Metallurgy and Materials

Explore a range of research interests guided by our world-leading academic staff such as Materials Processing, Materials for Challenging Environments and Materials for Sustainability.

You'll have access to cutting-edge equipment and facilities, along with industrial support to build valuable connections.

What makes a Metallurgy and Materials PhD at Birmingham different?

You will address real-world challenges and broaden your impact in the supportive environment of the School of Metallurgy and Materials, the oldest department of its kind in the UK. You’ll be offered opportunities to work on diverse topics in materials science and engineering, often in collaboration with industry.

As a founding partner of the Manufacturing Technology Centre, we facilitate innovative manufacturing processes and technologies to be developed at an industrial scale. Through the High Temperature Research Centre, in collaboration with Rolls-Royce, we enable research and experimentation to deliver rapid high-quality product and process innovation all the way to very high Technology Readiness Levels.

• Our School of Metallurgy and Materials is the oldest department of Materials Science in the UK
• Join a department consistently ranked in the Top 100 globally for Materials Science (QS World University Ranking 2025) with a thriving research community
• Gain advanced research skills while conducting impactful projects where 96% of our research is world-leading or internationally excellent (Engineering REF 2021)