Overview of Postgraduate Research

The Department offers engineering and science graduates the opportunity to work towards the research oriented degrees of Master of Engineering Science (Research) and Doctor of Philosophy in diverse areas of chemical engineering. The Department has a substantial and ongoing commitment to advanced training and research, and has been very successful in generating funds in support of these activities.

The Department is home to the Australian Pulp and Paper Institute, and is actively involved with the Cooperative Research Centre for Clean Power from Lignite and the Cooperative Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas Technologies. Research activities are aimed at improving techniques and at understanding the phenomena in the fields of fluid dynamics, kinetics, thermodynamics, control and reactor design for organic and inorganic processes, adsorption process design and materials development, and hydrometallurgical processes. Currently substantial activities are occurring in the fields of chemical reactor engineering; coal conversion processes; transport phenomena; particulate systems; pulp and paper technology; minerals engineering and extractive metallurgy; biochemical engineering and food processing; environmental protection engineering; polymer process engineering; and process synthesis, design and optimisation; development of innovative cyclic adsorption processes, design and synthesis of adsorbent materials using nanotemplating techniques. More specific details of these research activities, and the research interests of specific members of staff is available in the Who's who pages.

An industry-sponsored coursework (and minor thesis) Master of Engineering Science (Pulp and Paper Technology) is also offered, as is a Graduate Diploma in Pulp and Paper Technology for graduates in science who are or have been employed in the pulp and paper industry.