About the Project
Apply to join an industrial-academic collaboration developing the mechanistic understanding and predictive tools required to design next-generation high-performance elastomers for demanding industrial and technological applications. You’ll benefit from unique research infrastructure and complementary expertise from academia and industry, and a formal training program designed to develop enterprising researchers with skills to succeed across disciplinary and industrial boundaries.
Project Objectives & Methodology: This PhD project will develop methods and acquire data to understand and predict how engineering elastomers degrade under extreme thermomechanical loading. By integrating a unique multiscale computational workflow with targeted experimental characterisation, the project will reveal the molecular mechanisms that control wear and fatigue to guide the design of next-generation polymeric materials for technological frontiers.
Candidate Profile: We seek a highly motivated candidate interested in working at the interface of polymer science, mechanochemistry and computational modelling. The project combines experimental characterisation of aged elastomers—including mechanical testing, extraction and solution analysis—with computational analysis using established automated workflows. While extensive programming experience is not required, candidates should enjoy working with scripts, adapting existing code and solving computational problems.
The project combines the strengths of academia and industry. The successful candidate will have access to industrial research infrastructure and specialist instrumentation that are rarely available within academia, while benefiting from the intellectual freedom and interdisciplinary training of a university-based PhD. Your research will be supervised by Prof Roman Boulatov (Department of Chemistry) and Dr Marc Couty (Michelin), whose internationally leading expertise in physical characterization, mechanochemistry, polymer analytics and multiscale computational modelling creates a uniquely powerful environment for understanding elastomer degradation from molecular mechanisms to engineering performance.
The studentship is available for start at any time after the offer is made and is a part of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Digital and Automated Materials Chemistry, at the University of Liverpool’s Materials Innovation Factory, which is the largest industry–academia colocation in UK physical science. Developed in partnership with 35 industrial organisations, the CDT provides interdisciplinary training in robotics, automation, digital methods, and data-driven physical sciences. The programme is designed to develop enterprising researchers with the technical breadth, intellectual flexibility and communication skills needed to succeed across disciplinary and industrial boundaries.
This studentship offers an exceptional opportunity for candidates with a background in chemistry, polymer science, chemical engineering, polymer physics or a related discipline to develop highly sought-after expertise in mechanochemistry, digital materials chemistry and data-driven materials research.
We strongly encourage candidates to get in touch with the supervisory team to get a better idea of the project before making a formal application online. Any informal enquiries about the project can be directed to Prof Roman Boulatov (R.Boulatov@liverpool.ac.uk).
Please register and apply online in full at the earliest opportunity, indicating the subject area as Chemistry and include project reference number CCPR186.
We will interview on a rolling basis and fill the position on a first come, first served principle. We will close the application once a suitable candidate is found (this may be before the deadline).
If you have a disability you may be entitled to a Disabled Students’ Allowance on top of your studentship to help cover the costs of any additional support that a person studying for a doctorate might need as a result.
Funding Notes
The EPSRC DAMC CDT Studentship will cover full home tuition fees and a maintenance grant for 4 years starting at the UKRI minimum (£21,805 for 2026-27 academic year). The Studentship also comes with a Research Training Support Grant to fund consumables, conference attendance, etc
Studentships are available to any prospective student wishing to apply including both home and international students. While EPSRC funding will not cover international fees, a limited number of scholarships to meet the fee difference will be available to support outstanding international students.
References
The molecular mechanism of constructive remodeling of a mechanically-loaded polymer. Nature Comm. 2022, 13, 3154; doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-30947-8
Experimental quantitation of molecular conditions responsible for flow-induced polymer mechanochemistry. Nature Chemistry, 2023, 15, 1214; doi.org/10.1038/s41557-023-01266-2
The many flavours of mechanochemistry and its plausible conceptual underpinnings. Nature Rev. Chem. 2021, 5, 148; doi.org/10.1038/s41570-020-00249-y
Wear in multiple network elastomers arises from the continuous accumulation of molecular damage rather than microcrack growth. Science Adv., 2026, 12, eaeb9858; doi.org/ 10.1126/sciadv.aeb9858
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