EPSRC IDLA: Design of the Next Generation of Environmentally Friendly Skin Care Formulations Supported by AI

This Industrial Doctoral Landscape Award (IDLA) is a fully funded 4-year PhD position in collaboration with Croda International Plc. The research project focuses on investigating how lipid and surfactant self-assembly processes, plus the nanostructural characteristics of formed micelles, affect mildness versus foaming, cleansing and other important performance attributes in skin-care products. The project aims to develop environmentally friendly formulations based on easily biodegradable and sustainable novel materials developed by Croda. During the project, the student will gain experience in soft matter characterization techniques including small angle X-ray and neutron scattering, differential scanning calorimetry, and electron microscopy. Machine learning methods and artificial intelligence will be applied to accelerate formulation design. The research employs a bespoke bottom-up approach to understand the micelle architecture of different surfactant and lipid blends on the nanoscale. The award covers full academic fees, a tax-free maintenance grant of £20,780 (2025/6 session, increases annually), plus an additional annual tax-free top-up of £4,000 per year for 4 years. Additional support is available for training, conference attendance, and travel costs. The student will join an ongoing international collaboration between the University of Leeds and Croda, working within a vibrant, friendly and supportive research environment with exciting public engagement and outreach opportunities. This opportunity is part of an EPSRC Industrial Doctoral Landscape Award directly allocated to Croda with a total studentship value of £149,500 over 4 years. The research is supervised by Professor Michael Rappolt and Dr Arwen Tyler in the School of Food Science and Nutrition, with additional supervision from Prof Brent Murray and Bhaven Chavan from Croda.