PhD Studentship: Predicting and Improving the Quality of Recycled Plastics Using Advanced Metrology and Data Science

Department: Materials

Title: Predicting and Improving the Quality of Recycled Plastics Using Advanced Metrology and Data Science

Application deadline: 15/09/2025

Research theme: "Materials Characterisation" "Data Science and Machine Learning in Materials" "Plastics Recycling and Circular Economy"

Research theme: "Materials Characterisation" "Data Science and Machine Learning in Materials" "Plastics Recycling and Circular Economy"

How many positions: 1

This 3.5 year PhD is open to UK nationals. The successful candidate will receive an annual tax free stipend set at the UKRI rate (£20,780 for 2025/26) and tuition fees will be paid. We expect the stipend to increase each year.

Recycled plastics are essential to achieving circular economy goals, but they often suffer from batch-to-batch variability, making it difficult for industry to predict and control product performance. This PhD project will tackle that challenge by applying advanced polymer characterisation techniques to better understand and quantify the quality of recycled materials, particularly polyolefins.

Based at the University of Manchester and delivered in collaboration with the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) and Waters-TA Instruments, this interdisciplinary project will focus on developing robust, practical tools to assess and predict recyclate quality. The work will involve thermal analysis (e.g. DSC, TGA), rheology, mechanical testing, and molecular characterisation, with the goal of identifying property-performance relationships and generating datasets suitable for quality prediction.

A core part of the project will also involve exploring data-driven approaches, including principal component analysis and machine learning, to handle multivariate datasets. Prior experience in data science is not essential; the successful candidate will be supported through training in computational tools and statistical methods over the course of the project.

The project includes placements at NPL and Waters-TA Instruments, with opportunities to work in state-of-the-art facilities in Wilmslow (UK) and Delaware (USA).

Additionally, the successful candidate will gain access to professional development opportunities, industry skills training, and cohort events through the Postgraduate Institute for Measurement Science (PGI) at NPL.

Key Features of the Studentship

• Collaboration with leading organisations in recycling, metrology, and instrument development
• Training in polymer characterisation, advanced metrology, data science, and machine learning
• Industry placements at NPL and Waters-TA Instruments
• Research aligned with the development of standards for the recycled plastics sector

This role will be advertised until filled. To apply, please contact the main supervisor, Dr Tom McDonald - thomas.mcdonald@manchester.ac.uk. Please include your CV and a covering statement that details of your current level of study, academic background, any relevant experience and your motivation to study this PhD project.

Applicants should have, or expect to achieve, at least a 2.1 honours degree or a master’s (or international equivalent) in a relevant science or engineering related discipline.

To apply, please contact the main supervisor, Dr Thomas McDonald - thomas.mcdonald@manchester.ac.uk. Please include details of your current level of study, academic background and any relevant experience and include a paragraph about your motivation to study this PhD project.

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