For forty years, SCI has supported and recognised the excellence of early career scientists, by aiding their studies in the form of an SCI Scholarship.
Since 1985 more than 80 scholarships have been awarded which have not only given the recipients financial assistance, but have enabled them to broaden their network, and strengthen their skills and knowledge. SCI Scholars receive access to publishing and mentoring opportunities and are given a platform to present their work amongst esteemed scientists and industrialists, raising their profile within the scientific community.
We are delighted to announce that Sam Kay, from the University of Manchester, has been awarded an SCI Scholarship of £5,000 over two years to support his PhD project.
In addition to the scholarship, Sam will benefit from publishing opportunities, access to a high-calibre network to help launch his career, and opportunities to present his work and raise his profile within the scientific community.
SCI Scholarships are prestigious and well respected by the industry. The SCI Scholars Fund was established in 1920 by the requests of Rudolph Messel and John Gray, both former presidents and founding members of SCI. SCI believes in nurturing the scientists of the future. Each year, SCI provides scholarships and bursaries to early career scientists including opportunities to attend or present at an international conference.
"I am Sam Kay, a PhD researcher in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Manchester. My research lies at the intersection of data analytics, machine learning, and process systems engineering, with a particular focus on developing intelligent digital frameworks to accelerate process design and control in the formulation manufacturing sector.
"My early academic journey included a Unilever-sponsored undergraduate project via CAFE4DM, which investigated soft sensor design for real-time quality prediction and the use of transfer learning to improve generalisability, resulting in four published journal articles and direct industrial deployment. I also co-authored a Royal Society of Chemistry book chapter during a collaborative research project with Imperial College London, exploring the use of transfer learning in bioprocess design.
"My PhD involves close collaboration with global R&D teams to co-develop an automated framework for process flow diagram (PFD) generation and a predictive digital twin to optimise formulation design and scale-up for complex formulated products. The goal of my work is to support the creation of robust and flexible operational spaces that enable rapid, sustainable, and adaptive process development in modern manufacturing systems.
"More broadly, my work aims to bridge academic innovation with industrial application, delivering scalable, intelligent, and sustainable solutions to meet the demands of rapidly evolving manufacturing environments. By combining machine learning and first-principles modelling with advanced control and optimisation, I seek to unlock new insights into both the behaviour and control of processes, enabling more responsive production systems that adapt to raw material variability, changing demand, and environmental constraints.
"I am honoured to receive this SCI Scholarship and deeply grateful to SCI for supporting the professional and technical development of early-career researchers. This award will help expand my network across academia and industry, and I look forward to sharing my research through SCI’s vibrant interdisciplinary community."
Sam Kay
PhD student
University of Manchester
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