PhD in AI and Pharmaceutical Engineering: Studying Drug Crystallisation with Automated Experiments and Machine Learning

PhD in AI and Pharmaceutical Engineering: Studying Drug Crystallisation with Automated Experiments and Machine Learning

Quick Decision

Strong but verify fit. This four-year UCL EPSRC Doctoral Landscape Award project combines crystallization engineering, process analytics and AI-guided closed-loop experiments, with a Janssen placement in Beerse. It is especially relevant to applicants with chemical or pharmaceutical engineering training who want to build and use automated experimental systems. The strongest practical advantages are the close match to Prof Luca Mazzei’s recent work and UCL’s shared manufacturing and analytical facilities.

Two conditions need early attention. First, the official UELA deadline is 8 January 2027 at 12:00 noon UK time, although the advertised text gives 13:00; use noon and aim to submit by the scheme’s recommended 16 December 2026 holiday cutoff. Second, international fee-status eligibility depends on the project being formally classified as collaborative under UELA rules. The project text says overseas candidates may apply, but the public UELA catalogue entry for this project was not independently available to confirm that designation. Ask the supervisor or award team before investing heavily in the application. UELA 2027–28 rules

Research Problem and Doctoral Work

What Is Unsolved and Why It Matters

Pharmaceutical crystallization is used to purify active ingredients and control the solid form and particle properties that affect downstream processing and product performance. The outcome depends on coupled phenomena such as nucleation, crystal growth, mixing and heat transfer, alongside choices about solvent, antisolvent, temperature and reactor design. This creates a large, nonlinear experimental space that is costly to map by hand. Recent reviews identify automation, process analytical technology (PAT), modelling and experiment selection as promising ways to accelerate process understanding, while emphasizing that multiphase behavior and nonlinear responses remain difficult. Automation in pharmaceutical crystallization, ML control of crystallization processes

Work, Methods, and Potential Outputs

The advertised research plan begins with the engineering needed to build a flexible small-scale platform for autonomous crystallization experiments using model compounds. The platform is to combine reactor engineering, automated control and analytics. Measurements are expected to address particle size, crystal form and solute concentration; candidate techniques include laser diffraction, imaging, Raman spectroscopy and chromatography. The work then connects the measurements to automated runs and AI-guided experimental design, so that results inform which experiments are run next. Both operating settings and equipment variables are in scope. The intended scientific value is to improve yield, purity, crystal form and particle size while explaining how the process behaves well enough to inform future scale-up.

This is more than running an optimizer on a fixed reactor. The central work likely includes building dependable hardware/software integration, establishing what each sensor can measure reliably, and deciding how to choose informative experiments under practical constraints such as fouling, limited material and measurement time. Possible research angles include uncertainty-aware selection of the next experiment, cross-checking particle measurements against process analytics, and identifying robust operating regions rather than a single best condition. These are analytical possibilities, not promised project outputs.

Recent team work offers useful technical precedents. A 2024 paper by Mazzei and colleagues demonstrated continuous ibuprofen antisolvent crystallization with automated sampling and online laser diffraction. It is important to distinguish that platform’s automated execution of preplanned experiments from full autonomy: the paper itself describes those as different capabilities. A 2025 team paper, MLAPI, used feasibility classification, Gaussian-process particle-size models and active learning to select new experiments for ibuprofen particles in continuous-flow precipitation. A 2026 study extended closed-loop screening to identify non-fouling operating windows for ketoprofen nanoparticle precipitation using pressure-drop sensing and Gaussian-process classification. These latter examples show relevant methods, but precipitation and nanoparticle formation do not establish direct transfer to crystal-form control or scale-up. 2024 crystallization platform paper, 2025 MLAPI paper, 2026 autonomous precipitation study

School, Programme and Field Context

UCL is the degree-awarding institution. The industrial collaboration and placement are with Janssen/Johnson & Johnson; no joint or second degree is advertised. UCL’s main campus is in Bloomsbury, London, while the advertised research base is the Manufacturing Futures Lab at UCL East in Stratford. UCL locations

For relevant academic signal, UCL Chemical Engineering reports 17th globally and 5th in the UK in QS World University Rankings by Subject 2026. UCL’s overall position is joint 8th in the QS World University Rankings 2027; that overall rank is a broader institutional indicator rather than a substitute for subject fit. In REF 2021, 97% of UCL Engineering research was rated world-leading or internationally excellent, a faculty-level result rather than a project-specific assessment. Chemical Engineering subject ranking, UCL overall rankings, UCL Engineering REF 2021

UELA describes this award as a four-year registration, with the thesis expected within the funded period. The general Chemical Engineering MPhil/PhD information gives a usual three-calendar-year full-time duration, describes Doctoral School training and departmental seminars, and outlines the normal MPhil-to-PhD progression. The award-specific four-year arrangement may be a studentship route layered onto a general course page, but applicants should ask UCL which course code and registration terms apply, when the upgrade is due, and what happens if thesis submission extends beyond the award. Chemical Engineering MPhil/PhD, UCL upgrade and progression, UELA 2027–28 rules

Supervisor and Lab Assessment

Supervisor Research Directions

UCL lists Luca Mazzei as Professor of Chemical Engineering and Deputy Head of EDI. His recent co-authored work links experimental crystallization, particle measurement, automated continuous processing and data-efficient experiment selection. The progression across the 2024–26 papers is especially relevant: reliable online sizing and automated operation first, then model-assisted selection and closed-loop characterization. The evidence supports technical alignment, but public pages do not specify supervision cadence, co-supervisor roles, or how much work will be done jointly with the partner. UCL academic staff

Recent Important Publications

• Pal et al. (2024), “Automated Continuous Crystallization Platform with Real-Time Particle Size Analysis via Laser Diffraction.” Integrates continuous crystallization, automated sampling and online laser diffraction for an ibuprofen case study. It helps ground the platform and measurement tasks; its experiments were automated but preplanned, not selected autonomously by machine learning. Paper
• Pankajakshan et al. (2025), “MLAPI: A framework for developing machine learning-guided drug particle syntheses in automated continuous flow platforms.” Combines feasibility classification, multi-output Gaussian-process regression and active learning to model particle size with limited experimental data. It offers a possible design pattern for closed-loop research, with the caveat that its demonstration is continuous precipitation. Paper
• Mane et al. (2026), “Autonomous characterisation of fouling-free feasible operating regions in continuous flow precipitation of ketoprofen nanoparticles.” Uses pressure-drop fouling detection and adaptive Gaussian-process classification to map robust operating regions. Its emphasis on feasibility and fouling is relevant to platform engineering; the chemistry is nanoparticle precipitation rather than crystallization. Paper

Lab, Resources, and Collaboration Environment

The Manufacturing Futures Lab is an interdisciplinary UCL East hub with six purpose-designed research pods. UCL lists automated continuous-flow reactors, liquid-handling robots, Raman and mid-IR spectroscopy, HPLC/GC and a Precision Fabrication Workshop with CAD/CAM, milling, 3D printing and laser cutting. The Chemical Engineering facilities page separately identifies crystallization and nanoparticle labs with particle-size analyzers, Raman, chromatography and research into nucleation control. This is a strong environment match for custom reactor design plus PAT, though the project’s actual instrument access and allocation should be confirmed. Manufacturing Futures Lab, Chemical Engineering facilities

The advertised placement is at the partner’s Beerse research site in Belgium. Johnson & Johnson’s own location pages confirm Beerse as a Belgian R&D site, but do not specify this PhD’s placement length, travel support, accommodation, intellectual-property terms or publication review. J&J Belgium locations, J&J R&D locations

Funding, Application, and Living Cost

UELA states that the 2027/28 stipend is estimated at £26,022, including a £1,500 annual enhancement over the expected London-weighted UKRI rate; the stipend rises each year. The award covers four years of Home-rate fees, an additional UCL award to meet the Home/International fee difference for eligible International candidates, and a Research Training Support Grant (RTSG). Collaborative projects may include a further partner stipend or RTSG, but no project-specific supplement is confirmed. UELA funding rules

The hard deadline is 8 January 2027 at noon UK time. UCL recommends submitting the application and references by 16 December 2026 because support is unavailable over the Christmas closure. The advertised text gives 13:00; follow the official noon time. The award page says applications run through the UELA portal and project catalogue. UELA application and deadline

International eligibility is a gating question. UELA limits International recruits to 15 of an approximately 50-person cohort and says only formally collaborative projects may accept International applicants. A named company partner and placement do not prove that this project has that formal catalogue status. Get written confirmation for project ID 2531cc1035 before relying on the advertised overseas eligibility. Also confirm whether it is Home-rate fee coverage plus the UCL fee-difference award, and whether any partner enhancement is included.

For London affordability, the UCL cost guide lists postgraduate halls at £153–529 per week, other essentials at £426 per month and a separate £5,314 figure for 52 weeks; the difference between those two essentials figures is unexplained. For a reproducible illustration, £426 multiplied by 12 is £5,112; adding 52 weeks of hall rent gives £13,068–£32,620 per year. Against the estimated £26,022 stipend, that leaves about £12,954 at the low end or a £6,598 shortfall at the high end, before discretionary expenses. This calculation does not resolve the source's differing annual figure. UCL notes postgraduate halls are usually 51-week contracts, and shared private rent of £650–1,300 per month excludes household bills. The calculation excludes visa and health surcharge, personal spending, moving costs, and extra travel or accommodation during the Belgium placement. It is a planning comparison, not a guaranteed personal budget. UCL living-cost guide, UCL accommodation fees and dates

Applicant Fit and Preparation

Required Background and Skills

The advertised academic threshold is a first-class or upper-second-class MEng or MSc. Chemical Engineering, Pharmaceutical Engineering or a related discipline is welcome. Independent working within a collaborative team is explicitly required. UELA rules

Preferred Experience and Suggested Preparation

Crystallization, laboratory automation, process analytics and computational methods are described as desirable but not essential. Applicants can strengthen their case with concrete evidence of experimental planning, reactor or instrument integration, sensor calibration, data analysis, process modelling, or work relating measurable operating variables to product properties. These examples are preparation suggestions, not additional formal criteria.

This may be less straightforward for applicants whose background is only in machine learning without experimental chemical engineering, or only in wet-lab crystallization without interest in instrumentation and data-guided experimentation. A useful interview preparation exercise is to explain how an automated setup differs from an autonomous closed loop, what can go wrong with an online measurement, and how an experiment-selection method might respect fouling, safety and resource limits.

Next Actions and Questions to Verify

Before Applying

• Ask Prof Mazzei or UELA admissions to confirm whether project ID 2531cc1035 is formally classed as collaborative and whether International fee-status applicants are eligible.
• Use 12:00 noon UK time, 8 January 2027 as the deadline; try to submit complete forms and references by 16 December.
• Confirm required portal documents and whether the award-specific project selection requires an additional statement or application form.

At Interview

• Which model compounds and measurable quality attributes are first in scope? How will crystal form be identified and validated?
• Which sensors and instruments are allocated to the project, and which will need to be developed or adapted?
• How will process variables be separated from equipment variables, and how will the team define a successful closed-loop platform?
• What work, supervision and facilities are shared with Janssen during the Beerse placement?

Before Accepting an Offer

• Confirm the four-year course registration, upgrade milestone, thesis deadline, and fee/stipend treatment if submission takes longer than the funded period.
• Get the placement duration, travel and accommodation support, insurance/visa arrangements, health-and-safety provisions, IP/confidentiality rules and publication review terms in writing.
• Confirm the actual year-by-year stipend, partner enhancement/RTSG, and any research costs not covered by the award.

Evidence and Sources

Project, Funding and Programme

• UELA 2027–28 award and application rules
• Chemical Engineering MPhil/PhD
• UCL doctoral upgrade and progression
• UCL locations

School and Research Environment

• Chemical Engineering subject ranking
• UCL overall rankings
• UCL Engineering REF 2021
• Manufacturing Futures Lab
• Chemical Engineering facilities
• UCL academic staff

Supervisor and Field Evidence

• Automated continuous crystallization platform (2024)
• MLAPI framework (2025)
• Autonomous precipitation study (2026)
• Automation in pharmaceutical crystallization (2026)
• Machine learning and crystallization control review (2025)
• Johnson & Johnson Belgium locations
• Johnson & Johnson R&D locations

Funding, Costs and Careers

• UCL living-cost guide
• UCL accommodation fees and dates
• UK life-sciences skills assessment
• ABPI pharmaceutical-industry careers overview
• UCL graduate outcomes 2023–24