotte Deane, Executive Chair of the EPSRC, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), said: “The Centres for Doctoral Training announced today will help to prepare the next generation of researchers, specialists and industry experts across a wide range of sectors and industries.
“Spanning locations across the UK and a wide range of disciplines, the new centres are a vivid illustration of the UK’s depth of expertise and potential, which will help us to tackle large-scale, complex challenges and benefit society and the economy.
“The high calibre of both the new centres and applicants is a testament to the abundance of research excellence across the UK, and EPSRC’s role as part of UKRI is to invest in this excellence to advance knowledge and deliver a sustainable, resilient and prosperous nation.”
As part of the total EPSRC funding, Newcastle University, alongside Northumbria and Durham University, will be partner institutions with ReNU+ to advance world-leading research on renewable energy technologies to expand their work and include people from under-represented groups and non-traditional educational backgrounds to drive the transition to Net Zero.
ReNU+ will be distinctive from other areas of renewable energy research due to its emphasis on equality, diversity and inclusion, and its partnerships with local government, industry and charities.
Newcastle University will also collaborate with Cranfield and Sheffield University to equip 60 students with the skills needed to help create a more water-secure world. WIRe II is a collaboration involving the three universities to give students access to world-leading experimental water facilities.
The Process Industries: Net Zero website has information about doctoral opportunities including how to apply.