About us

Our academics come from multi-disciplinary backgrounds, including chemical engineering, mathematics, physics and chemistry and are international leaders in their fields. We consistently attract major grants as well as high calibre PhD students and Research Associates from around the world. 

2 universities

8 departments

40 academics

The Centre’s cutting-edge research has been recognised by many awards, including the Royal Academy of Engineering MacRobert Award in 2007 (the UK’s highest award for innovation in engineering). This prestigious award was presented to the Centre’s spin-out company Process Systems Enterprise Limited (PSE), now part of Siemens. The award was in recognition of PSE’s highly innovative modelling software gPROMS which to date remains “the leading modelling product within the chemical industry.” gPROMS is a mathematical modelling system developed to help make chemical plants safer and more efficient. Previous winners of this esteemed award include IBM, Rolls Royce and BP.

The Sargent Centre’s other accomplishments include: the Queens Prize for Higher Education, the IChemE global award 2023 and three spinout companies.

Our mission, vision and history

The Sargent Centre for Process Systems Engineering

Innovation. Excellence. Real-World Impact.

The Sargent Centre for Process Systems Engineering is a world-leading research centre focused on making industrial processes smarter, safer, and more efficient. From chemical manufacturing to vaccine production, our work helps industry reduce waste, increase productivity, and become more sustainable.

Click to find out more about our history