PhD in Chemistry

The School of Chemistry at St Andrews has a thriving PhD community with around 150 PhD students studying here at any one time. Each student’s PhD experience – from their project to their funding – is unique, and so you should contact the School with any questions you have about the process by emailing chempg@st-andrews.ac.uk

You may be interested in the following Chemistry PhD funding and recruitment opportunities.

School of Chemistry funding opportunities

The School values its PhD community and contributes a major component of its own income to funding PhD positions in Chemistry. This funding is assigned to academics directly, and so it is always worth making an application.

The School does everything it can to bring high-quality students to St Andrews.

Criticat CDT PhD recruitment

St Andrews Chemistry, in collaboration with Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt universities, hosts the EPSRC-funded Centre for Doctoral Training in Critical Resources Catalysis (CRITICAT). A new CRITICAT initiative called ESI-Cat will be recruiting PhD students in catalysis for entry into the programme from 2019 to 2023.

China Scholarship Council 

The University of St Andrews has a close relationship with the China Scholarship Council (CSC), and the School of Chemistry is delighted to host high-quality PhD students from China.

External PhD funding schemes

The School frequently supports applications for PhD funding from external funded sources including EastBioIBioIC-CTP, and others listed on the University's research scholarships page. Please contact the School if you have any questions related to make an application to any of these schemes.


Come and visit the School of Chemistry to gain a better sense of its postgraduate community and understand the opportunities available. To arrange a visit, contact chempg@st-andrews.ac.uk.

The School is very keen to get the best people to work with them, and the only way to assess the unique research environment they provide is to visit this beautiful part of world.