These are early-stage, impactful projects with industry engagement and access to scale-up infrastructure through C-Loop. We’re keen to hear from graduates in #biotechnology, #engineeringbiology, #chemistry, or related fields who are excited by sustainability and doing something a bit different.
Both projects sit at the interface of #engineeringbiology, #chemistry, and #sustainablemanufacturing, tackling prolific waste streams:
✂️ 1. Bio-upcycling waste human hair into chemicals for haircare products
🏭 2. Reimagining solvent waste from the pharmaceutical industry as a microbial feedstock
🚨 2 Fully Funded PhD Projects | Open to UK students 🚨
♻️ We’re recruiting another 2 PhD students to join The Wallace Lab as part of the Carbon-Loop Sustainable Manufacturing Hub, tackling some prolific but unconventional industrial waste streams!
Apply by 27th Feb 🗓️ Details below ⬇️
Project 1.
You can't think about a sustainable chemical industry without considering our most abundant energy source: sunlight.
So how can we engineer microbes to harness this energy for our benefit?
rdcu.be/e1VfW
🔬 Our shiny new mega review is finally published! If you’re interested in photosynthesis, engineering biology and sustainable chemistry, check it out ⬇️
And yes - whether you were inspired by plastic-to-paracetamol, fatbergs-to-fragrances, or some of the new waste feedstocks we’re exploring - this project gives you space to be creative and impactful.
If this sounds like your kind of PhD, please apply - or share with someone who should.
This is a rare chance to combine:
🧬 strain design & optimisation
⚙️ bioprocess scale-up
📊 sustainability-led process design
🚀 exposure to industry and entrepreneurial skills
You’ll be based in C-Loop’s new BioFactory Laboratory, working alongside a UK-wide PhD cohort and 48 industry partners to engineer microbes that upcycle real industrial waste into high-value products - from pharmaceuticals to cosmetics and advanced materials.
🚨 PhD opportunity | Fully funded | Open worldwide 🚨
♻️ We’re recruiting a fully funded PhD student to join The Wallace Lab at the University of Edinburgh as part of the Carbon-Loop Hub, a £14M national programme re-imagining how chemicals are made.
Apply by 20th Feb 2026 🗓️ Details below ⬇️
@kittyclouston.bsky.social @natrevcleantech.nature.com
🚀 New review paper out! We explore the current achievements and future potential of solar-driven bacterial metabolism to unlock greener routes to chemical synthesis, spotlighting opportunities and challenges for light-powered microbial biomanufacturing 🌞🔬
The Wallace Lab is expanding in 2026, with five new Postdoctoral Research Associate positions now open. If you're passionate about engineering biology for sustainability, we'd love to hear from you! 🧬 ♻️
Deadline: 12th November 2025, details below ⬇️
These roles offer a fantastic opportunity to collaborate with leading UK and international research teams, engage with over 50 industry partners, and help drive the transition to a circular, bio-based chemical future. Check out the adverts below, or get in touch with Stephen directly ⬇️
⚙️ Bioprocess scale-up in waste-to-chemical microbial systems, spanning diverse waste streams, microbial chassis, and bioreactor designs - driving industrial translation within the C-Loop Sustainable Manufacturing Hub [2 positions].
Our open positions focus on:
🧬 Biological upcycling of plastic waste into sustainable industrial chemicals for applications in healthcare, nutrition, and materials - as part of the P3EB Mission Hub and CIRCBIONET UK-Singapore consortium [3 positions].
The Wallace Lab is expanding in 2026, with five new Postdoctoral Research Associate positions now open. If you're passionate about engineering biology for sustainability, we'd love to hear from you! 🧬 ♻️
Deadline: 12th November 2025, details below ⬇️
The new edition of our annual list of Climate Tech Companies to Watch will feature startups and established businesses working to decarbonize transportation, heavy industry, energy, and more.
#biotechnology #plasticupcycling #circulareconomy #sustainability #engineeringbiology #greenchemistry
@edinburghbiology.bsky.social @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social @edinburghchem.bsky.social @edinnovations.bsky.social @ukri.org
Links below to the News & Views (thanks Matthew Chang and colleagues!), and The Guardian article. (4/n)
This represents something powerful: a hybrid metabolic pathway that neither biology nor chemistry could achieve alone.
Beyond advancing circular and sustainable chemical manufacturing, we hope this sparks new directions at the interface of chemical and biological synthesis. (3/n)
We discovered that phosphate inside living cells catalyses a biocompatible Lossen rearrangement - a classic chemical reaction never before seen in nature. Add a few enzymes using engineering biology, and the result: paracetamol 💊 from plastic waste🗑️ (2/n).
Ever wondered where your paracetamol comes from? Spoiler: crude oil. In this study – led by Nick Johnson from our lab in collaboration with @astra-zeneca.bsky.social – we show how biology and chemistry can work together to create a more sustainable alternative. (1/n)
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
