Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Sustainable Biodegradable Polymer Synthesis and Upscaling

Salary

£34,000 per annum, depending on skills and experience.

Friday 04 September 2026

ENG
1901026

Applications are invited for the above research post that is part of a large and exciting multi-disciplinary collaboration involving both academia and industry. The project will develop sustainable routes toward the synthesis and manufacture of novel biodegradable polymers. In turn, these new functional materials will be constructed from new monomers derived from renewable sources. These new and unique building blocks are also being developed with the larger project group.

The successful candidate will be researching into a novel class of polymers that are being developed and synthesised in the labs of Croda Ltd, and Nottingham, which show great promise in reducing the environmental footprints of Polymer Liquid Formulations (PLF). These materials are used in personal care products, so the polymers being developed in this project will significantly reduce the environmental polymer burden that results from personal care products, such as shampoos and soaps.

The larger group also contains collaborators at the University of York, which is focusing on the development on new sustainable monomers. Collaborations across the whole team are very strongly encouraged and there will be the opportunity to present the research at both internal and external meetings.

The supervisory team reflects the strong industry/academia collaboration as it contains supervisors from the Faculty of Engineering (Derek Irvine), the School of Chemistry (Vincenzo Taresco) and Croda Ltd (Daniel Day). There will also be opportunities to work with the Croda teams in their laboratories as part of the scale up process in real commercial scenarios.

The University values diversity and is committed to equality of opportunity. The University of Nottingham holds an Athena Swan Institutional Gold Award in recognition of our commitment to advancing women's careers in science. The University of Nottingham is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all sections of the community.

The post is offered on a full time (36.25 hours per week), fixed term contract for 18 months and has a starting salary of £34,000. Job share arrangements may be considered.

Candidates should have, or be close to completing, a PhD in chemistry, polymer chemistry, chemical engineering or a related area.