INAUGURAL PROJECT
JRCF Studentships in Sustainable Chemistry

The Foundation was set up in January 2022 to honour the memory and legacy of the late Joseph Rufino Cordeiro who was a scientist of Goan origin and educated in India. The Foundation was registered as a charity in May 2023. The Foundation’s objects include the advancement of science by providing funding for scientific research projects as well as improving scientific research capabilities among early-stage academic researchers. Given the origins of the founders, the Foundation is particularly keen to encourage and nurture Goan or Indian students.

With these goals in mind, the Foundation announced a collaboration with the Department of Chemistry at the University of Oxford on 12th May 2023. The inaugural Joseph Rufino Cordeiro Summer Research Studentships in Sustainable Chemistry (“JRCF Studentships”) are being sponsored by the Foundation. The Foundation intends to offer up to 3 JRCF Studentships in summer 2023 which include stipends and accommodation at Worcester College for up to 8-week research placements in the Department of Chemistry. The programme is designed to provide students in the UK and Europe with the opportunity to pursue sustainable chemistry research at the University of Oxford.

The Foundation intends that successful applicants for the grants not only get the opportunity to experience exciting postgraduate research at Oxford in a critical area, but also improve their research and transferrable skills as well as have access to advice on further study and research careers.

Applicants for the grants are instructed to review the list of academic staff working in Sustainable Chemistry and identify those with whom their research interests best align. They are also asked to submit a completed application form, a statement of purpose, a concise description of their research, a letter of reference and a CV/resume by the first deadline of 12pm on Friday 26th May 2023.

The applications are to be assessed in a rigorous and well-established selection process which will be led by a panel of senior admissions experts and leaders in sustainable chemistry research in the Chemistry Department. Candidates will be informed if they have been shortlisted or not and if their application will progress to the next stage during the week commencing Tuesday 30th May 2023.

Shortlisted candidates will be assigned a Principal Investigator (PI) and a mentor (an accomplished post-graduate working in the identified research group and reporting directly to the PI). The mentor will support the candidate in honing their research project proposal, ensuring that the project is feasible, has the potential to advance research, and is structured well. These finalised applications are to be submitted by 12pm on Friday 16th June 2023. Applicants will be assessed on merit and the suitability of the project and will be informed of the final outcome during the week commencing Monday 19th June 2023.

The link below takes you to the website of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Oxford, where you can find further information about the JRCF Studentships:
https://tinyurl.com/y4wz96fn

The University of Oxford has provided the Foundation with the following video commissioned in 2018 which describes the importance that the Chemistry Department places on research in sustainable chemistry, a field in which the Department is a world-leader.
Watch Video

The panel assessing applications to the 2023 JRCF Studentships are world-renowned scientists including experts in Sustainable Chemistry:

  • Professor Grant Ritchie is Head of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, John and Patricia Danby Fellow and Tutor in Chemistry at Worcester College and winner of a Royal Society Fellowship. Professor Ritchie’s group develops innovative techniques for trace gas detection with applications ranging from fundamental studies of gas phase chemical dynamics to plasma medicine and breath analysis. 
  • Professor Kylie Vincent is Professor of Inorganic Chemistry, Energy & Sustainability Theme Lead, Fellow and Tutor at Jesus College. Professor Vincent took up a Royal Society Research Fellowship in the Chemistry Department in Oxford. Her research underpins the spin-out company HydRegen - an enabling platform technology that offers cleaner, safer, faster chemical production. Professor Vincent is a founding member of the India-UK Sustainability Chemistry Consortium.
  • Professor Iain McCulloch FRS is Professor of Polymer Materials and Fellow and Tutor at Worcester College. Professor McCulloch joined the University of Oxford in 2020, where he continues to drive forward a range of research activities in the development of organic semiconductors for thin-film transistors, photovoltaics, photodetectors, photocatalysis and bioelectronics.
  • Dr Martin Galpin is Deputy Director of Studies, chairs the Graduate Studies Committee and is responsible for the Department's central programme of graduate training, as well as the running and development of the undergraduate Chemistry course and admissions exercise.