International Summer School

Course aim:

To provide an opportunity to undertake a research project and present the results both in the form of a research article and as an oral presentation.

By the end of this course you will be able to:

• Prepare a preliminary list of goals to be achieved during the project in collaboration with your project supervisor.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the literature related to the research project.
• Demonstrate research skills appropriate to the area of specialisation.
• Deliver a short talk, giving the background to the project and summarising its key outcomes.
• Write a cogent, clear and concise written report summarising their findings and/or the state of research in your chosen field.

Full time for 6 weeks, lab-based.

• GPA of 3.0 (or equivalent). 
• You should be currently enrolled at an international higher education institution.
• You should be a Chemistry major (or a related subject). 

If your first language is not English, you must meet our minimum proficiency level:

• International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Academic module (not General Training) overall score of 6.0, with no sub test less than 5.5  (if English is not an applicant’s first language) and a GPA of not less than 3.0
• We also accept equivalent scores in other recognised qualifications such as ibTOEFL, CAE, CPE and more.

Research projects for 2025 have not been confirmed. Have a look at the projects from 2024 to get an idea of what projects may look like. 

1. Single Molecule Spectroscopy of Light Emitting Polymers: Watching Energy Flow in Single Chains - Dr Gordon Hedley
2. Supramolecular Click Chemistry for Sensing and Diagnostics - Dr Will Peveler
3. MULTINERT: A High Throughput system for Organometallic Chemistry & Catalysis - Dr Nicola Bell
4. Exploring chemputation for chemical synthesis - Professor Lee Cronin
5. Selection engines for the evolution of complexity - Professor Lee Cronin
6. Solid state reactions - Professor Lee Cronin
7. The use of metal nitrides for the synthesis of ammonia - Professor Justin Hargreaves
8. Functional Materials for Raman Sensing Systems - Professor Haralampos Moiras
9. Shedding light on new organic reactivity using chemical microscopy - Dr Hessam Mehr 

1.Single Molecule Spectroscopy of Light Emitting Polymers: Watching Energy Flow in Single Chains - Dr Gordon Hedley

In this project you will use cutting-edge microscopy techniques to measure the light emitted from single polymer chains.  By measuring this on picosecond-nanosecond timescales we can determine how excited states move along the chain and interact with each other.  This is important to understand for organic light emitting diodes, photovoltaic cells and in more exotic domains such as quantum information science.

2.Supramolecular Click Chemistry for Sensing and Diagnostics - Dr Will Peveler

In the Bio Nano Sensing group, we work to design the next generation of sensing materials and technologies that will protect human and environmental health. We are currently building new molecular and nanoparticle systems to enable near-patient detection of liver diseases and bacterial infections, as well as sensors to measure environmental pollution arising from wastewater and sludge. To do this we synthesise optically-active, supramolecular systems – combinations of small molecules and nanoparticles that self-assemble and change colour or fluoresce when they interact with our sensing targets. To better link our molecules and nanoparticles/nano-surfaces we are exploiting very strong but non-covalent bonding, based around host-guest supramolecular interactions, enabling us to create regenerable, switchable and editable nano-systems. Relevant reading: Supramolecular Click Chemistry for Surface Modification of Quantum Dots Mediated by Cucurbit[7]uril, Katie McGuire, Suhang He, Jennifer Gracie, Charlotte Bryson, Dazhong Zheng, Alasdair W. Clark, Jesko Koehnke, David J. France, Werner M. Nau, Tung-Chun Lee, and William J. Peveler, ACS Nano 2023 17 (21) : https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsnano.3c06601

3. MULTINERT: A High Throughput system for Organometallic Chemistry & Catalysis - Dr Nicola Bell

This project will investigate automation of reactions under inert atmospheres, allowing us to rapidly study some of the most highly reactive species known. In particular we will investigate reactive copper species which can facilitate C-N cross coupling. Using digital liquid and gas handling we will undertake multiple sensitive reactions at once for optimisation of reactivity. The student will gain digital chemistry skills as well as learning glovebox and Schlenk line technique.

4.Exploring chemputation for chemical synthesis - Professor Lee Cronin 

See Professon Lee Cronin's webpage for more information: https://www.chem.gla.ac.uk/cronin/

5. Selection engines for the evolution of complexity - Professor Lee Cronin

See Professon Lee Cronin's webpage for more information: https://www.chem.gla.ac.uk/cronin/

6. Solid state reactions - Professor Lee Cronin

See Professon Lee Cronin's webpage for more information: https://www.chem.gla.ac.uk/cronin/

7.The use of metal nitrides for the synthesis of ammonia - Professor Justin Hargreaves

Complex metal nitrides, such as inverse perovskite nitrides, will be prepared, characterised and tested for ammonia synthesis.  The latter will involve both investigation of heterogeneous catalytic pathways and chemical looping which involves a two-stage chemical reaction (ie reduction of the metal nitride followed by nitrogen replenishment).

8.Functional Materials for Raman Sensing Systems - Professor Haralampos Moiras 

The aim of the project is to develop disposable sensors capable of detecting multiple compounds with higher sensitivities, while also achieving multiplexing with multinuclear cluster based recognition compartments that interact with specific compounds. Such sensors will greatly enhance environmental monitoring and improve efficiency in industrial processes

9.Shedding light on new organic reactivity using chemical microscopy - Dr Hessam Mehr 

In this project you will be working at the interface of chemistry and microscopy. You will build a bridge between some of the fundamental concepts of practical organic chemistry (how we expose chemicals to each other and observe their reactivity) and the field of microscopic imaging. We will create a setup composed of a bespoke low-cost microscope designed in Glasgow, a stage housing arrays of microscopic chemical reactions, and open source software translating the spectroscopic data from the microscope to evidence of chemical reactivity. This project is especially suited to those with a broad range of technical interest including chemistry, computing, and physics.