PhD Studentship: Small Molecule Partitioning in Surfactant Micelles

This 4-year PhD project is fully funded and home students, and EU students with settled status, are eligible to apply. 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. The preferred start date is October 2026, but a later start date may be negotiable.

Small molecules, such as preservatives and fragrance ingredients play key roles within personal and home care products. When they are included in surfactant-based formulations, their impact can be greatly enhanced, or reduced, by their partitioning into micelles. Experimental values for water/micelle partition coefficients have been reported in literature.

This fully funded PhD position offers an exciting opportunity to leverage molecular dynamics simulation develop methods to determine the partitioning with relevant surfactant systems. The project will further be extended to studying the interaction of different additives to surfactant formulations and how it affects product performance. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to work closely with Unilever gaining access to at least 3 months of placement at Unilever, cutting-edge research facilities, and real-world datasets.

The successful candidate will work under the supervision of Dr. Steph Flores (steph.flores@manchester.ac.uk) at the Department of Chemical Engineering and co-supervised with Dr. J. Javier Burgos-Mármol at Unilever, benefiting from a dynamic academic environment and strong industry collaboration. This interdisciplinary PhD is ideal for candidates with a background in chemical engineering, physics, soft matter science, computational chemistry, and/or related disciplines.

Early applications are encouraged, as the position may be filled before the deadline.

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 supervisor, Dr. Steph Flores (steph.flores@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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