PhD (Chemical Engineering) – School of Chemical Engineering

School of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia is among the most active and productive schools in this university when come to postgraduate research. Researchers from this school have received numerous awards and recognitions from national and international bodies. The School has several programmes that provide postgraduate research opportunities in topics across the broad spectrum of chemical engineering. It has regularly attracted research students from academia, industries, research institutions and governmental departments either locally or abroad. The School offers master and doctorate programmes (by research) that lead to Master of Science (MSc.) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Chemical Engineering, respectively. The programmes are run by highly qualified and experienced academicians who have high level of technical expertise in their respective fields. The postgraduate studies could either be in full-time or part-time basis. In generally, the studies will involve literature review, proposal presentation, planning and conducting of experimental works, modelling and simulation works, preparation and submission of research articles and finally thesis submission for examination. Throughout the study, a postgraduate student will be closely guided by a main supervisor and assisted by co-supervisor.

Research Thrust Areas:

• Nanotechnology: Carbon Nanotube, Nanocarbon Composite, Activated Carbon, Carbon Molecular Sieve,  Magnetic Nanoparticle
• Catalysis and Chemical Reaction Engineering: Chemical Reaction Engineering, Zeolite and Environmental Catalysis, Nanoporous Materials, Membrane Reactors, Fuel Technology, Renewable Energy, Electrochemical Reaction etc.
• Biochemical/Bioprocessing: Enzyme Technology (Biocatalyst), Fermentation Technology and Modeling, algae, Tissue Culture, Biotransformation, Biological Products Recovery, Bioreactor Design and Analysis and Biofuel Production, Phythochemistry, Biosensor, Tissue Engineering, Regenerative Medicine
• Separation Processes: Membrane Technology, Adsorption, Filtration, Ion-exchange, Diffusion and Mass Transfer, Solvent Extraction (including molten salts and supercritical fluids), Electrophoresis, Electrodialysis, Reactive Distillation, Pervaporation, Zeolite Membrane for Gas Separation, Electrocogoagulation
• Treatment of Solid, Gas, Wastewater and Toxic Materials: Membrane Technology, Solidification/stabilization, Biosorption, Adsorption, Combustion, Pyrolysis,  Nutrient Removal and Recovery, Bioremediation, NOx Removal from diesel exhaust, VOC Removal using Catalytic Combustion and SOx removal from Flue Gas using adsorbent from waste materials
• Advanced Process Control: Process Modelling, Simulation and Optimization, Process Intensification, Fuzzy Logic and Neural Networks
• Plant Safety and Hazard Analysis: Process Safety and Integration, Computational Fluid Dynamics, Gas sensor
• Petroleum and Gas Processing: Natural gas utilization in the production of chemicals, Ethylene production from Methane, Hydro-cracking of residual oil, Gas to Liquid Technology (GTL), Gas Purification
• Waste Material Utilization to Value Added Products: Composting, Renewable Energy, Green Technology  and Organic Acid Production

(Further information on expertise of potential supervisor is available from http://chemical.eng.usm.my/

Applicants should possess one of the following:

• A Master’s degree in related area with CGPA 3.00/4; or
• A Master's degree in research mode; or
• A Master’s degree in related area with CGPA 2.50-2.99/4 with additional requirements; or
• Bachelor’s degree in related area with minimum CGPA 3.67/4 (fast-track to PhD)

Full-time: Min 4 semesters / Max 10 semesters

Part-time: Min 6 semesters / Max 15 semesters

** Fees are subject to change