Cranfield University

What you'll study

This programme combines advanced taught modules with hands-on experimental work and a substantive research or industrial project. You will study core topics that build on undergraduate chemical engineering foundations and develop specialist skills in modelling, design and scale-up.

• Advanced transport phenomena and reactor engineering — rigorous treatment of momentum, heat and mass transfer and their coupling in complex reacting systems.
• Process design and process systems engineering — advanced flowsheets, process synthesis, optimisation and lifecycle thinking for robust design.
• Separation and intensification technologies — modern separation methods and process intensification strategies for compact, energy‑efficient plant.
• Multiphase flow and particulate systems — fundamentals and applications for gas–liquid, gas–solid and slurry processes.
• Process control, automation and modelling — dynamic simulation, control strategies and digital tools for monitoring and optimisation.
• Materials, corrosion and catalysis — materials selection and catalyst performance issues encountered in industrial processes.
• Safety, risk and sustainability — process safety, risk assessment methodologies and approaches to decarbonisation and circular economy in process industries.
• Experimental methods and pilot-scale testing — laboratory and pilot-plant practice to support scale-up and technology demonstration.
• Individual research or industrial project — an extended piece of research or company-linked project applying the taught methods to a practical technical challenge, typically carried out on campus, at a partner site or in collaboration with industry.

Teaching methods include lectures, design workshops, laboratory classes, process simulation, case studies and project supervision. The programme is typically offered full-time over one year, with part-time and flexible options available in some instances.

Entry requirements

Applicants should normally hold a good honours degree in chemical engineering or a closely related discipline. Candidates with a lower second-class honours degree and significant relevant industrial experience may be considered. Applicants are expected to have a solid grounding in mathematics, transport phenomena and reaction engineering from prior study.

International applicants whose first language is not English must meet the university's accepted English language qualifications. Additional professional experience or employer support can strengthen an application for applicants from non-traditional backgrounds.

Career prospects

Graduates are prepared for technically demanding roles across the process industries. Typical career destinations include process engineer, design engineer, research and development engineer, process optimisation specialist, commissioning and start-up engineer, project engineer or engineering consultant. The skills developed also provide a strong foundation for PhD study or for transition into sustainability, energy transition and process digitalisation roles.

Cranfield graduates often progress to senior technical and management positions where they lead design projects, scale-up new technologies from pilot to plant and deliver process safety and sustainability improvements within industry.

Why study at Cranfield University

Cranfield is a postgraduate-focused university with a long-standing emphasis on translating research into industry practice. The Chemical Engineering programme is taught alongside pilot-scale laboratories and specialist facilities that enable hands-on scale-up and experimentation not commonly available on strictly classroom-based courses.

Teaching staff combine academic expertise with substantial industrial experience, and the university maintains active collaborations with companies across chemical, energy, pharmaceutical and process sectors. Those links support project opportunities, guest lectures and realistic industry-focused problems within the curriculum. The campus environment and career support services are geared to postgraduate professional development, including networking with recruiters and access to technical short courses and workshops relevant to chemical engineering practice.