EPSRC 2018 CDT Outline Results
The applicants of the proposed Centres detailed below are invited to submit a full CDT proposal to the next stage of the funding exercise following successful assessment of the outline application. Applications were consider across seven expert panels. This list combines all invited applications, listed in Grant Reference order. No inference of ranking should be made.
Grant Reference Applicant Organisation Grant Title
Treleaven, University College EPSRC CENTRE for DOCTORAL TRAINING in Data-Driven Research and EP/S005668/1 Professor P London Impact
Government, industry and society are experiencing a Data-Driven 'revolution', as profound as the Industrial Revolution. The UK's success in Data-Driven research will be pivotal for efficient public services, competitive industries, new start-ups, high employment levels and a fairer society. Given the importance of Data-Driven research, UCL has co-created together with our Public sector and Services sectors (i.e., 'industry') partners this major (20 students pa) Computer Science-led, UCL-wide, interdisciplinary CDT in Data-Driven research and impact, that uniquely combines fundamental, applied, and human-centred research, and a unique enterprise programme.
Elliott, Professor University of EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Computational Methods for Materials EP/S005676/1 JA Cambridge Science
Moore's law states that the number of active components on a microchip doubles every 18 months. Variants of this observation can be applied to many measures of computer performance, such as memory and hard disk capacity, and to reductions in the cost of computations. This remarkable rise of computational power has affected all of our lives in profound ways, through the widespread usage of computers, the internet and portable electronic devices, such as smartphones and tablets.
However, in the light of recent targeted attacks on performance-enhancing hardware design flaws, such as Meltdown and Spectre, and the encroaching limits of quantum mechanics on further miniaturisation of chip components, it appears that in future significant gains in computing performance will have to come from improvements in software engineering and the development of new algorithms. Computer software plays an important role in enhancing computational performance and in many cases it has been found that for every factor of 10 increase in computational performance achieved by faster hardware, improved software has further increased computational performance by a factor of 100. Furthermore, improved software is also essential for extending the range of physical properties and processes which can be studied computationally.
The existing EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Computational Methods for Materials Science provides training in numerical methods and modern software development techniques so that the students in the CDT are capable of developing innovative new software which can be used, for instance, to help design new materials and understand the complex processes that occur in materials. It has received over £2 million of investment from industrial and charitable sources to supplement the tax payer contributions. The UK, and in particular Cambridge, has been a
Page 1 of 183 pioneer in both software and hardware since the earliest programmable computers, and through this further strategic invetment we aim to ensure that this lead is sustained well into the future.
Cates, Professor University of EP/S005684/1 EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Informed Design of Soft Materials M Cambridge
Many products are based on the design and manufacture of complex soft materials. Examples are emulsions (mayonnaise), dense suspensions (toothpaste), polymers (engine oil), and liquid crystals (the slime you get when a bar of soap is left in a pool of water). Each of these has higher tech counterparts in drug delivery, advanced ceramics precursors, modern plastics, and display devices for smartphones and TVs.
The innovation process for these materials has to be speeded up. Modern soft materials for new applications such as energy storage (electric vehicle batteries), fully biodegradable plastics, and many other areas need to be created in the research lab, perfected by industry, and emerge onto the market in a few years rather than a few decades. This requires not only an improved understanding of the microscopic mechanisms by which soft material products work, but also a modern replacement for the traditional formulation approach, which was largely based on old- fashioned empiricism or "trial and error". Modern empiricism is now being developed across many areas of science (as well as by google, facebook and others to learn your marketing preferences from your behaviour and that of our friends). It involves spotting hidden patterns in the data, which can allowing reliable prediction of what works, even without a microscopic understanding of why. While this 'chemical informatics' approach is established for individual molecules such as drugs, it remains in its infancy for materials science and has barely started at all for complex soft materials. To be successful there, it will need to be properly integrated with mechanistic information driven by basic science, to avoid data-driven predictions that fail to respect the known laws of physics or chemistry. Because such laws create very complicated constraints on soft materials design, we need train a new generation of scientists able to bring together these two very different types of information to reach new conclusions. Such scientists will also need to be skilled in drawing on a third source of information: how nature has evolved its own complex soft materials such as biological tissues, and how these materials work with each other to create highly functional components -- such as a kidney (say) which filters unwanted chemicals out of our bodies with amazing efficiency. Sometimes nature's approach cannot be bettered, in which case we should try to copy it, but in other instances it can be improved. Either way, we need to know how to work with nature rather than against it, and build that knowledge into the design of new soft materials from day one. The current problem of non-biodegradable plastics accumulating in the ocean is just one example of how badly things can go wrong.
Gaunt, Professor University of EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Automated Chemical Synthesis Enabled EP/S005722/1 M Cambridge by Digital Molecular Technologies
Efficient synthesis remains a bottleneck in the drug discovery process. Access to novel biologically active molecules to treat diseases continues to be a major bottleneck in the pharmaceutical industry, costing many lives and many £millions per year in healthcare investment and loss in productivity. In 2016, the Pharmaceutical Industry's estimated annual global spend on research and development (R&D) was over $157 billion. At a national level, the pharmaceutical sector accounted for almost half of the UK's 2016 £16.5bn R&D expenditure, with £700 million invested in pre-clinical small molecule synthesis, and 995 pharmaceutical related enterprises (big pharma, SMEs, biotech & CROs) employing around 23,000 personnel in UK R&D. The impact of this sector and its output on the nation's productivity is indisputable and worthy of investment in new Page 2 of 183 approaches and technologies to fuel further innovation and development.
With an increasing focus on precision medicine and genetic understanding of disease there will be to a dramatic increase in the number of potent and highly selective molecular targets; identifying genetically informed targets could double success rates in clinical development (Nat. Gen. 2015, 47, 856). However, despite tremendous advances in chemical research, we still cannot prepare all the molecules of potential interest for drug development due to cost constraints and tight commercial timelines. By way of example, Merck quote that 55% of the time, a benchmarked catalytic reaction fails to deliver the desired product; this statistic will be representative across pharma and will apply to many comparable processes. If more than half of the cornerstone reactions we attempt fail, then we face considerable challenges that will demand a radical and innovative a step change in synthesis. Such a paradigm shift in synthesis logic will need to be driven by a new generation of highly skilled academic and industry researchers who can combine innovative chemical syntis and technological advances with fluency in the current revolution in data-driven science, machine learning methods and artificial intelligence. Synthetic chemists with such a set of skills do not exist anywhere in the world, yet the worldwide demand for individuals with the ability to work across these disciplines is increasing rapidly, and will be uniquely addressed by this proposed CDT. By training the next generation of researchers to tackle problems in synthetic chemistry using digital molecular technologies, we will create a unique, highly skilled research workforce that will address these challenges and place UK academic and industrial sectors at the frontier of molecule building science.
The aspiration of next-generation chemical synthesis should be to prepare any molecule of interest without being limited by the synthetic methodologies and preparation technologies we have relied on to date. Synthetic chemists with the necessary set of such skills and exposure to the new technologies, required to innovate beyond the current limitations and deliver the paradigm shift needed to meet future biomedical challenges, are lacking in both academia and industry.
To meet these challenges, the University of Cambridge proposes to establish a Centre of Doctoral Training in Automated Chemical Synthesis Enabled by Digital Molecular Technologies to recruit, train and develop the next generation of researchers to innovate and lead chemical synthesis of the future.
University of EP/S005765/1 Nickl, Dr R EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in the Mathematics of Information Cambridge
Algorithms extract information from ever expanding large-scale data structures in science & technology, nature, the internet, social media, public organisations etc. The impact of the information age on modern society and economy parallels the one of the industrial revolution, and to capitalise on it novel ways to efficiently interpret such `big data' are required. A simultaneous scientific revolution is currently under way which uses new mathematical concepts and ideas to devise algorithms that reveal otherwise inaccessible information structures in contemporary data sets, and which also transforms the discipline of mathematics itself.
For modern society, economy and industry, the importance of an objective, scientific basis for decision making processes - which require the translation of highly complex data streams into binary yes/no decisions - is profound: guaranteeing the statistical adequacy of algorithm-based Page 3 of 183 decision making, and guiding the development of new methodology that is commercially competitive and compliant with contemporary ethical, social and legal standards, is one of the true challenges of our time.
Baumberg, University of EP/S005889/1 EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Integrated Functional Nano Professor JJ Cambridge
Topic of Centre: This CDT will accelerate the discovery cycle of functional nanotechnologies and materials, effectively bridging from ground-breaking fundamental science toward industrial device integration, and to drive technological innovation via an interdisciplinary approach. A key overarching theme is understanding and control of the nano-interfaces connecting complex architectures, which is essential for going beyond simple model systems and key to major advances in emerging scientific grand challenges across vital areas of energy, health and ICT. We focus on the science and measurement of nano-interfaces across very broad time scales and material systems (organic-inorganic, bio-non-bio interfaces), to control nano- interfaces in a scalable manner across different size scales, and to integrate them into application systems using engineering approaches. The vast range of knowledge, tools and techniques necessary for this underpins the requirement for high-quality broad-based PhD training that effectively links scientific depth and application breadth.
National Need: Most breakthrough nanoscience as well as successful translation to innovative technology relies on scientists bridging boundaries between disciplines, but this is hindered by the constrained subject focus of undergraduate courses across the UK. Our recent industry-academia nano- roadmapping event attended by numerous industrial partners strongly emphasised the need for broadly-trained interdisciplinary nanoscience acolytes who are highly valuable across their businesses, acting as transformers and integrators of new knowledge, crucial for the UK. They consistently emphasise there is a clear national need to produce this cadre of interdisciplinary nanoscientists to maintain the UK's international academic leadership, to feed entrepreneurial activity, and to capitalise industrially in the UK by driving innovations in health, energy, ICT and Quantum Technologies.
Training Approach: The vision of this CDT is to deliver bespoke training in key areas of nano to translate exploratory nanoscience into impactful technologies, and stimulate new interactions that support this vision. We have already demonstrated an ability to attract world-class postgraduates and build high- calibre cohorts of independent young Nano scientists through a distinctive PhD nursery in our current CDT, with cohorts co-housed in the new £25M Maxwell Centre and jointly mentored in the initial year of intense interdisciplinary training through formal courses, practicals and project work. This programme encourages young researchers to move outside their core disciplines, and is crucial for them to go beyond fragmented graduate training normally experienced. Interactions between cohorts from different years and different CDTs, as well as interactions with >200 other PhD researchers across Cambridge, widens their horizons, making them suited to breaking disciplinary barriers and building an integrated approach to research.
The 1st year of this CDT course provides high-quality advanced-level training prior to final selection of preferred PhD research projects. Student progression will depend on passing examinable components assessed both by exams and coursework, providing a formal MRes qualification. Page 4 of 183
Components of the first year training include lectures and practicals on key scientific topics, mini/midi projects, science communication and innovation training, and also training for understanding societal and ethical dimensions of Nanoscience. Activities in the later years include conferences, leadership and team-building weekends, additional skills training and research seminars and enhanced exposure to innovation and entrepreneurship, through a series of innovation seminars and translation internships mentored by focussed teams with academic and business experience.
Wilson, EP/S005978/1 University of York EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Fusion Energy Science and Technology Professor H
Fusion is the process that powers the Sun, and if it can be reproduced here on Earth it would solve one of the biggest challenges facing humanity - plentiful, safe, sustainable power to the grid. For fusion to occur requires the deuterium and tritium (DT) mix of fuels to be heated to ten times the temperature at the centre of the Sun, and confined for sufficient time at sufficient density. The fuel is then in the plasma state - a form of ionised gas. Our CDT explores two approaches to creating the fusion conditions in the plasma: (1) magnetic confinement fusion which holds the fuel by magnetic fields at relatively low density for relatively long times in a chamber called a tokamak, and (2) inertial confinement fusion which holds the fuel for a very short time related to the plasma inertia but at huge densities which are achieved by powerful lasers focused onto a solid DT pellet. A main driver for our CDT is the manpower that is required as we approach the final stages towards the commercialisation of fusion energy. This requires high calibre researchers to be internationally competitive and win time on the new generation of fusion facilities such as the 15Bn Euro ITER international tokamak under construction in the South of France, and the range of new high power laser facilities across Europe and beyond (e.g. NIF in the US). ITER, for example, will produce ten times more fusion power than that used to heat the plasma to fusion conditions, to answer the final physics questions and most technology questions to enable the design of the first demonstration reactors. Fusion integrates many research areas. Our CDT trains across plasma physics and materials strands, giving students depth of knowledge in their chosen strand, but also breadth across both to instil an understanding of how the two are closely coupled in a fusion device. Training in advanced instrumentation and microscopy is required to understand how materials and plasmas behave (and interact) in the extreme fusion conditions. Advanced computing cuts across materials science and plasma physics, so high performance computing is embedded in our taught programme and several PhD research projects. Fusion requires advances in technology as well as scientific research. We focus on areas that link to our core interests of materials and plasmas, such as the negative ion sources required for the large neutral beam heating systems or the design of the divertor components to handle high heat loads. Our students have access to world-class facilities that enhance the local infrastructure of the partner universities. The Central Laser Facility and Orion laser at AWE, for example, provide an important UK capability, while LMJ, XFEL and the ELI suite of laser facilities offer opportunities for high impact research to establish track records. In materials, we have access to the National Ion Beam Centre, including Dalton Cumbria Facility; the Materials Research Facility at Culham for studying radioactive samples; the emerging capability of the Royce institute, and the Jules Horowitz reactor for neutron irradiation experiments in the near future. The JET and MAST-U tokamaks at Culham are key for plasma physics and materials science. MAST-U is returning to experiments following a £55M upgrade, while JET is preparing for record-breaking fusion experiments with DT. Overseas, we have an MoU with the Korean national fusion institute (NFRI) to collaborate on materials research and on their superconducting tokamak, KSTAR. The latter provides important experience for our students as both the JT-60SA tokamak (under construction in Japan as an EU-Japan collaboration) and ITER will have superconducting magnets, and plays to the strengths of our Page 5 of 183 superconducting materials capability at Durham and Oxford. These opportunities together provide an excellent training environment and create a high impact arena with strong international visibility for our students.
University College EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Geometry and Number Theory at the EP/S005986/1 Lotay, Dr JD London Interface: London School of Geometry and Number Theory
Geometry and number theory are core disciplines within pure mathematics, with many repercussions across science and society. They are subjects that have attracted some of the best minds in mathematics since the time of the Ancient Greeks and continue to exert a natural fascination on professional and amateur mathematicians alike. Throughout the history of mathematics, both topics have often inspired major mathematical developments which have had enormous impact beyond their original applications. The fascination of number theory is exemplified by the story of Fermat's last theorem, the statement of which was written down in 1637 and which is simple enough to be understood by anyone familiar with high school mathematics. It took more than 350 years of hard work and significant developments across mathematics before Wiles's celebrated proof was finally published in 1995. Wiles's proof, for which he was awarded the prestigious Abel Prize in 2016, involves a mixture of ideas from number theory and geometry, and the interplay between these topics is one of the most active areas of research in pure mathematics today.
For example, the work of Ngo on the Langland's program (for which he was awarded the Fields Medal in 2010, the highest honour in mathematics) and Scholze on arithmetic algebraic geometry (for which he was offered a New Horizons in Mathematics Breakthrough Prize in 2016), show the significant impact of geometric ideas on number theory. In the other direction, number theory has been used to prove conjectures in geometry, including a path proposed by Kontsevich (Fields Medal 1998, Breakthrough Prize 2015) and Soibelman to help solve one of the major open problems in geometry, the SYZ conjecture, which lies at the interface of geometry and theoretical physics. These and other connections between geometry and number theory continue to lead to some of the most exciting research developments in mathematics.
This CDT will be run by a partnership of researchers at Imperial College London, King's College London, and University College London, which together form the largest and one of the strongest UK centres for geometry and number theory.
By training mathematicians to PhD level in geometry and number theory, and by ensuring that more general skills (for example, computing, communication, teamwork, leadership) are embedded as a demanding and enjoyable part of our programme, this CDT will deliver the next generation of highly trained researchers able to contribute not only to the UK's future educational needs but also to those of the financial and other high-tech industries. Our graduates will contribute directly to national security (GCHQ is, for example, a user of high-end pure mathematics) but also more indirectly as employees in industries which value the creative and novel approach that mathematicians typically bring to problem-solving.
Heath, Professor The University of EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Nuclear Energy- GREEN (Growing skills EP/S005994/1 SL Manchester for Reliable Economic Energy from Nuclear)
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In UK Energy strategy, nuclear fission is growing rapidly in significance. Government's recent Nuclear Industrial Strategy states clearly that the nuclear sector is integral to increasing productivity and driving growth across the country. Nuclear is, and will continue to be, a vital part of our energy mix, providing low carbon power now and into the future, and the safe and efficient decommissioning of our nuclear legacy is an area of world-leading expertise. In order for this to be possible we need to underpin the skill base. The primary aim of GREEN is to provide high quality research training in the science and engineering underpinning nuclear fission technology, focussed on three broad themes: Current Nuclear Programmes. Decommissioning and cleanup; spent fuel and nuclear materials management; geological disposal; current operating reactors (AGRs, Sizewell B, propulsion); new build reactors (Hinkley C, Wylfa Newydd, Moorside); Future Nuclear Energy: Advanced nuclear reactors (light water reactors, including PWR3, gas cooled reactors, liquid metal cooled reactors, other concepts); advanced fuel cycles; fusion (remote handling, tritium); Nuclear Energy in a Wider Context: Economics and finance; societal issues; management; regulation; technology transfer (e.g. robotics, sensors); manufacturing; interaction of infrastructure and environment; systems engineering. It has become clear that skills are very likely to limit the UK's nuclear capacity, with over half of the civil nuclear workforce and 70% of Subject Matter Experts due to retire by 2025. High level R&D skills are therefore on the critical path for all the UK's nuclear ambitions and, because of the 10-15 year lead time needed to address this shortage, urgent action is needed now.
GREEN is a collaborative CDT involving the Universities of Lancaster, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Sheffield, which aims to develop the next generation of nuclear research leaders and deliver underpinning (Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 1-3), long term science and engineering to meet the national priorities identified in Government's Nuclear Industrial Vision. GREEN also provides a pathway for mid technology level research (TRL 4-6) to be carried out by allowing project to be based partly or entirely in an industrial setting. In collaboration with an expanded group of key nuclear industry partners, GREEN will build on the very successful Next Generation Nuclear programme to deliver a high-quality training programme tailored to student needs; high profile, high impact outreach; and adventurous doctoral research which underpins real industry challenges.
Conway, Loughborough EP/S006001/1 Centre for Doctoral Training in Embedded Intelligence Professor P University
This EPSRC CDT in Embedded Intelligence was launched in 2014 as the first of its kind in the UK. It addresses high priority areas for economic growth for the UK such as autonomous complex manufactured products and systems, functional materials with high performance systems, data- to-knowledge solutions and engineering for industry, life and health. This Centre is currently training 46 PhD candidates, with our first cohort being examined summer 2018.
We would like to recruit 50+ further students over 5 intakes between 2019 and 2023.
A critical mass of 100 well-trained, commercially aware, experienced graduates will alleviate a shortage of skilled engineers and technologists in the following thematic areas, of importance for UK's industrial digital future:
1. Smart manufacturing: reconfigurable & modular hybrid manufacturing processes for embedding sensors/actuators and connected to other services or data collection devices; bottom-up design of multifunctional materials and structures that can act as an interrogators of operational Page 7 of 183 performance and react accordingly; self-regulating processes that can consistently output regardless of the input; intensified processing towards a 'zero-waste'; low volume production of customised high added-value items.
2. Physical embodiment of EI: Packaging and integration technologies; reliability, resilience and robustness; physical and soft integration of devices, sub-components and the system environment.
3. Design for EI: multi-variant optimisation for cost, size, robustness, performance, maintenance etc.; device network design, specification of sensors and measurement devices; power scavenging, processing, wired and wireless communications; context aware design.
4. Intelligent software: low-level, embedded, system-level, database integration, ontology interrogation, service-oriented architectures, services design;
5. System Services: (i) Service Foundations; (ii) Service Composition (iii) Service Management and Monitoring and (iv) Service Design and Development.
The design and implementation of embedded technologies for in-time, in-line products, processes and supply chains, the creation of new products and processes thanks to the embedded intelligence stack of technologies will allow the UK to remain at the forefront of competition on a global level and we will be able to attract to the UK manufacturers and service providers and create a healthy ecosystem of talent, jobs and innovation.
Training the new generation of embedded intelligence practitioners requires of a programme that turns them into experts in their research area, but also equips them with the skills and tools they will require to succeed in such a voluble technological market.
The Centre has created the Transition Zone - a bespoke industry-informed programme of training over a period of four years, explicitly student- requirements-led, which has comprised:
(A) Technical content: led by student needs, to provide a custom diet of focused, deeper technical training and experience in an embedded intelligence thematic area central to their doctoral studies;
(B) Transferable skills: to equip them with tools so they can fulfil expectations of their future leadership roles in the industry, in society and as entrepreneurs (e.g. developing the Responsible Research and innovation habits, understanding Impact and translation, the ethics around data).
The Centre is a collaboration of six academic Schools across two Loughborough University campuses, bringing multiple subject areas together to provide a broad multidisciplinary platform to address our thematic areas. In addition to strong institutional support from the University and Schools, our current students, our current and prospective research co-sponsors, our current Industry Advisory Board, other commercial and training partners, and private sector end-users have been involved in the development of this Expression of Interest.
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Olivier, EP/S006028/1 Newcastle University EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Digital Civics Professor P
Digital technologies have a crucial role to play in the future of public services. The UK already has one of the most digitally developed public service offers, and roll-out of high speed data connectivity means that these services have never been so widely accessible. While emerging technologies - such as artificial intelligence, distributed ledgers, the Internet of Things and data science - also have an important role to play, there is a need to move beyond the transactional nature of current digital public service provision. The EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Digital Civics will train a new category of researcher and practitioner who is capable of developing the next generation of public services to address some of the most complex problems faced by society. Responses to these so-called "wicked problems" must invoke new forms of transformational and participatory digital services that embrace the complexity of challenges such as education, public health and social care, by placing citizens at the heart of their design and delivery.
Digital Civics is the exploration of what these new forms of digital public services should be, developing theories, technologies, and approaches to their design and evaluation. This is done through action-based research, that is, through developing instances of real-world examples of such services, with and for the citizens and organisations that will deliver and use them. This requires researchers from a range of different disciplines, in addition to computer science and design; for example, experts in education, public health and social care. Together these researchers must develop: (i) an understanding of the limitations of existing technologies and their use; (ii) innovations in the design, delivery and evaluation of services with current and emerging technologies; (iii) new underpinning technologies capable of transforming public services.
The Centre brings together technologists, interaction designers and application domain specialists from four centres of excellence across Newcastle University: (i) experts in human-computer interaction and emerging technologies from Open Lab and the School of Computing; (ii) experts in public health and social care from the Institute of Health & Society; (ii) experts in learning and curriculum innovation from the Centre for Learning and Teaching; and (iv) experts on planning and place-making from the Global Urban Research Unit. With additional support from Newcastle University's national centres for innovation in ageing and data, academics from these centres will train postgraduate researcher through delivery a one-year MRes in Digital Civics and supervision of a curated collection of 50 PhD research projects.
The MRes research training provided to students is intrinsically cross-disciplinary in nature. In addition to digital technologies and design methods for civic contexts, training will address three of UK society's grand challenges: local democracy, education, and public health & social care. This is complemented by an ongoing program of training in science communication, public engagement and commercial and social entrepreneurship. PhD research projects will be action-oriented and practice-based, and will be conducted in collaboration with one or more of over 40 collaborating organisations. Partners range from international, national and local commercial and third sector organisations, to national and local public sector partners. In addition to collaborating with these organisations through the design, development, deployment and evaluation of new models of digital public services, partners will host three-month internships, through which doctoral trainees will be gain an awareness of non-academic research environments and the real-world delivery of digital public services. We also have a large network of internationally leading non-UK universities that have committed to host shorter academic placements.
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Browne, University College EP/S006184/1 EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Delivering Quantum Technologies Professor D London
For many years, quantum mechanics has been a curiosity at the heart of physics. Its development was essential to many of the key breakthroughs of 20th century science, but it is famous for counter-intuitive features; the superposition illustrated by Schrödinger's cat; and the quantum entanglement responsible for Einstein's "spooky action at a distance". Quantum Technologies are based on the idea that the "weirdness" of quantum mechanics also presents a technological opportunity. Since quantum mechanical systems behave in a fundamentally different way to large-scale systems, if this behaviour could be controlled and exploited it could be utilised for fundamentally new technologies.
Ideas for using quantum effects to enhancing computation, cryptography and sensing emerged in the 1980s, but the level of technology required to exploit them was out of reach. Quantum effects were only observed in systems at either very tiny scales (at the level of atoms and molecules) or very cold temperatures (a fraction of a degree above absolute zero). Many of the key quantum mechanical effects predicted many years ago were only confirmed in the laboratory in the 21st century. For example, a decisive demonstration of Einstein's spooky action at a distance was first achieved in 2015. With such rapid experimental progress in the last decade, we have reached a turning point, and quantum effects previously confined to university laboratories are now being demonstrated in commercially fabricated chips and devices.
Quantum Technologies could have a profound impact on our economy and society; Quantum computers that can perform computations beyond the capabilities of the most powerful supercomputer; microscopic sensing devices with unprecedented sensitivity; communications whose security is guaranteed by the laws of physics. These technologies could be hugely transformative, with potential impacts in health-care, finance, defence, aerospace, energy and transport.
While the past 30 years o quantum technology research have been largely confined to universities, the delivery of practical quantum technologies over the next 5-10 years will be defined by achievements in industrial labs and industry-academic partnerships. For this industry to develop, it will be essential that there is a workforce who can lead it. This workforce requires skills that no previous industry has utilised, combining a deep understanding of the quantum physics underlying the technologies as well as the engineering, computer science and transferrable skills to exploit them.
The aim of our Centre for Doctoral Training is to train the leaders of this new industry. They will be taught advanced technical topics in physics, engineering, and computer science, alongside essential broader skills in communication and entrepreneurship. They will undertake world-class original research leading to a PhD. Throughout their studies they will be trained by, and collaborate with a network of partner organisations including world-leading companies and important national government laboratories. The graduates of our Centre for Doctoral Training will be quantum technologists, helping to create and develop this potentially revolutionary 21st-century industry in the UK.
Wynne, University of EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Advanced Metallic Systems: Metallurgical EP/S006192/1 Professor BP Sheffield Challenges for the Digital Manufacturing Environment
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Metallic materials are all around us and impact our lives in many ways, from every-day items such as aluminium drinks cans and copper wiring, to highly specialised advanced applications such as the nickel superalloy turbine blades in jet engines and advanced steel nuclear reactor pressure vessels. Despite numerous advances in the understanding of metallic materials and their manufacture, significant challenges remain. Nevertheless, if we can master these challenges, there is huge scope for us to improve existing metallic materials, develop new ones, and improve the methods by which we make them.
It is an exciting time to be involved in metallurgical research and manufacturing. Emerging manufacturing techniques such as 3D printing are enabling new shapes and design concepts to be realised, whilst new solid state processes allow for the design and production of new alloys that could not be made by conventional liquid casting techniques. Industry 4.0, also known as the fourth industrial revolution, provides opportunities to optimise emerging and existing technologies through the use of material and process data and advanced computational techniques. In order to fully exploit these opportunities, we need to understand the underpinning relationships between material processing, structure, properties and performance and link these to the digital manufacturing environment.
In order to deliver our new factories of the future, industry requires many more specialists with a thorough understanding of metallic materials science and engineering, coupled with the professional and technical leadership skills to exploit emerging computational and data-driven approaches. The EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Advanced Metallic Systems will deliver these specialists, currently in short supply, by recruiting cohorts of high level scientists and engineers and providing training in fundamental materials science and computational methods. This prepares students to carry out doctoral level research on challenging metallic material and manufacturing problems. By working collaboratively with industry, while undertaking a comprehensive programme of professional skills training, our graduates will be equipped to be the research leaders, knowledge workers and captains of industry of tomorrow.
Brendle, University of EP/S006206/1 EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Algebra and its Interfaces Professor T Glasgow
We seek to establish the Glasgow-Maxwell School in Algebra and Its Interfaces (GlaMS), a Centre for Doctoral Training in Pure Mathematics and its Interfaces.
We will train at least 65 PhD students in algebraic methods, interfacing Algebra directly with Geometry & Topology and with Mathematical Physics. In so doing, we will address the proven need for highly-skilled PhDs in algebraic methods, and their applications across science and industry. Algebraic methods form one of the three key skill sets in pure mathematics, but do not yet have a CDT provision, and EPSRC explicitly recognises that Algebra "...continues to operate under capacity". We will use our UK-leading position in algebraic methods to deliver our vision of creating an internationally-leading training programme, fusing algebraic methods across the full breadth of our Interfaces.
Working together with Geometry & Topology and Mathematical Physics, this cross-boundary CDT will develop and build new algebraic structures, both in mathematical abstraction and with a view to new applications. In covering around 45% of the landscape of Pure Mathematics in the UK, it will complement existing centres, completing and enhancing the UK's training environment in Pure Mathematics in an area of well- acknowledged need and demand. Page 11 of 183
Our academic training will be delivered in five main themes - Algebraic and Topological Methods, Categories and Geometry, Noncommutative Structures, Representation Theory, and Symmetry in Physics - and will feature new innovative taught and assessed components. Furthermore, by integrating the first year of our CDT in to the Bayes Centre, a hub for mathematical activity in Northern Britain through ICMS, and a centre for Data Science, we will develop a strong sense of cohort, augmented by the presence in the building of graduate students from other disciplines.
We will deliver a change of culture by moving all students one step closer to applications: each will have a three-month opportunity at one of our industrial partners such as Wolfram, Infoshield, ThinkTankMaths, or one of our international academic partner institutes in Beijing, Bonn, New York, Sydney, Tokyo and Waterloo, or through our focused outreach and influence agenda with AIMS Africa and Maths Week Scotland. We will go much further than the standard CDT model in Pure Mathematics, providing a flow of PhDs with multiple skill sets who will be the discipline's future leaders, who have the ability to interface with and influence a wide range of people, and who will work creatively with other researchers to contribute to some of society's and technology's most pressing challenges.
Faccio, University of EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Emerging technologies and data analysis EP/S006214/1 Professor DFA Glasgow for advanced imaging and sensing (EMERGE)
Vision and more in general the ability to see and sense our surroundings is one of the key trademarks of living systems. Interestingly, with the advance of AI, this is also becoming a trademark of new, intelligent machines. The level and complexity with which visual or image information is then processed is the basic element that distinguishes "intelligence", ranging all the way from self-awareness to the creation of new devices that allow us to see/sense even further or in regions that extend beyond the natural range of our senses.
This CDT addresses the need for a more holistic approach in the development of next-generation imaging and sensing systems. These systems will rely on a combination of expertise from a variety of disciplines such as photonics, quantum technologies, various forms of sensing and imaging technologies beyond optics (e.g. acoustic imaging, gravity-field imaging, radiation imaging), nanoscale engineering and nano- fabrication, computational imaging and image retrieval, AI and neural networks.
There is a developing revolution in the field of imaging and sensing that is driven by the combination of these disciplines, with completely new capabilities and often very surprising applications. Just to cite a few examples, imagine what you could do if you could see behind corners or walls (we are thinking of safer cars, safer streets, safer rescue missions), if you could directly image any gravitational field anomalies with extremely high sensitivity (we are thinking of imaging underground, invisible voids or providing submarines with safer navigation systems), or if you could make cameras that have just one single pixel (we are thinking of compact cameras for sensing in areas that are otherwise very hard or impossible such as radiation imaging or gas sensing).
The approaching revolution in imaging and sensing will only be empowered through the training of the next generation of scientists, engineers and innovators that will work in academy and industry. This training must prepare young researchers to be well versed in optics, imaging and sensing techniques, quantum technologies, modern nanofabrication techniques, computational retrieval and AI. The issue is that training in these areas is currently divided into silos. An engineer might learn about fabrication techniques but will not be trained in quantum technology or in Page 12 of 183 modern computational/AI techniques. A physicist might be well trained in quantum physics but will be lacking in the other areas. And computational scientists will typically have little or no knowledge of the optical systems or even of the basic physics of the detection technologies employed to provide the data that they are trying to analyse.
We are proposing a training approach in tight collaboration and co-creation with our industrial partners that will breakdown these training and skills silos. Our aim is to provide the students with the best of both the academic and industry worlds. Industrial involvement will be in the form of training, placements, in some cases, long periods or even a majority of the research performed in the company, and co-design of the projects. This will allow to co-create innovation through the proposal and development of specific, real-world problems. Academic involvement will be in the form of the provision of courses across the wide number of disciplines listed above, intensive workshop and hands-on training in experimental and computational techniques, and direct supervision in cutting-edge technologies that are not necessarily (yet) part of industrial workflows and would therefore not be transferred to the student without the training planned in EMERGE.
EMERGE will thus prepare the next generation of scientists and engineers to lead the UK towards a world-leading role in the innovation of imaging and sensing systems.
Hutchings, EP/S006222/1 Cardiff University EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Catalysis Professor G
The report 'Higher Degree of Concern' by the Royal Society of Chemistry highlighted the importance of effective PhD training in providing the essential skills base for UK chemistry. This is particularly true for the many industries that are reliant on catalytic skills, where entry-point recruitment is already at PhD level. However, the new-starters are usually specialists in narrow aspects of catalysis, while industry is increasingly seeking qualified postgraduates equipped with more comprehensive knowledge and understanding across the cutting edge of the whole field.
Together with a core group of industrial partners, the Universities of Cardiff, Bath and Bristol have combined their internationally leading and complementary expertise in catalysis to create the Centre for Doctoral Training in Catalysis, which started in 2014. The initial aim was to provide training that is relevant to the current and future needs of UK catalysis by bridging the classic disciplines of homogeneous catalysis, heterogeneous catalysis and reaction engineering, producing graduates that can drive and grow the UK catalysis sector. To this end we established a broad interdisciplinary training in all aspects of catalysis with focused study in one PhD project, and we have been delivering graduates that are credible experts in one area but competent in all areas. Building on the best practice of existing and established postgraduate training, and benefitting from the close geographical proximity of the three universities (less than 1 hour journey time), we have set up a training programme that ensures that each intake of PhD students forms part of a larger single cohort. We have now evolved this very successful first stage, working in increasingly close collaboration with industry to deliver a CDT that is fully aligned with the needs of the commercial sector. A key point of evolution of the CDT is that industrialists will now form part of the management committee.
We recruit students from a diverse range of disciplines, including chemical engineering, chemistry and biosciences. During their first year at the Page 13 of 183
CDT, our students follow a broad-based training programme, which forms the basis of an MRes course and which involves industry in many aspects. This includes lectures, a student-led catalyst design project, experimental problem-solving classes, and research placements (Research Broadening Sabbaticals) in research laboratories across all aspects of catalysis science and engineering (and across all three institutions). This broad foundation ensures students have a thorough grounding in catalysis in the widest sense, fulfilling industry's need for recruits who can be nimble and move across traditional discipline boundaries to meet business needs. It also enables the students to become fully engaged in the design of their PhD project making well informed decisions for the next three years. Later years address wider training needs for each of the cohorts, including scale-up and IP protection, which involves industry and additional training via the UK Catalysis Hub. A further benefit of the broader initial training is that students are able to complete PhD projects which transcend the traditional homogeneous, heterogeneous, engineering boundaries, and include emerging areas such as photo-, electro- and bio-catalysis. This will lead to transformative research and will be encouraged by project co-supervision that cuts across the institutions and disciplines. We have identified a core of 32 co- investigators across the three universities, all with established track records of excellence which, when combined, encompasses every facet of catalysis research. Furthermore, full engagement with industry has been agreed at every stage; in management, training, project design, placements and sponsorship. This will ensure technology transfer to industry, as well as early-stage networking for students with their potential employers.
Broyd, Professor University College EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Digital Transformation for a Secure and EP/S006249/1 T London Resilient Built Infrastructure
The CDT in Digital Transformation for a Secure and Resilient Built Infrastructure is focused on addressing the challenges posed by the advent of smart infrastructure, smart cities, and emerging digital technologies that impact directly with, and upon, the built environment. Rapid advances in ICT and other technologies (sensors, AI, machine learning, IoT, autonomous vehicles, big data) have put us on the cusp of a 'digital transformation' of the built environment. At the same time, the UK Government Construction Strategy 2011 now mandates that all centrally funded buildings and infrastructure are developed using Building Information Modelling (BIM) technologies. These developments, combined with growing populations and a global acceleration in urban concentration, mean that there is a vital need for modern infrastructure to be increasingly resilient, and 'secure by design'. The reality is that resilience and security go hand in hand - poorly designed and maintained infrastructure enables crime and disruption, which has a knock-on economic impact, a key issue at a time of declining law enforcement budgets. By leveraging new data streams together with contextual information from BIM models, productivity gains can be unleashed and cities and infrastructure made safer. The requirement, then, is for individuals who are trained in how the infrastructure sector operates and also in how to integrate new technologies and security/crime reduction techniques into the built environment. Our CDT will produce such leaders, who will work on research that fits broadly into the following main themes:
1) Working across traditional boundaries and inter-dependencies among infrastructure systems. 2) Developing and integrating new technologies in the built environment 3) Understanding the threats and opportunities associated with smart infrastructure/cities 4) Identifying and designing out points of failure in networked infrastructure 5) Understanding human behaviour within the built environment 6) Advancing simulation and mathematical modelling to inform the design of resilient cities Page 14 of 183
7) Analysing the wider economic, policy and social implications of built infrastructure
The CDT will create a step change improvement in the way that infrastructure is designed, commissioned and built, allowing operators, asset owners, supply chains, public safety services, and security companies to understand and exploit the potential of smart assets and their digital twins (digital representations of real-world infrastructure).
Passmore, Loughborough EP/S006265/1 EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Digital Vehicle Engineering Professor M University
The Automotive sector is a critical part of UK manufacturing with a £77.5 billion turnover in 2016. The sector is responsible for 12% of all UK exports and invests over £4 billion annually in R&D. The sector faces intense global competition and gaining a competitive advantage in the changing landscape of electrification, connectivity and autonomy, while realising ambitious plans for zero physical prototyping are essential to its future health. Success depends on the development of new Digital Vehicle Engineering approaches that can be applied to accelerate all stages of the design, product development and manufacturing process. The challenge of Digital Vehicle Engineering lies in generating high fidelity digital twins, coupling models and producing real-time simulations or design-oriented simulation and optimisation methods. All require a deep understanding of automotive engineering, state-of-the-art simulation methods, validation and characterisation and understanding of the relationship between simulation and the complex human response. Cohort- based training is essential for researchers to understand the technical diversity and build cross-disciplinary links between software, modelling, validation and implementation to promote technical synergies. The aim of this CDT is to provide the automotive sector with a world-leading centre of excellence for training in Digital Vehicle Engineering. It will produce 50 PhD qualified engineers in five cohorts with the ability to revolutionise Digital Vehicle Engineering, lead the way to zero physical prototyping, initiate, respond to, and affect change in a sector of critical importance to the UK economy. The proposed CDT complements government initiatives for the sector such as the Advanced Propulsion Centre and the Connected and Autonomous Vehicles Call with the highly trained people necessary for success. Centred at Loughborough University and led from the only dedicated Automotive Engineering Department in the UK, the C will have access to a wide range of automotive-specific state-of-the-art facilities and academic skills across the University where over 110 academic staff are engaged in transport technology research. Loughborough University has an outstanding record of collaboration with the automotive industry to train engineers and is ideally placed to lead this challenge. Strong feedback from students, supervisors and industry has stimulated an embedded training programme, where students embark on their research project early in the programme and have training throughout. After an intensive 1-month cohort building programme, students will start their substantial research project to enable the students, supervisors and sponsoring company to engage early and with high intensity. The training elements, including cohort building mini-projects, will employ a block taught format with, individual training elements tailored for maximum value to each research programme and to prepare students for joining industry on graduation. Core transferable and translational skills modules will be provided by the University Doctoral College throughout the four years. To successfully innovate and translate innovation into improved processes and products, close engagement with industry is essential. The model, developed and applied in the EPSRC/JLR programme (PSi), whereby individual doctoral projects were defined in collaboration with relevant Technical Specialists from the industrial sponsors ensured industrially relevant, academically rigorous projects that were strongly Page 15 of 183 supported by the industrially Technical Specialist. These companies have indicated their strong support for the proposed CDT and will have an active role in shaping the individual research projects to maximise their industrial relevance. They will also contribute to student training and offer internships and secondments for students.
University College EP/S006273/1 Betcke, Dr T EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Multiple Scale Computational Sciences London
Within physical sciences and engineering, computer simulation is often referred to as the third pillar of scientific inquiry: capable of providing convincing explanations of natural and man-made phenomena, reaching even into extreme physical regimes inaccessible to either experiment or analytical theory. It can predict the outcomes of complex events at a level of precision unheard of several decades ago; this endows scientific computing with a major influence in the design, optimisation and interpretation of both complex experiments and large scale industrial processes. Computational modelling effectively accelerates progress in science by providing novel physical insights which aid fundamental understanding. Many of the "Grand simulation" challenges of the 21st century are inherently multiscale in nature. Consider for example high-fidelity human body simulations at multiple scales from the genome to the full human. This is as yet out of reach of modern computational capabilities. However, with the advent of exascale computing the necessary hardware capabilities are coming tantalisingly closer to being reality. But not only the hardware needs to develop. Novel mathematical and computational modelling techniques across multiple scales are necessary. Efficient models for each length scale need to be developed and combined using state-of-the art analytical multiscale techniques. Many demanding applications, such as large-scale inverse problems, incorporate large amounts of data across scales (e.g. magnetic resonance imaging), motivating exciting new approaches to integrate data-driven discovery into computational models.
This CDT addresses these mathematical and computational modelling questions. Its vision is to build on the strong interdisciplinary tradition of natural sciences at UCL in order to train computational scientists who are able to think beyond their own discipline and build large scale multiple scale simulations that provide disruptive breakthroughs for the science agenda of the 21st century across mathematics, physics, chemistry, and other disciplines. Positioning the UK at the vanguard of the data revolution is one of the four grand challenges identified in the 2017 UK Government industrial strategy white paper. Within it the government states that it "will help people develop the skills needed for jobs of the future". Our CDT will address this by providing a pipeline for the training of highly skilled computational scientists. The need for specialised training in computational sciences is not restricted to a single sector. Our industrial co-creators range from pharmaceuticals to aerospace industries, giving the graduates from the CDT a wide range of employment opportunities and creating truly interdisciplinary impact.
The training programme of the CDT builds on the strong interdisciplinary ethos of natural sciences at UCL. Starting from a one year MRes programme that includes core training in mathematical and computational modelling, and physical sciences, students pursue a PhD project on the interface of these areas. Each project will be co-supervised by a specialist in mathematical or computational modelling and a domain specialist. Moreover, each project will provide a software delivery plan, which will be regularly reviewed to ensure reliable and sustainable software output. In addition, students will have a range of enhanced training activities such as research ethics, open-source licensing and AI and data training. In collaboration with London's Tech City they will be able to test their own commercialisation ideas. Together with cohort building events such as the retreat and the annual science festival this CDT will provide an inspiring world-class training and research environment.
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Dobson, King's College EP/S006303/1 KCL/UCL EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Data-Driven Healthcare Professor RJB London
The KCL/UCL EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Data-Driven Healthcare brings together two leading universities in health data research, to train the next generation of health data scientists within an active NHS environment with the skills they need to develop new models of data- driven care, leveraging significant recent investment and infrastructure in Health Data Research within the UK.
Healthcare and health research are being rapidly and dramatically transformed by the increasing availability of electronic data and the extraordinary advances in computational power required to process it. This digital transformation builds on significant advances in health informatics, in data capture and curation, knowledge representation, machine learning and analytics. However, for this technology to deliver its full potential, we need to think imaginatively about how to reengineer the organisations and processes that currently underpin the delivery of healthcare. This will require a new generation of scientists and engineers who combine technical knowledge with an understanding of how to design effective solutions and how to work with patients and professionals to deliver transformational change. The UK is the third largest market for medical technology in Europe, worth around 7.6 billion GBP. There are nearly 3,700 companies in the UK's medical technology sector, 98% of them are small to medium-sized enterprises. The sector generates a turnover of 21 billion GBP, with Digital Health being the fastest growing segment by employment (CAGR 28%). The ABPI Bridging the Skills Gap report highlights that informatics, computational, mathematical and statistics areas are a major concern for industry and that data mining is a high priority. Individuals with these skills and with the knowledge of how they can be translated in a real world environment will be immediately attractive to employers, including the growing range of private providers offering technology-based services, but equally of interest to pharma companies and contract research organisations establishing better capabilities for digitally-enabled clinical trials, big data-based drug discovery and real-time tracking of patient populations.
Our team of researchers is proposing the Centre for Doctoral Training in Data-Driven Healthcare that will equip students with the skills required to develop new models of data-driven care and to have real world impact in delivering the next generation of healthcare. They will master technical skills in data science, software engineering, and statistics but also understand the importance of evaluation of these new models of care, the challenges involved in organisational transformation, and translational skills required to bring an innovative product or service to market.
Cohort-based delivery is key to delivering on this ambitious vision. Operating a data-driven health PhD programme across London's two largest academic institutions demands a structured approach to research and data resources, as well as a strong focus on responsible research values. Orchestrating access and interactions with all relevant groups at KCL and UCL is beyond enthusiastic efforts of several eager academics and requires institutional commitment and dedicated operations team. Also, interactions with external partners, essential to realising impact in the health arena, are enhanced by having specialised support staff, and by offering a structured approach for engaging with students and supervisors. Finally, pooling students together allows exploitation of synergies between related research efforts at both institutions and ensures the CDT represents more than just a sum of its parts.
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Interdisciplinarity is a crucial component of our vision and training and development of our cohorts will take place in a seamless multi-modal environment across KCL and UCL, bringing together researchers in informatics, analytics, medicine, genetics and engineering.
Schnabel, King's College EP/S006311/1 EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Smart Medical Imaging Professor JA London
Imaging sciences continues to grow as an interdisciplinary discipline in the UK and internationally. A major reason is the continuous expansion of applications to characterise individual patients in the care cycle using medical imaging. Progress in medical imaging research is underpinned by parallel developments in complementary disciplines, including biomedicine, biology, chemistry, engineering, physics, and computer science. The proposed EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Smart Medical Imaging will train the next generation of medical imaging researchers in leveraging the full potential of medical imaging for healthcare through integration of artificial intelligence, smart probes, cutting-edge and affordable imaging solutions, within a multi-disciplinary environment of scientists, clinicians and healthcare industry. This proposal will bring together expertise between King's College London and Imperial College London, leveraging on the successful partnership between these two world-class institutions, and a renewal of previously established interdisciplinary skills training in their successful current, joint EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Medical Imaging, alongside the introduction of a range of new research and training ideas and objectives. Our vision is to train the best research talent, both nationally and internationally, who will become the next generation of scientists to radically transform the field of medical imaging. Our students will challenge the conventional serial approach of image acquisition-analysis-interpretation, by innovating smart medical imaging technology that has a clear translational pathway into the clinic. They will advance innovative molecular imaging chemistry and radionuclide therapy and biology to detect and help diagnose disease, stratify patients and measure therapy response in terms of efficacy and toxicity.
The CDT will feature a hybrid combination 1+3 years MRes/PhD structure and 4 years PhD training using assessed Master classes, depending on the students' academic background. The first year training will be drawn from the MRes Medical Imaging Sciences at King's as well as the new project-based MSc modules at King's in Artificial Intelligence and Healthcare Data Science, and Medical Imaging. This will be complemented by specialist modules offered by the Imperial MRes Bioimaging Sciences programme and the King's MSc Neuroimaging and (Clinical) Neurosciences programmes at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience. In addition to the core training in the skills relevant to their research projects, students will receive intensive research training in their first year in the form of recorded presentation workshops, poster discussions, short-term group projects and small-group journal clubs. In years 2-4 of their PhD, students will participate in a tailored, cohort-based advanced skills training that encompasses public engagement, science communications and media training, international lab visits and hospital experience in form of MDTs. Importantly, they will gain direct access to clinicians, industry placements for R&D training, and career mentoring from industry and healthcare leaders and professionals for maximising their employability. We will train our student cohorts to embrace important principles such as Responsible Research, following the EPSRC AREA framework (Anticipate - Reflect - Engage - Act), and Frugal Innovation for developing affordable healthcare solutions, focusing on healthcare economics and cost reduction in delivering smart medical imaging technology to the patient.
The proposal falls fully in the EPSRC Priority Area 18: Next Generation Medical Imaging. It also, in part, interfaces with the Priority Area 4: Enabling Intelligence. Page 18 of 183
Dennis, University of EP/S006338/1 EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Topological Design Professor MR Birmingham
Topology is a particular study of the spatial structure of objects, based on counting discrete properties, such as the number of holes and bridges in a sponge. Whichever way the sponge is stretched or squeezed, these numbers stay the same. In fact, the elastic properties of the sponge depend on this structure. It turns out that topological properties like this play a role in the physical properties of certain materials, such as the way they conduct electricity or how light propagates through them. This has led to an explosion of research and development into new kinds of materials with unprecedented properties, designed using fundamental physical and mathematical principles which can be fabricated and, in the future, manufactured on the large scale.
We will train the first cohort of doctoral topological scientists, who will have a broad expertise in topological science and design, focused towards the development of new topological materials that address the needs of industry. Drawn from backgrounds in physics, engineering and materials science, they will develop a broad technical appreciation of topological design within all of these disciplines, and gain research experience in mini-projects in theoretical and experimental groups, as well as undertaking a main research project with supervisors drawn from all academic Schools in the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences at the University of Birmingham. This technical education will be entwined with a programme of transferable skills developing the critical skills of innovation, entrepreneurship and responsible research.
The academic leadership of this CDT will develop the training programme in collaboration with a range of industrial partners who will contribute to the directions of the research projects, provide internships and help the students and academic supervisors focus on the needs of end users in their research. These partners will not only be drawn from relevant industries, such as communications, manufacturing and defence sectors, but more widely from knowledge industries including software developers and commercialisation lawyers.
The resulting CDT will be a beacon for cross-disciplinary research across the physical sciences, and spearheading academic-industrial partnership over the coming decades as topological design becomes a crucial principle for the development of new technologies, underpinning the future prosperity of the UK.
Choy, Professor University College EP/S006346/1 EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Advanced Coating Technologies (ACT). K London
This EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Advanced Coating Technologies (ACT) aims to train a new generation of scientists and engineers to design, synthesise and manufacture novel, high-tech coatings and thin-films in a sustainable and ethical manner.
The ACT CDT is led by University College London (UCL) partnered with the University of Southampton (UoS). Both institutions have a track record of world leading research in thin-film discovery, synthesis and manufacture for structural, functional and biomedical applications. The CDT also links with CÚRAM (Centre for Research in Medical Devices, Ireland) with expertise in the application of films and coating for biomedical devices development, testing and evaluations. The three institutions have assembled a critical mass team of experts across various research areas and disciplines within the field of thin-films and coatings including; materials discovery, modelling, coating synthesis/ processing, Page 19 of 183 characterisation, manufacture/scale up and product development. All three institutions have a wide range of cutting edge thin-film/coating and characterisation equipment, as well as device fabrication, testing and computing facilities. These, together with our industrial partners and network of professional organisations offer a unique, world class training and research environment, linking theory with practice, and covering the entire value chain and stages of technological readiness across coated product development.
Many products require coatings and thin-films to function, including optoelectronics, anti-icing coatings for aircraft, thermal barrier-coatings in jet engines, self-cleaning coatings for glass etc. Many of these coatings are also vital to renewable energy technologies such as thin-film solar cells, low-friction and wear resistant coatings for wind turbines, and thin-films for energy storage. In addition, coatings are used to improve the biocompatibility of medical implants such as pacemakers knee replacements and hip replacements.
To improve all these products, new coating materials and structures will need to be developed to improve their functionality. The way these coatings are manufactured will also need to be changed, as some current coating manufacturing methods including Chemical Vapour Deposition and Physical Vapour Deposition are often energy intensive and use antiquated coating materials which often are expensive, suboptimal, and unsustainable.
The ACT CDT has been co-created with leading national and international industrial partners including coating manufacturers and their supply chain, who will provide practical experience and training input of industrial coating manufacture and coated products, and highlight pressing coating challenges that need to be addressed. Through the CDT, research will be conducted into ways to modernise the coating industry, new coatings and materials, innovative eco-friendly coating methods and how these advances can be used in new applications for creating sustainable high value-added products.
At least 12 PhD students/year over 5 years will be trained in advanced coating materials, their manufacture and characterisation, with a strong focus on materials translation as well as transferable skills. The training will be delivered as a MRes+PhD, with students being taught the fundamentals of coating technology during the MRes, with professional development and advanced research skills being taught through a series of seminars, industry secondments and spring schools. Students will be trained in coating design, selection and discovery, as well as thin-film synthesis/coating processing and characterisation. In addition, students will learn vital skills such as materials modelling, data science, lifecycle analysis, product development, and in the case of biomedical projects, gain experience working at the clinical translation interface.
University College EP/S006354/1 Zhang, Dr HG EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Disruptive Medical Imaging Technologies London
We propose to create the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Disruptive Medical Imaging Technologies at the University College London (UCL). Our aim is to nurture the UK's future leaders in next-generation medical imaging research, development and enterprise, equipping them to produce disruptive healthcare innovations either focused on or including imaging.
Building on the success of our current CDT in Medical Imaging, the new CDT will focus on an exciting new vision: to unlock the full potential of medical imaging by harnessing transformative technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and by considering medical imaging as a component Page 20 of 183 within integrated healthcare systems. We will capitalise on UCL's unique strengths in medical imaging technology (from hardware, through imaging physics, to image computing) and four complementary areas: 1) machine learning and AI; 2) data science and health informatics; 3) robotics and sensing; 4) human-computer interaction (HCI). The ambition is to create a future-proofed doctoral training programme that will empower our trainees to create disruptive medical imaging technologies, either as a component or standalone, such as:
- Lower-power portable MRI scanners, small and cheap enough for ambulances or GP surgeries, which leverage big data for fast acquisition without compromising image utility.
- Miniaturised multi-physics (e.g. photoacoustic) imaging devices mountable on surgical probes.
- Data-driven disease stratification that exploits imaging data jointly with non-imaging data (e.g. genetics, electronic health records, and wearable sensors), which can revolutionise disease understanding, therapy development, clinical decision support, and healthcare delivery planning and management.
To realise this ambition, we will create an integrated training programme that combines imaging physics and image computing with big data analytics and AI. The programme will have a remit that encompasses the joint modelling of imaging and non-imaging data, as well as user interaction with image-based information. Building on our proven track record, we will attract the very best of aspiring young minds, equipping them with essential training in imaging and computational sciences as well as clinical context and entrepreneurship. We will provide a world- class research environment and mentorship so that they have the ideal setting to develop and translate cutting-edge engineering solutions to the most pressing healthcare challenges.
Sullivan, EP/S006362/1 Swansea University EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Functional Industrial Coatings Professor JH
Coatings are ubiquitous throughout day to day life and ensure the function, durability and aesthetics of millions of products and processes. The use of coatings is essential across multiple sectors including construction, automotive, aerospace, packaging and energy and as such the industry has a considerable value of £2.7 billion annually with over 300,000 people employed throughout manufacturers and supply chains. The cars that we drive are reliant on advanced coating technology for their durability and aesthetics. Planes can only survive the harsh conditions of flight through coatings. These coatings are multi-material systems with carefully controlled chemistries and the development and application of coatings at scale is challenging. Most coatings surfaces are currently passive and thus an opportunity exists to transform these products through the development of functional industrial coatings. For example, the next generation of buildings will use coating technology to embed energy generation, storage and release within the fabric of building. Photocatalytic coated surfaces can be used to clean effluent streams and anti- microbial coatings could revolutionise healthcare infrastructure. This means that this new generation of coatings will offer greater value-added benefits and product differentiation opportunities for manufacturers. The major challenges in translating these technologies into industry and hence products are the complex science involved in the development, application and durability of these new coatings systems. Hence, through this CDT we aim to train 50 EngD research engineers (REs) with the Page 21 of 183 fundamental scientific expertise and research acumen to bridge this knowledge gap. Our REs will gather expertise on coatings manufacture regarding: - The substrate to be coated and the inherent challenges of adhesion - the fundamental chemical and physical understanding of a multitude of advanced functional coatings technologies ranging from photovoltaic maerials to smart anti corrosion coatings - the chemical and physical challenges of the application and curing processes of coatings - the assessment of coating durability and lifetime with regards to environmental exposure e.g. corrosion and photo-degradation resistance - the implantation of a sustainable engineering philosophy throughout the manufacturing route to address materials scarcity issues and the fate of the materials at the end of their useful life. To address these challenges the CDT has been co-created with industry partners to ensure that the training and research is aligned to the needs of both manufacturers and the academic community thus providing a pathway for research translation but also a talent pipeline of people who are able to lead industry in the next generation of products and processes. These advanced coating technologies require a new scientific understanding with regards to their development, application and durability and hence the academic impact is also great enabling our REs to also lead within academia.
Wilcox, EP/S006370/1 University of Leeds Centre for Doctoral Training in Innovative Medical Technologies Professor RK
Our CDT in Innovative Medical Technologies will develop a new generation of doctoral professionals with the distinctive high-level skills necessary for careers in the medical technologies ('medtech') sector. We will partner with the SFI Centre for Research in Medical Devices at NUI Galway to provide bespoke doctoral-level training and professional development, equipping our students to become future leaders of the global medtech sector. Medtech encompasses a wide range of healthcare products and services that are used to treat medical conditions. The global medtech sector is growing rapidly, and expected to reach over $500bn by 2022. There is potential for the UK sector to grow by £9bn in the next five years if it maintains its market share. However the current skills shortage has been identified as a major barrier to growth, with total vacancies in medtech companies more than doubling between 2012 and 2016. Transformation and growth of the sector requires new types of professionals and skills. There is need for high-level multidisciplinary technical and design skills, alongside core competencies in innovation, commerce and translation, as highlighted in the UK Government's Life Sciences Industry Strategy and reflected in the EPSRC's Priority Area 1 - Design and Innovation in Inclusive Technologies for Health and Care. Our CDT will provide a unique training environment to develop doctoral-level professionals with the skills required for medtech careers in industry, healthcare and academia. Through an integrated MSc and cross-cohort professional development, students will gain understanding and practical experience of design and innovation processes, the clinical and industrial translation pathways, and routes and barriers to adoption. PhD projects will be focussed on our areas of core research strength in implantable devices for tissue repair, simulation and pre-clinical testing, assistive technologies for rehabilitation, and surgical robotics technologies. All aeas will be underpinned by enabling digital technologies, and will support the principles of enhanced precision, prediction, evaluation and evidence, which are driving technology and growth in the sector. Students will gain practical experience of design processes, innovation and translation within the regulatory environment, alongside delivering their own focussed PhD research project. With a cohort of multidisciplinary supervisors from across five faculties, including leading clinicians, as Page 22 of 183 well as collaborative industry co-supervisors, we will address both the development of robust multidisciplinary technical and design skills and provide expert understanding of clinical/industrial needs. The proposed training and requirements have been co-developed with partners from across the medtech sector. We are uniquely placed to deliver these activities due to the strong research and innovation track record at both Leeds and Galway, as well as our distinctive collaborative environment with industry, clinical and patient groups providing expertise and continuity across the translational pathway. The Leeds City region has been identified as a medtech hub with a concentration of research excellence, and integrated health innovation system including 22% of UK digital health jobs, over 250 medtech companies and the highest level of growth of medtech exports in the UK. Galway hosts the highest number of medical device companies in Europe. These combined regional strengths, coupled with expertise in translation and innovation, will be exploited in the CDT through joint training, supervision and summer schools, making use of the complementary expertise in different subsectors and combined industry network for secondments and mentoring. This CDT will develop a new generation of doctoral professionals who meet the need of the growing medtech sector, able to work across traditional discipline boundaries and convergent technologies to address 21st century clinical challenges.
Danezis, University College EP/S006400/1 EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Cybersecurity Professor G London
This proposal for an EPSRC Centre for doctoral training aims to train over 55 experts in the different sub-fields of cybersecurity. It aligns perfectly with the "Establishing Trust, Identity, Privacy and Security for a Hyperconnected Digital World" priority area sought by the EPSRC. The need to increase capacity in terms of cybersecurity professionals has been highlighted by the UK National Cyber Security Strategy 2016-2021 reports of the Center for Cyber Safety and Education as a matter of priority.
The CDT will be a multidisciplinary doctoral school between the department of computer science, science technology engineering and public policy, and crime science at UCL. Students will be admitted with excellent backgrounds in STEM (computing, engineering mathematics), psychology, sociology, crime science, public policy, economics -- leading to highly interdisciplinary cohorts. Besides recent graduates it will also admit mid-career applicants that wish to enhance their expertise, switch fields to cybersecurity, or attain higher positions within the profession.
Specifically doctoral students will be trained, as part of a 1 year MRes, in technical aspects of computer security, information security management, cybercrime, and two research methods (in two different departments) courses covering both disciplinary research methods as well as responsible research and innovation. Further training will be provided throughout the program in both technical and soft skills, as well as research skills. The specific course regime was selected after consultation and co-creation with industry and government partners.
Candidates will undertake 3 further years of doctoral research training in cybersecurity, including topics relating to its Human, Organizational and Regulatory aspects; specifics of Computer & Network Attacks and Defences; Systems Security & Cryptography -- including quantum cryptography and computing; Program, Software and Platform Security -- including verification and testing; and Infrastructure Security. UCL hosts 40 supervisors across 6 departments that are active world-class researchers on those topics, that will individually supervise students.
Industry, Government and external research partners will be closely involved with the centre and each student: they will provide each student a Page 23 of 183
3- or 6-month internship related to their research training, speakers and events, equipment and advice, and will directly co-fund the research and training of a number of students.
Graduates will be equipped to work at the highest levels of academic or industrial research in cybersecurity, but will also have the skills to staff senior security engineering, security management, and public policy positions. Each graduate will master two of the three key disciplines of the center (computer science, crime science, public policy & regulation) and will be able to do research and operate professionally across those specializations.
Fryer, Professor University of EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Formulation Engineering: Sustainable EP/S006435/1 PJ Birmingham Structured Products
Formulation engineering is concerned with the manufacture and use of microstructured materials, whose usefulness depends on their microstructure. For example, the taste, texture and shine of chocolate depends on the cocoa butter being in the right crystal form - when chocolate is heated and cooled its microstructure changes to the unsightly and less edible 'bloomed' form. Formulated products are widespread, and include foods, pharmaceuticals, paints, catalysts, structured ceramics, thin films, cosmetics, detergents and agrochemicals. In all of these, material formulation and microstructure control the physical and chemical properties that are essential to the product function. The research issues that affect different industry sectors are common: the need is to understand the processing that results in optimal nano- to micro structure and thus product effect. Products are mostly complex soft materials; structured solids, soft solids or structured liquids, with highly process- dependent properties. The CDT fits into Priority Theme 2 of the EPSRC call: Design and Manufacture of Complex Soft Material Products. The vision for the CDT is to be a world-leading provider of research and training addressing the manufacture of formulated products.
The UK is internationally-leading in formulation, with many research and manufacturing sites of national and multinational companies, but the subject is interdisciplinary and thus is not taught in many first degree courses. A CDT is thus needed to support this industry sector and to develop future leaders in formation engineering. The CDT will develop interdisciplinary research projects in the sustainable manufacture of the next generation of formulated products. The strategy of the Centre has been co-created with industry, and the focud will be in two areas (i) making new formulated products, generating understanding that will minimise the time needed in product high-throughout screening, and (ii) using modern data handling ('Industry 4.0') in formulation. The research of the Centre will be carried out in collaboration with a range of industry partners: our strategy is to work with companies that are are world-leading in a number of areas; foods (PepsiCo, Mondelez, Unilever), HPC (P+G, Unilever), fine chemicals (Johnson Matthey, Innospec), pharma (AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb) and aerospace (Rolls-Royce). This structure maximises the synergy possible through working with non-competing groups. We will carry out at least 50 collaborative projects with industry, most of which will be EngD projects in which students are embedded within industrial companies, and return to the University for training courses. This gives excellent training to the students in industrial research; in addition to carrying out a research project of industrial value, students gain experience of industry, present their work at internal and external meetings and receive training in responsible research methods and in the interdisciplinary science and engineering that underpin this critical industry sector.
Seeds, University College EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Connected Electronic and Photonic EP/S006443/1 Professor AJ London Systems (CEPS) Page 24 of 183
This proposal seeks funding to create a Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Connected Electronic and Photonic Systems (CEPS). Photonics has moved from a niche industry to being embedded in the majority of deployed systems, ranging from sensing, biophotonics and advanced manufacturing, through communications from the chip-to-chip to transcontinental scale, to display technologies, bringing higher resolution, lower power operation and enabling new ways of human-machine interaction.
These advances have set the scene for a major change in commercialisation activity where electronics photonics and wireless converge in a wide range of information, sensing, communications, manufacturing and personal healthcare systems. Currently manufactured systems are realised by combining separately developed photonics, electronic and wireless components. This approach is labour intensive and requires many electrical interconnects as well as optical alignment on the micron scale. Devices are optimised separately and then brought together to meet systems specifications. Such an approach, although it has delivered remarkable results, not least the communications systems upon which the internet depends, limits the benefits that could come from systems-led design and the development of technologies for seamless integration of electronic photonics and wireless systems. To realise such connected systems requires researchers who have not only deep understanding of their specialist area, but also an excellent understanding across the fields of electronic photonics and wireless hardware and software.
This proposal seeks to meet this important need, building upon the uniqueness and extent of the UCL and Cambridge research, where research activities are already focussing on higher levels of electronic, photonic and wireless integration; the convergence of wireless and optical communication systems; combined quantum and classical communication systems; the application of THz and optical low-latency connections in data centres; techniques for the low-cost roll-out of optical fibre to replace the copper network; the substitution of many conventional lighting products with photonic light sources and extensive application of photonics in medical diagnostics and personalised medicine. Many of these activities will increasingly rely on more advanced systems integration, and so the proposed CDT includes experts in electronic circuits, wireless systems and software. By drawing these complementary activities together, and building upon initial work towards this goal carried out within our previously funded CDT in Integrated Photonic and Electronic Systems, it is proposed to develop an advanced training programme to equip the next generation of very high calibre doctoral students with the required technical expertise, responsible research and innovation, commercial and business skills to enable the £90 billion annual turnover UK electronics and photonics industry to create the closely integrated systems of the future. The CEPS CDT will provide a wide range of methods for learning for research students, well beyond that conventionally available, so that they can gain the required skills. In addition to conventional lectures and seminars, for example, there will be bespoke experimental coursework activities, reading clubs, roadmapping activities, responsible research and innovation studies, secondments to companies and other research laboratories and business planning courses.
Connecting electronic and photonic systems is likely to expand the range of applications into which these technologies are deployed in other key sectors of the economy, such as industrial manufacturing, consumer electronics, data processing, defence, energy, engineering, security and medicine. As a result, a key feature of the CDT will be a developed awareness in its student cohorts of the breadth of opportunity available and the confidence that they can make strong impact thereon.
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University College EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in New Computation for Biology and EP/S006478/1 Moss, Dr GWJ London Medicine.
We propose a doctoral programme at the interface between computational and biological/medical sciences; training researchers to use and innovate new computational tools, to help solve the most important problems in biology and medicine.
Our training will be the first to combine two separate approaches to science at this interface: Modelling and Machine Learning. Modelling is the construction of equations to represent a system based on an initial understanding of it. Machine Learning is performed by programs that learn to predict the properties of systems based on data. Modelling and machine learning are complementary. Modelling needs only a modest amount of observed data but a good understanding of the system. It can provide excellent insight into biological processes; but can struggle with the inherent complexity of biological systems, leading to inaccurate predictions. Machine Learning needs only a minimal understanding of the system but large amounts of observed data. It can make accurate predictions; but does so without providing direct insight into the underlying mechanisms.
Their complementarity makes modelling and learning an important partnership and our graduates will be able to adopt and adapt them to fit the problems they encounter. Enormously useful as an ability to mix and match modelling and learning is, the power of a unified approach may be even greater; because new ways to combine learning and modelling are being pioneered in many areas. These include areas outside of biology (e.g. autonomous vehicles are learning to drive using simulated models of traffic systems) and within (learnt predictive models of the link between genes and development are being experimented on like model organisms). The importance of this has been highlighted by the 2018 Government (Blackett) Review of Modelling were it was noted that ' 'not only will machines build models, but models will in turn help to train machines....This is an area of huge potential development.'
There is an acute national shortage of researchers trained in modelling or learning at the interface with biology/medicine, and almost none trained in both. This affects areas of government (e.g. health & environment) as well as industrial sectors (e.g. pharmaceuticals & agrotech). These sectors account for substantial GDP, and the shortage is limiting growth and entrepreneurship. Our programme will create the new researchers needed; equipped with technical know-how and a firm enough grasp of biology to engage with more traditional biological and medical researchers.
Our training has been devised, and will be delivered, in collaboration with industry and government. We will recruit students from physics, maths, computer science and, where exceptionally numerate, biology. In an intensive 3-month start to the programme, students will study the fundamentals of biology and develop new technical skills. Online learning materials will allow students to create a bespoke study plan best suited to their needs and skills gaps. After this taught period, each student will engage with 'problem holders' via three research projects set by industry, academia or government. One project will focus on modelling, another on machine learning, and the final project will aim for a combined approach. After this training year students will focus on their PhD research, while continuing to develop their skills via additional specialist courses.
Training year students will be located within the ai@UCL hub, alongside researchers studying the fundamentals of machine learning and its Page 26 of 183 application to areas outside of biomedicine. This hub is a short walk from both the Turing Institute (the UK's national centre of excellence in data science) and the Crick Institute (a national centre of excellence in biomedicine). Both are partners within our training programme, as are global companies such as IBM, GSK, AstraZeneca, Microsoft, Bayer, Pfizer and BenevolentAI and government (Defra
Knight, Queen Mary EPSRC Center for Doctoral Training in Predictive Bioengineering for Healthcare EP/S006486/1 Professor MM University of London Innovation
The development of new medical devices and drugs is based on a costly and often ineffective system of testing safety and efficacy which is decades out of date. As a result there is a serious attrition in the delivery of innovative healthcare products which is damaging to industry, the economy and the health of the nation. We propose a transformative solution in the use of bioengineering to deliver innovative approaches for predicting the performance of healthcare products. This technological solution is supported by leading companies from the medical devices and pharmaceutical industry, including GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Baxter Healthcare, and UCB, and is endorsed by official reports from the regulatory bodies and associated organisations such as the US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), the National Institute of Biological Standards and Control (NIBSC), the Medicines Discovery Catapult and the NC3Rs.
With existing methods of testing the cost of development for healthcare products is now so large that industry is forced to ignore potentially transformative, successful products simply because they are unlikely to deliver a high market return. This includes products that address less common conditions, prevalent third world diseases, or personalized medicine. This and the inaccurate nature of existing testing strategies is preventing the delivery of healthcare solutions to a wide range of patients. In addition, much of the testing is based on the use of animal models which may not always predict efficacy in man and may raise ethical concerns. Of further concern, the consequence of poor predictive testing is also allowing the release of products that are potentially unsafe. Recent examples include the arthritis drug, lumiracoxib (Prexige) that caused liver damage and metal-on-metal hip replacement implants that released toxic metallic wear debris.
This CDT in Predictive Bioengineering for Healthcare Innovation provides an exciting vision in which the latest advances in bioengineering will be used to develop innovative approaches for testing safety and efficacy of healthcare products. We will focus on two key areas, 1) organ-on-a-chip models that mimic the physiological and pathological environment of different body organs for drug testing; and 2) computational and experimental testing methodologies that predict the performance of biomaterials and medical devices. Critical for development of these models and methodologies is a multidisciplinary understanding of aspects of bioengineering including biomaterials, microfluidics, biomechanics, sensors and computational modelling.
To realise this vision and address this pressing industrial and societal need, this CDT will deliver a cohort of 60 highly trained PhD graduates together with a further 25 students through our partnership with the SFI Centre for Research in Medical Devices (CÚRAM). Together with representatives from the healthcare products industry and associated regulatory bodies, we have put together a multidisciplinary training programme with an exciting combination of taught modules, internships, industry visits, residential summer camps, real industrial-led case studies, workshops and transferable skills training. This innovative training programme, and the in-depth research training delivered as part of the individual PhD project, will provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the underpinning bioengineering research and the associated industrial, clinical and regulatory framework. Queen Mary University of London is ideally suited to host this CDT with a critical mass of Page 27 of 183 bioengineers, a long and successful track record of research training and delivery of high quality industrial impact, as well as the necessary infrastructure and leadership to drive forward this vision. As such, CDT graduates will become the future project leaders and policy makers in the development and implementation of predictive bioengineering for healthcare innovation.
Al-Tabbaa, University of EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Future Infrastructure and Built EP/S006540/1 Professor A Cambridge Environment: Resilience in a Changing World (FIBE2)
We live in a complex, changing and uncertain world in which our infrastructure, central to the delivery of a low carbon future and economic prosperity, must be reliable, affordable, adaptive and innovative in its response and evolution. This University of Cambridge FIBE2 CDT bid led by Civil Engineering is uniquely positioned to capture the cross-disciplinary innovations in training, research and collaborations required to address the complexity involved in harnessing the full value of existing infrastructure and the delivery of a resilient infrastructure for the future.
The success of our current FIBE CDT presents strong evidence of our ability to craft and deliver innovative cohort-based training on infrastructure to address UK doctoral skills needs. Our vision for the FIBE2 CDT is to use this strong foundation as a springboard for further advancement to tackle the broader and interconnected challenges in resilient infrastructure across traditional disciplines, thereby transforming the way the UK fosters these activities. We will build on our highly effective 1+3 MRes/PhD training model, on the paradigm of a 'T' shaped engineer, with a combination of breadth and depth of knowledge, on our academia-industry collaborative PhD projects in the broader interconnected infrastructure areas and on our innovative academia-industry I+ training scheme. Using a mix of theoretical and experimental work in bespoke core and elective modules, high level Infrastructure Engineering concepts will be interlinked and related to the detailed technical fundamentals that underpin them. There will be enhanced training in data-driven research and project management and group project work that will apply fundamental principles to real challenges and emerging technologies. Cohort-based learning of the wider environmental, societal, economic, business and policy issues will continue as well as on ethics, diversity and inclusiveness. In FIBE2 CDT we will introduce new emphasis whereby individual student plans will enable a mix of discipline backgrounds and experiences to be accommodated and leveraged.
The focused PhD research projects, within the broader context of the FIBE2 CDT training, will build upon and channel Cambridge's internationally leading current research, investment and funding in the diverse areas related to Infrastructure with an emphasis on resilience. Our major strategic research initiatives, in >£50M of research funding from EPSRC, Innovate UK, EU and industry, our regional and national central engagements in UKCRIC, CDBB, The Alan Turing and Henry Royce Institutes and our world class graduate training programmes mean that Civil Engineering at Cambridge provides an inspirational environment for the proposed FIBE2 CDT.
The vision of the FIBE2 CDT has evolved through our centre co-creation and strategic alliances with our current FIBE CDT industry partners. We will expand, strengthen and evolve these vibrant collaborations by doubling the number and contributions in FIBE2 CDT to embrace industry partners from the wider infrastructure-based sector and players who can add new and exciting dimensions to our CDT and enrich our students' experiences. We will continue to engage with our strategic international academic centres to maximise the added value to the students' training experience.
The CDT's inclusive approach to engagement will extend the CDT impact and CDT students will act as role models to inspire future generations Page 28 of 183 of infrastructure graduates. We will build a dynamic network of Alumni and actively engage them in FIBE2 CDT activities. The FIBE2 CDT will deliver enhanced doctoral training for future leaders and provide a focal point for UK and global infrastructure engineering excellence. Our CDT graduates will be engineering leaders of the highest calibre whom we can entrust to lead us through the anticipated significant technological and societal challenges facing UK infrastructure systems.
Sutcliffe, University of EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Materials Engineering for Biological EP/S006559/1 Professor M Cambridge Systems (MEBS)
The EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) will provide training in Materials Engineering for Biological Systems, a highly interdisciplinary research field with applications in human and animal healthcare technologies, novel industrial biomedical materials and biological scientific discovery. Students will benefit from strong engagement with clinicians on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus and the wealth of medtech and biotech companies in the Cambridge Cluster. The CDT will span a broad range of materials including metals, ceramics, plastics, composites, biomaterials, natural materials, biocompatible and synthetic biology materials. Challenges which will be addressed within the scope of the CDT include: development of biocompatible and advanced medical materials; understanding and exploiting the interaction between surface chemistry and biological processes; characterising and modelling biological materials; development of clinical devices and implantables; effective translation of existing and new materials technologies into clinical applications and products in the bioeconomy.
The students in the CDT will have a broad training in core skills and an interdisciplinary approach required both by the biotech and medtech industries and by research leaders in the biological and biomedical sectors. The market sizes of the relevant industry sectors are substantial, growing rapidly, and crucial to the UK economy, requiring a large cohort of appropriately-trained scientists which this CDT will help deliver.
Cambridge has a unique position with world-leading research in physical and biological sciences intimately connected both to the outstanding research and clinical environment of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus and to the vibrant local medtech/biotech industry. The proximity of these partners will ensure effective collaboration. The support for the CDT of Cambridge University Health Partners (CUHP) provides an unrivalled opportunity to integrate materials engineering with translation into the biomedical sector.
Although the CDT is based in Cambridge to maximise the effectiveness of interdisciplinary and industrial collaborations, the partners in the CDT have strong national and international connections to promote wider engagement beyond Cambridge.
The students will follow an MRes course in their first year which will have a broad range of taught courses and practicals providing underpinning skills for the whole cohort. There will be a total of eight taught courses, with three bespoke courses and five shared with other graduate programmes. Taught courses will be complemented by industry-led seminars covering topics drawn from industrial issues and the EPSRC Translation Toolkit. Students will undertake 15 short practicals, spread across the contributing departments, to provide training in core skills. The MRes course will include two 3-month projects. Most will have industrial co-supervisors, with the opportunity to undertake these projects as internships in participating companies, facilitated by the proximity of many of the industry partners. The aim of these projects is to develop the students' project skills, to expose them to a range of industrial and academic subjects and supervisors, and to develop PhD proposals.
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Students will complete PhD training in years 2-4. Projects will be co-supervised by academics from both physical and biological sciences. There will be a significant number of industry-led projects with an industrial supervisor. To ensure that the cohort remains connected and to facilitate cross-cohort links, there will be a series of mandatory events during these years, including annual conferences, workshops on oral and written communication, business enterprise, entrepreneurship, translation, intellectual property rights, ethics and innovation management, CV clinics and a careers fair, many of these activities being led by students or industry.
O'Neill, University of EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Ultra-Precision Manufacturing Systems EP/S006567/1 Professor W Cambridge and Technologies
The dramatic changes in global manufacturing have greatly increased the demand from UK companies for skilled employees and new operational practices that will deliver internationally leading business positions. The UK is considered to be very strong both in scientific research and in the invention of innovative products within emerging sectors. This conclusion is supported by the fact the UK is a significant net exporter of intellectual property, ranking behind only USA and Japan. The potential of the UK's innovation capacity to create new high-end manufacturing jobs is therefore significant. Maximising this wealth generation opportunity within the UK will however depend on the creation of a new breed of skilled personnel that will deliver next generation innovative production systems. Without relevant research training, production research, R&D infrastructure, and an effective technology supply chain, there will be a limit to the UK's direct employment growth from its innovation capacity, leading to constant migration of UK wealth creation potential into overseas economies. As future products become more complex, require higher levels of performance, and sold at lower costs, there are significant pressures to develop a new generation of manufacturing technologies. This new generation of products will require manufacturing systems that are capable of producing parts with ever decreasing feature sizes. This 'ultra precision' manufacturing must be capable of producing parts with a feature to part size ratio of 1 in a million. Ultra precision manufacturing is employed in many products. Such products include: 1) Next generation displays (flexible or large-scale), activated and animated wall coverings, holographic displays; 2) Plastic electronic devices supporting a range of low cost consumer products from smart labels to WiFi location devices; 3) Low cost photovoltaics, energy management and energy harvesting devices; 4) Logistics, defence and security technologies through RFID and infrared systems; 5) a new generation of sensors that are applicable to future point of care medical diagnostic systems that will support the health needs of current and future generations; 6) precision optical components for imaging systems from smart phone cameras to airborne communication systems.
The EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in-Ultra Precision Manufacturing Systems and Technologies (CDT-UPMST) directly addresses a critical need to develop the UP materials and technology supply chain in addition to the employees necessary for UK enterprises to establish economic sustainability, and competitiveness in manufacturing of future ultra precision products. The supply of highly trained ultra precision engineers to UK manufacturing companies is critically important in order to deliver benefit from any new technologies that arise from the industrial or academic research base within the centre. The team of 35 experts from Cambridge, Cranfield, Heriot-Watt, Nottingham, and Strathclyde Universities represent a world-leading UPMST partnership that will provide research and skills training at PhD level to over 50 students. Our academic foundations are highly multidisciplinary and the research outputs from this centre will cover laser manufacturing technologies, optical engineering, nanoscale manufacturing, functional materials, machine design, process engineering, thin films and coatings, advanced materials, chemical engineering, photonics and lasers, micro engineering, sensors, test and measurement, process control and device design.
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Kaminski, University of EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Sensor Technologies for a Healthy and EP/S006575/1 Professor C Cambridge Sustainable Future
Sensor technologies reach an estimated global market exceeding £400bn and analysis and diagnosis, the core elements of sensing, are highlighted by almost every initiative for health, environment, security and quality of life. Sensors have advanced to an extent that they are sought for many applications in manufacturing and detection segments, underpinning the front end of a big-data productivity revolution, and their cost advantages have boosted their utility and demand. The pillars of sensor research are in highly diverse fields and traditional single-discipline research is particularly poor at catalysing sensor innovation and application, as these typically fall in the 'discipline gaps'. Furthermore, the underpinning technology is advancing at a phenomenal pace. These developments are creating exciting opportunities, but also enormous challenges to UK academia, industry, and policy makers: Traditional PhD programmes are centred on individuals and focused on narrowly defined problems and do not produce the skills and leadership qualities required to capitalise on future opportunities. Industry complains that skills are waning and sensors are increasingly being treated as 'black boxes' with little understanding of underlying principles. Small companies in particular find it difficult to capitalise on new ideas and potential trends because of the large financial risks associated with sensor innovation and the prevailing lack of experts in the area. The challenges cover many topics, including an understanding of the fundamental science of sensory processes, the engineering of rugged, miniaturised and accurate sensors, the interconnection of sensor devices, and the analysis of sensory data. There are cultural, ethical, and political challenges too, as sensors are becoming ever more connected and transmit data of an increasingly personal nature, raising issues of ownership, security and trust, which require new regulatory frameworks.
These challenges cannot be addresed by individual, disconnected PhD research programmes but instead require collective thinking by students, academics, industrialists and users of sensor technologies who learn with, and from, each other. The CDT will provide outstanding PhD students with an interdisciplinary training programme on the science, entrepreneurial and ethical aspects of sensor technologies. The programme will be delivered by leading academics, industrial partners, thought leaders and national research and policy agencies, to equip the future leaders in this area with the expertise, skills and leadership qualities required for the development of new ideas, products and markets. Themes we will address in the CDT include patient monitoring and personalised health care, e.g. the networked home-monitoring of patients with chronic illnesses to improve treatment outcomes and quality of life with concomitant cost savings for the NHS and social services. Students will be informed by agencies such as DEFRA and British Antarctic Survey on topics related to our natural environment, connecting a multitude of sensor units with mobile phone and wireless technology to improve coverage, cost, and data quality. There are opportunities to use sensors to make more economical and efficient use of available infrastructure assets. Innovative and optimised sensors will reduce downtime of transport infrastructure and enable targeted preventive maintenance, topics that will be explored, for example, in collaboration with the National Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction. Using sensors to enable smarter, economic and less environmentally-intrusive manufacturing methods is key to a sustainable future economy. In addition, our students will be trained on societal aspects of sensor technologies and engage in cohort driven activities to develop skills for anticipating, adapting, and respond to economic and social changes.
University of EP/S006583/1 Pullan, Dr G EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Gas Turbine Aerodynamics Cambridge
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The UK has an international reputation for excellence in the gas turbine industry and is at the forefront of research into the underpinning aero- thermal science and technology. Through the current CDT in Gas Turbine Aerodynamics, the UK has also established itself as the global leader in graduate training in the field. But this sector is entering a period of accelerated change and market disruption. In aerospace, the continuing drive to reduce emissions is necessitating major architecture changes in jet engines as well as entirely new electrified concepts with integrated engine-airframe designs. In power generation, fast response and flexible operation gas turbines are required to support the increasing capacity of renewables. In addition, the traditional physical (experimental tests) and digital (computational simulation) worlds are merging with the advent of rapid multi-disciplinary design tools and additive manufacturing. The common thread in these challenges is the rapid increase in the rate of generation of data and the requirement for engineers to convert this information into innovative design changes. To maintain its leadership position, the UK must train a new generation of engineers with the skills needed to innovate in this data-rich environment.
The new CDT in Gas Turbine Aerodynamics will train engineers with the Data, Learning and Design skills required by aerodynamicists of the future. Engineers will need to handle an unprecedented volume of Data from the latest multi-disciplinary simulations, experimental tests, or from real engines in the field. From this, engineers will need to distil Learning by a critical evaluation of the data, using AI and data science as appropriate, against hypotheses developed with reference to the underpinning aero-thermal science. The critical output from this Learning is improved Design, be that of a gas turbine component, an integrated electric propulsion system, or an enhanced methodology or process. This set of coupled, gas turbine focussed, Data-Learning-Design skills will be provided by the new CDT in Gas Turbine Aerodynamics.
The Centre is a collaboration between three universities and four industry partners, each with complimentary expertise and skills, but with a shared vision to deliver a training experience that sets the global benchmark for gas turbine education. The laboratories of the partner institutions have a track record of research leadership in turbomachinery aerodynamics (Cambridge), heat transfer (Oxford) and combustor aerodynamics (Loughborough). The new Master's course will use expertise from the three universities to train students in the aero-thermal science of gas turbines, in the experimental and computational data generation and critical evaluation, and in the process of aerodynamic design. In addition, a taught course on AI and Machine Learning will be delivered by leading experts in the field.
The industry partners (Rolls-Royce, Siemens, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Dyson) are committed to defining, delivering and supporting the Centre (they intend to fund a total of 44 studentships). As well as providing a pathway for research projects to contribute to real products, the sponsoring companies also deliver bespoke industry courses to the students of the CDT; they provide a manufacturing, operation and systems- integration context that only industry can offer. These companies, and others in related sectors in the UK, ensure a demand for the graduates of the new CDT with their unique, aerodynamics-focussed, Data, Learning and Design skill set.
Williams, University of EP/S006605/1 EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Technologies for Healthy Ageing Professor R Liverpool
The CDT has been designed to train the next generation of physical scientists and engineers to develop novel technologies and devices to address these real challenges faced by older people and our clinical colleagues who work with them on a daily basis. The training approach requires a truly multi- and cross- disciplinary training strategy across physical sciences and engineering and health and social sciences. This can only be achieved by training the students in a cohort using the CDT model in which diverse areas of expertise are brought together to build the Page 32 of 183 skills, knowledge and confidence in the students. The CDT has been co-designed with our network of industrial partners forging lasting links with industry through co-created training, co-development of internships and co-delivery of research projects. There is a social and economic crisis in both the UK and globally in managing the care of our older people. It has been shown that as life expectancy increases so does the number of people living with a disability. This raises specific challenges for this community that need to be addressed to reduce the societal and economic consequences. There is an opportunity to develop healthcare technologies to address these challenges and to maintain the health and independence of older people, reduce disability and enable those with disability to maintain independence. The training will be structured around 3 healthy ageing challenges; prolonging independence, maintaining wellness and accelerating recovery. To overcome the barriers to uptake of novel technologies by the NHS there is a need for co-creation of technological solutions between clinicians/healthcare providers and engineers/industry, employment of innovation officers within the healthcare environment to champion the innovation process and the generation of evidence of cost effectiveness of innovations. We aim to train the professions with the necessary skills so that they can lead this revolution in healthcare technologies to promote healthy ageing by understanding what outcomes matter to older people in consultation with them. To maximise the student's experience of the clinical translational interface and ensure we train them to understand fully the community we need to address we have co-created the training with our partners in Clinical Community Geriatric Medicine and industry. The University of Liverpool has internationally leading research right across the Healthcare Technologies and Healthy Ageing agenda making it an ideal place to provide appropriate training through drawing on 7 centres of research excellence including: Centre for Integrated research in Musculoskeletal Ageing, Centre for Mathematics in Healthcare, Centre for Drug Safety Science, Centre for Plasma Microbiology, Centre for Sustainable and Resilient Cities, the Materials Innovation Factory and Sensor City with strong underpinning partnerships with Community Geriatric Medicine, Rheumatology, Clinical Ophthalmology and Clinical Infectious Diseases. The CDT will be led from the Institute of Ageing and Chronic Disease which has internationally leading expertise in advanced materials for novel medical devices with particular expertise in strategies to overcome vision loss and disability related to musculoskeletal ageing. The management team will provide further expertise in antimicrobial plasma technologies, targeted and patient-focussed drug delivery, sensor technologies, mathematical modelling in healthcare, effecting change for age-friendly cities, the psychology and social aspects of ageing and clinical community geriatrics to ensure the students are exposed to a broad base of understanding of the challenges and the skills in the engineering and physical sciences to address them. The market for medical technologies in the UK is worth £16bn and employs 50k people so these future professionals are needed to ensure its growth for technologies specifically targeted to help older people.
Cootes, The University of EP/S00663X/1 EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Imaging Technology and Image Analysis Professor TF Manchester
Almost all areas of science, engineering and healthcare are helped by imaging. The ability to look inside the human body, with X-rays, ultrasound or body-scanners has revolutionised modern medicine. Advances in microscopy enable biologists to study the basic processes of life, including how cells behave, how things grow and even how chemicals move around inside cells. Engineers developing new materials use imaging equipment to understand structures at the atomic scale. There are now many different ways of collecting images. As well as using visible light (as normal cameras and microscopes do), images can be made from X-rays, radio-waves, ultrasound or electrons. They can cover a vast range of scales, from the atomic to the galactic. Advances in science, engineering and healthcare are often driven by better understanding brought about by improvements in imaging. Thus it is important to train people to make best use of the existing technologies and to develop new Page 33 of 183 types of imaging. There is also a growing interest in using different types of imaging on a single sample, to learn as much about it as possible. Although it is useful to be able to visualise structures with images, it is becoming even more important to be able to detect objects and make measurements from images automatically. Modern equipment can produce so very many large images that it is not practical for a human to look at them all. Image processing and machine learning methods are critical for extracting useful information, for instance in counting, measuring and tracking cells as they grow, making detailed measurements of the fibres connecting one brain region to another or looking for small imperfections in manufactured objects. This Centre for Doctoral Training will bring together imaging experts from across the University to teach students the fundamentals of science and engineering behind imaging methods. The students will learn about a wide range of different imaging equipment and about methods for automatically extracting useful information from images. In the first year the students will learn - the physics, mathematics and engineering required to understand how images are collected, - how to use different types of imaging equipment, such as a range of microscopes and X-ray scanners, - the skills to write software to analyse images and extract useful information from data, - how to write and share high quality software - the principles of ethical research and innovation
They will help organise a seminar series (running throughout the 4 years of their programme) at which invited speakers from industry, academia and healthcare settings use imaging, how it fits into their workflows and what is required to take new imaging methods from academia into practical application. In the middle of their first year they will spend 8 weeks on a short "taster" project, based in the lab of their supervisor. This is to enable them to learn about a particular application area in more detail. Towards the end of the first year they will move on to their main project, which will take up the remainder of their four years. The students will choose projects from a set proposed by members of the supervisory team, or will work with supervisors to design a project of their own. All project proposals will be vetted for quality by the management team. Projects may be in any aspect of imaging, including developing new sensors, optimising imaging equipment or methodology, applying imaging in novel ways to new problems or developing algorithms to analyse images for particular applications. During their main projects they will be based in their supervisor's lab, but will meet regularly as a cohort to attend further training events, workshops and seminars. In their third year they will organise a summer-school at which they will all present work on their projects. On completion of their training the students will be highly employable imaging experts.
University of St EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in the Physics of Quantum Materials (CDT- EP/S006648/1 Hooley, Dr CA Andrews PQM)
The research of our proposed CDT is in the area of quantum, electronic, optoelectronic and magnetic materials (hereafter 'Quantum Materials', QM). This is a frontier research field which is already producing disruptive technologies, e.g. the white-light LED. At the same time, new and exciting subfields are opening up: topological phases of matter, spintronics, heterostructures of strongly correlated materials, unconventional superconductors, quantum magnets, and strongly spin-orbital coupled systems. Page 34 of 183
With the materials involved in QM research growing ever more complex, and the phenomena they exhibit ever more intricate, we believe that an interdisciplinary approach to the field is now essential. Insights from condensed matter physics, materials chemistry, and materials science must be brought to bear on leading problems in a co-ordinated fashion. A new breed of QM researcher is needed: someone who can comfortably cross traditional research-discipline boundaries, and has an appreciation of a broad range of activities, from materials synthesis through experimental characterisation and theoretical modelling to eventual device applications.
An EPSRC CDT will be ideally placed to address this need, since it offers sufficient funding and infrastructure to recruit and train a critical mass of such QM researchers in a cohort-based environment where peer-to-peer learning can be used to build bridges between QM physics and contiguous fields, surmounting the traditional barriers between disciplines.
Approximately 70-80% of our CDT's activities will lie in Priority Area 20, "Physics for Future Technologies", as covered by our Objectives above, and the remainder will lie in Area 29, "Targeted Design and Discovery of Functional Materials". The area 29 descriptors "to train students in modelling, design and characterisation of novel functional materials with a diverse range of applications ranging from electronics and sensing to enabling room-temperature quantum computing" and "exposure to, and training in, a wide range of design, modelling and characterisation techniques drawn from multiple disciplines appropriate to the focus of the CDT" clearly match our Objectives well.
The close integration of our activities relating to these two Priority Areas will enhance our effectiveness in both. Design and discovery of QM will open new platforms for investigating their physics, and understanding the physics of QM will in turn enable the targeted design of new functional materials for future technologies.
The CDT-PQM will offer extensive training activities to foster cross-fertilisation between traditional disciplines, but is also motivated by the principle of 'learning by doing'. We will recruit the brightest young researchers with undergraduate degrees in physics, chemistry, materials science, or a related discipline. Intensive facilitated workshop sessions in their first semester will help them to get to know each other, and to learn from the Centre's academic staff and from each other about the links between the conventional disciplines' descriptions of QM. This will be supplemented by core courses exploring the QM research landscape, and by workshops giving practical training in research and innovation, data management, public engagement, translation of basic science to industrial applications, entrepreneurship, and commercialisation.
We will assign supervisors and projects at the point of recruitment to attract enthusiastic postgraduate QM researchers. This will also have the benefit that the Centre's students will develop their academic skills, research specialism, and cross-disciplinary and professional expertise in parallel, thereby strengthening all of these strands of their educations.
Our graduates will go on to be the 21st-century equivalent of the semiconductor technologists of the 20th century, driving the translation of new QM physics into products and methodologies with far-ranging economic and societal impact.
Heriot-Watt EP/S006656/1 Wolfram, Dr U Inclusive medicine: Patient-centred technologies for healthcare University Page 35 of 183
Our vision is for a Centre sans frontières between engineering and medicine where trainees have equal access to expertise across the disciplines and specialisms. Our Centre will prepare graduates to contribute to accelerated impact by exposing them to a community, consisting of the investigators and supervisors, which takes a co-operative and concurrent approach to solving the major healthcare challenges in a holistic way. We wish to establish a paradigm shift from specialism-based problems and solutions to a "patient life cycle" approach including screening, prevention, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation, follow-up and monitoring, this across the spectrum of medical and engineering specialisms. We will train engineers, biomedical scientists, and clinicians in the development of patient-centred and economically sustainable healthcare technologies through doctoral research that is co-specified and co-supervised by academics with complementary engineering and clinical objectives. We also aim, by creating this new paradigm for concurrent doctoral research, to break down some of the barriers to a research career currently encountered by underrepresented groups, particularly women. Students will be registered at both partner universities and projects will be developed and supervised in collaboration between clinicians and engineers.
As global populations age we are witnessing an increasing socio-economic burden associated, e.g., with diabetes, cancer, musculoskeletal conditions and multiple morbidity. These challenges and the shifting focus of healthcare providers towards personalized medicine underpinned by evidence and analyses based decision making will lead to an increasing demand for integrated, biomechatronic treatment approaches taking the full "patient life cycle" into account. This will require a fundamentally new generation of experts able to deliver pragmatic technological solutions which unite the essential elements of, e.g., system function, physiology,measurement and control for the healthcare context in which they are deployed. This CDT aims to train a diverse cohort of researchers with a deep understanding of healthcare engineering and an ability to engage and deliver solutions that answer the increasingly complex needs of patients, clinicians and healthcare providers technologically, socially and economically.
To achieve this, we will create an interdependent training framework with the characteristics of a technology incubator to train a new generation of scientists equipped to accelerate technological impact on patient-centred care across a broad range of engineering and medical specialisms. A CDT of the type proposed here is an ideal vehicle to provide an open, research focussed and interdisciplinary training framework. Our co- operative and concurrent development is aimed at imbuing a new development culture in our graduates and form the core of a network of professionals who can transcend subject boundaries to deliver the best solutions for a strained healthcare sector and, more importantly, for the patient.
Jimack, EP/S006664/1 University of Leeds EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Fluid Dynamics at Leeds Professor PK
A fluid refers to either a gas or a liquid and the discipline of fluid dynamics is therefore concerned primarily with the flow of gases and liquids. Such flows are complex, diverse and of great importance across a wide range of applications.
At the microscale, for example, the flow of liquid through the nozzle of an ink-jet printer has a critical impact on the quality of the printed product, whilst the flow of a coolant around a microprocessor determines whether or not the component(s) will overheat. At the other extreme of length scales, the atmospheric conditions of entire planets, including Earth, depend upon the flow of gases in the atmosphere: for weather this may be over time scales of days, whilst for climate change it is over decades. Fluid flows are also important to the performance of an array of processes Page 36 of 183 and products that we take for granted in our everyday lives: gas flow to our homes, generation of electricity, fuel efficiency of vehicles, the comfort of our workplaces, and the manufacture of most of the goods that we buy. Understanding, predicting and controlling fluid flows is key to reducing costs, increasing performance and enhancing the reliability of all of these processes and products. Significantly, many of these problems also involve the interaction of fluids with solid structures (containers, flexible bodies, turbines, particles, etc.): these are known as fluid- structure interaction (FSI) problems.
The University of Leeds is distinctive through the breadth and depth of our fluid dynamics research expertise, making it an ideal host for this CDT: able to provide comprehensive training and a diverse set of state-of-the-art PhD topics. Engineering and physical science strengths include: reacting flows; turbulence; combustion; mixing; complex fluids; multiphase and particle-laden flows; flow optimization; fundamental theory and computational methods; and a multitude of engineering applications. Overlap with other Research Councils comes primarily through environmental strengths in: groundwater; rivers; estuaries; oceans; atmospheric pollution; weather/climate; and geophysical/astrophysical flows. We also have specific biomedical strengths in vascular and cardiovascular flow.
We have developed an integrated MSc/PhD programme in collaboration with our external partners, spanning different sectors (energy, manufacturing, consultancy, defence, consumer products, healthcare, etc.), who highlight their need for skilled Fluid Dynamicists, particularly those able to incorporate diverse technical training with team-working and problem-solving skills to tackle challenges in a trans-disciplinary manner. Industry/external engagement will be at the heart of this CDT: all MSc team projects will be challenges set and mentored by industry (with placements embedded); each student will have the opportunity for user engagement in their PhD project (from sponsorship, external supervision and access to facilities, to mentoring); and our partners will be actively involved in overseeing our strategic direction, management and professional training. For the latter, many components will be provided by or with our partners, including research software engineering, responsible innovation, commercial awareness, leadership and many more.
Other features of the CDT include physical co-location (supporting cross cohort working/mentoring), extended placements with industry/collaborators, and a technical programme designed to allow students from diverse academic backgrounds to develop expertise in: mathematical modelling; computational simulation; experimental measurement; and FSI. The MSc team projects further develop these skills alongside peer learning, problem-solving, teamwork, communication and dissemination. All MSc/PhD projects will be multi-disciplinary, through co-supervision by academics from different Schools, and we will encourage/support students to undertake a PhD project that moves them beyond their UG discipline.
Skryabin, EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in the Science of Light for Future EP/S006680/1 University of Bath Professor D Technologies
The CDT in the Science of Light for Future Technologies will combine the expertise of two of the UK's leading photonics research groups, the Centre for Photonics and Photonic materials (CPPM) at the University of Bath and the Aston Institute of Photonic Technologies (AIPT). The new Centre will have a combined expertise that is uniquely able to address the current challenges in what is a key enabling technology for many important fields, including future healthcare, advanced manufacturing and high capacity communications. An outward looking research programme driven by applications imperatives will be underpinned by fundamental research and advances in the understanding of what is Page 37 of 183 possible at a theoretical level and how that may be implemented in the fabrication of real devices. The CDT will establish and grow a network of partners who will engage with the research of the centre across the whole life-cycle of research and will be integral in informing the current challenges and developing research outcomes beyond the laboratory. The CDT is committing to train and graduate 55 doctoral students spread in 5 cohorts. The core pool of 30 supervisors expands to 40+ through established interdisciplinary intra- and cross-departmental collaborations at both institutions. The host Universities are covering costs of 22 studentships out of the total 55. We are anticipating growth of our graduate numbers and supervisory pool as the CDT develops and its links with industry and within our Universities mature.
The CDT formed by combining the CPPM and AIPT has an unparalleled range of complementary facilities and expertise. Together with a strong sense of shared purpose and collaboration, this will enable doctoral students and other researchers to assess the solutions for their projects from different angles and to access the knowledge and skills required to achieve the best end results. For example, projects based on speciality optical fibre fabrication at Bath will be enhanced by bespoke fibre Bragg gratings from Aston for applications in healthcare technologies where the Centre has strong collaborations with partners, or a component for a laser needed by an industrial partner may be fulfilled by femtosecond inscription of a waveguide in Aston using designs from Bath. Training within the centre will cover core facilities enabling students to learn industrially-relevant fabrication skills in photonic crystal fibre and fibre processing, wide-bandgap semiconductors, and laser microfabrication, fibre Bragg gratings, as well as using a telecoms testing suite. Alongside this, students will develop underpinning theoretical, numerical and analysis techniques, including the use of commercial software. Team projects will equip our students not only with laboratory skills and an understanding of the processes required for successful practical research, but also the teamwork capabilities to participate in high-profile collaborations. Individual PhD projects will be often co-supervised by academics from different hosts. The CDT students will meet regularly for training and round-table discussions and therefore the CDT will be well integrated across all the cohorts and cross-institutionally. Through a shared learning environment and peer mentoring, students close to graduation will gain experience of leadership and will help starting students with project planning. Technical know-how will also be facilitated to flow vertically and horizontally through the cohort, maximising the long-term impact of the training programme. Transferable skill training will start from presentation, communication and data handling skills and progress towards training in starting and developing R&D businesses and IP creation.
Reid, Professor Heriot-Watt EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Industry-Inspired Photonic Imaging, EP/S006699/1 D University Sensing and Analysis (CDT I2PISA)
In a consortium led by Heriot-Watt with St Andrews, Glasgow, Strathclyde, Edinburgh and Dundee, this proposal for an "EPSRC CDT in Industry-Inspired Photonic Imaging, Sensing and Analysis" responds to the priority area in Imaging, Sensing and Analysis. It recognises the foundational role of photonics in many imaging and sensing technologies, while also noting the exciting opportunities to enhance their performance using emerging computational techniques like machine learning.
Photonics' role in sensing and imaging is hard to overstate. Smart and autonomous systems are driving growth in lasers for automotive lidar and smartphone gesture recognition; photonic structural-health monitoring protects our road, rail, air and energy infrastructure; and spectroscopy continues to find new applications from identifying forgeries to detecting chemical-warfare agents. UK photonics companies addressing the sensing and imaging market are vital to our economy (see CfS) but their success is threatened by a lack of doctoral-level researchers with a breadth of knowledge and understanding of photonic imaging, sensing and analysis, coupled with high-level business, management and Page 38 of 183 communication skills. By ensuring a supply of these individuals, our CDT will consolidate the UK industrial knowledge base, driving the high- growth export-led sectors of the economy whose photonics-enabled products and services have far-reaching impacts on society, from consumer technology and mobile computing devices to healthcare and security.
Building on the success of our CDT in Applied Photonics, the proposed CDT will be configured with most (40) students pursuing an EngD degree, characterised by a research project originated by a company and hosted on their site. Recognizing that companies' interests span all technology readiness levels, we are introducing a PhD stream where a minority (15) students will pursue industrially relevant research in university labs, with more flexibility and technical risk than would be possible in an EngD project.
Over 30 companies host EngD projects in our current CDT, and this proposal was co-created with their input. Our request to EPSRC for £4.85M will support 35 students, from a total of 40 EngD and 15 PhD researchers. The remaining students will be funded by industrial and university contributions, with more students trained and at a lower cost / head to the taxpayer than in our current CDT.
For an EngD-oriented centre to be reactive to industry's needs a diverse pool of supervisors is required. Across the consortium we have identified 72 core supervisors and a further 58 available for project supervision, whose 1679 papers since 2013 include 154 in Science / Nature / PRL, and whose active RCUK PI funding is £97M. All academics are experienced supervisors, with many current or former CDT supervisors.
An 8-month frontloaded residential phase in St Andrews and Glasgow will ensure the cohort gels strongly, and will equip students with the knowledge and skills they need before beginning their research projects. Business modules (x3) will bring each cohort back to Heriot-Watt for 1- week periods, and weekend skills workshops will be used to regularly reunite the cohort, further consolidating the peer-to-peer network.
Core taught courses augmented with specialist options will total 120 credits, and will be supplemented by professional skills and responsible innovation training delivered by our industry partners and external providers.
Governance will follow our current model, with a mixed academic-industry Management Committee and an independent International Advisory Board of world-leading experts.
Clayton, University of EP/S006710/1 Centre for Doctoral Training in Computational Medicine Professor RH Sheffield
Overview: Computational Medicine is the use of mathematical and computer models to simulate the ways in which human cells, tissues, and organs behave in health and disease. These tools can be used to extend the benefit of existing medical technologies, such as high-resolution imaging, and there is a growing capability in the UK to build models of individual patients that can be used directly to assist doctors in making decisions about diagnosis and treatment. These computational technologies are already enabling a new era of personalised medicine, where predictive computer simulation is used alongside traditional approaches to improve treatments and outcomes for individual patients. Page 39 of 183
The need: Highly trained individuals are needed to enable these new computational technologies to become more widely used in the NHS. These individuals need to have not only the core mathematical, engineering, and computational skills required to develop the technology, but also experience of working with doctors in the hospital environment as well as an understanding of the needs of patients. There is an acute shortage of people with this skill-set, but strong demand from the medical devices industry, regulatory agencies, academia, and the NHS.
Our approach: The focus of the Computational Medicine CDT will be on addressing this skills deficit. Based in the Sheffield University's Insigneo Institute for in-silico Medicine, cohorts of doctoral students will be trained to work at the interface between Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics ('STEM') and clinical practice. Within Insigneo there is a large range of active collaborations between modellers and doctors across and array of medical specialties including cardiovascular, respiratory, musculoskeletal, oncology, neuroscience, and tissue engineering. We expect most CDT students already to have a degree in maths, physics, engineering, or computer science, and so the initial cohort training will introduce topics in anatomy, physiology, and ethics, as well as providing short industrial and hospital placements. Extended 4-year research projects supervised by modellers and doctors will concentrate on developing novel computational healthcare technologies, and making them suitable for use in clinical and/or industrial settings.
Dixon, Professor Loughborough EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Integrated Production and Maintenance of EP/S006729/1 N University resilient Infrastructure Systems (CIPRIS)
Improvements in productivity would enhance the resilience of infrastructure systems and bring total savings of £35 billion per annum to the UK. Despite the massive UK planned investment, there is a significant risk of failing to achieve transformative progress in this space due to the lack of research-minded professionals with doctoral-level, complementary skills to overcome the enduring resistance to change and paucity of transdisciplinary and collaborative interaction among stakeholders. CIPRIS will develop a collaborative cohort of leaders (35 PhD and 20 EngD) to address this deficit and enhance long-term resilience, by increasing productivity and efficiency of critical UK civil infrastructure. This is the vision of 4 UKCRIC-founding universities - Newcastle, Sheffield and Southampton, led by Loughborough - and a dedicated community of the principal UK stakeholders. CIPRIS is formally endorsed by UKCRIC, which will provide access to human resources and facilities to catalyse the collaboration among partners and accomplish high-impact research and training.
The CDT will deliver a flexible, challenge-driven training programme shaped to the needs of each student, conceived to maximize their cohort experience, their development and their future impact in the infrastructure sector. Students will access training through a personalized multi- tiered structure, with shared activities among partner Universities. Courses/activities will be selected by each student under the guidance of a Personalized Development Team that will meet annually to support their development. To develop specific research and analytical skills, problem solving abilities and teamworking, the programme will be framed in the context of an innovative problem-based challenge. By working with policy-makers, industry and other stakeholders, this problem-driven approach will expose students to real-world challenges aligned with the Industrial Strategy's targets. Other CIPRIS initiatives to enhance the coss-universities-industry cohort integration and unique training experience include: annual workshops, co-hosting a UKCRIC symposium, summer schools, a coaching program and a bespoke, flexible secondment programme.
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CIPRIS will focus on intra- and inter-city civil infrastructure (i.e. transport, water supply, drainage and waste disposal), exploring their synergy with adjacent energy and communication infrastructure. Training and development will be in 5 core themes identified with stakeholders to meet urgent demand and map directly to the skills deficit in the sector: resilient design and through-life adaptation, disposal and repurposing; efficient production and technology deployment during construction; automated maintenance and operation; integrated infrastructure systems; impact assessment and policy integration.
CIPRIS builds upon complementary knowledge, contact with industry, facilities and successful experiences from the partner Universitys' 4 past CDTs with PhD and EngD training in this area. The partner Universities' research environments were all ranked among the UK's best in the field, delivering outstanding student experience, development of essential skills and promotion of ethics, gender equality and social responsibility. The management and the supervisory teams brings research from across the whole breadth of the STEM disciplines, Social Sciences and Geography. They have strong research track record, recognition and proven capacity to co-create and deliver impact for stakeholders in infrastructure and capital. Students will access world-leading test facilities, centres and programmes: National Infrastructure laboratory, Urban Water Innovation & Test Facilities, Urban Science Building, Urban Observatory, Policy Academy, Action for Impact programme and Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre. CIPRIS will also co-create initiatives to support the cohort and promote learning beyond graduation (start-up scheme and UKCRIK Academy).
Hibbins, EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Functional and Meta-Materials: from EP/S006745/1 University of Exeter Professor AP fundamentals to transformative technologies
The global advanced materials market is estimated to be worth $100bn by 2024 (Research Nester 2017) with a prediction of 22% growth for metamaterials to $1.4bn by 2022 (BIS Research 2017). To exploit these economic opportunities it is clear that a strong and internationally competitive work force is required. A recently commissioned survey of leading UK recruiters in the materials sector (BMG Research) reflected these growth predictions, with over 80% of respondents requiring PhD graduates in the next 3 years, yet 75% reported difficulty in recruiting to such posts. To address these needs, the 'EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Functional and Meta-Materials (XFM2)', will train the doctoral graduates necessary to drive national growth across four key materials sectors: Defence and Security; Energy and Environment; Healthcare and Biotechnology; and ICT and Digital Economy. Industrial engagement will be central to our research and training programme, with cash commitments in excess of £1m from our external partners, which we anticipate to double over the next 5 years, and which builds on over £1m invested in the current CDT in Metamaterials since 2014.
A core strength in our approach is the breadth of materials research expertise at the University of Exeter; an aspect greatly valued by our industry partners, such as DSTL, Dyson and QinetiQ. Our research themes include structured materials on the mm- or cm-scale for control of microwave or acoustic energy, plasmonic and photonic materials for optical devices, nanocomposite materials for energy applications, bio- materials for medical diagnosis and sensing, and magnetic materials for data storage.
XFM2 will enable postgraduate researchers (PGRs) to train and undertake research as a cohort for the entirety of their 4 year programme, thereby maximising the benefits of team-working, shared experiences, and peer learning and support. They will start their research on day 1, and will be jointly supervised by two or moracademics often from different science backgrounds. We implemented this culture in 2014, to the benefit Page 41 of 183 of the student experience, and have seen it drive an increase in cross-discipline collaboration. In XFM2, to further promote collaboration and to broaden the experience of our PGRs, the expectation will be that they will also have an external advisor from either an industrial or academic partner-institution.
Our PGRs will benefit from a comprehensive training programme that draws on world-leading research, industrial engagement, and peer learning. They will be trained in the full life-cycle of functional and meta-materials research, from theory to fabrication, and from characterisation to device implementation. A bespoke 'Advanced Materials' course will provide the training foundation, including materials fabrication and characterisation techniques, materials modelling and design, a theoretical grounding in wave-matter interactions, and topics on applications in the RF, photonics, ICT, energy and bio sectors. This scientific training will be complemented by the acquisition of transferable skills such as responsible research and innovation, team work and leadership, project management, proposal writing, and a variety of computational and programming skills.
The business acumen of our XFM2 PGRs will be actively developed by our industry and governmental partners to provide PGRs with a profound understanding of IP, industry operations and entrepreneurship. Our partners will proactively support the CDT by providing teaching, programme oversight, careers advice, placements, as well as sponsorship and supervision.
From fundamental energy-matter interactions in Physics, through to transformative technologies in Engineering, the 'XFM2 graduate' will experience research across a range of material classes and technologies, while being equipped with the awareness and tools to bridge the gap between academic materials research and industry's commercial needs.
Jones, Professor EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Enhancing Human Interactions and EP/S006753/1 Swansea University M Collaborations with Data and Intelligence Driven Systems
Swansea and the wider region of Wales is a place and community where new understandings of data science and machine intelligence are being formed within challenging contexts from healthcare to next generation manufacturing and with people - individuals, communities and society - at the heart of these endeavours. There will be many PhD holders with fundamental skills in data science, artificial intelligence and big data. Our graduates will stand out as their technical and scientific skills and perspectives will be honed throughout with the simple but profoundly important question: how do complex application areas and the wider societal issues challenge, disrupt and direct core computational innovations for data and intelligence driven technologies? A place that was once the fulcrum of the industrial revolution, then, is set to drive transformational innovations through a range of investments that our Centre will leverage, from the Computational Foundry to the Internet Coast City Deal.
In a world of big data and artificial intelligence, the precious smallness of real individuals, their values and aspirations are easily overlooked. Even though the impact of data driven approaches and intelligence are only beginning to be felt at a human scale, there are already signs of concern over what these will mean for life with governments and others worldwide addressing implications for education, jobs, safety and indeed even what is unique in being human. Sociologists, economists and policy makers of course have a role in ensuring positive outcomes for people and society of data driven and intelligent systems; but, computational scientists have a pivotal duty too. Our viewpoint, then, will always see the human as a first-class citizen in the future physical-digital world, not outwitted, devalued or marginalised by the expanding capabilities of Page 42 of 183 machine computation, automation and communication.
In its January 2018 review, Deloitte posits that, "...at a business level, large "big data" and AI projects often fail to deliver," and poses the rhetorical question, "What's crucial? Ensuring it's designed to help humans think better." The review concludes with a call to centre innovations in enhancing human-machine collaborations, quoting the chess grand master, Garry Kasparov, "But if you're looking for a field that will be booming for many years, get into human-machine collaboration and process architecture and design." Our Centre addresses this clear and challenging need by establishing a world-class beacon for human-centred and shaped approaches to data-driven and intelligent systems. Our Centre will lead breakthroughs in core aspects of computational science represented in our world-class supervisory teams that can enhance the human experience of data and intelligence. Our goal, then is to train researchers who can work to ensure that such systems are trustable, understandable and negotiable by and with humans who themselves have amazing abilities of expression, creativity, intelligence, empathy and insight.
The Computational Foundry (£31M investment), CHERISH Digital Economy Centre (£7.6M) and the wider Internet Coast City Deal (£1.3Bn) provide the foundations for a rich and supportive training environment. All PhDs of our CDT will be hosted on the Bay Campus in the cutting- edge Computational Foundry building (opening August 2018), which offers a number of dedicated CS labs (maker lab, theory lab, security lab, user experience lab, biometrics and vision lab, visualisation lab, IoT lab). The CDT will provide cross-disciplinary Master's level modules in year 1 and across the 4 years a suite of proven mechanisms - from sandpits to entrepreneurial side projects - focused on developing intra and cross- disciplinary ways of working in conjunction with end user stakeholders.
Lowe, Professor University College EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Energy Resilience and the Built EP/S006761/1 RJ London Environment
The UK is on the brink of a new, third age of energy efficiency. UK greenhouse emissions must fall a further 65% by 2050, but the energy system will decarbonise even faster. Large wind, marine and solar generators, supported by energy storage, will dominate the central supply system and intelligent, community and building-integrated systems will be embedded in our towns and cities.
This interaction of people, buildings and energy systems will transform the relationship between supply and demand. Our domestic and non- domestic buildings can no longer be passive consumers of heat and power, instead, our homes and businesses must participate actively in a flexible, integrated, low-carbon supply and demand system, buying, selling and storing heat and power to achieve 'Energy resilience through security, integration, demand management and decarbonisation'.
This must be achieved whilst simultaneously meeting our human need for high quality spaces in which to live and work, thereby increasing the productivity of the UK economy, reducing fuel poverty, improving health and wellbeing, and supporting an ageing population.
The new EPSRC CDT in Energy Resilience and the Built Environment (ERBE) will train at least 50 PhD graduates to understand the systemic, radical, multi and interdisciplinary challenges we face, and have the leadership credentials to effect change. Students will be immersed in world- leading research environments at UCL and Loughborough University, attaining a depth of understanding only possible through cohorts working Page 43 of 183 and learning together.
A new, integrated, 4-year (1+3) programme will be co-created with partners in industry and government, and our students. It will provide the knowledge, research and transferable skills to enable outstanding graduates from physics to social sciences to successfully pursue research in one of three themes: * Flexibility and resilience: the interaction between buildings and the whole supply system, through new generation and storage technology, enabled by smart control systems and new business models. * Technology and system performance: demand reduction and decarbonisation of the built environment through design, construction methods, technological innovation, monitoring and regulation. * Comfort, health and well-being: buildings and energy systems that create productive work environments and affordable, clean, safe homes.
The Centre will be led by Directors who have worked together for over 30 years, supported by deputies, academic managers, administrators and a course development team who have successfully delivered the CDT in Energy Demand. Over 50 world-leading academics are available as student supervisors.
The core team will be guided by an Advisory Board representing the UK government, energy suppliers, research organisations, consultancies, construction companies and charities; more than 30 prominent individuals have expressed an interest in joining the board. Board members and stakeholders will provide secondments, business skills training and careers advice.
The Centre will partner with the Irish Centre for Marine and Renewable Energy, and provide training for, and integrate with, the wider energy and buildings research community. A new online Buildings, Energy, Resilience and Demand Hub will be created to share training materials, videos, seminars and promote collaboration, a residential, weeklong programme, Buildings and Energy in Context, will be open to PhD students from across the world as will an annual, student-led conference. An annual Anglo-Irish summer school and a colloquium will showcase the Centre's work and bring students face-to-face with potential future employers.
By providing training in a rigorous, world-leading, stakeholder-shaped, outward-facing and multi-centred research environment, the new ERBE CDT will help the UK achieve the goals in the government's industrial strategy and clean growth plan.
Martin, Professor EP/S00677X/1 University of Leeds EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Molecules to Product EB
The CDT in Molecules to Product (M2P) addresses an overarching concern articulated by industry operating in the area of complex chemical products. Translating their concern into a vision, the focus of the CDT will be to train a new generation of research leaders with the skills and expertise to navigate the journey from a developed molecule through to the final product that delivers the desired structure and required performance. In order to address this vision, three inter-related activities will form the foundations of the training and research agendas - Product Functionalisation and Performance; Product Characterisation; and Process Modelling between Scales. Page 44 of 183
More specifically, industry have identified a real need for doctoral graduates with the inter-disciplinary skills to contribute to enhanced process and product understanding and hence the manufacture of a desired end effect such as taste, dissolution, or solubility. For example, if industry is better informed about the effect of manufacturing processes on existing products, can the process be made more efficient and cost effective through identifying what can be changed in the current process? Alternatively, if there is an enhanced understanding of the effect of raw materials, could stages in the process be removed, i.e. are some stages simply historical but not necessarily needed. For radically new products that have been developed, is it possible through characterisation techniques to understand (i) the role/effect of each component/raw material on the final product; and (ii) how the product structure is impacted by the process conditions both chemical and mechanical? Finally, can predictive models be developed to realise effective scale up? Such a focus will assist industry to mitigate against wasted development time and costs and hence allow them to focus on products and processes where the risk of failure is reduced due to enhanced knowledge and understanding of the continuum from 'developed' molecule through to the final product and the virtuous circle created by understanding the performance of the product. Although the ethos of the CDT embraces a wide range of sectors, it will focus primarily on companies within the food and beverage, home and personal care, speciality chemicals, pharma and biopharma areas.
The focus of the CDT is not singular to technical challenges: a core element will be to incorporate the concept of 'Education for Innovation' as described in The Royal Academy of Engineering Report, 'Educating engineers to drive the innovation economy'. This will be facilitated through the inclusion of innovation and enterprise as key elements within the training and research projects. Through the combination of technical, entrepreneurial and management skills, the CDT research engineers will have a unique set of skills that will set them apart from their peers and ultimately, it is anticipated, they will become the next generation of industry leaders.
The training and research agendas are dependent on strong user engagement with multi-national companies, SMEs, spinouts and stakeholders (IChemE and RSC). Core aspects include the offering and supervision of research projects; hosting of students on site for periods of 3 to 24 months; the provision of mentoring to small groups of students; engagement with the training through the shaping and delivery of industry focussed modules and the provision of in-house courses. Additional to this will be, where relevant, access to materials and products that form the basis of projects, the provision of software, access to on-site equipment and the loan of equipment to the UoL.
In summary, the challenge being addressed through the CDT cannot be tackled in a piecemeal manner, it requires a cohort based approach that addresses the inter-disciplinary challenges underpinning the vision and through which industry will ultimately realise a step change in their approach to manufacturability.
Summers, EP/S006818/1 Swansea University EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Engineering Healthy Communities Professor H
The EPSRC CDT in Engineering Healthy Communities will contribute to the development of people, technology and processes for distributed healthcare delivery systems, with localised, out-of-hospital care and well-being programmes. As costs and demand spiral ever upward, the already overburdened and underfunded UK healthcare system requires a paradigm shift to continue providing the quality of service society needs and expects. The NHS recognises that the traditional divide between primary care, community services, and hospitals is increasingly a Page 45 of 183 barrier to the provision of personalised and coordinated health services for patients. In the future out-of-clinic care will also become a much larger part of what the NHS does as self-monitoring in home and work environments using personalised devices, becomes an essential part of national healthcare.
Based in Swansea University's multidisciplinary Centre for Nanohealth, the CDT will provide an innovative, cross-college training programme that will imbue doctoral researchers not only with the ability to develop novel technology/instrumentation but also with the professional skills to support integrated care and improve population health.
Tuck, Professor University of EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Materials Engineering for Additive EP/S006826/1 CJ Nottingham Manufacturing
Additive Manufacturing (AM) often known as three-dimensional printing (3DP) has been acknowledged as a potential manufacturing revolution and is a method of production that is being actively explored for a range of high value applications, from aerospace to healthcare and electronics. AM has many advantages over conventional manufacturing techniques; AM techniques manufacture through the addition of material - rather than traditional machining or moulding methods. AM negates the need for tooling, enabling cost-effective low-volume production in high-wage economies and the design & production of geometries that cannot be made by other means. In addition, the removal of tooling and the potential to grow components and products layer-by-layer means that we can produce more from less in terms of more efficient use of raw materials and energy or by making multifunctional components and products. The proposed Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Materials Engineering for Additive Manufacturing has the vision of training the next generation of leaders, scientists and engineers in this diverse and multi-disciplinary field. As AM is so new current training programmes are not aligned with the potential for manufacturing and generally concentrate on the teaching of Rapid Prototyping principles, and whilst this can be useful background knowledge, the skills and requirements of using this concept for manufacturing are very different. This CDT will be training cohorts of students in all of the basic aspects of AM, from design and materials through to processes and the implementation of these systems for manufacturing high value goods and services. The CDT will also offer specialist training on aspects at the forefront of AM research, for example metallic, medical and multi-functional AM considerations. A key focus of the CDT will be to enable students to understand and tackle the key bottleneck for exploitation which is understanding the affects of process and design on the development of materials and the impact that the processes have in terms of materials engineering, i.e. properties and feedstock requirements. This means that the cohorts graduating from the CDT will have the background knowledge to proliferate throughout industry and the specialist knowledge to become leaders in their fields, broadening out the reach and appeal of AM as a manufacturing technology and embedding this disruptive technology in company thinking. In order to give the cohorts the best view of AM, these students will be taken on study tours in Europe and the USA, the two main research powerhouses of AM, to learn from their international colleagues and see businesses that use AM on a daily basis.
One of the aims of the CDT in AM is to educate and attract students from complementary basic science, whether this be chemistry, physics or biology. This is because AM is a fast moving area. The benefits of having a CDT in AM and coupling with students who have a more fundamental science base are essential to ensure innovation & timeliness to maintain the UK's leading position.
AM is a disruptive technology to a number of industrial sectors, yet the CDTs industrial supporters, who represent a breadth of industrial end- Page 46 of 183 users, welcome this disruption as the potential business benefits are significant. Growing on this industry foresight, the CDT will work in key markets with our supporters to ensure that AM is positioned to provide a real and lasting contribution & impact to UK manufacturing and provide economic stability and growth. This contribution will provide societal benefits to UK citizens through the generation of wealth and employment from high value manufacturing activities in the UK.
Newton, University of EP/S006907/1 EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Diamond Science and Technology II Professor ME Warwick
Diamond is the epitome of a multi-functional material with applications from the thermal and mechanical, to the optical and the quantum. World leading UK research on diamond science and technology (DST) has reached a pivotal point: innovative diamond-enabled technologies are emerging with more in development, leading to tremendous technological possibilities and the continued need for the DST II CDT. For example, ultra/isotopically pure diamond can be used for (i) quantum, optical and electronic technologies; heavily boron doped diamond for (ii) electrochemical sensing (in hostile environments) and water treatment; nano-diamond particles for (iii) medical imaging at unprecedented sensitivities and resolution; sintered micro and nano-crystalline diamond composites for (iv) high toughness mechanical applications; shaped polycrystalline diamond for (v) acoustic applications; and hybrid materials e.g. GaN on diamond, nano-diamond-polymer materials for (vi) applications ranging from power electronics to biomedical scaffolds. Training a student to a standard to tackle anyone of these projects results in a highly skilled discipline hopping graduate equipped not just for DST but a wide variety of high performance material applications.
Seizing the commercial opportunities of DST ahead of the global competition requires graduates who can tackle multi-disciplinary research challenges head on. A lack of tailored training will lead to a slow decline as the innovation is outsourced and the UK's scientific and technological lead is eroded. For this reason the academic and industrial community is seeking to renew the successful flagship CDT that provides a powerbase for DST training and research activities in the UK, bringing together academics from eight partner universities, with industrial input embedded throughout. Our graduates are trained in both transferable and technical skills covering synthesis, material science, modelling, characterisation, engineering, device integration and material processing, photonics, quantum, sensing, healthcare, and entrepreneurship.
Partnership with industry is essential to the vitality of our vision. Co-created with and strongly supported by industry, our CDT underpins a student-led DST network of collaborations that facilitate breakthroughs that would be impossible in isolated research silos. Industrial commitment to the CDT, and desire to engage, is motivated by (at least) two factors: (i) access graduates with the wide-ranging, multi-disciplinary skill sets, and (ii) the tremendous potential impact of high performance multi-functional materials on societal and technological challenges. Recognising these strengths new and existing industrial partners have already committed funding to DST CDT II.
Essential to the success of the centre is the provision of a supportive, interactive, cross-community and cross-disciplinary environment that enables effective communication, efficient training and rewarding research projects. This supports interaction between industry and the CDT which in turn seed strategic industry-industry interactions e.g. from the diamond growers to the end users. Our training, designed to enhance cross-disciplinary interaction, will be delivered throughout all four years of a studentship by chemists, physicists, materials scientists, engineers and life-scientists who are all active in DST. A strong cohort catalyses activities at and between partner universities and the development of cross-partner training activities (e.g. industry led workshops, conferences, topic specific workshops, student-led activities). In addition, our UK- Page 47 of 183 wide cohort is a unique engine for outreach, which is, and will remain, a key activity for the CDT. Our student-led outreach committee, representing all regions of the UK, co-ordinates our outreach activities and shares best practise.
McArthur, University of EP/S006915/1 EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Future Integrated Energy Systems Professor S Strathclyde
The CDT will provide an internationally excellent research environment to train 60 future engineers, technologists, economists and policy makers with the skills, knowledge and confidence to drive advances in research in future integrated energy systems and deliver impact in industry/society. The aim is to broaden the research students' knowledge across a number of disciplines, while deepening it within their core discipline. This will provide the basis for multi-disciplinary consideration of any energy system challenge being addressed. Our goal is to train at least 60 doctoral level students and the CDT will bring internationally recognised researchers together from the three leading energy centres in the UK who have an excellent track record of capacity building and strong industrial backing from across the energy utilities, supply chain, Government and the Regulator. Significant international connection and leadership will provide a global perspective
The University of EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Mathematical Models, Data and EP/S006923/1 House, Dr TA Manchester Algorithms in Society (MODALITY)
The next stage of modern mathematical science will fuse innovative modelling with efficient algorithms and novel data analysis. This proposed Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) will train the next generation of mathematical scientists who are proficient in all aspects of the modelling cycle, namely,
> Model Building: Constructing a well-motivated and meaningful system model. > Model Solution and Analysis: Solving models analytically or numerically, analysing the accuracy and efficiency of computational algorithms. > Model Inference: Applying statistical techniques to validate and refine model choice in light of data.
MODALITY scientists will communicate findings across traditional mathematical boundaries, undertaking original methodological research to address key societal challenges in three principal areas:
> Industry: data-driven applications in manufacturing, finance/insurance and computing. > Infrastructure: transportation, logistics, local governance and policy analysis. > Health: biological, medical and health modelling.
Each student will receive cross-disciplinary training through new courses, will analyse case studies and conduct projects in teams that meld applied, computational and data-driven modelling methods. Students will then undertake research. Many will be co-supervised by external project partners who will act as stakeholders in the academic research conducted.
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Rashid, EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Trust, Identity, Privacy and Security in EP/S006931/1 University of Bristol Professor A Large-scale Infrastructures (TIPS-at-Scale)
Within the next few years the number of devices connected to each other - and the internet - will outnumber humans by almost 5:1. These systems of connected devices will underpin everything from healthcare to transport to energy and finance. At the same time, this growth is not just in the number or variety of devices, but also in the ways they communicate and share information with each other, building 'hyper-connected' cyber-physical infrastructures that span most aspects of people's lives.
For the UK to maximise the benefits - economically and socially - from this revolutionary change we need to be able to address the myriad trust, identity, privacy and security issues raised by such large, interconnected socio-technical infrastructures. Importantly, solutions to many of these issues have previously only been developed and tested on systems orders of magnitude less complex in the hope they would 'scale up'. However, the rapid development and implementation of hyper-connected infrastructures means that we need to address these challenges at scale since the issues and the complexity only become apparent when all the different elements are in the place.
The Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) 'Trust, Identity, Privacy and Security - at scale' (TIPS-at-Scale) will tackle this by training a new generation of interdisciplinary research leaders who can address both the technical and human aspects of TIPS-at-scale. We will do this by educating PhD students in both the technical skills needed to study and analyse TIPS-at-scale, while simultaneously studying how to understand the challenges as fundamentally human too. The training involves close involvement with both industry and practitioners who have played a key role in co-creating the programme and, uniquely, responsible innovation. The implementation of the training is novel in that it involves working in interdisciplinary teams, placements, engagement with industry and international research labs, and actual responsible innovation 'in the wild'.
The CDT will enrol ten students per year for a 4-year study programme. The first year will involve a series of taught modules on the technical and human aspects of TIPS-at-scale. There will also be an introductory residential week, and regular master classes by leading academics and industry figures. The students will also undertake at least one placement in industry or an international research laboratory to understand real- world global problems regarding TIPS-at-scale. They will then continue working with stakeholders in industry, academia and government to develop a research proposal for their final three years, as well as continuing placements each year and an annual conference. Their interdisciplinary knowledge will continue to expand through master classes and they will develop a deep appreciation of real-world TIPS-at-scale issues through experimentation on state-of-the-art testbed facilities and a city-wide testbed: Bristol-is-Open.
To support this learning, we have worked with leading organisations in industry - including Vodafone, Google, Thales, HP, Symantec and others - to design a training programme that meets their needs as well as being academically rigorous. Students will have the opportunity to work with innovation centres in Bristol and Bath to design, test, implement and evaluate TIPS-at-scale solutions as part of their training. Uniquely, we have also linked up with experts in responsible innovation to ensure that students also consider the wider social responsibility issues around these large hyper-connected infrastructures. They will also receive in-depth training in research ethics, computational thinking, data analytics, etc.
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The CDT is an exciting, novel way to develop future research and industry leaders who are not only able to tackles trust, identity, privacy and security in future large, massively connected systems, but can do so in a way that encourages responsible, sustainable innovation.
Richards, EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Future Autonomous Robotic Systems EP/S00694X/1 University of Bristol Professor A (FARSCOPE-TU: Towards Ubiquity)
FARSCOPE-TU (Towards Ubiquity) will build on the success of FARSCOPE, a Centre for Doctoral Training delivered jointly by the University of Bristol and the University of the West of England through their Bristol Robotics Laboratory partnership. Founded in 2013, FARSCOPE has enrolled 49 students from diverse backgrounds in its four cohorts so far and will graduate its first students this year. FARSCOPE-TU will deliver an evolved programme to meet the much greater ambition of enabling robots and autonomous systems everywhere: ubiquity.
The enabling capability for ubiquity will be a step-change in the richness with which robots interact with their surroundings. The interaction challenge can be broken further down into the "4S" challenges, requiring future robots to be social, safe, smart and scalable. The ubiquity vision also forces FARSCOPE-TU students to think beyond a robot's technology and about its environment. This necessitates multidisciplinary thinking, as the enabling technologies of computer science and engineering interface with questions of biology, policy, ethics, law and more. FARSCOPE- TU will take a broad, inclusive view of the Robotics and Autonomous Systems priority area, combining depth of individual student project technology focus with breadth of inter- and intra-cohort contextual training and interdisciplinary discourse. FARSCOPE-TU research will focus on underpinning technologies for the 4S challenges, but its diverse community and recurring theme of context will make more effective contributions to those technologies.
FARSCOPE-TU students will follow an integrated four-year programme leading to the award of a joint PhD from the two partner universities. Context training will be provided throughout, using in-cohort and cross-cohort training workshops and partner-provided training. This training will ensure cross-cutting topics such as responsible research and innovation, enterprise, through-life support, systems engineering, and public engagement are reinforced through intensive training and reflection. Bespoke training will cover a range of applicable tools for robotics and autonomy, backed up by generic research training provided by the partner universities' doctoral training colleges. Specialist topics will include advanced control, autonomous navigation, biomimetics, AI, multi-agent systems, vision and soft robotics, covered in both initial training and research opportunities with our 60+ supervisors. Individual research will be based on student/supervisor/partner co-creation for both an initial exploratory project and then the full PhD.
The national need for doctorates in robotics and autonomous systems, and especially those trained in the "ubiquity" context, stems from the estimated $1.8bn opportunity for the UK's market share in 'service' robotics, which implies working in an unrestricted environment. Our industry partners have confirmed that they need PhD-qualified innovators with strong contextual skills to help identify and deliver the potential of autonomous robotics in their business sectors. The UK has the dual potential to boost productivity, by being an early adopter of autonomous robotics, and then exploit technology lead from the experience. To close this virtuous circle, the UK needs a community of innovators who combine deep technical expertise with strong context awareness and cross-sector networking. This can only be developed through FARSCOPE- TU's cohort-delivered CDT promoting outward-looking innovation.
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Eichhorn, EP/S006958/1 University of Bristol EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in The Bristol Composites Institute (ACCIS) Professor S
We will launch a new CDT to deliver the next generation of composites research and technology leaders equipped with the skills to make an impact on society. The focus of our CDT is towards composite materials and manufacturing. In recent times, composite materials have been replacing traditional ones, e.g. metals, at an unprecedented rate; global growth in their use is expected to be rapid (5-10% annually). This growth is being driven by the need to lightweight structures for which 'lighter is better', e.g. aircraft, automotive car bodywork and wind blades; and by the benefits that composites offer to functionalise both materials and structures. The drivers for lightweighting are mainly material cost, fuel efficiency, reduced emissions contributing to climate change, but also for more purely engineering reasons like improved operational performance and functionality. For example, the UK composites sector has contributed significantly to the Airbus A400M and A350 airframes, which exhibit markedly better performance over their metallic counterparts. Typically, over 90% of a wind turbine blade comprises composites. However, given the trend towards larger rotors, weight and stiffness have become limiting factors, necessitating the greater use of carbon fibre. Advanced composites, and the possibility that they offer to add extra functionality such as shape adaptation, are an enabler for lighter, smarter blades and cheaper more abundant energy. In the automotive sector, given the push for greener cars, the need for high speed, production line- scale, manufacturing approaches will necessitate more understanding of how different materials perform.
Given these developments, the UK has invested heavily in supporting the science and technology of composite materials, for instance, through the establishment of the National Composites Centre at the University of Bristol. Further investments are now required to support the skills element of the UK provision towards the composites industry and the challenges it presents. There will therefore be a need to supply a highly skilled workforce and technical leadership to support the industry; Specifically, the leadership to bring forth new radical thinking and the innovative mind-set required to future-proof the UK's global competitiveness. Currently, there is a recognised skills shortage in the UK's technical workforce for composites; the shortage being particularly acute for doctoral skills (30-150/year are needed). New developments within industry, such as robotic manufacture, additive manufacture, sustainability and recycling, and digital manufacturing require training that encompasses engineering as well as the physical sciences. The development of future composites, competing with the present resins, fibres and functional properties, as well as alternative materials, will require doctoral students to acquire underpinning knowledge of advanced materials science and engineering, and practical experience of the ensuing composites and structures. These highly skilled doctoral students will not only need to understand technical subjects, but should also be able to place acquired knowledge within the context of the modern world.
Our CDT will deliver this training, providing core engineering competencies, including experimental the theoretical elements of composites engineering and science. Core engineering modules will seek to develop the students' understanding of the performance of composite materials, and how that performance might be improved. Alongside core materials, manufacturing and computational analysis training, the CDT will deliver a transferable skills training programme e.g. communication, career development, and translational research skills. Collaborating with industrial partners (e.g. Rolls Royce) and world-leading international expertise (e.g. University of Limerick), we will produce an exciting integrated programme enabling them to become future leaders.
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University of EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Algebraic Geometry, Combinatorics, EP/S007008/1 Maclagan, Dr D Warwick Number Theory, and Topology
The ESPRC centre for doctoral training at Warwick in Algebraic Geometry, Number Theory, Topology and Combinatorics (WANTCom) will combine, reinforce, and build on the strong Warwick groups in these four areas to train the next generation of researchers.
These fields have long-standing and developing applications to almost every area of science and technology, ranging from the old (number theoretic cryptography goes back thousands of years, and is currently crucial to internet and banking security) to the new (one highlight is applications of algebraic topology in analysis of breast cancer data). Applications are increasing, so there is a clear strategic need for more highly trained mathematicians in these areas.
This CDT will deliver broad-based training across these four parts of mathematics for five cohorts of mathematicians. Novel aspects will be the emphasis on computational aspects of these areas, regular and consistent exposure to applied aspects of these subjects in a manner accessible to the entire cohort, and a structured approach to professional development, focusing in particular on the communication skills needed to ensure the impact of pure mathematics research. This training will be delivered in a fashion that is equally accessible for all future mathematicians, including those who do not resemble the mathematicians of previous generations.
Richardson, Dr University of EP/S007016/1 Mathematics for Real-World Systems II Centre for Doctoral Training M Warwick
We propose a new phase of the highly successful Mathematics for Real-World Systems (MathSys) Centre for Doctoral Training that will address priority area 15: "Mathematical and Computational Modelling".
Advanced quantitative skills and applied mathematical modelling are critical to contemporary biomedicine, modern industry and the digital economy. The UK Commission for Employment and Skills as well as Tech City UK have identified that a skills shortage in this domain is one of the key challenges facing the UK technology sector: there is a severe lack of trained researchers with the technical skills and, importantly, the ability to translate these skills into effective solutions in collaboration with end-users.
Our proposal addresses this need with a cross-disciplinary, cohort-based training programme that will equip the next generation of researchers with cutting-edge methodological and end-user engagement tool-kits to address a broad variety of real-world problems from mathematical biology to the high-tech sector. Student researchers will address a broad range of challenges from four application areas: (A1) Biomedical research, (A2) Epidemiology, (A3) Socio-technical systems and (A4) Advanced modelling and optimization of industrial processes. Over the last four years the MathSys CDT has built an impressive track record with associated staff and external partners in all these areas.
The application areas will provide the focus for cross-cutting methodological themes: modelling across spatial and temporal scales; and hybrid modelling integrating complex data and mechanistic models. The two research themes will address the immediate need for modelling solutions for complex multi-scale systems and for contexts where an explanatory justification is required beyond that which can be provided by purely Page 52 of 183 data-driven approaches, such as in the healthcare sector or for safety-critical systems. We believe that modern mathematical modelling requires a fusion of both the mechanistic and data-driven approaches, enhanced by a good grasp of optimization, uncertainty quantification and stochastic methods that work across scales.
The over-arching third theme of the CDT will be pervasive engagement with end-users. This has been a distinguishing feature of MathSys I and is further developed in this renewal proposal. We will continue to grow these interactions through our MSc Research Study Groups and external partner days, and bring in an additional component whereby students in the first year of their PhD spend 2-4 weeks with end-users to understand the constraints on data collection and motivate their research.
In terms of structure, we will retain the one-year MSc + three-years PhD format that has been refined through staff experience and student feedback over more than a decade of previous Warwick doctoral training centres. Students will share a dedicated space, with a lecture theatre and common area based in one of the UK's leading mathematical departments. The space is physically connected to the new Mathematical Sciences building, at the interface of the Departments of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science, and provides a unique centre for inter- disciplinary activity. The training and research components of the programme will be thoroughly updated to reflect the evolving technical landscape of applied research and the changing priorities of end-users. The taught curriculum and research focus will continuously evolve through co-creation of activities with our end-users, so that we can respond rapidly and flexibly to changes in the national and international research environments.
Mehnen, University of EP/S007024/1 EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Data Reliability For Digital Manufacturing Professor J Strathclyde
The proposed Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in 'Data Reliability in Digital Manufacturing' aims to create a revolution in how data is used in connecting manufacturing processes today. Reliable data is essential to enable the best use of materials throughout their life from manufacture, use, re-use, re-manufacture, to recycling and disposal. Valuable, scalable (granularity), contextual and actionable data - in short "reliable data" - is the "lifeblood" that powers the future of UK industry.
The know-how of producing and utilising reliable data is key to the smart use of industrial resources, cost and time; reliable data connects people and creates jobs; it enables the creation of new business models which will provide the highest transformative impact to the economy.
The proposal combines the expertise of four leading international centres of excellence: the University of Strathclyde, Aston University, Heriot- Watt University together with measurement partner National Physical Laboratory (NPL). The vision to drive parallel developments in ensuring reliable data for digital manufacturing through-life presents multiple challenges that need new techniques and expertise. These challenges include optimal data utilisation for existing and new technologies, an understanding of the actual value of data, data availability and new ways for data sharing as well as uncertainty, security and contextual awareness of complexities of out-of-date data.
Students and staff engaged in the CDT will work closely with industry partners as an essential part of the research activities. As such they will have a good understanding of both academic and industrial working practices as well as key expertise within Data Reliability in Digital Page 53 of 183
Manufacturing related fields - allowing for future career development in either industry or academia. The collaborative nature will involve joint projects with other manufacturing research centres and as a consequence help develop, in a coordinated manner, UK manufacturing research capability. The CDT will actively seek to attract promising graduates into manufacturing research through PhD study, thereby providing UK industry and academia with a supply of highly employable and industry ready researchers.
The CDT will be located in the Design, Manufacturing and Engineering Management (DMEM) Department at the University of Strathclyde (UoS). The CDT is supported by the Advanced Forming Research Centre (part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult), the universities of Heriot- Watt and Aston, NPL and a consortium of global engineering companies (Rolls-Royce, Aubert and Duval, TIMET, The Hadley Group) who will provide both financial and staff resources to complement the EPSRC funding. Both the Centre and the AFRC will be co-located within the National Manufacturing Institute of Scotland (NMIS) campus which will be anchored at the University of Strathclyde. The CDT will address the industrial need for trained manufacturing engineers by providing a broad range of relevant courses combined with leading edge research in a coordinated research program that realises the vision of digital manufacturing through life.
Nelson, EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Enabling Physical Science Approaches for EP/S007040/1 University of Leeds Professor AS Biological Discovery
Functional molecules form the basis of the pharmaceutical and agrochemical sectors, and enable global challenges to be addressed (such as preventing/treating disease and ensuring food security). These sectors, supported by the UK's Life Sciences Sector Industrial Strategy, are underpinned by physical science capabilities and skills. Physical science approaches can allow us to understand how biology works, and can drive the discovery of new drugs and agrochemicals. The future productivity of these sectors will require significant challenges to be addressed. For example, against a background of increasing costs, the rate of drug discovery has been roughly constant for 60 years, and the cost of bringing each new drug to the market has risen to about £1.8B (about £200M for each new agrochemical)!
Molecular discovery-based sectors require access to new physical science capabilities and PhD-qualified scientists with superb interdisciplinary and industrially-relevant skills. The skills needs of these sectors are changing rapidly: hiring appropriately-skilled staff has become more difficult, and computational skills are particularly highly sought. Highly trained individuals are thus critically needed to improve research and development productivity. Ultimately, these scientists will contribute to the discovery of new drugs (e.g. to treat cancer and promote healthy ageing) and crop protection agents (to provide food security).
This world-leading Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) will focus on developing highly talented PhD-level scientists, and equipping them with new skills and capabilities (tools, methods) that are needed to ensure future national capability in the Life Sciences sector. To align with future needs, the CDT has been co-created, and will be delivered, in deep partnership with our strategic industrial partners. The integrated training programme will be delivered within the highly interdisciplinary environment provided by the Astbury Centre that brings chists, physicists and computational scientists together with biologists. The programme has been designed carefully to develop scientists with interdisciplinary skills, and the ability to become future leaders within industry or academia.
As part of their training, each PhD student will undertake a physical science PhD project that addresses one of the CDT's three overarching user- Page 54 of 183 driven challenges. International and/or industrial placements will be embedded as appropriate in PhD projects, and will encourage the students to aspire to internationally-leading standards of research excellence and the mindset to address hypothesis-driven research that aligns with end- user needs.
In addition, the CDT will provide effective outreach to external PhD students and the public. To promote best practice in science communication, translation and advocacy, the Effective Outreach and Responsible Innovation summer schools will be open to external PhD students nationally. Following training, students will become empowered to advocate EPSRC's investment in physical science to transform our understanding of biology. Moreover, the students will be fully supported in the development, publicity and delivery of highly innovative public engagement activities. The biennial Astbury Conversation provides a forum for impactful science outreach via a symposium, a public lecture (delivered by Nobel laureates in 2016 and 2018) and a public exhibition; for the 2018 event (April 2018), there are currently 330 registered delegates for the symposium and >150 attendees for the public events.
University College EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Bioprocess Engineering Leadership: EP/S007059/1 Lye, Professor G London Complex Biological Products Manufacture
Biological products such as antibodies, vaccines and cells are used to treat a range of Human conditions including cancer, viral infections and immune deficiencies. Biological catalysts, enzymes and cells, can be used to breakdown renewable feedstocks and convert them into chemicals, pharmaceuticals and fuels in an environmentally friendly way. Both biological products and biocatalysts are progressing to greater levels of complexity. Microbial cells, for example, can be engineered to utilize all the sugars present in renewable feedstocks increasing yields and minimizing waste. Biological products, such as stem cells, can now be cultured and differentiated into defined cell types to repair tissue damage caused, for example, by heart attacks and acid burns.
The potential economic benefit of these next generation, complex biological products is huge. The global market for biopharmaceuticals and vaccines is currently worth £90bn p.a. and is growing rapidly. Similarly, the market for new cell-based therapies is predicted to be worth £14bn within the next seven years. The challenge is how to make these complex biological products in a way that is safe, sustainable and cost effective. This is technically demanding since these new medicines are larger entities than previous generations of product making them more susceptible to damage. This can be caused by changes in culture conditions and by exposure to regions of high energy input during mixing and pumping. The likelihood of damage increases rapidly as manufacturing processes are scaled up from bench to industrial scale.
The aim of the proposed CDT is to train future cohorts of doctoral researchers to be able to design large-scale biomanufacturing processes for efficient production of these new complex biological products. It will be necessary to equip them with advanced knowledge in both bioscience and engineering and to provide practical experience of operating large scale bioprocess equipment. The training will bdelivered in collaboration with industry in order that the researchers are exposed to the wider regulatory and commercial context. In this way the CDT will develop future bioindustry leaders who can bring these next generation biological products to market in a safe and cost-effective manner. This will bring benefits to the patients who need these new medicines and will generate wealth and jobs in the companies that make them.
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Brace, Professor EP/S007075/1 University of Bath EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Advanced Automotive Propulsion Systems C
The vision is to create a world leading CDT in Advanced Automotive Propulsion Systems. We will train a cohort of 75 high quality, industry ready, research leaders who can work at a whole system level to address one of the most pressing challenges of our age - the struggle to provide the affordable zero emissions transport needed by both industrialised and emerging economies in a truly sustainable manner. The automotive industry is hugely important to the UK but must transition towards sustainable zero emissions personal transportation if it is to remain competitive. This is an acute challenge requiring a rapid evolution of technology in response to changes in environmental needs, regulatory framework and end-user habits and expectations. For true sustainability all forms of environmental impact must be addressed, requiring a fundamental change in transport energy capture, storage, transportation and use. At the same time it is critical that we continue to improve today's technologies until truly sustainable solutions can be introduced.
Fundamental changes are needed, led by a new generation of inspiring leaders and thinkers. Our CDT cohort will have a prominent role in shaping the future of mobility, providing thought leadership for the future based on a thorough understanding of the present.
The PI will be Prof Brace whose subject matter expertise and high profile national research standing provide strategic leadership of the CDT. He is supported by 5 CIs: Turner, Akehurst, Burke, Copeland and Bannister, from the nationally leading Powertrain and Vehicle Research Centre (PVRC) at Bath. The multi-disciplinary supervision team totals 50 Bath academics and an established group of industrial co-supervisors, who will stimulate adventurous research into challenges including sustainable and future fuels, advanced analytical, experimental and optimisation approaches considering full vehicle life-cycle, new materials and manufacturing techniques; understanding of driver/vehicle/environment interactions; and smarter energy systems.
This CDT will be a central activity within the new £60m Institute for Advanced Automotive Propulsion Systems (IAAPS) at the University of Bath and will co-ordinate with activity across the Automotive Propulsion Centre (APC) spoke network. The specialist research activity undertaken by the CDT cohort will be aligned with the APC technology roadmaps, which form a strong consensus view of national research needs over the next 30 years. As such, this CDT addresses the national research agenda and training needs of the UK automotive industry to meet the aim identified in the Automotive Sector Deal to become a world leader in shaping clean growth in the propulsion systems arena. The proposal also contributes to the EPSRC strategic theme of Energy Efficiency in the transport sector.
The CDT will be in partnership with established industrial partners to supply a new breed of highly trained and versatile engineers with broad technical and commercial skills. The funding split for each student will be determined by the balance between industry and academia in co- creation of the research, with an overall contribution of 15 industry, 20 University and 40 EPSRC studentships. In addition to its studentships contribution, the University will support the CDT through provision of academic staff time for training and access to research facilities with an in- kind value in excess of £3 million over the lifetime of the CDT.
The training mechanisms that will be put in place to achieve the aims of the CDT include:
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> Masters-level taught units in propulsion system specialisms. > Leadership training in scientific, engineering and commercial topics. > Master classes delivered by industry experts. > Industrial visits to major R&D institutions in the UK. > National and International research placements in industry and academia. > Responsible Research and Innovation
Crossley, The University of EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Leadership in Resilient Low-Carbon EP/S007083/1 Professor P Manchester Energy Systems
Modern society is dependent on secure, affordable and reliable energy supplies, available to all consumers when needed. Clean Growth is both essential to meet the commitments of the Climate Change Act and a key element of the UK's Industrial Strategy. The UK is committed to a 57% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and an 80% reduction by 2050, compared to 1990. Emissions have reduced by 42% since 1990, mainly as a result of the shift away from coal for electricity generation; in 2016, gas generated 43% of our electricity, coal 9%, nuclear 21%, renewables 24% and electricity imports 3%. However, electricity represents only one third of emissions, with heating accounting for one third and transport roughly a quarter. Unlike the electricity sector where there is a clear understanding of the available supply side technologies, there is great uncertainty as to how heat and transport can be decarbonised, with different technologies and fuels likely to be important in different contexts. Homes and businesses may be heated by electrically powered heat pumps, along with low carbon gas and hydrogen which could be delivered through the gas network. The transition to electric vehicles is gathering pace as sales of new petrol and diesel powered vehicles will be phased out in the UK by 2040. In the future, our interconnected and multi-fuel, low carbon energy networks will have to be resilient to climate change impacts which may alter the performance of infrastructure and bring extreme weather events, whilst being able to cope with new forms of energy demands and supply.
The Government's Clean Growth Strategy identifies the shortage of skilled professionals and innovators across the digital, energy, transport, housing and water sectors as a barrier to delivering the low carbon agenda. To meet this need, our Centre for Doctoral Training in "Leadership in Resilient Low-Carbon Energy Systems" will deliver a world-leading cohort-based doctoral training and research programme designed to equip a new generation of leaders with the skills, outlook, experience and expertise needed to transform our energy system into one which satisfies the societal demands for affordable integrated low-carbon energy services across the electricity, heat and transport sectors, using low-carbon energy, demand side management and storage to deliver security and resilience in the face of climate change, societal instability, terrorism and greater volatility in demand.
These transformations require investments in education, the UK's research base and innovation, with Universities a key partner working alongside the private and third sectors. Therefore the Centre will work closely with stakeholders to build upon their collective expertise and influence to co-develop Doctoral research projects which meet the need for innovation in technology, regulation, operation, security and understanding of social, economic, political and environmental issues. We will create an integrated, multi-disciplinary cohort-based training and research environment and in so doing build a cohesive community of students who collaborate, communicate and assist each other through
Page 57 of 183 peer-to-peer interaction. This will provide graduates with a whole system understanding of the future challenges facing the energy sector and positions them to become the next leaders in research, innovation, commerce and policy in this rapidly changing area.
Perera, EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Advanced Separation Materials and EP/S007113/1 University of Bath Professor SP Processes (ASMP)
Separation technologies are present in everyday life, from filters for blood dialysis, to porous materials for capturing pollutants in water, membranes for removing bacteria from food, and distillation used in fuel production. Their importance will only grow, as increasing demand for water, food, energy and access to healthcare is driven by a rising global population, rapid urbanization, changing diets and economic growth. To sustain this demand, more efficient advanced separation technologies are urgently needed, as current separation processes already consume a staggering 10-15% of the world's energy.
The UK is at the forefront of innovation in advanced separations, with a wide range of industries, from materials manufacturers to equipment providers to end users. All have clearly identified a need for PhDs with expertise in separations as critical for their ability to innovate and thrive in a global market. The Centre for Doctoral Training in Advanced Separation Materials and Processes (ASMP) will train future research and technical leaders and entrepreneurs in the development and application of new and improved advanced separations processes.
Achieving our vision requires bringing together the complementary skills and expertise from three universities, Bath, Manchester and UCL, each with a record of world-leading research and excellence in teaching in materials and processes in advanced separations. The integration of the different research areas creates an unrivalled critical mass of knowledge with no equivalent in the UK or the world: Bath leads on the use of separations in industrial processes, Manchester on novel separation materials, and UCL on biological separations and nature inspired engineering as a method for innovation. ASMP also draws on a broad range of industrial partners, from SMEs to multinationals.
During their doctoral projects, students will lead cutting edge research with access to not only to a large supervisor pool with of a breadth of expertise in separation materials, separation processes and applications that would be unattainable at a single institution, but also world-class facilities that can only be brought together by partnership between research intensive universities.
Separations are complex processes, requiring molecules and materials with specific properties, and then designing processes that can incorporate these materials in safe, energy- and cost-efficient ways is extremely important. Providing training to encompass all the knowledge and skills required can only happen in a cohort-based environment, where a shared learning experience will allow them to exchange knowledge with each other, to develop as confident researchers who can tackle a wide range of problems and to develop a lasting network to continue to develop and grow their field beyond their PhD training.
The cohort-based training programme will adopt a residential model with nine 1-2 week-long intense sessions throughout the duration of the PhD and in multiple locations, including industrial sites for hands-on training. The tailored training programme will focus on project and data management, responsible research, public engagement, entrepreneurship (including leadership, IP, business plan preparation) and knowledge transfer, the latter two skills explicitly requested by our industrial partners. Our ambition is to enable PhD students to see the wider context of Page 58 of 183 their research, to equip them to undertake their research responsibly and effectively, and to understand the innovation pathway from concept to implementation, so that they will graduate with a toolkit of transferable skills to complement their research excellence. Our industrial partners will be fully engaged in both the training and research programme, providing access to their facilities, dedicated training, real world case studies and research support.
Waring, EP/S007121/1 Newcastle University EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Molecular Sciences for Medicine Professor M
Molecular sciences, such as chemistry, biophysics, molecular biology and protein sciences, are vital to innovations in medicine and the discovery of new medicines and diagnostics. As well as making a crucial contribution to health and society, industries in this field provide an essential component to the economy and contribute hugely to employment figures, currently generating nearly 500,000 jobs nationally. To enable and facilitate future economic growth in this area, the CDT will provide a cohort of researchers who have a training in both aspects of this interface who will be equipped to become the future innovators and leaders in their field. Within the CDT, all projects will contain a substantial component of molecular and medical science and will all focus on unmet medical needs, such as understanding of disease biology, identification of new therapeutic targets, new methods in imaging diseases and new approaches to discovery of therapies. Specific problems will be identified by researchers within the CDT, industrial partners and students. The research will be structured around three theme areas: Biology of Disease, Molecular Design and Assays, and Structural Biology and Computer Simulation. The CDT brings together leading researchers with extensive expertise and a proven track record across these areas who have pioneered recent advances in the field, such as multiple approved cancer treatments. Their combined expertise will provide supervision and mentorship to the student cohort who will work on projects that span these research themes and bring their contributions to bear on the medical problems in question. The student cohort approach will allow teams of researchers to work together on joint projects with common goals. Projects within this framework will be proposed between academics, industrial partners and students with priority given to those with industrial relevance. The programme of research and training across the disciplines will equip graduates of the CDT with an unprecedented background of knowledge and skills across the disciplines. This will equip them to envisage and implement future innovations in the area. This will be supplemented by training and hands-on experiences of entrepreneurship, responsible innovation and project management that will make them highly desirable to employers and allow them to become the leaders of tomorrow. A structured management group, consisting of a director, co-directors, theme leads and training coordinators will oversee the delivery of the CDT with the full involvement of industry partners and students. This will deliver the cohort training programme and joint events as well as being accountable for the process of selection of projects and student recruitment. The management team has an established track record of delivery of research and training in the field across industry and academia as well as scientific leadership and network training coordination. The CDT will be delivered as a single, fully integrated programme between Newcastle and Durham Universities, bringing together highly complementary skills and backgrounds from the two institutions. The seamless delivery of the programme across the two institutions is enabled by their unique connectivity with efficient transport links and established regional networks. The concept and structure of the CDT has been developed in conjunction with the industrial partners across the pharmaceutical, biotech and contract research industries, who have given vital steer on the desirability and training need for a CDT in this area as well as to the nature of the theme areas and focus of research. EPSRC funding for the CDT will be supplemented by substantial contributions from both Universities with
Page 59 of 183 resources and studentship funding and from industry partners who will provide training, in kind contribution and placements as well as additional studentships.
Ourselin, King's College EP/S007156/1 King's/UCL EPSRC CDT in Interventional and Surgical Engineering Sciences Professor S London
The EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Interventional and Surgical Engineering Sciences will offer unparalleled engineering training within an active NHS environment, thus providing a unique experience for the next generation of research and industry scientists in healthcare technologies.
Image-guided Intervention (IGI) has enabled greater surgical precision resulting in reduced tissue trauma, co-morbidity, complications, and hospitalisation time. However, significant limitations arise from the challenging use of IGI systems, and their predominant reliance on preoperative anatomical images. We envision that the combination of diagnostic imaging/sensing and smart instruments will deliver the anatomically, physiologically, and pathologically optimal surgeries of the future. With increasing pressure on the NHS and its global counterparts, further stressed by patient-driven desire for accessing more personalized care solutions and delivering ever more complex interventions, this domain of healthcare engineering is poised to be of immense societal and economic importance.
Our training Programme is essential for the UK to maintain its international leadership position while faced with increasing competition from global competitors and emerging economies. Such training will also enable the UK to create new businesses in this patient-focused sector, grow its number of SMEs and ultimately attract inward investment. We envision the education and training of our cohorts to be centred around three key pillars that will prepare students for the multi-faceted role of healthcare engineers in interventional and surgical sciences. Our proposed MRes follows the "observe - define - innovate" process in Biomedical Design Innovation, keeping in mind, at this training stage, the key concept of low-budget innovation and frugality as a cost-saving mechanism for healthcare systems. First, in collaboration with our clinical partners and NHS hospitals, students will enrol in a set of courses and activities to allow them to experience first-hand the challenges and gaps within the clinical domain of their choice. Second, a year-long team-based course will enable the students to define one significant healthcare engineering challenge to address, and propose their approach to innovation and implementation. Finally, through a series of intellectual property and commercialization focused courses, our Programme will deliver the foundation knowledge that underpins any entrepreneurial endeavour.
We aim to attract the very best UK students and international talent, and train the translational research leaders of the future, filling a gap identified in academia and medical devices industries, while producing internationally competitive research outputs.
Roberts, University of EP/S007180/1 EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Railway Research and Innovation Professor C Birmingham
This outline proposal is for an EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Railway Research and Innovation. The submission is led by the University of Birmingham, with collaboration from the University of Southampton and University of Huddersfield. The proposal aligns directly with the new UK Rail Research and Innovation Network, which is a collaboration between industry and academia to accelerate the uptake of innovation in the Page 60 of 183 railway sector. The CDT will produce a cohort of much needed, critically thinking railway engineering researchers who have deep expertise in areas of research that the railway industry has identified as being critical to the success of the sector going forward. The researchers will receive broad railway engineering, systems engineering and managerial training that will enable them to fully participate in, and influence, the railway industry; ensuring that research outputs are adopted and impact is created.
The scope of the CDT will align directly with the 2017 Rail Technical Strategy Capability Delivery Plan, which was developed collaboratively between the RDG and RSG. The areas identified as being key for the sector's future focus are: (i) Running trains closer together; (ii) Minimal disruption to train services; (iii) Efficient passenger flows through stations and trains; (iv) More value from data; (v) Optimum energy use; (vi) More space on trains; (vii) Services timed to the second; (viii) Intelligent trains; (ix) Personalised customer experience; (x) Flexible freight; (xi) Low-cost railway solutions; (xii) Accelerated research, development and technology deployment. These areas of research all need practical, collaborative, systems oriented research underpinned by fundamental science. A CDT hosted in the UKRRIN Centres of Excellence would uniquely allow the railway sector to benefit from academic excellence and practical innovation. The Centres' high level of industry engagement and inherent ability to work together on collaborative research will allow systems-based research to be progressed in a meaningful and appropriate manner.
Tiwari, Professor University of EP/S007199/1 EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Digital Manufacturing A Sheffield
Digital Manufacturing is fast and responsive control and connectivity of manufacturing systems using sensors, communications, controls and informatics technologies. The BEIS Made Smarter Review 2017 has highlighted that the BENEFITS of "Industrial Digital Technologies (IDTs) could be as much as £455bn for UK manufacturing over the next decade, increasing manufacturing sector growth between 1.5% and 3% per annum and creating a conservative estimated net gain of 175,000 jobs throughout the economy". The review concludes that industrial productivity can be improved by more than 25% by 2025 through IDTs whilst reducing CO2 emissions by 4.5%. However, the report also identifies the lack of digital skills as the most significant barrier preventing the UK from achieving its goal of becoming a world leader in IDTs.
Faster innovation and adoption of digital manufacturing will therefore have a significant impact on UK industry but require people with NEW SKILL SETS in the full digital manufacturing lifecycle, from sensors and communications through to controls and informatics. According to the IET Skills and Demand in Industry Report 2017, "where businesses do plan to increase digitisation of their processes, 85% believe they will have to recruit people with new skills, up-skill their present staff or do both." Around half of these businesses also identified the need for more engagement with research due to the rapid advancements in digital technologies, providing evidence for doctoral skills need in the country.
The vision of the proposed CDT in Digital Manufacturing is to train the next generation of globally competitive doctoral level graduates to lead digital innovations in future manufacturing, focusing on critical CHALLENGES posed by digital manufacturing: (i) interconnectivity, (ii) flexibility/reconfigurability, and (iii) autonomy. The CDT will train cohorts in cross-disciplinary research at the interface between these manufacturing challenges and key digital technlogy THEMES: (i) sensor networks and communication systems, (ii) control and systems engineering, and (iii) real-time manufacturing informatics. In parallel, the students will be trained to deal with key supporting areas including resilience and security of networked and interconnected manufacturing systems, scalable information management, human factors in Page 61 of 183 accepting/adapting to digital manufacturing, and supply chain management for future factories.
Digital Manufacturing is a topic that inherently demands cross-disciplinary research at the interface between manufacturing and digital technologies. Traditionally, these areas have been researched separately, resulting in PhD students who specialise in one of the manufacturing challenges or digital technology themes but do not have skills and knowledge of the full digital manufacturing lifecycle; this is key to achieving a step change in productivity. A COHORT APPROACH will therefore be particularly beneficial for this area as it will bring together, for the first time, doctoral students spanning manufacturing challenges and digital technology themes across the full digital lifecycle.
This CDT is a cross-disciplinary COLLABORATION between the University of Sheffield (UoS) and University College London (UCL) with the former providing expertise in sensors and communications and the latter in controls and informatics. The collaboration between UoS and UCL involves 6 departments and 2 national centres including the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) at UoS and the EPSRC PETRAS IoT Hub at UCL. This CDT proposal is supported by more than 25 industry partners including key manufacturers (e.g. Airbus, GKN, Meggitt and Siemens), ICT providers, consultancies and research organisations (e.g. PTC, Lanner and TWI), and professional bodies (e.g. MTA, RAEng and IET).
Owen, Professor University of EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Modelling and Analytics for Medicine and EP/S007229/1 M Nottingham Life-Sciences
Mathematics has the potential to greatly aid progress in key challenges facing society today. For example:
1. How we ensure that there is sufficient food and water, produced in a sustainable manner.
2. How we ensure optimal healthcare through personalised diagnosis and treatment.
3. How we develop new drugs that can tackle emergent diseases.
There is a need, both in academic research and in related industry sectors, for highly skilled graduates trained at the interface between mathematics and the life sciences - who are able to apply advanced mathematical and statistical techniques to experimental systems and have an understanding of the needs of the connected biological disciplines and the wider context.
Students within our MAML Centre for Doctoral Training will develop and apply techniques of modelling and data analysis within a diverse range of life-sciences applications including in plant growth, crop and livestock yields, antimicrobial resistance, neurological disease, pharmacology, toxicology and anti-cancer drug development. Because the trend towards mathematical and computational modelling within the life sciences is increasing, several studies have illustrated how demand for trained personnel is outstripping supply across many areas. Our centre is an ideal mechanism to help address this shortage, bringing together the expertise of academics, industrialists and clinical practitioners to facilitate the flexible student-focused training required. The cohort training approach will allow us to develop a consistent pipeline of trained individuals with appropriate skills, and allow us to support them in the best possible way to encourage the next generation of research leaders. Page 62 of 183
MAML is uniquely positioned to deliver this due to a combination of its breadth of expertise within the mathematical core of the proposal and through its links to internationally-leading life-sciences researchers both within the University of Nottingham and through our wide networks of partners. These links have been established over many years by members of our core pool of supervisors and provide students with a unique opportunity to develop a transdisciplinary understanding to tackle cutting-edge biological and clinical research problems.
Kuhr, Professor University of EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in "Advancing and Applying Quantum EP/S007237/1 S Strathclyde Technologies"
Within the last two decades, Quantum Technologies have made tremendous progress, moving from fundamental science into applied research, and they have more recently seen the establishment of an industry base. Key to these new technologies are quantum phenomena, which govern physics on an atomic scale, and which can be used as a resource to produce technologies with far-reaching applications, including secure communication networks, ultra-sensitive sensors for gravity, acceleration and magnetic fields, and quantum computers. These devices will revolutionise measurements, e.g., in geology and biomedical imaging, create fundamentally new paradigms of computation, and permit verifiably secure communications networks. In each of these applications, quantum technologies could result in transformative improvements in terms of capacity, sensitivity and speed, and will be the decisive factor for success in many industries and markets, such as engineering, medicine, finance, defence, aerospace, energy and transport. Quantum technologies are being prioritised worldwide, through national or trans-national large-scale initiatives.
Our Doctoral Training Centre in "Advancing and Applying Quantum Technologies" will train future quantum scientists and engineers for this emerging industry. The training programme is in partnership between the Universities of Strathclyde, Glasgow and Heriot-Watt. In collaboration with industry, the Centre will offer advanced training in broad aspects of Quantum Technology, from technical underpinnings to applications, and organised under the key areas of Quantum Measurement and Sensing, Quantum Simulation and Computing, and Quantum Communications.
We will make quantum physics and technologies accessible to the general public through dedicated outreach activities in which the students deliver presentations and exhibits, for example at science centres and science festivals, at schools, and during universities' Open Days.
The inclusion of supervisors from industry and engineering is a defining aspect of our Centre and key to ensure translation of fundamental physics to industry and practical technologies. We will train scientists and engineers who understand very well the fundamental physics exploited by quantum technologies, who can thus develop devices and applications that fully harness quantum properties. Our programme is designed to create a diverse community of future leaders that will take on scientific and engineering challenges in the emerging industrial base, take them to market and work towards securing the UK's competitiveness in one of the most advanced and promising area of the high-tech sector.
Parsons, EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Offshore Wind Energy and the EP/S007253/1 University of Hull Professor DR Environment (AURA CDT)
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The move to cleaner economic growth is one of the greatest industrial opportunities of our time; a key industrial challenge for the 21st Century is to secure a resilient renewable energy supply. The offshore wind (OSW) industry underpins UK solutions to this challenge, with exponential increase in capacity planned to reduce carbon emissions in line with UK's climate 2050 commitments. Due to favourable geography, local expertise and government support, the north-east UK is a global leading location for OSW development and is thus a key region for UK industrial and economic growth. This UK-based research, development and innovation (RDI) sector has, if fully harnessed, a potential cumulative gross export value of over £1,000 billion for the period 2018-2050. However, projected growth in OSW is predicated on a move to larger sites in more hostile environments further from shore. This introduces a unique set of challenges at the interface of engineering and environmental sciences that requires public investment.
Aura (www.aurawindenergy.com), the north-east UK coalition of academia and industry, led by the University of Hull, is beginning to address the multidisciplinary challenges facing OSW. Building on this, the EPSRC-NERC Centre for Doctoral Training in Offshore Wind Energy and the Environment (Aura CDT) will enable the UK to properly meet needs, and fully exploit opportunities, in OSW. The CDT will combine sector and place with academic expertise to enable cohort-based training of graduate students at the interface of engineering and environmental sciences. This will produce the future multidisciplinary leaders in OSW desperately required to accelerate innovation in the UK OSW industry, to reduce costs and increase offshore infrastructure reliability, thereby enabling the UK to meet and maintain future commitments in renewable energy and carbon reduction.
The Aura CDT will be delivered by 4 institutes, Hull, Durham, Newcastle and Sheffield, led by Prof. Parson, Hull (PI), supported by 13 Co-Is and >30 staff, who together form a diverse but complementary teaching/training and supervisor pool. Partner institutes provide 30% match funding to the CDT. An additional 30% match funding will be provided from >10 industry and government partners, including Siemens and Orsted (respectively the industry leaders in OSW manufacture and operation) and OREC and NOC (respectively the government vehicles for RDI in offshore renewables and marine technology). The entire Aura CDT will be overseen by a CDT Management Board and an Academic Oversight Committee, drawn from partner institutes, and a separate Strategic Advisory Board, drawn from industry and government. Hull will provide a senior programme manager to aid the running of the CDT on a day-to-day basis.
Supported by the expertise of the 4 partner institutes, the Aura CDT recognises and emphasises the importance of maintaining cohort-based studentship development as an enabler for true multidisciplinary RDI. To deliver this the Aura CDT will foster a cohort ethos via a 1-year MSc, hosted by Aura at the University of Hull. The MSc, supported by all 4 institutes, provides graduate students with an integrated engineering and environmental sciences overview of OSW. Industry and government lenses on OSW research and innovation will be built in to the MSc via guest lectures, continued professional development (CPD) and industry-led group research projects. Following the MSc, students will be distributed within partner institutions and industry, to conduct a 3-year PhD via blue-sky and applied RDI. Embedding PhD students within industry will ensure that there are direct career pathways beyond academia for those who choose that route and provide an industry network for those who pursue an academic career. The cohort ethos will be maintained by a joint institute on-line workspace, based on Vitae, 6-monthly cohort workshops and an annual CDT conference for CPD and end-user engagement.
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Leimkuhler, University of EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Mathematical Modelling, Analysis and EP/S007288/1 Professor B Edinburgh Computation (MAC-MIGS)
The Centre for Doctoral Training MAC-MIGS will provide advanced training in the formulation, analysis, and implementation of state-of-the-art mathematical and computational models. It will offer 65 PhD students an intensive 4-year training and research programme that equips them with the skills needed to tackle the challenges of modern data-intensive modelling: they will be able to design, simulate and analyse models and to collaborate with end users across disciplines, building on the latest advances in mathematics and high-performance computing.
Mathematical and computational models are at the heart of 21st-century technology: they underpin science, medicine and, increasingly, social sciences, and impact many sectors of the economy including high-value manufacturing, healthcare, energy, physical infrastructure and national planning. When combined with the enormous computing power and volume of data now available, these models provide unmatched predictive tools which capture systematically the experimental and observational evidence available. Because they are based on sound deductive principles, they are also the only effective tool in many problems where data is either sparse or, as is often the case, acquired in conditions that differ from the relevant real-world scenarios. Developing and exploiting these models requires a broad range of skills - from abstract mathematics to computing and data science - combined with expertise in application areas. MAC-MIGS will equip its students with these skills and prepare them take up leadership roles in industry, academia and government.
MAC-MIGS students will join the broader Maxwell Institute Graduate School in its brand-new base located in central Edinburgh. They will benefit from (i) dedicated academic training in subjects that include mathematical analysis, computational mathematics, multi-scale modelling, model reduction, Bayesian inference, uncertainty quantification, inverse problems and data assimilation, and machine learning; (ii) extensive experience of collaborative and interdisciplinary work through projects, modelling camps, industrial sandpits and secondments; and (iii) outstanding early-career training, with a strong focus on entrepreneurship. The students will integrate a vibrant research environment, closely interacting with some 55 MAC-MIGS academics comprised of mathematicians from Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt as well as computer scientists, engineers, physicists and chemists providing disciplinary expertise.
Students will benefit from MAC-MIGS' diverse network of industrial partners (among them Unilever, IBM, Dassault, Artemis Intelligent Power, DNV GL, NM Group, Brainwave, Leonardo, OpenGoSim) and links to government and NGO policy makers such as the MET Office, British Geological Survey, the Forestry Commission, the James Hutton Institute, and Scottish National Heritage. These entities will provide internships, development programmes, and research projects and help maximise the impact of our student's work.
Savic, Professor Centre for Doctoral Training in Water Informatics: Science and Engineering EP/S00730X/1 University of Exeter D Reinvented (WISER)
Sustainable water cycle management (together with other key ecosystem services) requires whole-system approaches that bridge the rural- urban-coastal divide at all scales, and which provide solutions resilient to emerging patterns of variability and change. The proliferation of sensors and large-scale and widespread data acquisition, increasingly sophisticated modelling tools, information and communication technologies (ICT), the "Internet of Things" (IoT), and the roll out of 5G wireless networks, will enable much more 'symbiotic' relationships Page 65 of 183 between rural populations, city governments, urban citizens and businesses. In the long run, digital sensors, smart phones and wearable smart devices will together form the primary interface between customers and other stakeholders, and the companies providing water services. Open data that anyone can access, use, or share, will increase opportunities for collaboration and engagement. Developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) research, robotics and new technologies such as Virtual or Augmented Reality, will enable development of new insights and powerful human-system interfaces to represent and manipulate water data in a natural and intuitive way. There is, therefore, an urgent need to address a recognised skills shortage in this area and transcend the water-informatics (hydroinformatics) disciplinary divide. Harnessing and exploiting the rapidly growing sources of available data is one of the greatest professional challenges facing water and environmental leaders today. The current trend in industrial transformation involving automation, data exchange, cloud computing, cyber-physical systems, robots, Big Data, AI, IoT and autonomous industrial techniques (i.e., INDUSTRY 4.0) is still in the early stages on the road to adoption. This is particularly true in the traditionally conservative water industry.
The mission of WISER is to reinvent 'traditional' water engineering education and approaches to managing the water cycle, to realise the vision of 'WATER 4.0', which is analogous to INDUSTRY 4.0, "the fourth industrial revolution". Supported by contributions from industry, government and international partners, WISER will develop future industry and academia leaders capable of making a long lasting difference to the UK research, innovation and business landscapes.
WISER builds on the highly successful WISE "Water Informatics: Science and Engineering" CDT (http://wisecdt.org/), which was established to deliver training of "hydroinformaticians - who are capable of working at the interface of traditionally separate informatics, science and engineering disciplines". All WISER CDT cohort students will attend the two-semester-long Postgraduate School in Water Management and Informatics comprising 8 MSc level modules (run at Exeter and co-delivered by GW4 partners from Cardiff, Bath and Bristol). As we intentionally recruit graduates from broad Engineering and Science backgrounds, students take an appropriate set of existing postgraduate level modules (120 credits) to provide a common water and informatics education base. This culminates with the Summer School at the end of Y1, which provides an opportunity for supervisors and PhD students from all cohorts and diverse disciplinary backgrounds to share their experiences of working on water and informatics related projects, and network with industrial partners and members of the Advisory Board. The cohort experience is enhanced by further specialist Masters level modules hosted by GW4 partner institutions in Y2 and Y3. Through industrial or overseas academic institution visits, which last up to 3 months, each student will experience formal career development (e.g. shaping water industry policy) while operating within a completely new research environment. Leadership and transferable skills are enhanced through annual training, ensuring students make a successful transition to the career of their choice.
Turnock, University of Centre for Doctoral Training in INTELLIgent Maritime Systems creating a new EP/S007326/1 Professor SR Southampton GENeration of technical SpEciAlists
The Centre for Doctoral Training in INTELLIgent maritime systems: creating a new GENeration in maritime SpEciAlists (INTELLIGENSEA) will champion a sector that is vital for national prosperity but one that has had limited co-ordinated investment. The four leading universities in maritime engineering of Southampton, Newcastle, Strathclyde and University College London have collaborated for over 15 years in providing distance learning postgraduate training through the MTEC consortium. We will use this experience to collaborate with industry leaders to deliver a cohesive training experience that will equip the nation with a diverse workforce of trained Doctoral graduates. Page 66 of 183 These technical specialists will be ready for rapid engagement with industry and capable of ensuring that the UK is able to compete internationally in the ever growing maritime sector: vital to international trade with 90% of all goods transported by ship, a secure future supply of energy either from oil and gas extraction or in the rapidly expanding area of offshore renewables; the sustainable exploitation of other marine resources such as seabed minerals; and aquaculture generating food to support the world's expanding population whose average wealth continues to grow. The UK has a long history of maritime research and innovation, however: the talent that sustained industry academia for the last few decades is approaching retirement and the revolution in digital technology, smart materials, advanced manufacturing and ability to coordinate multiple systems to carry out complex tasks requires a co-ordinated approach to recruitment of high achieving graduates from a diverse range of backgrounds and science, technology and mathematics disciplines.
Crucial to the success of INTELLIGENSEA will be the quality of individually tailored training the students will received throughout their four long programme. Complementing (1) the conventional training benefits of carrying out a rigorous research study to gain new knowledge will be: (2) a series of advanced of level technical modules drawn from the MTEC programme and a wide set across all four universities; (3) advanced skills specifically addressing the needs of intelligent maritime systems and contextualising the maritime industries and its challenges; and (4) an approach to industry skills that embeds them within the practical day-to-day experience of ensuring research projects deliver real impact.
The creation of a national co-ordinated approach to attracting and inspiring graduates into the maritime sector will benefit from the geographical distribution of the four Universities. Each university will play an important role in attracting the 16 top students each year but more crucially will provide a hub for the dispersed maritime industry to engage with their training. Leading maritime companies alongside a range of medium and many smaller companies will be able to help decide the research projects and then through placements embed the resultant research developments within their organisations thus stimulating the translation of novel ideas into practical impact. A series of face-to-face events and regular virtual working will build a community of research students, academic supervisors and industry advisors that will go on to provide a significant stimulus to the productivity of existing industry as well as helping foster an entrepreneurial approach that will generate new businesses.
Smith, Professor University of St EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Critical Resource Catalysis II: Integrating EP/S007334/1 AD Andrews Industry (CRITICAT II)
Overview: CRITICAT II is the 2nd phase of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Critical Resource Catalysis (https://www.criticat.co.uk/) and will address EPSRC Priority Area 10 "From Molecule to Product: Chemistry for Future Applications". Critical Resource Catalysis is the more efficient use of current feedstocks and energy resources, as well as the development of innovative new feedstock and energy solutions, and provides a unifying theme for our industry-facing, multicentre training environment. We will equip 80 PhD students with the skills to solve challenges across the "chemical continuum" i.e. the translation of fundamental chemistry and chemical engineering into manufacturing.
National Training Need: The UK chemical sector has an annual turnover of £60 billion, sustains 500,000 jobs and is consistently the UK's biggest manufacturing contributor to the balance of payments, with an annual £5 billion trade surplus. However, the lack of suitably trained graduates has been recognized by the UK government as a considerable threat to future growth opportunities. CRITICAT II will address these problems by producing a sustained pipeline of highly skilled students for the chemical sector who combine strong transferable skills and deep technical Page 67 of 183 knowledge of their chosen specialism with a broad understanding of cognate disciplines along the chemical continuum.
Need for Cohort-Based Approach: Challenges in chemistry and chemical engineering are typically complex in nature and it is widely recognised that teams with diverse technical backgrounds are better able to develop innovative solutions than are individuals from a single research discipline. Successful teams require excellent organizational, time-management and communication skills and a cohort-based approach will provide students with opportunities to develop and refine these important skills within a supportive environment. Teamwork will be embedded throughout the training program, exposing students to thbenefits of a multidisciplinary approach, and encouraging them to exploit the academic and industrial support provided by the CDT. The cohort will provide a network of expertise and contacts that will be a legacy when CRITICAT II graduates embark on their careers.
Enhanced Training: All students undertake an initial six-month single-site cohort-based training program at St Andrews that builds teamwork, transferable skills, inclusive practice and lasting bonds within the cohort. Industry and Active Learning weeks, together with experimental training rotations (across molecular catalysis, biocatalysis and chemical engineering) will provide exposure to core techniques. Industry partners are embedded throughout the program and will contribute to the student training experience through mentorship, workshop delivery and hosting student placements, as well as site visits and interactive activities. Flagship "Industry Challenge Projects" will allow teams of students to work collaboratively on industry-guided research problems that will serve as focal points for collaborative learning and cohort-building exercises. A 6- month research-training period follows, in collaboration with academic supervisor(s)/industry at their chosen institution, prior to specialized PhD studies in Years 2-4. All students will participate in at least one 3-month professional placement within the chemicals sector, or alternative (such as education or publishing) to strengthen engagement with end-users and demonstrate the enabling nature of catalysis in its broadest possible scientific, societal, and economic context.
Centre Expertise: CRITICAT II will integrate >20 industrial and professional partners with >80 academics from across three institutions. This expertise will form a collective with world-leading research training excellence and significant experience across the breadth of catalysis and chemical engineering spectrum.
Jennings, University of EPSRC CDT to Advance the Deployment of Connected and Autonomous EP/S007342/1 Professor P Warwick Vehicles
The EPSRC CDT to Advance the Deployment of Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAV) will develop interdisciplinary research leaders with the creativity, skills and vision for global breakthroughs in CAV technologies.
The UK has distinguished history in pioneering innovations in the automotive industry and has the ambition of becoming a world leader in CAV technologies. These technologies will enable new products and services, which will bring significant benefits to the public and for the UK economy, with impact across many sectors beyond the automotive industry. However, there is a major shortage of individuals in academia and industry with a sufficient depth and breadth of understanding in their science, systems integration and application. UK companies face a critical shortage of doctoral expertise as they necessarily expand their capabilities.
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To address this strategic challenge, we propose a three-institution CDT (University of Warwick, Loughborough University and University of Leeds) which will enable us to embrace the breadth and depth of underpinning science and technology in a number of key CAV challenge areas: I) Virtual/physical validation methodologies and tools; certification of autonomous driving systems; II) On and off board information processing for CAV (Fog/Edge computing, 5G V2X technologies); III) Cybersecurity, trust and privacy; IV) Business and insurance models, ethical considerations of transport automation, futuristic transport and mobility systems; V) Human factors of autonomous systems; VI) Autonomous vehicle systems (position, perception and mission/motion control, sensor technologies, AI).
No single institution can credibly address the range of emergent challenges on its own. Our CDT will involve academics with the experience of supervising over 300 successful doctoral students in these critical challenge areas, and for which the institutions are internationally renowned. The CDT will be led by WMG at the University of Warwick, a multidisciplinary department working with the UK automotive industry on research, innovation and skills development. In 2018, WMG will open the National Automotive Innovation Centre, a new 33,000m2 £150M investment by JLR and Tata Motors and the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund, addressing the 'smart and connected car' agenda of the UK Automotive Council. It will host a unique EPSRC-funded CAV simulator. The Institute for Transport Studies (ITS) at Leeds is the largest, most diverse and internationally influential transport studies group in the UK. ITS hosts a number of state-of-the-art research facilities such as the Leeds Institute of Data Analytics, Robotics at Leeds and the £3M Virtuocity facility, a centre for city simulation. Like Warwick, it is a partner of the Alan Turing Institute. Loughborough University is the academic lead for the £19M London Smart Mobility Living Lab, part of the new £100M Meridian Mobility initiative, and for which WMG is leading the £25M UK Central CAV testbed.
This CDT will offer a unique experience to its students, enabling them to experience a rich mix of training at the interfaces between traditional disciplines. Through a combination of individual research projects, group projects, industry-sponsored case-studies, problem-based learning, skills training and taught modules, researchers will work collectively, addressing both scientific and deployment challenges. Strong support and engagement with industry and government (e.g. through the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles, and through Meridian Mobility) will ensure that the research undertaken within the CDT will drive future UK economic growth through knowledge transfer and exploitation. Industry participation in the training provision and governance of the Centre will enhance the mobility of researchers, helping them throughout their careers to move seamlessly between industry and academia.
EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Delivering and Creating Tomorrow's EP/S007350/1 Bull, Professor D University of Bristol Immersive Experiences (ECLECTIC)
The creative economy is one of the most rapidly growing sectors of the world economy, and one that is highly transformative in terms of income- generation, job creation, export earnings and quality of life. The UK creative sector as growing twice as fast as the wider economy, and 1M new jobs will be needed by 2030, with specific needs for doctoral level skills. The sector contributes almost 9% of total UK GVA and employs 2.1 million people. A major opportunity for the UK is presented by emerging immersive technologies including, but not limited to Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Realties (VR/AR/MR)). This market is predicted to grow to $108 billion by 2021. The UK is excellently placed to drive this wave of change by undertaking research that enables new formats, new content, new audience experiences and new enabling technologies. It has the potential to become the most highly skilled nation and lead the world in this area.
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Bristol and the surrounding region offers one of the strongest creative clusters in the UK, hosting internationally renowned creatives such as Aardman, the BBC NHU, Silverback Films, Endemol, Tigress, IMDB, Plimsol, Wall to Wall, Films at 59 and Icon. Bristol is a UNESCO Creative City of Film,and is known as the Green Hollywood because of its strength in natural history filmmaking.
In this context, we propose a new Centre for Doctoral Training that will address major research and sector challenges in immersive creative technologies. This will be underpinned by our philosophy of the Creative Continuum - a new interdisciplinary framework for co-creation of technology and visual content - where the creative crafts of storytelling, narrative and visual aesthetics are seamlessly combined with the exploitation of perceptual awareness, cognitive processing and new digital formats and platforms to ensure optimum immersive experiences. Our CDT will be a hot-house for co-production and co-creation, with the University working hand-in-hand with world-leading industry partners and entrepreneurs to deliver an outstanding training environment which balances commercial imperatives, creative innovation and rigorous science.
ECLECTIC's research focus will be on the challenges within, and the interactions between, the domains in the Creative Continuum, where the arts, psychology and computer science collide, where systems are co-designed to take account of technological, perceptual and creative constraints, and where creation, delivery and consumption are intimately coupled. We will bring a critical eye, recognising that: i) immersion can be experienced via various screen and live platforms, not just VR and AR, ii) immersion can be a collective experience and iii) senses other than hearing and vision play a key role for VR/AR. We focus on:
- Creating the experience: We must understand how acquisition, production and delivery are constrained by technology, narrative, aesthetic and content type - fully exploiting the extended video parameter space while taking account of perceptual limitations. Intelligent algorithms that facilitate immersion, as well as acquisition methods and formats that support content driven adaption are needed.
- Delivering the Experience: Developing platforms, technology and representations to support new forms of content delivery; developing new post production and compression processes to ensure content is delivered in a manner that preserves its intended immersive properties and directorial values.
- Measuring the Experience: The user/audience experience is key and must maximise engagement with the content and narrative. Only through perceptually robust means of assessing media quality and immersion, can we inform both content creation and editorial decision making.
Wood, Professor University of EPSRC CENTRE FOR DOCTORAL TRAINING IN ENGINEERING INTERFACES EP/S007369/1 RJK Southampton TO TRANSFORM MUSCULOSKELETAL HEALTH
OVERVIEW: Our CDT is a unique partnership combining training expertise from the University of Southampton (UoS), Bournemouth University and the Centre for Research in Medical Devices University of Ireland, Galway connecting world-leading academic, clinical and industrial partners between the UK and the EU. Our vision is that our students will be the interdisciplinary health engineering leaders of the future. They will know how to solve musculoskeletal (MSK) health problems from an engineering perspective but will also understand the patient need, the clinical implementation and critically how to get engineering health technology adopted by the market. Page 70 of 183
The CDT will lead the development of engineering solutions to MSK conditions across three areas of critical global musculoskeletal health need: 1) Optimisation of stem cell based methods for the growth of hard and soft tissue replacements. 2) Enhancements in implant, prosthetic and orthotic performance using scanning and sensor technologies. 3) Improvement of implant, prosthetic and orthotic functional outcome using virtual reality and robotic-based surgery and rehabilitation approaches.
THE NEED FOR OUR DOCTORAL SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS: This CDT is driven by the Life Sciences Industrial Strategy, which identifies interdisciplinary training as central for bringing to market novel engineering technologies to meet escalating healthcare need. FortisNet, our collaborative network in MSK health has developed the platform for this bid over the past 3 years. The partnership has established regional and national collaborative relationships in MSK health between industry, the NHS, stakeholder and academic researchers Our members have provided evidence that the students we will train will be highly sought after by their industry. We will equip students for a burgeoning UK and the EU Medtech labour market. The UK Medtech industry generates a turnover of £21B with employment growth of >11%; the Irish Medtech sector is ne of the five emerging global hubs and is the second largest employer of Medtech professionals in Europe. OUR PROGRAMME APPROACH: A rolling programme of cohort-based activities, will include technical training in engineering and bioengineering and discipline-specific modules alongside training in generic and transferable skills; intellectual property, communication skills, reimbursement strategies, medical device evaluation, ethics, regulatory affairs. entrepreneurship and public understanding. Each student will receive training in responsible research and innovation (including social responsibility), impact and translation and wider user engagement (including public, policy and industry), centrally coordinated by the UoS Doctoral College. Our students will benefit from access to our established patent and public involvement and NHS clinician's groups. Throughout the training there will be regular student presentations and reports to academics and industry representatives; and open-session interviews to facilitate future employment. Cohort cohesion will be further enhanced through student-run seminars and social events. A combination of assessed credit accumulating modules, "flipped classroom" group working, short courses and workshops, skills training and development, personal promotion, career development and industrial placements.
Ashbrook, University of St EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Magnetic Resonance for Chemical, EP/S007393/1 Professor SEM Andrews Material and Life Sciences - EastSPIN
Magnetic Resonance (MR) is a field that impacts across Chemistry, Physics, Materials Science, Food Science, Geology, Environmental Science and Biology, while the use of MR Imaging has transformed modern medicine. MR instrumentation represents a multibillion dollar industry, but this is dwarfed by the incalculable scientific, health, economic and societal impacts from chemical validation, determination of molecular structures and dynamics, sophisticated medical imaging, drug and ligand screening. Modern techniques, methodologies and instrumentation are now so advanced that it is all too easy for a PhD student to become an expert in a very specific sub-topic without having an understanding of how their skill set might impact in a broader or a different field. While specialised understanding has, historically, been essential for many of the major advances in the field, what is now badly needed now is an appreciation of the relevance of MR, and the linkages that are possible between the different modalities of MR. This facilitates future scientific breakthroughs, generating significant industrial, economic and societal benefits.
The EastSPIN CDT will address this challenge directly. It will embrace the inter- and multidisciplinary nature of MR, providing specialist research training across multiple facets of the subject and in the application of these sophisticated techniques to challenging problems across the Page 71 of 183 chemical, material and life sciences. The three partner universities have internationally recognized research and leadership in solution- and solid-state NMR, EPR/DNP, imaging, computational MR, software development and MR instrumentation, making us uniquely placed to deliver this overarching training program.
Collaboration lies at the heart of EastSPIN; between institutions, techniques and disciplines. Thus, all PhD projects will be jointly supervised. Projects that apply MR techniques in a novel way or in a new area will be especially encouraged, as will those developing fundamental methodologies. The student cohort will have a unique and individually tailored training experience. Taught courses delivered throughout the first year will provide students with detailed theoretical and practical training in all aspects of MR, a wider understanding of the fields where it has impact, the transferrable skills vital to their future success and initial experience of enterprise, policy making and commercialisation. Professional skills will be further developed during a three-month outward facing professional internship, giving students a sense of the available career trajectories and enhancing their employability. Placement themes will include industry and enterprise, policy, publishing, consulting, instrumentation and facility management, and will be developed with a range of project partners. Development of research skills, communication skills and data handling will continue throughout the course. Technology will be embedded within each block, and there will be particular emphasis on the integral role of computation in all aspects of MR. The dedicated training program will build a strong cohort feel, and intra-cohort interactions will be promoted through the outreach training, conferences and a range of social activities, enabling students to benefit from the skills, knowledge and experience of others. Diversity and inclusion will also be promoted at all levels of EastSPIN.
EastSPIN will provide a generation of MR practitioners that are uniquely equipped not only to contribute to scientific developments within the field (and the future opportunities these ultimately enable in diverse areas), but to become the scientific, commercial and societal leaders, of the future, with the capacity and skills to address the significant problems that the UK, and the world more generally, faces.
Cockerill, EP/S007415/1 University of Leeds EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Renewable Energy Integration Professor TT
We will build a world-leading EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training exploring the technologies, tools, techniques and strategies essential for successfully integrating large quantities of renewable energy into the whole energy system. Our key themes are: 1) Applying renewable energy to the decarbonisation of transport, industrial processes and domestic heat, 2) Overcoming constraints that limit increased integration of variable renewables (e.g. wind, solar) into the electricity grid, 3) Deploying renewable energy systems so as to minimise their negative environmental impacts while maximising climate, and wider, benefits. We will devise solutions, whilst training a cohort of at least 50 PhD graduates that will contribute directly to a net reduction in energy related greenhouse gas emissions. The combination of energy, engineering and climate/environment research excellence at Leeds means we are uniquely well placed to deliver the proposed CD in Renewable Energy Integration.
The last 15 years have seen major investment into research and development for many renewable energy technologies. This has helped to drive a large increase in renewable energy deployment in the UK, with the share of the total energy mix almost doubling in the last five years (to 8.9% in 2016) such that renewables now contribute 26% of electricity generation (2016 figure). Further increases will require the challenges of more effective integration to be coherently addressed. To find solutions, the UK will need researchers with a comprehensive understanding of whole Page 72 of 183 systems approaches, who are comfortable dealing with cross-disciplinary research problems, and at the same time have a deep understanding of particular technologies.
Our CDT in Renewable Energy Integration will produce PhD graduates with exactly this skill set. It is highly likely that our graduates will readily find employment that makes full use of their skills, as our proposal is a response to clear demand expressed by wide ranging industry consultation. Over its lifetime, demand for the Centre's 50+ graduates is only likely to grow. Employment in the UK renewables sector stood at 201,500 in 2016 (ONS Data), with UK government policy still focussed on further reducing carbon dioxide emissions from the energy and transport sectors. Globally, more than $1 trillion has been invested in renewable energy over the last 5 years with the industry employing 10 million people. The pace of deployment is expected to accelerate, creating further jobs (24 million by 2030) and contributing to pollution reduction. While much of the past growth has been in electricity generation, in the future renewables will play an increasing role in end-use applications such as industrial heating, cooling and transportation. These latter areas in particular have received relatively little research attention, and form a major focus of the Centre's activity. Our graduates will possess the technical and wider skills to provide much needed leadership in these areas.
Renewable energy integration challenges are intrinsically cross-disciplinary, often with a myriad of possible approaches. By way of example, some potential solutions for the grid integration of variable renewables include energy storage, developing flexible biomass fed 'back-up' generating plant, improving prediction of resource availability, modifying end user demand behaviour via innovative time based pricing strategies or indeed a combination of these. Our approach within the CDT is to pro-actively bring supervisors together with stakeholder to identify specific, relevant and timely PhD projects to be offered to each year's intake. We will then recruit strong graduates from a range of appropriate backgrounds to take on those projects, initially furnishing them with the cross-disciplinary, whole systems skills required for the early stages of their research, and then developing the deep expertise required for ultimate success in their PhD.
Watson, EP/S007431/1 Newcastle University EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Cloud Computing for Big Data Analytics Professor P
We are drowning in "Big Data": the huge datasets now being created in almost all areas, from healthcare through manufacturing to e-commerce. While it is widely recognised that Big Data can positively transform the economy and society, action to achieve this is being severely restricted by a severe skills shortage. A government Science and Technology Committee report noted that if this could be addressed then 58,000 jobs could be created, and £216bn contributed to our economy (2.3% of GDP), over a five-year period.
As the EPSRC state: "The rapidly expanding scale, complexity and diversity of data generated by digital technologies, sensors and the Internet of Things offer huge potential to deliver benefits for society and the economy." These benefits can come in the form of improving existing products and services, for example analysing data from sensors on production lines to better understand where and why faults occur. Data can also benefit individuals, organisations and society by enabling innovative new products and services. Analysing data from healthcare wearables can, for example, allow users to be informed before a serious medical problem occurs, giving them time to take preventative action. Unfortunately, few organisations are able to extract value from Big Data. We have run a highly successful CDT in this area since 2014, and our close collaboration with over 100 companies over this time has reinforced the fact that there is still a major UK and international skills shortage Page 73 of 183 preventing organisations from extracting value from the data that is available to them. This is validated by industry surveys - one recently showed that while 90% of senior managers said that Big Data was relevant to their industry, 66% said they lacked the skills to implement solutions.
The goal of our CDT is therefore to create the future leaders in data science who will pioneer the new approaches needed to seize these opportunities for economic and societal benefit through extracing value from Big Data. It is widely recognised by industry (including those we work closely with) that this requires a multi-disciplinary combination of skills in statistics and computing (especially in the design of cloud-based systems that can process large volumes of data and/or data flowing at high speed from sensors and applications), along with the ability to apply these skills to real problems in the application area (e.g. healthcare or manufacturing). This combination is not provided by universities' traditional, single subject-based approaches to research and teaching. Our CDT addresses this by taking students with excellent first degrees in computing and mathematics, and training them together as a single cohort in the multi-disciplinary skills industry and society need.
Our existing CDT is already proving the success of this multi-disciplinary approach. It is attracting very high quality applicants, and producing researchers who are demonstrating that our approach leads to innovative new methods that are solving important problems across a range of application domains. It has also attracted the attention of many companies regionally, nationally and internationally. These are sponsoring students, helping design the training programme, creating projects for the students, participating in the supervisory teams, providing placements and advising the CDT's management.
The next generation of the CDT will build on the experience and networks we have grown since 2014, but we will work with our industry partners to grasp new, exciting, and major opportunities, and to further enhance the experience for our students. This includes introducing teaching in important new topics identified by industry need (e.g. visualization and the Internet of Things) and exploiting the research and engagement opportunities created by Newcastle joining the Alan Turing Institute and being awarded the UK's National Innovation Centre for Data.
University of EP/S007482/1 Gill, Dr SPA EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Innovative Metal Processing (IMPaCT) Leicester
Metal processing is a vital component of manufacturing. Manufacturing is the third largest sector in the UK economy and in 2017 manufacturing in the United Kingdom accounted for over 8% of the workforce and 12% (£150 billion in gross value added) of the country's national output. However, manufacturing's share of nominal GDP has fallen from over 22 per cent in 1990 and there is a clear trend in low value, high volume manufacturing moving to developing countries while in the UK higher technology areas now generate the better gross value added returns. The future growth of the sector is therefore dependent on its ability to design and make high value products. In large part, it is the high quality knowledge base and skilled technical workforce that makes for a successful transformation from a resource and labour-intensive to a knowledge- intensive sector and ensures that high technology metal industries flourish in the UK. To capture the economic value of innovation in research, our IMPaCT CDT has built strong partnerships between industry and Midlands universities, providing a vital mechanism for knowledge transfer and talent supply. The East Midlands and West Midlands are regions with a high level of employment in manufacturing. The Midlands are advantaged by a high number of advanced manufacturing companies and world-leading universities, which are working together to overcome the UK productivity gap and to boost regional and national economic prosperity.
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An important aspect of supporting high-value manufacturing in the UK is the PhD training of young researchers. However, it has been pointed out by many companies in the UK that the lack of well-trained materials engineers remains a concern for high value manufacturing industry. In this proposal, the Universities of Leicester, Birmingham and Nottingham seek continued funding to support our EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Innovative Metal Processing (IMPaCT). We are continually adapting to changes in the indutrial landscape and have grown our substantial industrial partner base accordingly. Our partners have proposed and are supporting research projects in IMPaCT which they consider strategically important to the stimulation of the UK manufacturing sector, its modernisation and production efficiency, and the promotion of UK security, protection of the environment and consumer safety for energy generation and supply.
Building on our successful operation in the past 4 years, the second implementation of IMPaCT plans to train at least 70 PhDs, of which 40 are sponsored by EPSRC, 20 are funded by the 3 universities, and 10 are fully funded by our industrial partners. We will train PhD researchers with the combination of experimental, analytical, computational, technology management and transferable skills that are needed to build industrial innovation. The three institutions have complimentary expertise in metal processing, metallurgy, materials science, solid mechanics, computer modelling and artificial intelligence. We will train students from a wide range of backgrounds with degrees in mechanical engineering, materials science, chemistry, physics, mathematics, as well as software engineering and informatics. The training is provided across our spectrum of disciplines through three programmes: first year technical programme (120 credits modules plus 60 credits project), personal and professional skills programme (60 credits) and PhD research programme (3 years). Cohort-based learning is achieved through numerous shared activities, including our annual residential summer school, various team building activities, student-organised seminars, industrial talks and visits, and a journal club.
Cowling, EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Intelligent Games and Game Intelligence EP/S007490/1 University of York Professor PI (IGGI)
Digital games have extraordinary economic, social and cultural impact: globally there are 2.6bn players, with annual revenues of $116bn and a year-on-year growth rate of 10%. The UK games industry is an international leader - UK game sales are valued at £4.3bn with 12,000 directly employed. Research breakthroughs over the past 2 years in AI and Machine Learning , areas actively studied by current IGGI PhD students, have arisen through games research. Games are leading the "data and AI revolution" (HM Government Industrial Strategy 2017) in the UK's £87bn Creative Industries. Games have become a massive lever for social good through applied games for health, education, and science.
However, the games and creative industries are facing tough challenges, with Brexit and other factors intensifying an existing the shortage of research-trained postgraduates into a "war for talent" (UKIE 2016). 74% of UK games employers now report a skills shortage in technical development (Creative Skillset 2018), and 87% have already recruited internationally due to lacking UK talent supply (UKIE 2017). At the same time, current AI research breakthroughs are stirring intense industry interest, but are not adopted, as 95% of UK games companies are small companies with little capacity for translational research and development (UKIE 2018).
IGGI first received funding in 2014, and has since been a huge success in raising the level of innovation in the UK games industry, with the highest-possible ratings in our EPSRC mid-term review. The next phase of IGGI will close the talent and research gap with an interdisciplinary research and training centre that advances and translates research in AI, data, and design for games. Directly collaborating with over 70 Page 75 of 183 companies and other societal stakeholders, IGGI will inject 60+ PhD-qualified research leaders and state of the art research into the UK games and creative industries, realising the massive potential of games for social good and econic benefit.
IGGI stands for Intelligent Games and Game Intelligence: (1) Intelligent Games: Advancing research in game AI, analytics, design, and responsible innovation to produce impact via industry-ready models, methods, tools, case studies, and trained leaders that boost the UK games industry through more intelligent, creative, and ethical entertainment games. Strong, fun, and human-like non-player characters are the most direct application, moving beyond the AI-as-a-moving target paradigm still common in games. Equally important is research into new data-driven AI techniques to augment human creativity by "filling in the details" of human sketches and through AI agents for game testing.
(2) Game Intelligence: Research aimed at maximizing the enormous opportunity for science and social impact from games - particularly through the design and investigation of new "applied games" for health, science, and education. Every action in an online game produces a piece of data, and these huge data sets have started to generate important science, for example current IGGI students have been using data to measure behavioural traits such as IQ, agreeableness, immersion and attention, and investigating the potential of games in learning, dementia care and emotional expression.
To accomplish this, IGGI's updated training programme and over 60 research supervisors will provide students with rigorous training and hands- on experience in AI, programming, game design, research methods, and data science, with end user and industry engagement and responsible research and innovation from day one. Directly working with the UK games and creative industries through placements, workshops, game development challenges, and an annual conference, students will advance and translate research into validated, readily usable methods and tools. IGGI students' research will provide much richer games, and greatly improved understanding of the social potential of games.
Staunton, University of EP/S007504/1 EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Modelling of Heterogeneous Systems Professor JB Warwick
Next-generation science and engineering projects demand next-generation computational models capable of addressing heterogeneity in materials, structures and phases over a range of length- and time-scales. For example, the performance of superalloy turbine blades is controlled by the fundamental physics and chemistry of the electrons and nuclei on the sub-nanometre scale which impact on how the atoms are arranged and, in their tens and hundreds of thousands, determine the alloy's microstructure. Design of manufactured components then has to account for the microstructural and mechanical properties averaged over much larger regions. To enable a step change in design, in this case to increase the efficiency and reduce the weight of an aeroplane, two factors have to be considered. Not only are sophisticated computational models required for each scale but also the effect of uncertainties of output quantities (i.e. probabilistic error bars derived from presence of defects, compositional variations, thermal effects and other forms of disorder) on the modelling at subsequent scales has to be carefully quantified. There are many other projects confronted by the same generic challenges, e.g. development of new batteries for our homes and transportation requires detailed atomic-scale insight into electronic dynamics, as well as estimates of product lifetimes and environmental stability; similarly, high-throughput seawater desalination requires design of nanoporous membranes which relies on accurate coupling of models of fluids on the nano- and micro-scales. Page 76 of 183
The current paradigm for computer modelling focuses on one length- or time-scale at a time, relying on ad hoc methods for making connections between different scales; the CDT will transform this landscape by being the first explicitly targeting the modelling of heterogeneous systems required by industry and academia. Postgraduate students will be trained to develop robust research software and to share best practice. They will be encouraged to ensure the software is sustainable, well-documented and straightforward to use. Since by their nature many cutting edge science and engineering projects are multidisciplinary and require a diverse range of modelling, the students will also be comfortable working in flexible, interdisciplinary environments and able to assess and quantify sources of uncertainty in the modelling. This CDT will ensure these outcomes by creating and training cohesive cohorts of post-graduate students and using well-integrated expertise in the University from 5 fundamental research disciplines (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Engineering and the Warwick Manufacturing Group), 3 interdisciplinary research centres in scientific computing, predictive modelling and fluid dynamics and support from research software engineers.
The CDT will strive for a diverse intake, in particular increasing the numbers of women working in computational modelling. While the training we propose, which will run throughout the four year programme, will be focussed on modelling/simulation, it will be set in the context of integration with experiment and application to industrial problems so that the PhD projects have access to 'real data'. PhD co-supervisors will be drawn from academic experimental colleagues and industrial contacts. In September each year, prior to an annual student-organised conference, experimental and industry partners, the CDT's Steering Panel, potential PhD project supervisors and current CDT students will propose and discuss challenges in study groups in a research project co-creation event.
Students trained through the CDT will be in high demand for their ability to work across disciplines, develop software that implements novel solutions to scientific problems and produce outputs that come along with error estimates, helping to address the skills shortage in science and engineering.
Marshall, University of EP/S007512/1 EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Machining Science Technologies Professor MBJ Sheffield
The aim of the centre is to train research engineers with skills and expertise at the forefront of knowledge in machining science. Almost all of the products within everyday life contain some aspect of machining, and as such it makes a significant contribution to both our lives and the UK economy as a whole. This might come in the form of hole drilling in 33m long aircraft wings manufactured at Broughton in Wales, used on the Airbus A380 aeroplane that transports us across the world, through to grinding processes used to shape replacement hip joints, now with ever increasing levels of customisation allowing surgeons to personalise patient care. However, as we seek ever more improved performance from these products, we inevitably create increased challenges with respect to their manufacture, and a need to further improve how they are machined in order to avoid increases in cost.
Research and training in machining science is able to match these challenges, and deliver both benefit for us as individual consumers and for the economy as a whole. The Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) at Sheffield has been central to innovation in this area for a number of years. This has resulted in reductions in the cost of machining components, for example savings of 80% in the time to machine fan discs used by Rolls-Royce in aero-engines, ensuring the manufacturing costs of engines remain competitive, in turn helping minimise the cost of Page 77 of 183 air travel. Similarly, the increased knowledge and competitiveness of the UK economy in areas such as this, has led to Rolls-Royce, Boeing, and McLaren all opening production facilities on the Advanced Manufacturing Park in Sheffield, leading to new employment and wealth creation.
In recent years, the AMRC model and its successes have been replicated across the UK through the government's strategy in High Value Manufacturing. We now aim to create the next generation of research engineers trained in machining science, who through our innovative industrially co-created programme are able to embrace and contribute to key industrial challenges, and support this area of national economic importance.
Leng, Professor University of StatForge: EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Frontiers of Statistical Science EP/S007555/1 C Warwick for Public Good
The vision of StatForge is to inspire the most able statistics PhD students to take up statistical challenges, particularly within the public and third sector organisations, generated by the 21st century data explosion. StatForge will create an intense and thorough training environment in modern Statistical Science, spanning theoretical, methodological and applied aspects of the discipline and centred on addressing the scalability challenge imposed by the volume and complexity of modern data. Students will also undergo hand-on training in cognate areas of relevance to these sectors such as data confidentiality and ethics which enable them to become ambassadors in communicating uncertainty based on responsible principled statistical analysis. StatForge will build and maintain high quality contacts, both for providing rich, challenging MSc projects and for maintaining continued engagement partners for mutual benefit.
StatForge will address the acute shortage of strong PhD students in Statistics working with and employed within government and third sector organisations. These organisations suffer disproportionately from the acute shortage of PhD graduates with expertise in 21st Century Statistics who can address emerging highly complex data challenges, as these sectors lack the financial resource required to compete with the private sectors. John Aston (Chief Scientific Officer, Home Office) told us that "More efficient use of data through state-of-the-art statistical methodology can increase the benefits from public investment in many areas. Long-term innovative agendas are impaired by the severe shortage of highly skilled statisticians and data scientists in government due to the demand from the private sector. I believe a significant contribution to these issues can come from this well designed academic training programme closely integrating with government and the third sector."
The StatForge curriculum has been designed to meet the statistical demands of government and third sector organisations. StatForge will deliver modules in modern Statistical Science that will systematically cover latest developments in statistical methodology, Computational Statistics, high-dimensional data analysis, statistical learning, Optimisation, Operations Research and applications in the Social and Biomedical Sciences. The well-established Academy for PhD Training in Statistics (APTS) programme will complement the modules and connect the StatForge cohort with the majority of first-year UK Statistics PhDs. The "Partner Research Laboratory" (PRL) will be based on regular meetings throughout the year, and will emphasise important skills including scientific communication and dissemination, data governance, ethics (especially within the EPSRC Framework for Responsible Innovation), data privacy, consulting skills, research reproducibility, as well as experience of working in teams with StatForge partners. In their first year, students will spend four months on carefully curated projects within one of the StatForge public or third sector partners, aiming to deliver usable solutions to the problems they pose. The MSc projects will be carefully co-created by the partner organisation and the StatForge management through extensive discussion on PRL days, small data study groups, liaison pairs and workshops. Page 78 of 183
StatForge will continue active engagement with its partner institutions by extending the PRL activity via data clubs, further placements, as well as providing consulting advice. Bespoke fortnightly seminars, annual research & student-organised workshops, joint symposia with government and third sector organisations will encourage intelligent debate amongst cohorts and beyond, promote responsible, accountable and impactful scholarly work for the research communities and the public, and nurture a new culture of working for the public good.
Hastie, Heriot-Watt EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Robotics and Autonomous Systems (CDT- EP/S007563/1 Professor HF University RAS)
Robots, autonomous systems and AI will revolutionise the world's economy and society for the foreseeable future, working for us, beside us and interacting with us. The UK urgently needs graduates with the technical skills and industry awareness to create an innovation pipeline from academic research to global markets. Key application areas include manufacturing, construction, transport and automotive, offshore energy, defence, and support for the ageing population. The recent Industrial Strategy Review set out four Grand Challenges that address the potential impact of RAS on the economy and society at large. Meeting these challenges requires the next generation of graduates to be trained in key enabling techniques and underpinning theories across Robotics, Autonomy, AI and Interaction and be able to work effectively in cross- disciplinary projects.
The proposed overarching theme can be characterised as how to obtain successful, safe interactions. Firstly, robots must safely interact physically with environments, requiring compliant manipulation, active sensing, world modelling and planning. Secondly, robots must interact safely with people either in face-to-face natural dialogue or through advanced, multimodal interfaces. Thirdly, key to safe interactions is the ability for introspective condition monitoring, prognostics and health management, including validation and verification. Finally, success in all these interactions depends on foundational interaction enablers including techniques for vision, machine learning algorithms and other AI techniques including NLP.
The Edinburgh Centre of Robotics (ECR) combines Heriot-Watt University and the University of Edinburgh and has shown to be an effective venue for a CDT. ECR combines internationally leading science with an outstanding track record of exploitation, and world class infrastructure with approximately £100M in investment from government and industry including EPSRC capital equipment award and EPSRC/Indutry funded ORCA and NCNR Hubs, as well as, approximately 15% of EPSRC standard grant research funding. A critical mass of over 50 experienced supervisors cover the underpinning disciplines crucial to RAS interaction, including soft robotics, bio-inspired systems, human-robot interaction, swarms and collaborative robotics, sensing, embedded control, multi-agent decision making and maritime field robotics.
The CDT-RAS will align with and further develop the highly successful, well-established CDT-RAS four-year PhD programme, with taught courses on the underpinning theory and state of the art and research training closely linked to career relevant skills in creativity, RRI and innovation. The CDT-RAS will provide cohort-based training with three hallmarks that distinguish students from ECR including: i) innovation training and ii) technical training combined with a foundation of iii) international experience. We will strengthen the cohort through formal activities such as annual conferences and less formal events such as social evenings. Recruitment efforts will focus on recruiting top quality students from around the world and increasing diversity. Students will develop an assessed learning portfolio, tailored to individual interests and needs, with access to industry and end-users as required. The single-city location of Edinburgh enables stimulating, cohort-wide activities that Page 79 of 183 build commercial awareness, cross-disciplinarily teamwork, public outreach, and ethical understanding, so that Centre graduates will be equipped to guide and benefit from the disruptions in technology and commerce currently happening and pending.
Our vision for the CDT-RAS is to build on the current success and ensure the CDT-RAS continues to be a major international force that can make a generational leap in the training of innovation-ready postgraduates, who are experienced in safe deployment of robotic and autonomous systems in the real world.
Coppens, University College EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Nature Inspired Solutions for Engineering EP/S007601/1 Professor M London (NISE)
Whilst UK innovation performance is strong internationally, it lacks the skills and talent needed to drive and support future growth. Developing innovation skills and train talented individuals, which will fuel the UK Industrial Strategy, based on a methodological approach that takes inspiration from nature, forms the core of this proposal. Nature-inspired engineering is the application of fundamental scientific mechanisms underpinning desirable properties observed in nature (e.g., resilience, scalability, efficiency) to inform the design of advanced technological solutions. This CDT proposal has evolved from the £5M EPSRC "Frontier Engineering" Centre for Nature-Inspired Engineering (CNIE) based at UCL and established in 2013. Driven by our systematic methodological focus, and strong engagement with our industrial partners, the CNIE already has a firm track record - noted in our 2016 mid-term review - of delivering innovative solutions through world-class engineering research. To date, CNIE researchers have demonstrated the transformative power of the nature-inspired engineering approach through step-change advances in fuel cell technology, catalysis, multiphase reactor engineering, materials for the built environment and dental implants.
We now endeavour to systematise this approach and develop a multidisciplinary training methodology for Nature Inspired Solutions in Engineering (NISE). The NISE CDT will be uniquely placed to strengthen and expand collaborations at the interface between science and engineering, and design-based training and research. It will provide practical innovation training at all stages of the PhD process. Our graduates will strengthen UK science and business innovation across multiple challenge areas (from data to early diagnosis and precision medicine, healthy ageing, prospering from the energy revolution, accelerating innovative healthcare and medicines, clean and flexible energy, manufacturing and materials of the future).
The NIS CDT will attract both scientists and engineers from a range of disciplines. Such a model provides the appropriate balance between cohort identity, scientific and engineering disciplines, and end-user needs (both in the academic sector and industry). The students will be trained as a cohort with training delivered not only within UCL, but also at specific external and industrial locations. The educational programme will train the students in the unique NIE methodology, creativity and innovation through core foundational modules, project-based, and research-led teaching. Being located in London, we will also make use of the finest London can offer in terms of inspiration by nature, from London Zoo and Kew Gardens through two week-long courses. Transferable skills will be taught through UCL postgraduate skills courses and leadership development programmes (e.g., entrepreneurship, IP development, and management). Students will receive training in Responsible Research and Innovation. Seminars by academic, industrial and clinical leaders will be offered on a regular basis through a seminar series, which the students will co-organise.
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Cohorts of more advanced students will engage with students starting the programme, through peer-to-peer training/mentorship and by delivery of research lectures. The breadth of training will be ensured by the stipulation that almost all students will be co-advised across disciplines (typically, two supervisors from different departments). This advanced development will be strengthened by the opportunity for students to undertake "industry secondments" (3-6 months duration). Every student will have an industrial project mentor, who will enable insightful industrial input to their training and will provide the relevant user need and challenge.
Imperial College EP/S00761X/1 Cotter, Dr C EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Mathematics of Planet Earth London
The CDT in the Mathematics of Planet Earth (MPE) will address the urgent national need for highly skilled interdisciplinary mathematical scientists capable of developing and combining mathematical and computational models to tackle critical problems related to the state of our planet, its life-supporting capacity, and the impact of human activities. This need has been recognised in the February 2018 Blackett review 'Computational modelling: technological futures'.
In 2017, devastating tropical storms wrought havoc across the Caribbean islands, the Florida peninsula and the Texas coastline, monsoon floods affected millions in south Asia, while mudslides and flooding in Sierra Leone killed hundreds and left thousands homeless. In the future, we can expect many more such deadly natural disasters linked to our changing climate.
In January 2018, the UK government set out plans for improving the environment within a generation in its document 'A Green Future: Our 25 Year Plan to Improve the Environment' Similar initatives across the globe are creating an unprecedented demand from research organisations, public institutions and private industry for highly-qualified scientists whose skill-set spans physical and data-driven mathematical modelling approaches, along with the computational skills needed to successfully deploy them, and the interdisciplinary contextual skills required to apply them to practical applications and to communicate the outcomes of their research to both stakeholders and the public. Meeting this demand requires the training of a new generation of mathematical scientists who are knowledgable across the broad range of mathematics that unifies these subjects and underpins the techniques employed to model the Earth system. The role of the MPE CDT will offer this training through an ambitious and outstanding cohort training programme, built on the experience gained since 2013.
This is an international challenge: we are partnered with MPE programmes across the globe: the SIAM MPE Activity Group, the MPE Network in the Netherlands, The MPE-UNESCO programme in Portugal, the DFG Collaborative Research Centre on Data Assimilation in Germany, the year-long programme in MPE at SAMSI (USA).
The highly successful partnership between the Mathematics Department at Imperial College London and the School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Science at the University of Reading has put these two institutions in a unique position to lead UK activities in the MPE and, in particular, to offer a world class CDT focussing on the EPSRC priority area: Mathematical and Computational Modelling, with a specific focus on the Planet Earth. The two institutions bring together an impressive internationally renowned group of researchers in the field of MPE. The highly experienced CDT leadership team has already established efficient and effective procedures for the everyday running of the CDT and for seamlessly delivering its cohort programme across the two sites. Supervisory expertise will be offered by more than 80 experienced academics Page 81 of 183 in collaboration with key external partners, including the Met Office, the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting, the National Physical Laboratory, the energy company EDF, and Air Worldwide (pioneers in the catastrophe modeling industry).
In addition to individual PhD projects, bespoke lecture courses will be combined with team research projects, residential short courses, workshops, and communications and outreach training. A core component of the cohort programme will be a flagship ten-week summer programme hosted by the Met Office in Exeter. This will offer the students lecture courses and research seminars by leading experts, internships with Met Office staff and working in small teams to tackle challenging real-world problems.
Imperial College EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Next Generation Synthesis & Reaction EP/S007636/1 Hii, Professor KK London Technology (Synthesis 4.0)
Chemistry is a key underpinning science for solving many global problems. The ability to make any molecule or material in any quantity needed, in a prescribed timescale, and in a sustainable way, is important for the discovery and supply of new medicines to cure diseases, agrochemicals for better crop yields/protection, as well as new electronic and smart materials to improve our daily lives.
Traditionally, synthetic chemistry is performed manually in conventional glassware. This approach is becoming increasingly inadequate to keep pace with the demand for greater accuracy and reproducibility of reactions needed to support further discovery and development, including scaling up processes for manufacturing. The future development of Chemistry will require reactions to be performed under precisely controlled conditions, with full capture of reaction conditions and outcomes. The data generated will be valuable for future development of better reactions and better predictive tools that will facilitate faster translation to industrial applications. This will require a new generation of molecular scientists that are conversant with the practical skills and associated data science and digital technology to acquire, analyse and utilise large data sets in their daily work.
In order for this to be realised, there is a need to incorporate cross-disciplinary skills from engineering and computing/statistics/informatics into chemistry graduate programmes, which are largely lacking from existing doctoral training in synthetic chemistry. The proposed CDT will address this shortfall, capitalising from significant strategic infrastructural and capital investment in Molecular Science and Engineering at Imperial College, to deliver a unique training programme with substantial input from several stakeholders, including academics across Natural Sciences and Engineering, as well as professional bodies and industrial partners. Graduates of the CDT will be best equipped to respond to the future academic and industrial challenges, and also opportunities created by the industrial data-revolution.
Gandy, Imperial College EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Modern Statistics and Statistical Machine EP/S007644/1 Professor A London Learning
The CDT will train the next generation of leaders in statistics and statistical machine learning, who will be able to develop widely-applicable novel methodology and theory, as well as create application-specific methods, leading to breakthroughs in real-world problems in government, health care, industry and science. The research will focus on the development of applicable modern statistical theory and methods as well as on the underpinnings of statistical machine learning. The research will be strongly linked to applications. Page 82 of 183
There is an urgent need for graduates from this CDT. Large volumes of complicated data are now routinely collected in all sectors of society, encompassing electronic health records, massive scientific datasets, governmental data, and data collected through the advent of the digital economy. The underpinning techniques for exploiting these data come from statistics and machine learning. Exploiting such data is crucial for future UK prosperity. However, several reports from government and learned societies have identified a lack of individuals able to exploit this data. In a large number of situations, use of existing methodology is not sufficient. Off-the-shelf approaches may be misleading due to a lack of reproducibility or sampling biases. Furthermore, an understanding of the underlying mechanisms is often desired; scientifically valid, interpretable and reproducible results are needed to understand scientific phenomena and to justify decisions, particularly those affecting individuals. Bespoke, model-based statistical methods are needed, that may need to be blended with statistical machine learning approaches to deal with large data. Individuals that can fulfill these more sophisticated demands are doctoral level graduates in statistics that are well versed in the foundations of machine learning. Yet the UK only graduates a small number of statistics PhDs per year, and many of these graduates will not have been exposed to machine learning. The Centre will bring together Imperial and Oxford, two of the top statistics groups, as equal partners, offering an exceptional training environment and the direct involvement of absolute research leaders in their fields. The supervisor pool will include outstanding researchers in statistical methodology and theory as well as in statistical machine learning. Students will be immediately registered as doctoral students. Each PhD project will have a methodological or theoretical core as well as a real application and will be co-supervised by an academic or an industrial partner from the application area. We will use innovative and student-led teaching, focussing on PhD-level training. Teaching cuts across years and thus creates strong cohort cohesion not just within a year group but also between year groups. We will link theoretical advances to areas of application through interactions with our partners as well as through a placement of students with users of statistics. The CDT has a large number of high profile partners that helped shape our application priority areas (digital economy, medicine, engineering, finance, science) and that will co-fund and co-supervise PhD students, as well as co-deliver teaching elements.
Imperial College EP/S007652/1 Baldwin, Dr G EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in BioDesign Engineering London
Synthetic Biology is the underpinning discipline for advances in the UK bioeconomy, currently worth ~£200Bn GVA. It is a technology base that is revolutionising methods of working in the biotechnology sector and has been the subject of important Government Roadmaps and supported by significant RCUK investments through the Synthetic Biology for Growth programme. This is now leading to a vibrant translational landscape with many start-ups taking advantage of the rapidly evolving technology landscape and traditional industries seeking to embed new working practices.
We have sought evidence from key industry leaders within the emerging technology space and we received a clear and consistent response that there is a significant deficit of suitably trained PhDs that can bridge the gap between biological understanding and data science. Our vision is a CDT with an integrative training programme that covers experimentation, coding, data science and entrepreneurship applied to the design, realisation and optimisation of novel biological systems for diverse applications: BioDesign Engineers. It directly addresses the priority area Page 83 of 183
'Engineering for the Bioeconomy' and has the potential to underpin growth across many sectors of the bioeconomy including pharmaceutical, healthcare, chemical, energy, and food.
This CDT will bring together three world-leading academic institutions, Imperial College London (Imperial), University of Manchester (UoM) and University College London (UCL) with a wide portfolio of industrial partners to create an integrated approach to training the next generation of visionary BioDesign Engineers. Our CDT will focus on providing an optimal training environment together with a rigorous interdisciplinary program of cohort-based training and research, so that students are equipped to address complex questions at the cutting edge of BioDesign Engineering. It will provide the highly-skilled workforce required by this emerging industry and establish a networ of future UK Bioindustry leaders. The joint location of the CDT in London and Manchester will provide a strong dynamic link between the SE England biotech cluster and the Northern Powerhouse.
Our vision, which brings together a BioDesign perspective with Engineering expertise, can only be delivered by an outstanding and proven grouping of internationally renowned researchers. We have a supervisor pool of 56 world class researchers that span the associated disciplines and have a demonstrated commitment to interdisciplinary research and training. Our CDT will train cohorts of PhD students in three world- leading multidisciplinary research environments. Further, students will work directly with the London and Manchester DNA Foundries, embedding the next generation bioscience technologies and automation in their training and working practices.
Cohort training will be delivered through a common first year MRes at Imperial College London, with students following a 3-month taught programme and a 9-month research project at one of the 3 participating institutions. Cohort and industry stakeholder engagement will be ensured through bespoke training and CDT activities that will take place every 6 months during the entire 4-year span of the programme. Through this ambitious cohort-based training, we will deliver PhD-level BioDesign Engineers that can bridge the gap between rigorous engineering, efficient model-based design, in-depth cellular and biomolecular knowledge, high throughput automation and data science for the realisation and exploitation of these designs. This unique cohort-based training platform will create the next generation of visionaries and leaders needed to accelerate growth of the UK bioeconomy.
Licence, University of EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT): Atoms-to-Products an Integrated EP/S007660/1 Professor P Nottingham Approach to Sustainable Chemistry
Advanced economies are now confronted with a serious challenge that requires us to approach problem solving in a completely different way. As our global population continues to rise we must all consider several quite taxing philosophical questions, most pressingly we must address our addiction to economic growth, our expectation for longer, healthier lives and our insatiable need to collect more stuff! Societies' demand for performance molecules, ranging from pharmaceuticals to fragrances or adhesives to lubricants, is growing year-on-year and the advent of competition in a globalised market place is generally forcing the market price downward, cutting margins and reducing the ability for some industry sectors to innovate. Atoms to Products (A2P) is an exciting opportunity to forge a new philosophy that could underpin the next phase of sustainable growth for the chemicals manufacturing industry in the UK and further afield. An overarching driving force in the development of A2P was the desire to apply the knowledge and learning of Green and Sustainable Chemistry to the creative phases embedded in the discovery and development of performance molecules that deliver function in applications as diverse as pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals and food. Page 84 of 183
We propose a new multi-disciplinary CDT in sustainable chemistry which aims to achieve a sustainable pipeline of performance molecules from design-to-delivery. A2P will create an Integrated Approach to Sustainable Chemistry, promoting a culture of waste minimisation, emphasising the development of a circular economy in terms of materials and matter replacing current modes of consumption and resource use.
A2P represents a multidisciplinary group of 40 academic advisors spanning 7 academic disciplines, working together with a growing family of industrial partners spanning well-known multinationals including Unilever, GSK, AstraZeneca, Novartis and BASF, and niche SMEs, including Promethean Particles, Sygnature and Charnwood Molecular. Interestingly all partners have expressed a common desire to develop Smarter products using Better chemistry to enable Faster processing and Shorter manufacturing routes.
A2P will drive innovation by:
1 fostering a multidisciplinary, cohort based approach to problem solving;
2 focussing on challenge areas identified by our A2P partners such that sub-groups of our cohort can become immersed in research at the "coal-face";
3 embedding aspects of data-driven decision making in the day-to-day design and execution of high quality research either on paper or indeed in the lab;
4 nurturing a vibrant and supportive community that allows PhD candidates to think 'outside of the box' in a relatively risk-free way;
5 empowering the development of 'next generation' synthetic methods to drive efficiency, selectivity and productivity, underpinned my molecular modelling and the use of machine learning to extract additional value from experimental data;
6 developing sustainable processes that deliver efficiency and transition to scale-up from g to kg, under-utilised approaches, including electrochemistry, will be investigated increase atom efficiency and reduce reliance on precious metals;
7 enabling efficient scale-up of new processes using flow-chemistry and 3-D printing technology to "print" the most efficient reactor system, thereby maximising throughput whilst efficiently managing mass transport and thermal factors;
8 applying robust reaction/process evaluation metrics such that comparative advantages can be quantified, providing evidence for real process decision making.
Integration of outcomes from all A2P PhD projects, in combination with the expertise of all A2P partners, will deliver a major contribution to the health of the UK chemicals manufacturing industry. A2P will provide mentorship and training to the next generation of leaders securing innovation and future growth for this critical manufacturing sector. Page 85 of 183
Garcia-Manyes, King's College EP/S007695/1 Biological Physics across Scales - BiPAS Professor S London
The centre for doctoral training in "Biological Physics across Scales" (BiPAS), lead by King's College London in partnership with University College London, will provide high quality training for PhD students that will allow them to use physical sciences methodologies to answer fundamental questions in the life sciences. In particular, BIPAS will concentrate in addressing problems with a challenging multi-scale character in the areas of neuroscience, mechanobiology and immunology. This will be achieved through a world-class team of supervisors from a variety of disciplines and departments with a wide range of experimental and theoretical/computational expertise and the support of industrial partners. Moreover, BiPAS will be embedded in the Physics of Living Systems graduate research network of the US National Science Foundation, which will provide unique opportunities for placements, training, collaboration and internationalization. The training will be organized as a one year MRes programme in Biological Physics, aimed at making students bilingual in the physical and biological sciences and equipped with transferable skills to work across disciplines and scales, plus three years of PhD research where such skills will be further developed and consolidated. BiPAS's goal is to produce a new generation of multi-disciplinary research leaders in response to the pressing demand of the thriving and expanding life science industry for highly skilled and versatile researchers with expertise in physical science methodologies. BiPAS aligns with the with the "Mathematical and Physical Sciences at the Life Sciences Interface" centre for doctoral training priority area
Heeney, Imperial College EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Hybrid Materials and Interfaces for EP/S007717/1 Professor MJ London Sustainable Electronics
Hybrid electronic materials and devices represent an exciting, emerging class of materials that, since their recent discovery, have attracted interest for potential application in a wide range of electronic devices.Applications include light emitting diodes (LEDs), photodetectors, lasers, thin film transistors (TFTs) and radiation detectors - all of which exploit the tuneable semiconducting behaviour, compatibility with large-area/low- cost depositing methods and low-cost nature of these materials. The development of these materials could potentially lead to electronic devices which use much less energy to manufacture, generate less waste and utilise sustainable materials.
The emergence of this technology has not happened overnight. Hybrid electronic devices have been in development for over 15 years, but as with any newly emerging technology there have been false starts and over-hyped visions along the way, with the field evolving more slowly than many of the early forecasts. The UK has led the world in the development of the underlying science, and now has the opportunity to reap the rewards of its investments. However there are challenges that must be addressed before these materials and devices can be exploited and commercialised. Solving these challenges requires cohorts of the materials-focussed scientists and engineers that are able to work in multi- disciplinary teams and think outside of traditional discipline boundaries.
Our proposed EPRSC Centre for Doctoral Training in 'Hybrid Materials and Interface for Sustainable Electronics' will build on the successful foundations of our previous CDT in 'Plastic Electronics' (PE-CDT) to deliver the urgently required cohorts of highly skilled scientists and engineers needed to lead growth and innovation in this rapidly growing multidisciplinary area. Our new program, developed in consultation with industrial end-users will nurture and develop researchers with a deep understanding of the science and application of hybrid materials, and the
Page 86 of 183 skills and ethos to think across traditional discipline boundaries and solve these challenges. The Centre brings together four leading academic teams in the hybrid materials area to deliver this training programme.
Parnell, The University of EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Next Generation Mathematics for EP/S007725/1 Professor W Manchester Materials Modelling (NextGen3M): Interdisciplinary Science Across Scales
Technological progress and the accompanying quality of life improvements are frequently driven by advances in materials. Good examples are lightweight complex composites that enable huge fuel efficiency savings in the automotive and aerospace sectors, new sound proofing materials for acoustic design and materials able to withstand extreme temperatures in the energy sector. The UK has had enormous success in developing new materials that are useful in a broad range of applications. However, understanding and improving the properties of these increasingly complex media requires a new generation of mathematically literate students, trained in materials modelling and with a proper understanding of experimental science.
This EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in "Next Generation Mathematics for Materials Modelling" (NextGen3M), will train a new generation of scientists in the fundamentals underpinning behaviour of materials across the full range of complex media (e.g. emulsions, polymers, biomaterials, composites, metamaterials, 2D materials, photonic crystals and granular media) and the mathematical techniques required to develop and analyse models of this behaviour. The CDT training philosophy places priority on working and learning at interfaces between mathematics, materials science and engineering and on the ability to bridge gaps between modelling and experimentation.
Traditionally, obtaining an understanding of material behaviour is achieved via theoretical, computational and experimental techniques. Students are trained in one or at most two, of these "pillars". A significant challenge today is to predict material properties over a vast range of length and time scales, requiring a rich diversity of science and a reliance on all three pillars. Improved modelling can achieve huge cost savings, due to the significant cost and time constraints of experimental studies, and potentially speed up exploitation and impact of new materials and materials systems.
It is widely acknowledged that the UK is deficient in modelling capability. At the same time, industry is becoming increasingly aware of the significant benefits of modelling and specifically those industries that need novel materials, e.g. aerospace, healthcare, nuclear, marine and automotive. They need employees that are adept at developing modelling capability that goes well beyond the ability to use existing software packages. They also need people with a broad training in materials and an appreciation of the three pillars of theory, computation and experimentation. The CDT will engage strongly with a host of industrial partners as well as numerous international academic partners, who will provide an international perspective to the Centre.
The objectives of the Centre are broad and wide ranging. In particular however it will train a new generation of mathematically adept scientists with materials modelling capabilities, thereby assisting in filling the recognised skills shortage in this field. This will be achieved by providing a world-class learning environment, with integrated training delivered by world-leading researchers, using state-of-the-art facilities, including links with six national institutes, two of which are based in Manchester as well as seven Manchester institutes or Centres. Strong cohort cohesion
Page 87 of 183 within and across PhD student cohorts will be achieved via the rich training programme throughout the 4-year PhD, with core technical training in the mathematics of materials modelling in the first seven months and continuous professional development provision throughout.
Heriot-Watt EP/S007733/1 Gormley, Dr M EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Big Data For Future Water Security University
The reliable availability of an acceptable quantity and quality of water for health, livelihoods and production, with an acceptable level of water- related risks, water security, is one of the greatest problems facing the world today. The Water Industry, including government policy-makers and regulators, have seen a shift in the quantity of data available through the proliferation of sensors and availability of other big data (e.g. earth observatory, smart infrastructure and utilities usage data). Currently water scientists and engineers are not trained in modern data analysis or machine learning methods that would enable the data hungry and increasingly data rich Water Industry to rapidly respond to these challenges. This unique CDT will produce a new generation of innovators capable of driving solutions to water's global intractable challenges. Currently, water professionals operate within siloed disciplines. The proposed CDT will be a silo destructor and through our unique transdisciplinary training programme graduates will explore cutting edge engineering, data science and mathematical approaches to design, performance analysis and decision-making which will inform their PhD project, drive industry innovation and ultimately develop the new discipline: Water Security Data Science. The integration of industry within the structure ensures that problem design and solutions are relevant to real-world problems. The CDT will provide a truly transdisciplinary environment in which water professionals and researchers, conversant with all aspects of the water cycle, will collaborate with experts from the rapidly developing field of big data analytics to produce industry and academic leaders of the future.
A real-world problem-solving approach to learning delivered through academic-industry partnership will lead to graduates with unique skills in modelling, optioneering and innovation, and will contribute to sustainable economic growth. This application has been co-created by Heriot-Watt University (HWU), The University of Edinburgh (UoE), The British Geological Survey (BGS) and The Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) together with industry collaborators in design, construction, infrastructure planning and public policy organisations. Graduates will come from a spectrum of engineering, water science and data science; in order to create a new discipline of post-graduates. This application is timely as it aligns with the UK Government's Industrial Strategy with goals that will lead to enhanced productivity in the water and construction sectors, the UK and Scottish Government investments in Data Driven Innovation via the Edinburgh City Deal whilst also directly addressing EPSRC's Resilient Nation agenda. Adaptation, preparedness, security and sustainability in the water sector need the next generation of leaders to embrace the data revolution available from new technologies in order to solve future water security challenges.
The theme and content of the training programme addresses the first of the UK Government's Industrial Strategy white paper Grand Challenges: putting the UK at the forefront of the artificial intelligence and data revolution'. The CDT will address multiple challenges relating to every aspect of the water cycle, from groundwater hydrogeology to water processing, quality and technology, water distribution and use in buildings to waste water treatment including sustainable urban drainage (SUDS), water supply, interconnected infrastructure, alternative processing, and flood risk through the prism of big data analytics. The CDT will prepare graduates to be the future academic leaders and industry innovators for the emerging challenges associated with smart infrastructure and communications in the water sector.
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Ormondroyd, Dr EP/S007741/1 Bangor University EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Future Timber G A
The vision of Future Timber is to up-skill the UK timber industry by doubling the number of doctoral level scientists and engineers working within it. This will provide the injection of talent needed to address the linked challenges created by a decline in traditional markets for UK timber, by global warming and sustainability and by new opportunities to add-value to wood through high-tech wood-products.
The UK timber industry is potentially well placed to contribute very positively to the UK Government Clean Growth Strategy 2017. Excluding forestry, which is comparably sized, the timber industry is worth $9 billion to the UK economy annually. It directly employs 150,000 people plus another 200,000 in construction. However, it needs to modernise. It is remarkably fragmented: 42 bodies represent the industry headed by an All Party Parliamentary Group on Forest Industries. It is 93% SME based, predominantly at the `S' end of the spectrum. Since 1945, the industry has relied on a mono-culture of Sitka spruce focussed on traditional markets such as paper and pit-props. Today, many of these traditional markets are in decline. However, other new markets are emerging, e.g. lignin for petroleum replacement products and nano-cellulose for applications. Moreover, there is a resurgence of interest in timber for modern construction driven by sustainability. Exploitation of all these opportunities sees wood used as a raw material for high-value, complex products. In order to achieve the opportunities of Clean Growth re- forestation and maximise utilisation yield, the timber industry requires an injection of well trained, well-networked, multi-disciplinary scientists and engineers able to compete on the international stage. They are required to ensure that the timber from trees planted over the last 30 years is used to maximum advantage now. They are required to understand, influence and ensure a market for UK timber in future years and to eliminate wastage, add value and to reduce UK reliance on timber imports (currently 59%).
No prior CDT exists in this area: this reflects the relatively `small-c' conservative nature of the industry. However, rapidly changing markets for UK products and the need to remain competitive in the face of BREXIT are changing perceptions fast. A high level of support from the industry, both directly and through the industry bodies has shown that there is an appetite for the programme and the potential roll-down (through undergraduate and NVQ level training) to a high level of education throughout the whole industry.
The areas of research that the CDT will focus on include; Timber characterisation, intelligent measurement, tools and infrastructure; Wood drying, shrinkage, distortion and stability; In-use wood and wood product performance; mechanical properties and innovative applications, such as nano-cellulsose and lignin derivatives to replace petroleum chemicals.
However, the real outcome of the programme will be to deliver a well networked cohort of 50 scientists and engineers who will work in and support the growth in demand on the UK timber and forest products industries which is predicted through to 2050. This will be achieved through the diverse portfolio of subject specific and professional skills training that will ensure that the graduates are prepared for employment within the sector. This portfolio will be delivered through a variety of mediums, most of which will have an emphasis on group work and the development of long term relationships that will see the cohorts cohesiveness continue beyond the funding and through to the industrial setting.
EP/S007776/1 Degenaar, Dr P Newcastle University EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Neuro-Medical Engineering
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The last hundred years have seen huge advances in our understanding of how the brain works and how it is affected by disease. This progress has been matched by incredible breakthroughs in engineering and computer science. The challenge for the future is to bring these two fields together to produce the next step-change in the health and wealth of our nation. We are already at the forefront of this revolution, with ideas that once seemed like science fiction now becoming a reality. Examples include the development of artificial limbs which allow users to 'feel' their surroundings, and the development of new brain implants which, in combination with state of the art genetic engineering and neuroscience, are creating new treatments for epilepsy. These are both examples of Neuro-Medical Engineering projects currently underway in Newcastle, where we have a long track record of delivering similar ground-breaking therapies to the clinic.
For the UK to remain at the forefront of this revolution requires a completely new way of training the engineers of the future. This next generation of researchers need the ability to translate seamlessly between biology and engineering, and that necessitates intensive training in both basic biological science as well as the traditional areas of computing, informatics, and engineering.
The Newcastle Centre for Doctoral Training in Neuro-Medical Engineering will deliver this training to a cohort of 52 of the brightest students over a nine-year program. Students will be drawn from a wide range of engineering, physical science and computing backgrounds, the criteria for selection being talent, enthusiasm and a desire to become the research leaders of the future. This cohort of students will undertake a dedicated MRes program to give them a thorough grounding in both engineering and neuroscience, before dedicating 3 years to a PhD. The PhD could be based in one of many specialist areas ranging from microfabrication of computer chips, through computer modelling of epileptic seizures, to developing new ways of connecting implanted devices to the brain. A truly unique feature of each project will be that it includes both cutting-edge engineering and neuroscience, with a clear focus on a real clinical problem. To deliver this goal, each student will receive supervision from an engineer, a neuroscientist and a clinician. Students will work together in a dedicated biomedical engineering site and will share ideas and learning through seminars, visits and engagement activities which they will help to lead. In the final year, the focus will be on developing business and entrepreneurship skills, so that students are well-placed to take their skills to the work-place.
The outcome of this ambitious program will be a large pool of talent uniquely qualified to lead the next generation of research and development in this exciting field. The worldwide market for neurostimulation devices will exceed US$13 billion by 2023. The UK has a thriving biomedical engineering industry and is well placed to capitalise on this, but only if it can recruit the talent to sustain and build it. By bringing together engineering, neuroscience and clinical medicine, this new program gives the best possible route to creating the new generation of neuro-medical innovation.
Davidson, EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Sustainable Chemical Technologies: EP/S007784/1 University of Bath Professor MG Enabling the Circular Economy
It is increasingly recognized that society must transition from a linear to a circular economy. For over a century, industry has evolved on a linear model of production and consumption; goods manufactured from plentiful raw materials are sold, used and then discarded as waste. As resources are depleted, commodity prices increase and it is clear that this linear approach is unsustainable. Calls for new circular economic models as drivers of sustainable development are growing in influence, with national governments, multinational companies, the European Union, the United Nations and the World Economic Forum all embracing circular economic principles. Page 90 of 183
The proposed EPSRC CDT in Sustainable Chemical Technologies (CSCT) will focus on enabling the circular economy, building on our highly regarded model for cohort-based PhD training, by directly addressing chemical technologies to enable UK society and industry to transition to a resource efficient circular economy. We will train future leaders in implementing innovative sustainable processes and products across all UK manufacturing sectors reliant on chemical products and processes. A broad range of science will be addressed across core themes of molecules, materials and manufacturing. Project areas will include (a) development of bio-based products through replacement of fossil-based resources (e.g., monomers for bio-based plastics and biorefinery approaches); (b) new low carbon energy materials (e.g., solar energy and advanced battery technologies); (c) development of sustainable, resource efficient processes and manufacturing (e.g., making chemicals, pharmaceuticals and plastics more energy-efficient and less wasteful through developing new technologies and supply chains); and (d) adding value to waste through chemical transformations (e.g., utilisation of carbon dioxide and valorising lignocellulosic waste). The £6.2m requested from the EPSRC will be supplemented by £1.8m from the University and an estimated £1.4rom industrial partners. These resources will enable CSCT to train 65-70 students over five cohorts. Training will involve active participation of over 50 supervisors and 20 industrial/international partners. Building on our established model for delivery of a 4-year Integrated PhD, the CSCT will evolve to include: (i) a focus on developing, assessing and implementing the circular economy; (ii) new core scientific themes of molecules, materials and manufacturing; (iii) new cross-cutting themes of sustainability & circularity, creativity & entrepreneurship and public & policy engagement; (iv) introduction of 'Crucibles' as a creative mechanism for co-creation and progression of collaborative research projects; and (v) a restructured leadership team to reflect our new aims. All students will receive 'top up' training to supplement their undergraduate knowledge and training in SCT. Broader training and practice in sustainability & circularity, creativity & entrepreneurship and public & policy engagement will encourage responsible innovation and attention to business, societal, and ethical aspects of research. High quality and challenging PhD research will be directed by supervisory teams comprising joint supervisors from at least two of the key disciplines in science, engineering and management as well as an industrial and/or international advisor. Participation from key industry partners will address stakeholder needs, and partner institutions in the USA, Germany, Australia, Brazil, South Africa and South Korea will provide world-leading international input, along with exciting opportunities for internships. These features will ensure that all CDT students will have a breadth and depth of research experience including a systems-level understanding of the environmental, societal and economic impacts of sustainable technologies. They will be equipped with the necessary skills to implement ground-breaking innovations for UK industry and society.
Pickert, EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Power Electronics for Sustainable Electric EP/S007792/1 Newcastle University Professor V Propulsion
Over the next twenty years, the automotive and aerospace sector will undergo a fundamental revolution in propulsion technology. The automotive sector will rapidly move away from petrol and diesel engine powered cars towards fully electric propelled vehicles whilst planes will move away from pure kerosene powered jet engines to hybrid-electric propulsion. The automotive and aerospace industry has worked for the last two decades on developing electric propulsion research but development investment from industry and governments was low until recently, due to lag of legislation to significantly reduce greenhouse gases. Since the ratification of the 2016 Paris Agreement, which aims to keep global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius, governments of industrial developed nations have now legislated to ban new combustion powered vehicles (by 2040 in the UK and France, by 2030 in Germany and similar legislation is expected soon in China). The Page 91 of 183 implementation of this ban will see a sharp rise of the global electric vehicle market to 7.5 million by 2020 with exponential growth. In the aerospace sector, Airbus, Siemens and Rolls-Royce have announced a 100-seater hybrid-electric aircraft to be launched by 2030 following successful tests of 2 seater electric powered planes. Other American and European aerospace industries such as Boeing and General Electric must also prepare for this fundamental shift in propulsion technology.
Every electric car and every hybrid-electric plane needs an electric drive (propulsion) system, which typically comprises a motor and the electronics that controls the flow of energy to the motor. In order to make this a cost-effective reality, the cost of electric drives must be halved and their size and weight must be reduced by up to 500% compared to today's drive systems. These targets can only be achieved by radical integration of these two sub-systems that form an electric drive: the electric motor and the power electronics (capacitors, inductors and semiconductor switches). These are currently built as two independent systems and the fusion of both creates new interactions and physical phenomena between power electronics components and the electric motor. For example, all power electronics components would experience lots of mechanical vibrations and heat from the electric motor. Other challenges are in the assembly of connecting millimetre thin power electronics semiconductors onto a large hundred times bigger aluminium block that houses the electric motor for mechanical strength.
To achieve this type of integration, industry recognises that future professional engineers need skills beyond the classical multi-disciplinary approach where individual experts work together in a team. Future propulsion engineers must adopt cross-disciplinary and creative thinking in order to understand the requirements of other disciplines. In addition, they will need an understanding of non-traditional engineering subjects such as business thinking, use of big data, environmental issues and ethical impact. Future propulsion engineers will need to be experience a training environment that emphasises both deep subject knowledge and cross-disciplinary thinking.
This EPSRC CDT in Power Electronics for Sustainable Electric Propulsion is formed by two of UK's largest and most forward thinking research groups in this field (at Newcastle and Nottingham Universities) and includes 25 leading industrial partners (Boeing, Dyson, Jaguar-Land Rover, Nissan, Rolls-Royce to name a few). All of them sharing one vision: To create a new generation of UK power electronics specialists, needed to meet the societal and industrial demand for clean, electric propulsion systems in future automotive and aerospace transport infrastructures.
Hunt, Professor EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Light-matters: interactions, reactions, and EP/S007806/1 University of York NT applications (LIRA)
Light connects plant growth, a blue sky, the human eye, renewable energy and a microscope. The photon, a quantum of light, provides the energy for plant photosynthesis, scatters to make the sky look blue, activates a molecule in our eye so that we can see, or makes a solar panel produce electricity. This diversity means that light-driven applications impact upon all aspects of our lives. To understand how they work and inspire new technologies requires training on how light interacts with matter, from the very fundamentals of light absorption by molecules and materials. The training will enable our graduates to exploit the opportunities provided by state-of-the-art instrumentation to end-user applications. The universities of York, Sheffield, and Leeds have partnered with multinational companies, SMEs and large national and international facilities (Diamond Light Source, Lasers for Science, free electron lasers) to propose a new training programme - LIRA - which will provide understanding all the way from the physics of light absorption to light-driven chemistry, device engineering and development of light-driven therapies in medicine. Together, we have the facilities, capabilities, capacity and expertise to nurture a future generation of light-inspired scientists who will Page 92 of 183 speak the language of different disciplines and be ready to embrace and develop new technologies to address societal needs in renewable energy, healthcare and border security. There are enormous opportunities in light-driven technologies, but without a skilled workforce, the UK will be left behind. We will deliver a training programme that will be distinctive in the following ways: (i) it will teach numerous aspects of light-matter interactions, reactions, and applications, whilst promoting multidisciplinary research; (ii) it will combine diverse methods, from ultrafast laser spectroscopy that can follow light-activated events starting from the fastest motions of atoms in molecules to observing the resulting changes in materials that may take days or weeks; (iii) it will cover energy scales from low energy terahertz - an emerging technology set to revolutionise communication, imaging, and security applications - to visible light, which drives renewables and medical therapies and high-energy UV, which is widely used in manufacturing; (iv) it will consider multiple spatial scales - from atoms and molecules to surfaces, interfaces, 2D and 3D materials, and whole organisms. Best practice in Equality, Diversity and Diversity will be embedded throughout the CDT. Our training in transferable skills includes scientific integrity, diversity training, complemented by social science training, scientific communication and entrepreneurial skills. Our partners will play a full part in delivering the training. To achieve this ambitious goal, LIRA brings together over 50 supervisors from chemistry, physics, engineering, biology and medicine together with partners in industry and (inter)national facilities. LIRA has been co-created to couple our world-leading research in light matter interactions and reactions, with the real-world know-how of our industrial partners on translation of research into commercial products. To this we add a strong record in innovative teaching and the geographic proximity of the White Rose Universities. Cohort cohesion and peer-to-peer learning will be at the heart of LIRA to nurture future leaders in science and technology who not only are highly trained in a specific area, but understand the broad, complex and evolving landscape of light-induced processes and interactions. We will proactively nurture a community of students, academic supervisors, industries and policymakers, making LIRA into a national hub of interdisciplinary training in light-driven science & technology, ready to address the technological and societal needs of the 2020s. This will inspire future generations and provide the seed-corn for long-term UK economic growth.
Tawn, Professor EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Statistics and Operational Research in EP/S007857/1 Lancaster University J Partnership with Industry (STOR-i)
Lancaster University (LU) proposes a Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) to develop international research leaders in statistics and operational research (STOR) through a programme in which cutting-edge industrial challenge is the catalyst for methodological advance. Our proposal addresses the priority area 'Statistics for the 21st Century' through research training in cutting-edge modelling and inference for large, complex and novel data structures. It crucially recognises that many contemporary challenges in statistics, including those arising from industry, also engage with constraint, optimisation and decision. The proposal brings together LU's academic strength in STOR (>50FTE) with a distinguished array of highly committed industrial and international academic partners. Our shared vision is a CDT that produces graduates capable of the highest quality research with impact, and equipped with the broad skills needed for rapid career progression in academia or industry.
The proposal builds on the strengths of an existing EPSRC-funded CDT (STOR-i) that has helped change the culture in doctoral training in STOR through an unprecedented engagement with industry. This proposal builds on the strengths of the existing CDT, taking its scale and scientific ambition to a new level by: Page 93 of 183 * Recruiting and training 70 students, across 5 cohorts, within a programme drawing on industrial challenge as the catalyst for research of the highest quality; * Ensuring all students undertake research in partnership with industry: 80% will work on doctoral projects jointly supervised and co-funded by industry; all others will undertake industrial research internships; * Developing research-clusters to support collaboration on ambitious challenges related to major research programmes; * Promoting a culture of reproducible research under the mentorship and guidance of a dedicated research software engineer (industry funded); * Enabling students to participate in flagship research activities at LU and our international academic partners.
The substantial growth in data-driven business and industrial decision-making in recent years has signalled a step change in the demand for doctoral-level STOR expertise and has opened the skills gap further. The current CDT has shown that a cohort-based, industrially engaged programme attracts the very ablest mathematically trained students, with excellent diversity. Many of these students would not otherwise have considered doctoral study in STOR. We believe that the new CDT will continue to play a pivotal role in meeting the skills gap.
Our training programme is designed to do more than solve a numbers problem. There is an issue of quality as much as there is one of quantity. Our goal is to develop research leaders who can secure impact for their work across academic, scientific and industrial boundaries; who can work alongside others with different skills-sets and can communicate effectively. Our external partners are strongly motivated to join us in achieving this through STOR-i's cohort-based training programme. We have little doubt that our graduates will be in great demand across a wide range of sectors, both industrial and academic.
KIAYIAS, University of EP/S007873/1 EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Security, Privacy & Trust Professor A Edinburgh
The increasing reliance of services on information technology in both the public and private sector has significantly raised the potential impact for cyber attacks in the last two decades. In 2016 alone the impact on global economy was close to hundreds of billions of pounds according to various reports while the cyber security threat has been characterized as serious as terrorism by GCHQ. Despite these trends, there is a serious shortage of highly qualified personnel. This is at the same time a challenge and opportunity that the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Security, Privacy and Trust aims to undertake. Training at the doctoral level can be an extremely effective catalyst given the lack of systematised secure engineering practices in information technology and the rapidly evolving nature of information technology services.
Page 94 of 183 The proposed training will be interdisciplinary; centered at the School of Informatics of the University of Edinburgh, it will take advantage of the rich intellectual environment of the university and branch into many academic disciplines to achieve a thorough balance. Designing and deploying systems that are secure, trustworthy and preserve the privacy of the engaged stakeholders can only be truly successful if their design incorporates a wider understanding of the social, business and legal aspects of the system's operation. To this effect, Informatics faculty will collaborate and co-supervise with faculty at the Schools of Law, Political Science, Design, Mathematics, Architecture and Business. The CDT will introduce a cohort of doctoral researchers that, as a whole, will comprehensively cover the cyber security domain, with multi-disciplinary perspectives that relate to the security of information technology services and data collection, management and processing.
The topics of doctoral research will be divided in three major themes covering core technology, social context and applications. Core technology will provide a comprehensive coverage of the basic tools and techniques that include how to write secure software, securing hardware and embedded devices, developing new cryptographic algorithms and protocols that are secure in a classical as well as post-quantum setting and formal verification of correctness and security properties. Social context on the other hand, will enable doctoral students to explore how systems interact with the human element from a security perspective as well as what the legal and policy implications of security and privacy breaches and countermeasures are. Finally, focusing on applications, high value use cases will be explored including, but not limited to, distributed ledgers and smart contracts, supply chain management, industry automation, health, medical and government to citizen services.
In order to ensure the immediate and direct impact of the research, the CDT will act in close collaboration with industry partners in order to ensure the alignment of research to industry needs and creating opportunities for technology and knowledge transfer. The University of Edinburgh is ideal for hosting a CDT as envisioned above. The supervising team of the CDT consists of world class researchers and educators that have collectively supervised more than 200 PhD students to completion. The cohort model will encourage a common basis for foundational research as well as the level of interaction and multidisciplinarity required to deliver decisive advances in addressing problems related to trust, identity, privacy, and security in digital systems taking advantage of the unique intellectual environment of Edinburgh. The approach envisioned will include peer mentoring, developing a sense of group cohesion, peer-to-peer and student-led learning, a rich events programme, and a physical environment designed to encourage research interaction.
Cammidge, University of East EP/S00792X/1 EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Multidisciplinary Chemical Synthesis Professor AN Anglia
Academic research underpins scientific advance and wealth creation through innovation. High-impact research requires ambition and imagination and PhD researchers make a key contribution. However, the concept of a single PhD project does not align well with high impact research where projects are much larger and often longer. An alternative approach, proposed here, is the partial decoupling of projects and individual PhD students. The CDT will be unique and one of its primary goals will be to foster a cohort mentality. The Research and Training activities are designed to ensure this is achieved from the outset. More traditional CDT approaches have elements of joined activity but usually retain the one-project, one-student model, with students joining established research groups. The CDT takes the opposite approach and the majority of the full cohort will be physically located together throughout in the dedicated CDT suite that comprises a naturally lit, large open-plan wet laboratory with >30 2M fume hoods, separate space for analytical, biological, computing, hot-desk and office areas plus interactive meeting room and storage. Students will also gain experience in other labs, notably in the research labs at JIC partners for some projects, but also in the Page 95 of 183 labs of partners in industry and international centres of excellence/leading research groups. Doctoral graduates in synthesis and associated areas remain highly sought after, seeing them smoothly enter relevant employment across widespread sectors. The CDT provides unique training in acknowledged high national priority areas. The CDT will have three research themes (Methodology and Catalysis; Organic; Inorganic and Hybrid Materials Chemistry; Medicinal, Natural Product and Biological Chemistry). 55 PhD students (40 EPSRC, 10 UEA and 5 externally funded) will be trained by 23 PIs with excellent track records for high impact research, graduate training and Enterprise/Industrial Engagement. PhD researchers will be directly active in separate projects throughout their programme. Experimental effort will transfer between projects. This is not envisaged as a linear project arrangement (simply swapping the students) but rather parallel experimental programmes designed to achieve rapid high impact and timely publication of research breakthroughs, enhanced broad student experience and teamwork. The situation lends itself to active project management and has direct parallel to large project and commercial research. CDT researchers will follow a full lecture and seminar programme comprising core and tailored content aligned to their project area and background leading to a credit-based record and transcript. The full cohort will come together as a coherent group on each Wednesday afternoon to participate in CDT group events including problem solving sessions and student presentations. Discussions will be facilitated by PIs to provide real-time mentoring and training on project management, publication and IP strategy, and new project conception (including proposal preparation). Every 4th Wednesday afternoon will be dedicated to separate complementary training, typically delivered by experts and leaders external to the CDT. They will include sessions dedicated specifically to the CDT objectives, particularly focusing on translational aspects of research, entrepreneurship and industry. These monthly afternoon sessions will culminate in an open research seminar delivered by an external speaker and informal social event. The CDT will be directed and managed on a day-to-day basis by the Director (50%FTE), Deputy Director (10%FTE), non-academic liaison PI (10% FTE) and CDT research and Training Manager (100% FTE). The Director and Manager will have permanent offices within the CDT suite. The full management board will comprise Director, Deputy, Manager, PI leader and one student from each theme area plus three external representatives, meeting quarterly.
Schmid, Imperial College EP/S007938/1 EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Fluid Dynamics Across Scales Professor P London
The goal of this Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) is to educate PhD-level students in a wide range of skills necessary to tackle future challenges in fluid dynamics as they arise in many industrial sectors. The CDT will involve six engineering departments (Aeronautics, Bioengineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Earth Science and Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering) and the department of Mathematics and provide a modern and comprehensive training in all aspects of fluid dynamics and a broad scope of tools. Its defining quality stems from a cross-disciplinary perspective, a highly computational and data-driven focus and a project-based, problem-oriented learning approach. Commonalities between fluid phenomena will be exploited in designing creative solutions, and emerging and novel technologies will be employed to exceed traditional limitations. The CDT's training will cover scientific as well as transferable and professional skills and include a wide range of industrial partners who will provide internships, support and advice.
Ala-Nissila, Loughborough Interdisciplinary CDT in Modelling of Advanced Materials and Processes (CDT- EP/S007970/1 Professor T University ModMat) Page 96 of 183
The EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Interdisciplinary Modelling of Advanced Materials and Processes (CDT-ModMat) is designed to blur the boundary between science and engineering, and meet the increasing demand for skilled professionals with a unique combination of skills and a comprehensive understanding of mathematical modelling of problems relevant to new materials, technologies and manufacturing processes. The CDT will support 52 students in five cohorts supervised by 50+ scientific and industrial experts, with training focussed on the application of advanced modelling techniques to real-world, interdisciplinary problems across academia and industry. The CDT will start in October 2019, with duration of 8.5 years and will be led by Prof. Tapio Ala-Nissila (Head of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Mathematical Modelling ICMM at the School of Science, Loughborough University (LU)), a highly experienced in mentor, supervisor and trainer of PhD students.
CDT-ModMat combines the world-class expertise at LU in the fields of mathematical modelling and engineering applications of advanced materials and related processes based on modern engineering and multiscale, multiphysics modelling. The CDT will be coordinated by the newly established Centre ICMM. Based on a broad, interdisciplinary and inter-sectorial training platform, the CDT's graduates will be equipped with a unique set of skills and know how to develop suitable models to generate fundamental understanding, improve design and optimise applications of advanced materials and processes at various spatial and temporal scales and different loading and environmental conditions. The focus is on multiscale and interdisciplinary research methods from nano to micro to macroscales, to facilitate transfer of knowledge from fundamental science to industrial, technological and healthcare applications.
The proposal addresses the recognised lack of UK specialists in the emerging fields of functional, smart and nanoscale engineered materials and devices based on them. This includes devices which use quantumness (e.g. quantum sensors, quantum computers), single molecule nano and microfluidic devices (e.g. for DNA sequencing), and personalised medicine, underpinned by advanced modelling tools supporting doctors and health professionals. Another known gap in the technology landscape is in understanding the behaviour of advanced materials in modern technological processes, with their extreme loading and environmental conditions resulting in increasing levels of stresses, strains, strain rates temperatures and their spatial and temporal gradients, affecting microstructural changes and properties of the produced components. The interdisciplinary nature of the CDT and its focus on modelling and simulation will close these gaps. It will bring unprecedented added value to these fields both scientifically and in terms of cohort-based doctoral training across multiple disciplines relevant to: applied mathematics, physics, computational mechanics, mechanics of solids and fluids, materials science as well as scientific foundations of engineering and technology. The training will be enhanced by opportunities to engage in analysis of real-life R&D problems provided by several industrial partners that participate in CDT-ModMat. Training in soft and entrepreneurial skills will facilitate new technological start-up and business innovations.
CDT-ModMat, as part of its interdisciplinary training in state-of-the-art modelling techniques and their applications in relevant disciplines, will provide research students with a unique set of skills for mathematical and computational modelling. There will be access to modern equipment as well as relevant software packages and High Performance Computing facilities. Through a strong international element there is an opportunity to be trained by industrial and academic partners both in the UK and abroad.
Ces, Professor Imperial College The EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Chemical Biology-Innovation for the EP/S007989/1 O London Life Sciences
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Chemical biology is a field that spearheads the development of novel tools and technologies for studying and exploiting molecular interactions. The impact of these technologies and the understanding they unlock is transformative, supporting innovation across the UK economy, from healthcare to med-tech, personal care, agri-science, nutrition sciences and bio-tech companies. It is further supporting the UK knowledge economy by kick-starting a new wave of disruptive SMEs. Breakthroughs in Chemical Biology play a pivotal role in enabling modern biological and biomedical research to continue to move forward at a rapid pace, from developing techniques that are revolutionising our understanding of disease through to new approaches for detecting disease as early as possible, diagnostics for monitoring disease progression and the design of novel drugs and therapeutics to tackle disease. With the world population predicted to rise to 9 billion by 2050, huge demands are being made on the agricultural biotechnology industry with respect to the development of agrochemicals able to drive and sustain increases in the production of food and fibre from plants, whilst mitigating competition for water and land use. Chemical Biology is helping to address this challenge by unlocking new strategies for tracking agrochemicals in plants and understanding their mode of action so that new improved agrochemicals can be developed. Similarly, advances in industrial processes in the personal care sector and increased understanding of the link between diet, the microbiome and long-term health of the body are dependent on matching advances in molecular measurement technology. As well as the application of these technologies, their commercialisation through the instrumentation science sector is also critical to the UK economy. Given the impact of Chemical biology on UK plc there is a great demand but short supply of Chemical Biology PhD graduates. The Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Chemical Biology: Innovation for the Life Sciences will directly address this pressing skills shortage by training over 85 PhD students, providing them with the skill set to operate seamlessly across the interface between the physical sciences and life sciences, which is vital to them being able to develop a new generation of molecular technologies and becoming leaders of technology innovation and translation. The training programme has been created with and will be co-delivered in close partnership with industry and is specifically designed to meet the needs of employers. This is a cohort-based programme where no student is an island and diversity and equality are promoted at all levels. This ensures students are able to contextualise their work within the wider scope of the CDTs activities and find novel solutions to their research. The CDT and its students will be deeply embedded within one of the largest Chemical Biology communities in the world, the Institute of Chemical Biology at Imperial College London that brings together over 160 research groups. Through the programme the students will develop new molecular technologies that will redefine the state of the art and apply these to important biological/biomedical problems and tackle industry challenges. By working closely with industry and the clinical sector they will gain a deep understanding of product development pipelines and the healthcare landscape and be able to validate and translate their breakthroughs. To stimulate interactions with new end users and industry we will pioneer new collaboration models and exploit the advantages afforded by new co-working spaces and laboratories at Imperial College London. The students will benefit from an innovation habitat that will unlock their creativity, programmes that will enable them to kick-start their own companies and personalised work placement opportunities that will support their wider training.
Fox, Professor University of EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Semiconductor Science for Future EP/S008004/1 AM Sheffield Technologies
Semiconductor Science has shaped modern society, underpinning key technologies such as computer chips, ultra bright light-emitting diode, solid-state lighting, mobile phone displays, DVD and blu-ray lasers, high-speed telecommunication lasers and detectors, solar cells, and digital cameras. All the indications suggest that it will continue to play a central role in high-tech industry, as disruptive ideas emerge from university research labs, and existing technologies march forward at breath-taking pace. At the same time, it is a vibrant academic discipline, building on spectacular progress at the cutting edge of quantum science, combined with innovation in device physics, and the emergence of new materials Page 98 of 183
(e.g. perovskites and 2D-materials). The current health of the discipline is shown by the award of five semiconductor-based Physics Nobel Prizes in the past 20 years - nitrides (2014), 2D materials (2010), CCD cameras (2009), heterostructures and integrated circuits (2000), fractional quantum Hall effect (1998) - along with the 2000 Chemistry Prize for conducting polymers.
Our vision is to produce internationally leading and highly skilled semiconductor researchers, educated in the full breadth and depth of the field of semiconductor science, to pioneer innovative research and develop novel future technologies. The complexities of state-of-the-art semiconductor technologies require teams with a very broad range of expertise, starting from material growth and synthesis, through fundamental physics, to material functionalisation and device innovation. World-leading semiconductor research is underpinned by such team-working practice, and both industry and academia require the type of well-rounded doctoral students we envisage for our CDT. Delivering such students demands cohort training, in order to achieve the widest possible range of research expertise and to afford the relatively high cost of training facilities.
The semiconductor research groups in Physics & Astronomy (Physics) and Electronic & Electrical Engineering (EEE) at The University of Sheffield offer complementary research expertise and established industrial links. Coupled with the EPSRC National Epitaxy Facility (hosted by EEE), we provide the most extensive range of expertise in semiconductor science and technology in the UK. Sheffield is thus uniquely placed to offer a single-site cohort training programme to address the skills needs of both UK industry and academia.
The Centre for Doctoral Training in Semiconductor Science for Future Technologies will cover the full scope of pure and applied semiconductor physics, starting from fundamental principles through to advanced device technology. We will engage with UK industry to provide a cohort training programme that delivers the subject-specific and generic skills that they require. The cohort approach will additionally provide a framework for team-work exercises and group projects that mirror the final work environment of our PhD graduates. Our goal is to train our students in the complete structured chain of skill sets required for a world-leading semiconductor technologist in both academia and high-tech industry.
Sandler, Queen Mary EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Data-informed Audience-centric Media EP/S008012/1 Professor M University of London Engineering
The vision for DAME is to produce world class researcher-practitioners in the sciences and technologies that support future products and services in broadcast media, capitalising on techniques of Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and novel mathematics and statistical techniques. This contributes to the emergent vision of a data-driven economy to bring new experiences to the Audience of the Future, where emergent trends like Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR/AR), second screen and immersion are coming to the fore. It will operate in close collaboration with the BBC, particularly their Data Science Research activity and with the SFI Research Centre, Insight.
Following an extensive co-creation process with BBC personnel during 2017, 4 research areas that use BBC data sources were identified. The research areas are: i) Understanding our Audience; ii) Understanding our Content; iii) Curation and Personalisation iv) Future Audience Experiences for the Audience of the Future. These will improve their offerings and give them an edge over fast-moving competition (Netflix, Amazon Prime, et al). The co-creation included R&D and important operational units (Audience, UX & Design, Chief Architect, P&S - TV & Radio, P&S - News, Platform, myBBC). The key to helping BBC serve its audience better is by making better use of key data and metadata. This Page 99 of 183 is true across the whole media industry, but it takes a visionary pioneering organisation like the BBC to help put it into practice.
DAME contributes to the emergent vision of a data-driven economy to bring new experiences to the Audience of the Future, where emergent trends like Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR/AR), second screen and immersion are coming to the fore. It is thereby strongly focussed on national needs identified in the Industrial Strategy White Paper . It probes the intersection of 2 often-unrelated but nationally important areas, namely the Creative Industries and Data Science (and AI). Both sectors predict growth alongside skills shortages, underlining the market pull for this CDT. This is presented in more detail with supporting citations in the Outline.
The EPSRC CDT in DAME will address these issues by offering both traditional PhD training as well as EngD. In the latter case, the student, known as a Research Engineer, will be embedded most of the time with the sponsoring industrial organisation, undertaking research right at the forefront of industrial need, and guided by leading practitioners, while also benefiting from an appropriate academic expert at Queen Mary. EngD students will participate in all the training activities alongside PhD candidates (who will spend most of their time at the university) both from Queen Mary and from our ROI SFI partner Insight. At the time of submitting this Outline, BBC will offer at least 3 EngD places per cohort, and discussions are on-going with other leading organisations.
EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Autonomous Intelligent Machines and EP/S008039/1 Trigoni, Dr N University of Oxford Systems
A growing consensus identifies autonomous systems as core to future UK prosperity, but only if the present skills shortage is addressed. The AIMS CDT was funded in 2014 to address the training of future leaders in autonomous systems, and has established a strong track record in attracting excellent applicants, building cohorts of research students and taking Oxford's world-leading research on autonomy to effect industrial impact. We seek the renewal of the CDT to cement its successes in the areas of transport, energy and environment, and to extend it to applications to cancer research and quantitative finance, while strengthening training on the ethical and societal impacts of autonomy.
Need for Training: Autonomous systems have been the subject of a recent report from the Royal Society, and an independent review from Professor Dame Wendy Hall and Jérôme Pesenti. Both reports emphatically underline the economic importance of AI to the UK, estimating that "AI could add an additional USD $814 billion (£630bn) to the UK economy by 2035". Both reports also highlight the urgency of training many more skilled experts in autonomy: the summary of the Royal Society's report states "further support is needed to build advanced skills in machine learning. There is already high demand for people with advanced skills, and additional resources to increase this talent pool are critically needed." The recent Industrial Strategy report identifies four challenges for building a Britain fit for the future, namely growing the AI and data driven economy, smart energy systems, the future of mobility and ageing society. Prof. Hall's report highlights three research areas: Automotive, Financial Services and Healthcare.
Through its cross-disciplinary training, the AIMS CDT is in a unique position to address the above challenges by 1) growing its existing strengths on autonomous vehicles, sustainable energy, smart cities and emergency response, and 2) expanding its scope to the two neweas of enabling intelligence in the areas of quantitative finance (Oxford-Man Institute) and healthcare (Cancer Research UK Oxford Centre, Ludwig Institute, Oxford Dementia and Ageing Research). Page 100 of 183
AIMS itself provides evidence for the strong and increasing demand for training in these areas, with an increase in application numbers from 49 to 190 over the last five years. The increase in applications is mirrored by the increase in interest from industrial partners during that period, that has more than doubled. Our partners span all application areas of AIMS and their contributions, which include training, internships and co- supervision opportunities, will immerse our students to a variety of research challenges linked with real-world problems.
Training programme: AIMS has and will provide comprehensive cohort training in autonomous intelligent systems; combining theoretical foundations, systems research, academic training and industry-initiated projects. It covers a range of topics aligned to four key skills areas: 1) robotics, vision and perception; 2) machine intelligence and multi-agent systems; 3) control and verification; and 4) cyber-physical systems. The cohort-focused training program will equip our students with both core technical skills via weekly courses, research skills via mini and long projects, as well as transferable skills, opportunities for public engagement, and training on entrepreneurship and IP. The growing societal impacts of autonomous systems demand that future AIMS students receive explicit training in responsible and ethical research and innovation, which will be provided by ORBIT. Additionally, courses on AI ethics, safety, governance and economic impacts will be delivered by Oxford's world-leading Future of Humanity Institute, Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics and Oxford Martin Programme on Technology and Employment.
Drinkwater, EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Future Innovation in Non-Destructive EP/S008055/1 University of Bristol Professor B evaluation (FIND)
The vision of this CDT is to become the international centre of excellence in Doctoral-level training in sensing, imaging and analysis for NDE. Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) is an underpinning technology that encompasses a wide range of sensing, imaging and analysis techniques. The societal impact of NDE is hugely significant; aircraft would not fly and power stations would not generate power without the use of NDE to ensure their safe and continued operation. NDE is also an economic enabler in many important industrial sectors, e.g. aerospace, energy, nuclear, automotive, defence and renewables. It is used at every stage in the engineering life-cycle: a) during manufacture to ensure quality, b) through-life to ensure structural integrity and c) for plant life-extension. As an underpinning technology it supports many aspects of the UK Government's Industrial Strategy, such as clean energy and future manufacturing. The new CDT has been actively co-created by a consortium of 44 companies including major industry partners such as: Airbus, Rolls-Royce, EDF, BAE Systems, SKF and Shell who are contributing £2.9M in cash. These companies have identified a significant doctoral skills shortage in this area as well as an aging workforce, see 2014 Materials KTN report A Landscape for the future of NDE in the UK economy. This skills need is driven by developments such as new materials, advanced manufacturing technologies, robotic systems, the civil nuclear renaissance and the pressing requirement to extend the life of our aging national infrastructure.
This vision will be achieved through a cohort-based approach to training that will equip our graduates with an ability to research, develop and implement state-of-the-art NDE techniques as well as a clear understanding of the challenges faced by industry. We will develop this training as an evolution of the current CDT in Quantitative Non-Destructive Evaluation, but with a new emphasis on the innovation required to meet therapidly changing NDE needs of UK industry and a society. The diverse range of skills required to deliver this training means it can only be done effectively as a cohort. The CDT will be led by Professor Bruce Drinkwater at the University of Bristol and will partner with groups at Page 101 of 183
Imperial College and the Universities of Manchester, Nottingham, Strathclyde and Warwick. This team will deliver doctoral training that covers the range of NDE sensing and imaging techniques (e.g. electromagnetic, ultrasonic, radiographic) and the analysis of data (e.g. signal processing, detection theory). Transferable skills modules will be delivered through tailored modules co-created in a collaboration between the Bristol Doctoral College and our industrial partners. The co-creation means that industry will be involved in delivering aspects of the taught modules as well as providing significant placements and funding. For example, with industry we will develop training to ensure that our graduates have the skills needed to innovate and bring new research to market. Through these partnerships we will ensure that our CDT delivers the breadth and depth of doctoral training required by industry, enabling our graduates to play major roles in ensuring future UK prosperity.
Bradley, University of EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Optical Medical Innovation with EP/S008071/1 Professor M Edinburgh Entrepreneurship in Healthcare Technologies
Our EPSRC Centre for Doctorial Training in Optical Medical Innovation with Entrepreneurship in Healthcare Technologies is founded on seven key observations:
(i). In the UK 97% of PhDs leave academia following their PhD training. Yet PhD training is currently largely academic focused. This leaves a major disconnect - PhD students are not being trained for their future careers or for the real need of the country.
(ii). The government's industrial challenge strategy white paper sets out the aim "to find solutions to the major healthcare challenges over the next 20 years while creating new UK industries" and states that the UK needs to capitalise on its strengths both to encourage economic growth and to improve health outcomes for patients.
(iii). Engineers often make something that they think will be useful without understanding clinical need/context and without speaking to clinicians.
(iv). There are key medical and clinical challenges that need to be addressed from an Engineering and Physical Sciences perspective.
(v). Within standard PhD programmes students are typically trained in isolation with ad hoc (if any) training opportunities with little if any real-life e.g. entrepreneurship or business training.
(vi). There is little opportunity for PhD students to work together - this is very different to all other forms of education where students of all types and ages - help, engage, challenge and push each other.
(vii). The waste and the social injustice caused by lack of diversity across all aspects of Engineering and Physical Sciences.
Our CDT is about solving and addressing all of these issues by: (i). Offering a world-leading PhD programme that incorporates 12 months of training in "Entrepreneurship in Healthcare Technologies" interwoven across the 4 years of study (in collaboration with the Business School) providing training for the next generation of scientific entrepreneurs with a "heart for science and a brain for business" - aligned with cutting edge PhD training and research that crosses the Page 102 of 183 disciplines and mandates integration of Engineering and Physical Sciences with Clinical application.
(ii). Training the next generation of entrepreneurs in healthcare technologies that fully integrates with the aspirations of UK Research and Innovation, meshing perfectly while delivering world-leading PhD training and research directly within EPSRC's remit
(iii). A CDT whose PhD students are truly multidisciplinary at heart and in spirit and who will address major challenges at the clinical/ translational interface in a highly collaborative fashion.
(iv). All research projects will be driven by unmet clinical need and provide a paradigm for direct Engineering and Physical Sciences collaboration.
(v). A CDT that delivers world-class research/training in key critical areas of healthcare technologies namely antimicrobial resistance, transplantation, neuroscience and cancer.
Thus it will - -Help the UK to capitalise on its strengths in the sector, both to encourage economic growth and to improve patient outcomes. -Promote employability through engendering excellence in all aspects of training - scientific, biomedical, business, and transferable skills. -Provide cohort training of a new generation of physical scientists and engineers - trained within a clinically focused setting - with the ability to fully exploit the UK's research and commercial potential in healthcare technologies. -Be a world-leading centre that produces future leaders, entrepreneurs and highly skilled and talented researchers aligning to major research strengths and national need. -Be the first CDT of its kind that rather than providing traditional PhD training that has evolved little in 100 years, provides formal training in innovation that equips our students for the challenges of the 21st century. -Embrace and promote diversity, in all protected characteristics, across the entirety of the CDT
Dolan, Professor EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Physical Sciences for Sustainable EP/S00808X/1 University of Oxford L Agriculture
We propose to establish an EPSRC CDT in Physical Sciences for Sustainable Agriculture. There are multiple compounding challenges facing agriculture in the coming decades that are exacerbated by population growth and climate change. There is therefore a real need for new technologies for sustainable solutions.
Chemistry and related physical sciences have significant and untapped potential to address these challenges. To capitalise on this potential, the UK requires a dedicated programme for training doctoral students at the physical and plant science interface. Our CDT will fulfil this requirement and will be a pioneering and unique UK research centre. The cohort model of a CDT will inspire, motivate and support our students to become innovative future leaders in the field; this will establish Oxford and the UK as a centre of excellence in this emerging priority area.
We will train graduate students in state-of-the-art chemical and physical science expertise in a dedicated CDT hub. We will also provide them Page 103 of 183 with a core training in the plant sciences. Following core scientific skills training, students will then participate in a stakeholder engagement programme to expose them to a breadth of real-world challenges faced by the sector, including visits to Syngenta (agrichemical company), Velcourt (farming management company), Ditchley Estate Farms (working farms) and Kew Gardens (biodiversity and natural products chemistry) among others. Collectively, this training will enable students to identify challenges and partners who are seeking solutions to these challenges.
Together, the students and partners will develop new science with a view to developing valuable solutions. Project design will be student led under close supervision. This will drive innovation and maximise the impact of the cohort. Research projects will be highly collaborative, with time spent equally between development and application with appropriate partners. We will encourage external mentorship and research placements to optimize the training potential. The CDT will provide state-of-the art training in chemical and related sciences and both develop and maintain strong links with a range of relevant industries and organisations as part of our commitment to training students in translatable applications.
We have assembled a broad range of engaged and keen academics within the University of Oxford and the Diamond Light Source. Expertise in chemistry includes research areas such as epigenetic modifiers (A Kawamura), degradeable polymers (C Willis), surface sensors (J Davis), nitrogenases (K Vincent), imaging (C Vallance), mass spectrometry (J McCullagh), time-resolved crystallography (A Orville), colloidal interfaces (D Aarts) and natural products (E Anderson). Expertise in plant science includes areas such as stress response (A Smith), C4 photosynthesis (J Langdale), plant metabolism (L Sweetlove), herbicides (L Dolan) and biodiversity (R Scotland). Projects will therefore have the potential to address a diversity of research areas, from sensing pathogen-emitted volatiles and artificial nitrogen fixation to chemical control of plant reproduction and herbicide action.
The CDT will be led by Liam Dolan (Department of Plant Sciences) and Emily Flashman (Department of Chemistry), with an external Advisory Board made up of six experts from academia, industry, law and investment sectors. The makeup of the Board reflects our ambition to develop new technologies for direct applications.
The CDT will produce scientists who are trained to be leaders in this emerging sector. They will be inspired and enabled to conduct exciting science and apply it to enhance agricultural sustainability. By supporting the students to drive their own research ideas, they will also emerge with the confidence to be innovative early in their careers and drive the development that the UK needs in this sector.
Powrie, University of EP/S008098/1 CEntre for Doctoral Training in Resilient Infrastructure for Cities (CEDTRIC) Professor W Southampton
An increasing proportion of the world's population live in cities. Cities need infrastructure to operate and thrive - both within them at the point where services are delivered, and to connect them to their hinterland and each other for the transport of people, goods, water, waste, energy and data. This infrastructure must be properly planned and integrated, functional, flexible and adaptable to society's changing needs, and resilient to external influences such as weather and terrorist / cyberterrorist attack.
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It is recognised by government and users alike that the UK's infrastructure in and between cities is not currently fit for purpose. For example, the transport systems in cities are slowly poisoning those they are meant to serve, like water and sanitation one hundred and fifty years ago. The Government's Industrial Strategy recognises that the UK's infrastructure does not serve the economy well, which has been underperforming compared with its competitors in several key measures for a generation or more. The Industrial Strategy sets out a roadmap to boost productivity; central to this is new infrastructure to service the cities in which we live and work, articulated in the £480 bn National Infrastructure Plan of public and private investment. As with any such plan, the two key vulnerabilities are that (i) the money will be spent unwisely, and (ii) the lack of skills and expertise to deliver it. The CEntre for Doctoral Training in Resilient Infrastructure for Cities (CEDTRIC) aims to address both of these, through (i) the research carried out, and (ii) providing an innovative programme of training for a new generation of engineers with the interdisciplinary skills needed to make our cities prosperous, productive, vibrant and healthy places to live.
Imagine a city with space for people rather than cars, clean air for everyone to breathe, energy efficient transport and building services, integrated societally and with the natural environment, whose infrastruture is robust and resilient and life-enhancing to use. The research conducted within CEDTRIC will expedite this vision. Projects co-created with industry, regulators and other users will develop cutting-edge engineering solutions to realise this, through themes based on the "4 Cs" (rail technical strategy, 2012). These are: 1. Capacity: the ability (adaptability and resilience) of infrastructure to meet changing needs and boundary conditions. Research areas include understanding how railway infrastructure will react or could be better managed in response to increased frequency, load and speed of trains; resilience of infrastructure to the effects of changing use and weather patterns; better management of infrastructure to increase service availability (e.g. Night Tube) or traffic capacity. 2. Carbon: the minimization / mitigation of the impacts of infrastructure and its use on the environment. Research areas include techno-socio-- economic solutions to improving energy efficiency / reducing energy consumption in buildings and transport, reducing contaminant emissions within and associated with city life, decarbonising transport and improving health through the promotion of walking, cycling and electric transport modes and moving away from private vehicles. 3. Cost: minimizing the initial and whole life cost of infrastructure. Research areas include improving understanding of initial vs whole life costs, reducing the cost of new infrastructure through improved design, extending the life of existing infrastructure through better maintenance and repair regimes. 4. Customer: social systems and the ways in which people use infrastructure, and how infrastructure influences society. Research areas include better decision making tools for planners by understanding with more certainty the role of infrastructure in promoting regional /national growth and shaping / changing people's lives, and how this can be exploited to encourage positive lifestyle choices.
Kyprianou, EP/S00811X/1 University of Bath EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Statistical Applied Mathematics at Bath Professor AE
SAMBa aims to create a new generation of interdisciplinary mathematicians at the interface of stochastics, numerical analysis, applied mathematics and statistics, preparing them to work in as research leaders in academia and in industry. This research spectrum includes several rapidly developing areas of mathematical sciences such as Uncertainty Quantification, Compressed Sensing, Bayesian Networks, Stochastic Modelling. The research area also encompasses modern industrially facing mathematics with a key component of our CDT being a meaningful and long term interaction with industrial partners. A substantial proportion of our doctoral research is developed collaboratively through these Page 105 of 183 partnerships.
The urgency and awareness of the UK's need for deep quantitative analytical talent with expert modelling skills has intensified in the past few years and is reflected in the EPSRC CDT priority areas of Mathematical and Computational Modelling and Statistics for the 21st century. Industry, government bodies and non-academic organisations at the forefront of technological innovation all want to achieve competitive advantage through the analysis of easily-acquired data of all levels of complexity. This is evidenced in recent government policy (cf. Government Office for Science report "Computational Modelling, Technological Futures, 2018"), as well as SAMBa's previous experience of extensive collaboration with partners from various UK industrial sectors (e.g. healthcare, advanced materials, agri-science, big data, autonomous systems).
This need is as much of an issue outside of academia as it is for research and training capacity within academia and is reflected in our doctoral training approach.
Our approach for doctoral training, developed in conjunction with our industrial partners, consists of
- A broad-based first-year of fundamental advanced mathematical knowledge, tailored to each incoming student. - Deep experience in academic-industrial collaboration through Integrative Think Tanks: problem formulation workshops developed by SAMBa. - Multiple cohort enhanced training activities that maximise each student's talents and includes mentoring through cross-cohort integration. - Substantial international opportunities such as academic placements, overseas workshops and participation in jointly delivered ITTs. - The opportunity for co-supervision of research from industrial and non-maths academic supervisors, including student placements.
This proposal will create at least 58 new scholarships, with the aim to further increase this number through additional funding from industrial and international partners. Based on the CDT's current track record of (thus far) leveraging 19 additional scholarships from these sources, we have set the aim to deliver 80 PhD students over the next five years. With 12 new staff positions committed to SAMBa-core areas since 2015, students in the CDT cohort will benefit from 55 departmental academics available for lead supervisory roles, as well as over 80 relevant co- supervisors in other departments.
Walker, University of EP/S008128/1 Centre for Doctoral Training in Sustainable Hydrogen - SusHy Professor GS Nottingham
Centre Vision: Moving beyond 2030 - hydrogen facilitated deep-decarbonisation. The CDT in Sustainable Hydrogen will work in partnership with stakeholders to train the innovation leaders needed to translate to the market the novel, disruptive hydrogen solutions required for deep decarbonisation, enabling the UK to meet its 2050 target for carbon reduction and providing globally competitive highly trained talent needed for the continued rapid growth of the low-carbon sector.
To keep global warming to below 2oC (COP21 Paris Agreement), many governments have pledged carbon reductions of 80% by 2050, providing a huge global market opportunity. The UK Government has set legally binding targets to achieve this, e.g. a 57% carbon reduction by 2032 through the 5th carbon budget. As identified in the UK Government's 2017 Clean Growth Strategy, to meet the future targets will require Page 106 of 183 tackling three key challenges: (1) decarbonisation of transport; (2) decarbonisation of heat; and (3) maintaining grid stability with high penetration of renewables. Although these combined challenges impact on multiple sectors, a sustainable hydrogen path will provide solutions to all three. So far, easier decarbonisation actions have been taken to achieve the current reductions however the 2050 carbon target will not be met at the current rate of progress. Deep decarbonisation beyond 2030 can only be achieved by advancements of disruptive technologies tackling the most challenging areas for emission reductions at an unprecedented rate.
To meet the above three decarbonisation challenges, the sustainable hydrogen research challenges identified at our Sustainable Hydrogen stakeholder workshop can be grouped into four themes: Cost reduction (improving the efficiency and resilience of generation, storage and gas upgrade technologies, utilising low cost resources e.g. agri-waste and recycling of critical elements) Safety (innovative safety strategies and engineering solutions; inherently safer engineering designs, sensors, regulation, codes and standards) Systems level and multisectoral innovations (systems level optimisation; harmonisation of standards across generation, purification and distribution; unlocking tangential market opportunities). Managing change (technical - impact of hydrogen on infrastructure and appliances; societal - build public confidence; economics - identify lower cost pathways and new business models).
Embedded into all the CDT activities (from recruitment through to graduation) will be four key elements: i) Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI), ii) Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (ED&I), iii) Technology Translation, and iv) Transdisciplinarity. These four elements are also key to undertaking high quality, impactful research into sustainable hydrogen innovations. Our partners want to be actively involved in the training and research within the CDT. They identified the importance of industrial experience to make the graduate cohort "industry ready". Each student will have either a stakeholder mentor or supervisor (the latter if the project is in collaboration with a stakeholder). Each student will get at a minimum of 3 months industrial experience (as recommended by our stakeholder partners).
This CDT will deliver the multidisciplinary, multisectoral, whole systems training required for Priority Area 6, Energy Storage and Conversion (and contribute to part of the training need under Priority Area 5, on the topic of decarbonisation of heat). The integral involvement of stakeholders in the CDT will provide a dynamic training programme as envisaged in Priority Area 6.
El Haj, Professor EP/S008136/1 Keele University Quantitative Approaches to Regenerative Medicine (QARM) A
Our population is ageing. As a result there is huge demand to treat tissues and organs that have become damaged through trauma and disease. This is putting pressure on our health and social care services. With people living longer, there is a chronic shortage of donor tissue available for transplantation. Regenerative medicine is an interdisciplinary science that seeks to repair or replace damaged and diseased parts of the human body and has the potential to revolutionize healthcare via the development of new treatments for a wide range of long term conditions. Innovative treatments will lead to better health and support active ageing, facilitate growth and competitiveness of the UK bioeconomy, and contribute to sustainable healthcare. Despite the recognised potential for regenerative medicine approaches both in the UK and worldwide, very few regenerative products have successfully made the long journey to market. There is a clear need for a radical shift in the way development Page 107 of 183 and testing in regenerative medicine is conducted to support the growth and expansion of these treatments and products. This field requires an understanding of how cells "work", at both the individual cell scale and the tissue scale. The wealth of biophysical and biochemical processes that together regulate tissue regeneration means that it is difficult to understand the biological system by experimental investigation alone. Mathematical and computational modelling, in combination with state-of-the-art experimental approaches, can be exploited to advance our understanding of how the different underlying processes interact during tissue regeneration. Such approaches are also more efficient and cheaper than performing numerous time consuming and costly experiments. To date, a "trial and error" approach has been used in the development of regenerative medicine products with only limited success. Quantitative theoretical approaches offer the possibility of a more structured and measured approach to the design, development and characterisation of regenerative medicine products. The vision of our EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Quantitative Approaches to Regenerative Medicine (QARM) is to train the next generation of interdisiplinary researchers able to embed quantitative theoretical approaches in every stage of the regenerative medicine pipeline. Through our cohort-based training, students will be equipped with specialist expertise across the range of disciplines, and gain the ability to communicate and work effectively together, across discipline boundaries. QARM will train researchers able to provide innovative solutions to the current bottlenecks preventing regenerative medicine products successfully reaching the clinic. QARM brings together internationally-leading research institutions (the Universities of Keele, Sheffield and Oxford and AMBER), together with clinical and industrial partners. In their first year, students will receive introductory core skill sessions and undertake training courses that build on these. Students will also undertake three research secondments that will introduce them to research areas and topics that they are not familiar with. These secondments will expose all our students to the three pillars of science: theory, experiment and computation. In years 2-4, students will undertake a PhD with a team of supervisors drawn from complementary disciplines. Throughout the ongoing training, students will be equipped with an appreciation and in depth understanding of the challenges facing academics, regulatory bodies, hospitals and industrial end users. Regulatory, enterprise and innovation issues will be embedded into the core training, as will clinical and industrial secondments. The outcome of QARM will be researchers, innovators and entrepreneurs with the skills necessary to develop regenerative medicine innovations for healthcare that can stand the test of time and be exploited to boost the UK's bioeconomy.
Luk, Professor Imperial College EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in High Performance Embedded and EP/S008152/1 W London Datacentre Systems
The next computing revolution will offer exciting benefits to society and great opportunities for wealth creation. High Performance Embedded and Datacentre Systems (HiPEDS) underpin and enable this potential. They include large-scale datacentres supporting secure cloud services, as well as high performance embedded devices such as smart sensor systems that can detect infectious diseases. There is no doubt that novel forms of HiPEDS will continue to be the core of future computing systems, as they become more diverse and ubiquitous.
The UK is the world leader in many technologies underpinning such computing systems. Companies such as Arm and Imagination Technologies are well-known for their embedded processors, while Maxeler pioneered the adoption of field-programmable hardware in cloud computing - this adoption has become standard for mainstream cloud service providers, such as Amazon, IBM and Microsoft.
Thanks to the UK's strength in the embedded sector, we have a strategic advantage. However, this advantage will be eroded by the lack of trained UK PhD graduates to fill the growing skills gap in industry. Many embedded systems companies report acute skills shortages, while Page 108 of 183
ComputerWorld UK reports that Google, Microsoft and Uber warn of data centre skills shortages. By adopting a focused cohort model which has proved effective in our current centre, the new centre will be able to address industrial needs.
The proposed Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) aims to train a new generation of leaders with a systems perspective who can transform research and industry involving HiPEDS. The CDT provides a structured and vibrant training programme to enable PhD students to gain expertise in a broad range of system issues, to integrate and innovate across multiple layers of the system development stack, to maximise the impact of their work, and to acquire creativity, communication, translation and entrepreneurial skills.
Our focus in this CDT is on applying two cross-layer research themes: design and optimisation, and analysis and verification, to three key application areas: intelligent big data and edge processing; industrial processes for clean growth; and healthcare, especially for ageing needs. They address the grand challenges in the UK's industrial strategy concerning artificial intelligence and data-driven economy, mobility in edge computing, clean growth, and ageing society. They also address global challenges in health and well-being and in leading the data revolution identified by the Imperial College strategy 2015-2020.
The taught programme comprises modules that combine technical training with group projects addressing team skills and system integration issues. Additional courses and events are designed to cover students' personal development and career needs. Such a comprehensive programme is based on aligning the research-oriented elements of the training programme, an industrial internship, and rigorous doctoral research. Further training covers student-led research; topics on Responsible Research and Innovation; equality, diversity and inclusion issues; design and mentoring skills; a sandpit event stimulating creativity, innovation and project planning; industry days, industrial visits, and research challenge round-tables; outreach activities; and transferrable skills.
Our CDT graduates will be aware of the challenges faced by industry and their impact. Through their broad and deep training, they will be able to address the disconnect between research prototypes and production environments, evaluate research results in realistic situations, assess design tradeoffs based on both practical constraints and theoretical models, and provide rapid translation of promising ideas into production environments. They will have the appropriate systems perspective as well as the vision and skills to be leaders in their field, capable of world- class research and its exploitation to become a global commercial success.
Popov, University of EP/S008209/1 EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Digital Manufacturing Professor A Nottingham
Technological developments such as big data analytics, intelligent and autonomous systems, smart devices and the Industrial Internet of Things have been identified as key for re-conceptualising future manufacturing enterprises and supply chains. The impact of informatics technologies was captured by the Industry 4.0 (Recommendations for implementing the strategic initiative INDUSTRIE 4.0, April 2013, www.acatech.de) agenda based on vertical networking of smart production, horizontal integration in global value-creation networks, through-life engineering and acceleration through exponential technologies. The remit of a Centre for Doctoral Training in Digital Manufacturing (CDT-DM) is in line with the key priorities set by the Made Smarter Review 2017, EPSRC Productive Nation Prosperity Outcome, the UK Government 2017 Industrial Page 109 of 183
Strategy, the Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices, the Manufacturing Vision for UK Pharma, the EU EFFRA Roadmap and the ATI Aerospace Technology Strategy. These current priorities provide a strong and compelling case for a CDT-DM and by considering at the same time that competing governments are currently making substantial investments in digital manufacturing.
Through a series of targeted industrial workshops, we have established five key requirements for future manufacturing systems in terms of: (1) agility: ability to seamlessly switch between different processes and production stages; (2) multi-functionality: ability to deliver a variety of manufacturing processes on a single combined platform; (3) cognitive behaviour: ability to learn and adapt with minimum operator input; (4) resilience: ability to embrace complexity, uncertainty and disruptions; (5) productivity: can utilise in the most efficient way the available skills, resources and knowledge in high labour cost areas such as UK. The research projects in the proposed CDT-DM will cover after careful selection topics in this research space. The CDT-DM has academic foundation that is highly multidisciplinary and is well aligned to EPSRC CDT priority areas Future Connected Technologies and Robotics and Autonomous Systems.
The CDT will bring together expertise and critical mass from internationally leading research centres at the Universities of Nottingham (UoN), Cambridge (Institute for Manufacturing - IfM) and Sheffield (AMRC), together with a large group of industrial partners and supporters. The three universities have an excellent record of training at postgraduate level, with a wide portfolio of masters courses, traditional PhD studentships and a rapidly growing number of EngD, DTC, and CDT programmes. The new CDT-DM will benefit from drawing upon the best practice established through these initiatives and through "sharing" relevant transferable and specialist modules with other training programmes (offering the benefit of cross-fertilisation between student cohorts).
A custom-configured space will be provided by each of the academic partners with appropriate technical and support infrastructure to co-locate the research students and create a common multidisciplinary research community nurtured by joint induction events, summer schools, conferences and industry-facing events involving PhD students from all three universities. The personal pathway for each student will be defined under the guidance of a CDT mentor, involving the development of interdisciplinary skills in digital manufacturing as well as transferable skills in responsible research and innovation and appreciation of societal impact.
MacArthur, University of EP/S008217/1 EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Quantitative Biomedicine Professor BD Southampton
The biomedical sciences are currently undergoing a revolution. Ongoing experimental and computational advances are continually improving our ability to collect and store large volumes of high quality data, from patterns of gene expression inside individual cells to entire human genomes and digital patient records. Scientists researching in this area are therefore increasingly being required to have both deep biological insight and advanced mathematical abilities. Producing the next generation of such scientists - capable of truly integrating mathematical and experimental concepts, and realizing the benefits to society of doing so - will require novel training programmes that embrace both mathematical and experimental methods.
To address these challenges, we propose a holistic PhD programme that covers both modern experimental and analytic methods. Our fundamental ethos is that the best training in this area is not just a matter of providing quality disciplinary-specific education alongside instruction Page 110 of 183 on how to collaborate better with colleagues from other disciplines (or with a minor emphasis on developing skills from a different discipline). Rather, to be truly transformative, appropriate training should provide individual students with deep appreciation of both the mathematics and the biology; the ability to conduct cutting edge experiments as well as the mathematical skill to rigorously explore the resulting data.
We therefore propose a training programme that systematically educates students in the full complexities of modern quantitative biomedical research - from modern experimental methods and statistical approaches to the design of experiments that maximize the benefit of these methods, through to machine learning and mathematical modelling of resulting data, and finally to clinical decision making - and produces scientists capable of communicating findings to the range of stakeholders, including clinicians and patient groups. By doing so, we intend to prepare the next generation of ambitious young scientists for careers in industry, academia and the clinic, and provide them with the quantitative skills needed to lead the ongoing transformation of the biomedical and mathematical sciences.
Guillen- Imperial College EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Multiscale Advanced Process Systems EP/S008225/1 Gosalbez, Dr G London Engineering for Sustainable Manufacturing (SusMAPS)
This proposal seeks to develop a new EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Sustainable Process Systems Engineering. It has been designed to meet the needs of the EPSRC's priority theme "Sustainable Processes and Products" while also being relevant to the themes: "Mathematical and Computational Modelling" and "From Molecule to Product: Chemistry for Future Applications". The growing demand for more sustainable products and the need to decouple GDP growth from environmental degradation call for advanced decision-support tools embracing the three sustainability dimensions (economic, environmental and social). Process Systems Engineering (PSE) offers an excellent platform to tackle sustainability problems, as it studies how complex systems behave as a whole. To this end, PSE uses domain knowledge and mathematical and experimental techniques to build computer models of all the unit processes that make up an existing or proposed chemical plant, refinery, biological cell or supply chain. These models can then be integrated to predict the behaviour of the system as a whole and used to test the outcome of various design options, process changes or failures at the system level. They can also be employed to optimise the system to produce a particular outcome and assess its performance across a range of criteria. PSE constitutes a very powerful and flexible approach to developing a detailed understanding of complex systems. An important element is modelling and integration at widely different length scales (e.g., molecular level to process level). This approach has many industrial applications and has been used successfully by partners of CPSE to optimise plant configurations, chemical process conditions and molecular synthesis routes, and to control biological synthesis. Key drivers include criteria such as investment and opportunity costs, energy consumption, environmental impact and management of uncertainty and risk. Standard studies in PSE have often focused on maximising the economic performance, yet the move towards a more sustainable economy requires the inclusion of environmental and societal goals in the design and operation of industrial facilities. Hence, this CDT will help to embed sustainability principles in PSE, training engineers on the development and use of systems-based approaches to find integral solutions to sustainability problems. To date, the current model for PhD students in CPSE is a 3-year PhD with integrated skills training in systems methods combined with transferable skills. Students gain deep knowledge in their domain of expertise (e.g., molecular systems or biological systems). This is without doubt an effective programme and results in graduates with good systems thinking abilities and very high employability; our students are always in demand and we effectively have a 100% employment rate within 3 months of graduation. However, as described in the impact summary, the Page 111 of 183 move towards more sustainable industrial systems requires a new breed of engineer skilled in a range of systems tools but also in sustainability assessment and optimisation. We believe the best way to impart the relevant skill set within a research and training framework is through the CDT model. The programme that we have in mind involves a first year MRes which combines taught courses, mini-projects and a larger project to impart technical skills in core PSE methods and sustainability assessment (e.g., modelling, simulation, design and optimisation), professional skills (e.g., teamwork, communication, development of research and consultancy plans) and skills in research methodology (e.g., critical reviews, methodology formulation, experiment design and analysis of data). This is followed by a 3-year PhD where students will apply the skills that they have developed in a domain of interest to them. This unique programme will result in a step-change in the abilities of our graduates.
Imperial College EP/S00825X/1 Wenman, Dr MR EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Nuclear Energy Futures London
The EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Nuclear Energy Futures will develop a new generation of innovative leaders to tackle the challenges faced by the Nuclear Industry in new build, operation, and decommissioning. It is made up of Imperial College London (lead), Bristol University, Cambridge University, Open University and Bangor University. These institutions are some of the UK's leading institutions for research and teaching in nuclear power. The CDTs prime focus is around nuclear fission i.e. that is the method of producing energy by splitting the atom, which currently accounts for >11% of the world's electricity and 20% of the UK's electricity, whilst producing very low levels of carbon emissions (at levels the same as renewable energy, such as wind). The CDT will also embrace common research themes where overlap exists with fusion nuclear energy. It will also embrace technology from other sectors needed by, or related, to nuclear energy such as seismic studies, robotics, data analytics, environmental studies, policy and law. A major focus is associated with the New Nuclear Build activities at Hinkley Point, Somerset and the Anglesey site in north Wales, where EDF Energy and Horizon, respectively, are building new power plants that will produce around 3.2 and 2.7 GWe of nuclear power (about 13% of the UK current electricity demand). The CDT will provide the skills needed for research and delivery of engineering solutions related to the challenge these plants face primarily to deliver cost effective energy security to the UK. It will also provide potential future industry leaders, for nuclear decommissioning of existing plants (due to come off-line in the next decade) and to lead the UK in new and innovative technologies for nuclear waste disposal and new reactor technologies such as small modular reactors (SMRs). The need for new talented PhD level people is extremely high as many of the UK's current technical experts were recruited in the 1970s and 80s and many are near retirement and skills sector studies have shown many more are needed for the new build projects. The CDT will champion teaching innovation and will produce a series of bespoke courses that can be delivered via on-line media by the very best experts in the field from across the CDT covering areas such as the nuclear fuel cycle; waste and decommissioning; small modular reactors; policy, economics and regulation; thermal hydraulics and reactor physics. The CDT is supported by a wide range of nuclear companies and stakeholders including those involved in the new build process such as EDF Energy, Hitachi-GE, NNL and Rolls-Royce, who are developing a UK advanced modular reactor design.
The students in the CDT will cover a very broad training in all aspects of nuclear power and importantly for this sector will engage in both media training activities and public outreach to make nuclear power more understandable to the public, government and scientists and engineers outside of the discipline.
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Lee, Professor Imperial College EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Security at Imperial Lancaster Kings EP/S008268/1 WE London (SILK): A CDT in Security Science and Technology
Research in the field of security science & technology covers what is done to protect the civil population from a range of threats. Geo-political uncertainties, climate change & evolving cyber and physical attack methods are changing the security landscape. To combat these threats requires interdisciplinary research teams that combine different skillsets, such as bioengineers, computer scientists, materials scientists, physicists & psychologists. Those involved can monitor arising threats and capitalise on technological advancements to rapidly develop solutions & bridge capability gaps. Recent terrorist attacks in Manchester & London, UK, & Barcelona, Spain, as well as the impact of the ransomware cyber-attack on the UK's National Health Service, highlight the need to be ahead of the game. The number of PhD level graduates in the broad field of security is small and those that do graduate tend to be overly focused on one topic area and lack breadth, a network of contacts and a global perspective. The EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Security at Imperial, Lancaster and Kings (SILK) will address this need. The SILK CDT fits in EPSRCs Resilient Nation need & meets a recognised shortage of UK skills in this area as emphasised in the National Security Strategy & Strategic Defence & Security Review (2015) which highlights the need for "investment in skills and increased recruitment & training needs in the security & intelligence fields especially to deter increasing international terrorist, cyber & other global threats" & "We will continue to work with universities.... so we can recruit & retain national security experts with the right skills. In many areas, such as nuclear & cyber, we need specialists with high levels of technical expertise." Furthermore, there is a lack of collaboration between the technology/security teams & the analysis teams in Government & the civil service - such a doctoral training programme will produce potential employees who can help to break these silos. Finally, security aspects cut across all 4 of the Government's Industrial Strategy (Building a Britain for the Future, 2017) grand challenges: AI & Data, Clean Growth, Mobility & an Ageing Society. Without security in place to protect people & systems, all developments for Britain's future are under threat.
Rodriguez y Imperial College EP/S008276/1 Baena, EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Human Centred Robotics - HuRob London Professor FM
Imperial College's Centre for Doctoral Training in Human-Centred Robotics (HuRob) will establish a cross-faculty research and training curriculum that will endow the next generation of roboticists with the skills and tools needed to tackle the pressing challenges facing our cities, our homes, and our healthcare system. In today's society, robots must be conceived for use within crowded environments, where meaningful interactions with humans are both necessary and inevitable. To accomplish the complex tasks associated with this new paradigm, either cooperatively or with little or no supervision, these new devices will have to behave, sense, interpret, predict, move, realise, and cooperate in ways that have yet to be established. The vision behind HuRob is to tackle both the fundamental and applied challenges that stand in the way of the eventual deployment of these new systems, advancing our society in Medicine, Rehabilitation, Assisted Living, Transport, Extreme Environments and Smart Cities. Example projects include: the conception of autonomous flying drones that can also swim and explore underwater terrains; the deployment of smart home assistants, which can find their way within a flat or a house, interact with people and complete shared tasks, such as setting a table; and the development of surgical robotic systems able to treat life-threatening diseases without leaving a scar. To address major limitations of current robots - energy efficiency, adaptability to environmental changes, an intuitive and efficient interaction with Page 113 of 183 human users, and reducing system complexity - we will explore new solutions by sharing knowledge across the spectrum of disciplines within our research portfolio, for instance by translating soft robotics employed in surgery to look for cracks in oil pipes and nuclear plants. And we will use Nature as a source of inspiration to engineer innovative ways to tackle open challenges without a solution, for instance by studying animal locomotion to improve robot speed and efficiency, and biological mechanisms to improve grasping ability - an approach which is uniquely strong at Imperial College. The CDT in Human-Centred Robotics will be set up by the Robotic Forum (www.imperial.ac.uk/robotics), which groups all the stakeholders in robotics at Imperial College and promotes robotics activity in and beyond the College, with the public and industry. The Forum links together 36 academics undertaking cutting edge research in robotics across a wide range of application areas and technologies. The CDT will thus benefit from the established framework, facilities, and teaching programmes of the Robotic Forum, to deliver a unique value proposition for both robotics graduates and the wider robotics industry, which will be involved at every step of the way. The 1+3 years programme will include a taught component focusing on technical development, as well as the ethical, commercial and management skills required to bring a robotic solution into existence. Students will be exposed to companies and business opportunities, and companies will help to shape the programme through Industry Club membership and an External Advisory Board. Multiple supervisors and strong ties to the CDT will be a perquisite for all funded studentships, and cohorts will be embedded within a wealth of national and international networks. Existing and new links with other centres, institutes, and research and training programmes will help to maximise the impact of these efforts.
Matar, Professor Imperial College EP/S008284/1 EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Data-Centric Engineering OK London
We will create a world-leading Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Data-Centric Engineering, with the EPSRC Priority Area "Towards a Data- driven Future" as a primary focus. The CDT will address the rapidly growing need for next-generation doctoral-level engineering graduates in industry operating at the interface between mathematics, statistics, computing, and a diverse set of multi-disciplinary challenges in an increasingly complex, data-connected, digital world; this need has very recently been highlighted by a number of government, Royal Academy of Engineering, Royal Society, and learned society reports. The students will develop a broad range of technical skills covering computational analytics, Bayesian methods, modelling and inference, and machine learning, complemented by the ability to demonstrate awareness and consideration of behaviour in industrial organisations, and ethical and social aspects of data.
The CDT will integrate challenges identified by the EPSRC Prosperity Outcomes, and the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund in manufacturing and digital technologies, energy, and healthcare for a Healthy, Productive, Resilient Nation. It will create well-rounded researchers by exposing them to the many inter-related facets of data-centric engineering encountered in numerous and diverse industrial, environmental, and healthcare applications. It will endow students with skills and attributes that are important for conveying research output to pertinent audiences, and it will prepare them for the management of R&D in industrial and commercial environments. It will also feature embedded elements of responsible research and innovation, entrepreneurship and enterprise, to ensure maximal awareness of important data-related issues such as privacy and ownership.
With its world-class Engineering Faculty, Mathematics Department (with a world-leading Statistics Section), and its impressive connections to key national investments such as the Alan Turing Institute (with its pioneering data-centric engineering programme), Imperial is uniquely-placed Page 114 of 183 to lead the CDT. We will leverage the excellence of >60 highly experienced (average 15 years, 90% completion rate) academics pursuing cutting-edge data-centric engineering research, comprising 30 fellows of learned societies, and investigators of EPSRC-funded CDTs, Programme Grants, and ERC projects. This CDT will address urgent training needs in the technical skills mentioned above through broad exposure to the multi-faceted nature of data-centric engineering, formal training in research methodology, close interaction with industry, transferable skills training, a tight management structure (with an external advisory board, and quality-assurance procedures based on a monitoring framework and performance indicators), and public engagement activities. The CDT will cement synergies and catalyse cross- fertilisation of ideas for world-leading data science, and mathematical and computational modelling research across Engineering and Maths at Imperial, and the Turing.
Our CDT will follow a '1+3' model and will train 10-15 students per annum in novel mathematics, statistics, numerics for analytics, and machine learning in order to engage with a range of entities/organisations (e.g. companies, governments/policy-makers, academic institutions) facing challenges yielding a hierarchy of solutions; the CDT will train the decision-makers of the future, thereby generating positive impact for the UK economy, society, and the environment. Imperial and the Turing have committed to providing dedicated space for the CDT, essential for cohort- building activities. Given the cross-disciplinary nature of the CDT, we will actively recruit a diverse cohort, and then exploit the opportunities that this diversity provides. Following the RAEng guidelines, we will have procedures in place to ensure that diversity and inclusion are embedded in our admissions procedures and cohort training activities.
Elghazouli, Imperial College EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Resilient and Sustainable Infrastructure EP/S008292/1 Professor A London Engineering (RaSIE)
The proposal concerns the creation of a Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) that will deliver world-leading training and research in Resilient and Sustainable Infrastructure Engineering. It is an evolution of the current and highly successful CDT at Imperial in Sustainable Civil Engineering, giving more emphasis to resilience and broadening the perspective beyond traditional civil engineering. It will meet Government and industry needs for future leaders to deliver, and maximise value from, substantial UK investments in new and upgraded infrastructure, as well as supporting infrastructure provision in developing nations. Upgrading Infrastructure is a key Government priority, acknowledging significant vulnerabilities, capacity limitations and fragmentation in the UK's infrastructure provision. Vulnerabilities that have led to high profile infrastructure failures over the past year include those associated with infrastructure ageing and consequent weakening, overloading due to increased demand, fire (e.g. Grenfell), blast - whether accidental or terrorism, cyber-attack, flooding and other consequences of climate change. The Centre will continue to address the key challenges of fit for purpose, economic viability, environmental impact, infrastructure inter-dependence and durability as well as the impacts of changes in population, urbanisation, limited natural resources, technology and societal expectations. A broad-based approach to research training will be taken, effectively integrated across and beyond the wide range of disciplines presently encompassed within the civil engineering profession. Very few academic institutions are capable of providing in-depth training across this range of subjects. Imperial College is uniquely placed within the UK to achieve exactly this.
The Centre will recruit high quality, ambitious engineers, with the training program combining intellectual challenge, technical content and rigor, with focused involvement in the practically important problems presently faced by the infrastructure community. It will deliver the best combination of skills, through a concerted university-based training programme with input from industry and government. Advice and guidance Page 115 of 183 will be sought from a high-level and broadly-based Industrial Advisory Panel, which will be important for achieving the latter. Given the nature of the topic of resilience, and based on the experience from the current CDT at Imperial in Sustainable Civil Engineering, it is expected that students will be recruited from a wide range of technical backgrounds, expertise and interests including from Physics, Geology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Materials Science, Earth Science, Hydrology, Environmental Engineering and Business Management. Bringing these students together as a cohort forces interaction that would not otherwise have occurred. Working on a real-world problem, the students will have to interact extensively with others to understand the problem in detail, to develop holistic potential solutions, to assess these solutions and to identify the uncertainties and questions that can only be answered through further research. They will develop skills associated with coping with complexity, being able to make value-based decisions and being confident with interdisciplinary working. They will also be heavily involved in identifying and defining the research problem within the wider multi-faceted project and so will gain a much broader perspective of how specific research developing responsible innovation fits within a large infrastructure project. The cohort-based approach also facilitates the development of project management and project-based team-working skills, crucial for the delivery of complex multidisciplinary infrastructure projects. Overall, this approach will develop the additional skills required by industry and which cannot be acquired through conventional engineering doctoral training.
Skinner, Imperial College EP/S008306/1 EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Advanced Characterisation of Materials Professor SJ London
Materials characterisation is critical to the understanding of key processes in a range of functional and structural materials that have applications across several industrial sectors. These sectors include strategic priorities such as discovery of functional materials, energy storage and conversion and materials manufacturing, as well as the broader area of healthcare. As materials characterisation increases in complexity, and the materials challenges require ever greater resolution, the CDT will train students in a range of complementary techniques, ensuring that they have the breadth and depth of knowledge to make informed choices when considering key characterisation challenges. Our CDT will use an integrated training approach, to ensure that the technical content is well aligned with the research objectives of each student. This training in specific research needs will be informed by our industry partners and will reflect the suite of research projects that the students will undertake. Our portfolio of research projects will provide an innovative and ambitious research and training experience that will enhance the UK's long-term capabilities across high value industrial sectors.
Additionally, our students will receive training in a range of topics that will support their research progress including in science communication, research ethics, career development planning and data science. These additional courses will be distributed throughout the 4-year PhD programme and will ensure that a cohesive training plan is in place for each student, supported by cohort mentors. Each student graduating from the CDT-ACM will leave will a through understanding of the key challenges presented by materials characterisation problems, and have the tools to provide creative solutions to these. They will have first hand experience of collaborating with industry partners and will be well placed to address the strategic needs of the UK Industrial Strategy.
Our training will be developed in collaboration with leading partner organisations, and include international collaboration with the AMBER centre, a Science Foundation Ireland centre, as well as national facilities such as Diamond Light Source. Innovative on-line and remote instrument access will be developed that will enable both UK and Irish cohorts to interact seamlessly. Industry partners will be closely involved in designing Page 116 of 183 and delivering training activities including at summer schools, and will include entrepreneurship activities.
Overall the 70 students that will be trained over the lifetime of the CDT will receive excellent tuition and research training at two world leading institutions with unique characterisation abilities.
Schultz, Imperial College EP/S008314/1 EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Neurotechnology Professor SR London
Neurotechnology is the use of insights and tools from mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology and engineering to investigate neural function and treat dysfunction; and additionally, the development of novel technology inspired by neuroscience. Brain-related illnesses affect more than two billion people worldwide, and add an annual burden which has been estimated to exceed $US 2.2 trillion. This is exacerbated by the aging societal demographic in most industrialized nations, including the UK: many brain disorders, such as dementia, are closely linked to age. These diseases pose challenges for treatment development that are not being well-addressed by traditional pharmacological approaches. A major rethink in our approach is needed. New technologies offer the kinds of radically new tools needed for better understanding of brain health and disease. From these, new concepts for diagnosis and treatment are starting to emerge. However, to realise this faster and more fully, a new generation of multidisciplinary neurotechnologists must be trained - PhD scientist/engineers who have both a deep understanding of neuroscience problems and the skills to develop and apply new physics/chemistry/engineering and computing approaches to address them.
Over the past five years, the Centre for Doctoral Training in Neurotechnology at Imperial College London has developed a world-leading programme, through cohort-focused CDT training that simultaneously provides a rigorous background in the brain sciences while encouraging students to reach towards the physical sciences and engineering to generate new neurobiological concepts and find the new tools to test them. In the next generation of our Neurotechnology CDT, we aim to enhance our training for the development of translational neurotechnologies, partnering with a number of organisations - CÚRAM, the Irish Centre for Medical Devices, the Francis Crick Institute, the MRC Brain Network Dynamics Unit in Oxford, and the Imperial Centre f the UK Dementia Research Institute, and industry collaborators including Janssen Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly Ltd - to couple our training in underpinning neuroscience, physics and engineering with training in the skills needed to translate technological advances into the clinic: principles of design, regulatory processes, ethical principles, innovation and entrepreneurship in the biotechnology and medical device sectors.
Our 1+3 training programme provides each student with two or more supervisors who bring complementary training expertise to the project; a special training scheme is crafted for each student, involving training in facilities relevant to the project within the MRes year. The breadth of participation allows generation and selection of unique, high quality PhD projects, with 70 academics in neuroscience, neurotechnology, engineering, or a related discipline involved in the Centre as proposed supervisor or co-supervisor. The students take a custom-developed course in neuroscience, as well as advanced courses in topcis such as Machine Learning, Brain-Machine Interfaces, Computational Neuroscience, Statistics and Data Analysis, and advanced technical skills workshops (including patch clamp electrophysiology, optical imaging, genetics, and whole brain tomography), as well as a specially devised workshop on Ethics of Neuroechnology. During the MRes year, the cohort sits together in the "CDT Hub", after which they move to the dept of their lead supervisor, but maintaining contact through journal clubs, seminars, transferrable skills classes, and student-led activities. In this new CDT, we will increase the number of summer workshops undertaken Page 117 of 183 throughout the PhD, providing additional training on translation, design and entrepreneurship, as well as providing more opportunities for establishing a cross-cohort CDT culture in neurotechology, maximising the potential for emergent, student-led collaboration within the CDT.
Leithead, University of EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Wind and Marine Energy Systems and EP/S008330/1 Professor WE Strathclyde Structures
It is expected that over the next two decades the importance of offshore renewable energy for the UK will continue to grow. According to forecasts the installed capacity could reach 30GW of offshore wind by 2030 and 50GW by 2050, with the average price of electricity being reduced by 18%, and direct employment in the industry increasing by 36,000 people. In addition, annual exports could rise to nearly £5bn. To meet this scenario requires investment in "ideas", meaning increased RD&D, and "people", meaning joined-up and scaled-up skills initiatives to improve productivity. It is crucial that, as the offshore renewable energy sector grows, the workforce skills must grow with it. However, there is a widely recognised skills gap in renewable energy with a third of employers reporting that vacancies are hard-to-fill.
It is proposed to bring together two successful CDTs in Wind and Marine Energy Systems and Structures and Renewable Energy and Marine Structures in a partnership between three internationally leading teams at Strathclyde, Edinburgh and Oxford Universities. Fundamental to the rationale for establishing the Centre is the UK's leading role in this field and the opportunities to not only create positive economic impacts in the UK but also to exploit the UK's internationally competitive position in wider international markets. Previous experience from delivering doctoral level training confirms that there is a strong demand for the graduated students, with around 70% going into the wind and marine energy industry and the remaining 30% continuing research in the sector.
The breadth of experience and industry links of the delivery team of the proposed CDT in Wind and Marine Energy Systems and Structures will enable a whole systems approach to be taken with regard to training and research in offshore renewable energy. In effect it will create a "one stop shop" for doctoral training, covering all aspects of offshore wind and marine renewable energies above and elow the water. The remit of the proposed CDT will be all aspects of Wind and Marine Energy including the technology (e.g. the efficiency and effectiveness of the devices, autonomous & intelligent systems), operation & maintenance (e.g. failure rate analysis, condition monitoring, asset management, and robotics), grid-integration (e.g. grid operation, stability, security of supply, and so on), offshore connection (HVDC, offshore networks), installation & decommissioning (technology and access), materials (e.g. for blades and devices, design for fatigue durability), offshore/marine structures (fixed and floating structures), foundations (geotechnics and technology) and social-technical issues such as markets, public perception and acceptability. Training will be available across all the above topics.
Brambilla, University of EP/S008349/1 EPSRC CDT in Photonic Manufacturing Professor G Southampton
Photonics is often considered the ultimate enabling technology, having limitless applications that affect nearly every aspect of our lives, from the physical infrastructure that powers the internet to critical parts of our smartphones. The photonics industry is a high-value manufacturing sector that within the UK is estimated to be worth £12.9B to the UK economy, supporting more than 1,500 SMEs and employing more than 65,000 people, with growth >5.3% annually. Yet, the photonics industry faces a significant struggle to recruit skilled workforce. Page 118 of 183
The EPSRC CDT in Photonic Manufacturing will focus on the manufacturing process, rather than on the investigation of novel photonic phenomena, like in traditional photonic doctorates. Within the CDT, we propose to address the skills gap building on the materials, engineering and photonics manufacturing research activities currently ongoing at the University of Southampton and on the wealth of industrial partners to provide state-of-the art training for future research and industry leaders.Traditional PhD programmes are tailored to individual, highly-focused research projects and do not provide the technical, leadership and entrepreneurship skills required by a fast-moving photonics world. The CDT will enable broader, more interdisciplinary training in both research and transferable skills that is required to meet the needs of the photonic industrial sectors.
The CDT will bring together a unique multidisciplinary partnership of world-leading researchers and industrial collaborators to drive innovation in materials engineering and photonics manufacturing through the development of highly skilled, engaged and connected engineers to significantly impact on the UK manufacturing base. State-of-the-art cleanrooms, access to laboratories and a pool of 45 world leading academic supervisors drawn from 5 different Departments will provide a multidisciplinary environment where students can acquire knowledge of photonic manufacturin techniques and investigate novel manufacturing challenges. Students will be taught the experimental and theoretical techniques to design and develop new manufacturing processes to provide lower-cost, higher-performing photonics devices, components, sensors and sub-systems. The CDT will also include key considerations such as resource efficiency, recyclability and/or end-of-life supports, which are often considered important by industry and neglected in traditional PhD programmes. The presence of this CDT will also provide invaluable links between the various UK SMEs and the major players in the photonics R&D, where CDT students will end up after their PhD.
Maskell, University of EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Distributed Algorithms: the what, how and EP/S008365/1 Professor S S Liverpool where of next-generation data science
This CDT will train a cohort of 60 students who have the skills and experience that enables them to become leaders in Distributed Algorithms: capitalising on "Future Computing Systems" to move "Towards a Data-Driven Future".
Commodity Data Science is already pervasive. This motivates today's pressing need for highly-trained data scientists. This CDT will empower tomorrow's leaders of data science. The UK (and world) needs data scientists that can best exploit tomorrow's computational resources to harvest the new 'oil': the information present in data.
As our graduates' careers progress, many cored architectures will become increasingly commonplace. We anticipate millions more cores in tomorrow's desktops than today's. This core count will challenge the assumption made by current Big Data middleware (e.g., Spark and TensorFlow) that the details of future computing systems can be decoupled from the development of data science tools and techniques. More specifically, it will become imperative that data scientists understand how to design algorithms that can operate effectively in environments where data movement is the key performance bottleneck.
To meet this need, we will provide training that ensures we generate highly-employable individuals who have both an understanding of the Page 119 of 183 design of future computer hardware as well as an understanding of how and when to flex the algorithmic solutions to best exploit the computational resources that will exist in the future.
From the outset, the students will be embedded in a computing environment that anticipates the hardware resources that will arrive on their desks after they graduate, not the hardware that exists today. The cohort of students provides the critical mass that motivates engagement with internationally-leading supercomputing centres: STFC's Hartree centre is an integral part of the team; links we have established with IBM Research in the US will provide students with access to state-of-the-art computing hardware. This anticipation of future computing capability will ensure our graduates are highly employable, but also help motivate end-user organisations to engage with the CDT.
We have identified such end-user organisations that span three themes: defence and security; manufacturing; hardware. Organisations in these themes are respectively driven by performance demands, efficiency requirements and an agnostic desire to use future hardware to empower data science.
We will align the training we provide with the needs of the cohort, the theme and the individual. Each studentship will have two academic supervisors (one aligned with the "Future Computing Systems" and one aligned with moving "Towards a Data-Driven Future") and at least one supervisor from a project partner. This supervisory team will co-define the scope of each studentship. Once the high quality student has been selected and recruited, we will work with the student to define the training needs that align with their needs and the specific demands of the studentship. Our training provision will include the training needs associated with both the "Future Computing Systems" and "Towards a Data- Driven Future" priority areas. We will use guest lectures from, for example, IBM (as used to train Fast Track civil servants) and UC Berkeley to ensure we maximise our graduates' ability to thrive and to become tomorrow's leaders in Distributed Algorithms.
Brown, University of EP/S00842X/1 EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Frontier Analytical Science & Technology Professor SP Warwick
Analytical science and technology (AST) is crucial for industrial progress and underpins manufacturing in a wide range of areas. AST is key to success in any fundamental or applied science research programme. Warwick has an extensive track record both in the highest quality cohort- focused student training and in creative instrumental and theoretical analytical science, which forms the background to this proposal for a Centre for Doctoral Training in Frontier Analytical Science & Technology (FAST CDT). FAST CDT students will become future leaders in AST, equipped with a combination of cross-disciplinary scientific and transferable skills for addressing key industrial and societal challenges faced by the UK.
FAST CDT research will focus on real-world industry challenges in four key themes: 1. Meeting the measurement and characterisation challenges of complex systems, 2. Linking macroscopic properties to molecular level structure and dynamics, 3. Characterising interfaces using advanced analytical science and technology, 4. Understanding process and scale-up challenges.
There is a pressing need to address a skills gap in AST: "action is needed to actively strengthen analytical sciences" (2015 EPSRC review of Page 120 of 183 analytical science). The essential role of AST to different scientific disciplines is evident from the support for this CDT from a range of industry sectors: additives and speciality polymers (Lubrizol), agrochemicals (Syngenta), energy storage (ZapGo), healthcare and pharmaceuticals (AstraZeneca/ MedImmune), instrumentation (Bruker, Oxford Instruments, Panalytical-Malvern, Spectris), paints and coatings (AkzoNobel) and personal care (Unilever). A strong motivation for these companies' support is to ensure the training of the next generation of analytical scientists who are recognised as flexible problem solvers.
Warwick offers an outstanding AST research and teaching environment with state-of-the-art facilities and world-leading expertise in developing novel tools and techniques for real-world applications. Warwick's strength in depth in AST includes electrochemistry, mass spectrometry, microscopy, magnetic resonance, neutron and X-ray diffraction, non-destructive testing, optical spectroscopies, polymer characterisation, spectromicroscopy, and ultrafast and time-resolved and vibrational spectroscopy. FAST CDT students will follow a MSc+PhD training model. The inherently cross-disciplinary MSc programme will be taught by academics from across the Faculty as well as our industry partners. As well as introducing fundamental concepts in AST incorporating statistics and modelling, modules will emphasise understanding the strengths and weaknesses of different AST techniques. The students will undertake two 11-weeks research projects, one being largely experimental, the other largely computation/data analysis/modelling based. The FAST CDT will build upon the current MAS CDT which "delivers a high quality transferable skills programme including science communication training" (EPSRC 2017); this will also encourage, e.g., entrepreneurship, openness to change and a consideration of ethics.
The FAST CDT training program will keep a close sight on the real-world challenges faced across industrial applications. The CDT aligns with the industrial strategy focus on manufacturing and materials of the future, leading edge healthcare, and clean and flexible energy. All FAST CDT projects will be relevant to industrial applications. This expectation is in line with the fact that the current Molecular Analytical Sciences (MAS) CDT is on track to bring in over £1M of direct industry funding from a range of companies. "The industrial engagement track record of the MAS CDT to date is excellent, particular successes include; the CDTs ability to facilitate collaboration between industry partners...at this early stage, there are already signs of the uptake of MAS research by industrial partners." (2017 EPSRC CDT review)
Cosker, EP/S008446/1 University of Bath EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Translational Creative Technology Professor DP
Our EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Translational Creative Technology will deliver 70 highly skilled individuals with the science, technology and auxiliary skills to become future leaders across the creative industries - leaders with the unique ability to apply creative industries technology to other sectors, including Health, Sport and Engineering.
Co-delivered by the Universities of Bath and Surrey, our CDT builds on two established research centres of excellence, with hosted projects worth over £40m. Both universities have long track records of high quality academic output and genuine collaboration with the Creative Industries and experience of Creative Technology translation to other sectors.
Our interpretation of the Creative Technology skill set that transcends traditional sectors is a fusion of three core academic disciplines: Visual Computing (Computer Vision and Graphics), Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and Machine Learning (ML) as well as associated practical Page 121 of 183 skills (i.e. programming, toolchains, hardware). The interaction of these areas is central to the complex new challenges and opportunities presented by emerging digital technologies. Expertise in these disciplines and their intersection form the fundamental skillset with which our students can become future leaders in a wide research area which relies on integration of skills to catalyse new activity in a growth area of the UK economy.
What makes our CDT unique internationally is the production of students who, while highly skilled in creative science and technology also have the ability to apply and translate their knowledge to new sectors. These 'Enabling' application areas beyond the Creative Industries will be defined across themes of: Healthcare, Lifestyle and Rehabilitation, Human Performance Enhancement, and Engineering and Design - all wider research strengths of Bath and Surrey. Our focus is on ensuring that our students have both the core academic skills and the complementary pratical skills for agile, problem based work - regardless of sector and discipline.
To achieve our unique student training experience, we envisage a cohort model that blends disciplinary boundaries, closely involves external partners and focusses on real-world skills to generate the agile responsiveness to problems that are highly relevant for modern creative technology skill based work. This will include a structured MRes degree in Year 1, skills based residential weeks, reactive and placement based external project experiences and master classes using our cutting-edge facilities.
Our cohort experience blends this technical skill and team work capability building with a personalised student model, starting in Year 0, which works to identify an individual's academic research interests e.g. fundamental vs applied research; creative industry or enabling sector; mapping of individual research strengths and career ambitions.
Beyond this we also include further career development recognising the prevalence and opportunity for start-up companies in this sector. Both Surrey and Bath have established business incubators with training programmes that we will access. Through the SetSquared partnership we will expose our students to entrepreneurial concepts and opportunities within their residential training weeks.
Responding to priority area 3: Digital Creative and Interactive Technologies, our CDT has a vision to provide the next generation of internationally excellent doctoral researchers capable of meeting the diverse needs of academia, industry and other employers in a rapidly evolving technology area. We will equip our cohorts with the skills necessary to address not only the challenges of today, but to shape the agenda for the challenges of the next 10-20 years.
Bell, Professor EP/S008462/1 Newcastle University EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Transport Systems for the Digital Age MC
Transport provision is changing through digitalisation. The fourth Industrial Revolution will be data led, with analytics and connectivity playing a key part in future mobility in relation to key developments such as smart cities and the increasing trends of automation and the joining up of systems and services. Intelligent systems are providing a shift to user-centric mobility that integrates inadequately connected mode-based systems while allowing system-wide optimisation of networks and resources. Ageing society, energy usage, carbon footprint, network resilience, health impacts and socio-economic aspects are all key transport challenges being re-imagined through digitalisation. The CDT in Transport Page 122 of 183
Systems for the Digital Age has a vision to train the next generation of transport engineers in an integrated way that brings together technological innovation, engineering know-how and user-centred behavioural research having digitalisation and systems thinking at its core. This unique combination of digital, engineering and human skills will equip students with the knowledge to bridge the existing skills gap to realise the full potential of digitalisation. The strength of Newcastle University in a breath of transport-related disciplines in areas such as engineering, architecture, planning, computing, mathematics, ageing and health, environmental science, behavioural science will be scaled-up through applying a digitalisation lens to these disciplines using a cohesive, systems-based approach. A unique combination of topics for the training of the cohort will be provided in key areas that transcend traditional transport engineering disciplines e.g. machine learning, data analytics, systems thinking and responsible innovation, equipping the cohort with the necessary skills to advance knowledge in transport systems. This training will underpin a PhD research framework around three core inter-related pillars, namely: a. Digitalisation of the system, studying aspects related to the effects and approaches to digitalising systems' architecture and their impact on whole-systems operation e.g. cooperative vehicle - road transport systems, smart railways, physical internet (IoT for freight); b. Digitalisation of the service, studying novel perspectives for transport service provision and end-user empowerment facilitated by the widespread use of digital technologies e.g. user-centric systems, demand forecasting, industry 4.0; c. System-wide resource intelligence, studying why, where and how obtaining vast amounts of information on the system performance across scales e.g. extracting meaningful information from mobile and fixed data by applying novel analytics, maximising the potential of sensor networks, visualisation. The digitisation enables us for the first time to consider transport as potentially a joined-up system rather than a number of loosely connected modes as is the case at the moment. Essential to this new knowledge is an overarching system of connected and co-ordinated systems achieved through synergistic design and optimisation that uses the wealth of opportunities digitalisation has to offer. With substantial interaction with stakeholders (e.g. placements) and across the CDT cohort, students will unravel the inefficiencies in systems across networks and investigate how aspects of one system have synergy with another to deliver positive benefits, confident that there will be no unintended consequences (e.g. displaced air pollution), informed by the research of other PhDs. Activities and measures to create a sense of community and team research will be put in place along with plans for ensuring equality and diversity.
Bain, Professor EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Soft Matter for Formulation and Industrial EP/S008470/1 Durham University C Innovation (SOFI2)
Soft Matter is ubiquitous, in the form of polymers, colloids, gels, foams, emulsions, pastes, or liquid crystals; of synthetic or biological origin; as bulk materials or as thin films at interfaces. Soft Matter impinges on almost every aspect of human activity: what we eat, what we wear, the cars we drive, the medicines we take, what we use to keep clean and healthy, in sport and leisure activities. Soft Matter plays a role in many industrial processes including new frontiers such as regenerative medicine and digital manufacturing. Soft Matter is complex chemically and physically with structure and properties that depend on length and time scales. Too often the formulation of soft materials has been heuristic, without the fundamental understanding that underpins predictive design, which hampers innovation and leads to problems in scale up and reformulation in response to changing regulation or customer preferences. Durham, Edinburgh and Leeds Universities set up the SOFI CDT in 2014 in response to the challenge from manufacturers across the personal care, coatings, plastics and food sectors to provide future employees with the skills to transform the design and manufacture of soft materials from an art into a science.
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The dialogue continues with industrial partners, both old and new, which has resulted in this bid for a refreshed CDT in Soft Matter - SOFI2 - that reflects the evolving scientific, technological and industrial landscape. We have a new partnership with the National Formulation Centre, who will lead a training case study and contribute to the wider training programme, and with several multinationals who were not involved with SOFI at its outset. We will seek to involve more small and medium-sized companies in SOFI2 by providing opportunities for them to engage in training and project supervision. SOFI2 will have increased training in biological soft matter, which has been identified as a growth area by the EPSRC and our partners, and in scale-up and manufacturing, so that our students can understand better the challenges of taking ideas from the laboratory to the customer. Social responsibility in research and innovation will be embedded throughout the training program and we will trial new ideas in participatory research where the public is involved in the creation of research projects.
Each cohort of 16 students will spend their first six months on a common training programme in science and engineering, built around case studies co-delivered with industry partners. They then select their PhD projects and join their research groups in Durham, Leeds or Edinburgh. Generic and transferrable skills training continues throughout the four years, bringing the cohorts together for both academic-led and student-led activities.
The importance of Soft Matter to the UK economy cannot be understated. Recent (2016) ONS statistics identify sales of £118.5bn in four manufacturing sectors benefitting directly from the proposed CDT. An older CIKTN report (2010) concluded that formulated products (most of which involve Soft Matter) contributed £180bn annually to UK GDP. Industry sectors relying on Soft Matter include paints and coatings; adhesives, sealants and construction products; plastics and composite materials; pharmaceuticals and healthcare; cosmetics and personal care; household and professional care; agrochemicals; food and beverages; inks and dyes; lubricants and fuel additives; process chemicals.
Evans, Professor EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Water and Waste Infrastructure EP/S008497/1 University of Leeds BE Systems Engineered for Resilience (Water-WISER)
The world is changing fast. Rapid urbanisation, large scale population movements, climate change, natural and man-made disasters create enormous pressures on local and national governments to provide housing, water, sanitation, solid waste (rubbish) management and other critical services. In the UK there is an ongoing challenge associated with aging infrastructure (many sewers for example are more than 100 years old) and at the same time, calls for new investment in housing, the construction of new towns, and an urgent need to reduce reliance on expensive fossil fuels, reduce pollution and increase the recovery of valuable resources. As economic conditions improve, people naturally demand better services; 24- hour water piped direct to the house and convenient safe private toilets have replaced public stand pipes and public toilets as the aspiration of many families in Africa, Asia, the Pacific and Latin America (the "global south"). All of this creates both a challenge and an opportunity. In the coming decades in the global south there will be a huge demand for new infrastructure investments; more than 4.4 billion people do not have effective sanitation, while 2.4 billion people urgently need new water supply services. The UK engineering industry is poised to play a significant role in meeting this demand and the need for new innovations at home. But therein lies the challenge; the new generation of services and infrastructure must be essentially different in nature from what has been traditionally provided. In an era of increasing uncertainty from, for example, the changing climate, the traditional approach to the design of piped water supplies and sewerage networks would result in such a major over design that the investment costs alone would be prohibitive. Similarly, it will no longer be acceptable to just keep adding additional treatment processes on to waste water treatment systems to meet increasingly challenging conditions and higher discharge Page 124 of 183 standards and continue to pump valuable nutrients and carbon into our rivers and streams; new approaches are needed, which recover the nutrient and energy value of human and solid waste streams, in fact turning away from the idea of waste altogether and moving towards the idea of resource management and the so-called circular economy. What is needed to meet this demand is a new generation of research engineers and scientists trained not only in the fundamentals of 'what is known' but in the more challenging area of 'what can be re-imagined'. The EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Water and Waste Infrastructure Services Engineered for Resilience (Water-WISER) will train five cohorts of researchers with the new skills needed to meet these enormous challenges. Water-WISER graduates will combine a solid training in the fundamental engineering and science of water and sanitation, solid waste management, water resources and drainage, with a much broader training and development which will build the skills needed to collaborate with non-engineers and non-scientists, to work with sociologists and political scientists, city planners, digital designers, business development specialists and administrators, health specialists, professionals working in international development and finance. Students in the centre will have the opportunity to study at one of three globally-leading Universities working on resilient infrastructure and development. They will take a one year Masters course and then move on to carry out tailored research, in partnership with engineering consultancy firms, universities or development agencies such as the World Bank, UNICEF or WaterAid; studying how to deliver innovative, effective and resilient infrastructure and services in rapidly growing poor cities. The combined results of the research will inform innovation both in those countries and in the UK and consolidate the UK's position as the go-to place for engineering expertise and innovation.
Craddock, EP/S008500/1 University of Bristol EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Digital Health and Care Professor IJ
Society is battling an explosion of health problems that need long-term management, such as depression, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, cancer and dementia. Low-cost digital technologies, such as apps, wearables or sensors in the home, are increasingly seen as vital to the understanding, prevention, diagnosis and management of these health problems. In November 2017 the White Paper on the UK's Industrial Strategy set out four Grand Challenges - one challenge was "Harnessing the power of innovation to meet the needs of an Ageing Society."
To achieve the goal of using digital technology for health and healthy ageing we need many more people in research and development to have a high level of skills in both health and digital technology. To develop digital health solutions requires students to have a strong understanding of a very wide range of technology topics, such as microelectronics, power/energy management, data communication, signal processing, machine learning, statistics and visualisation. To develop digital solutions that patients and healthcare workers find useful also requires students to understand user-centred design, real world health problems, barriers to adoption, psychology, physiology, ethics, regulation, health economics and the design of clinical trials.
In the course of designing this Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Digital Health and Care, we have consulted many stakeholders, including members of the public, patients, and students, plus senior members of relevant industry partners, patient charities and government and research bodies. All stakeholders agreed that to ensure that students have a strong scientific foundation, the training should be at doctoral level, i.e. building on top of an undergraduate degree in a discipline such as either Engineering/Computer Science or Health/Life Science and including a substantial individual research project that brings together their learning from the different disciplines.
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Taking in students with very different first degrees (e.g. Physiology, Electronics, Neurology, Engineering Mathematics, Pharmacology) requires a personalised approach to training. In the first year, students with a background in Health and Life Sciences stream will make use of successful existing introductory units for the MSc Computer Science Conversion programme. For students with a background in Engineering and Computer Sciences, the CDT Teaching Fellow will deliver an entirely new unit that introduces key concepts in health and life sciences with an emphasis on topics most relevant to digital monitoring, diagnosis and self-management.
Drawing on our stakeholder consultations we have also based this Digital Health and Care CDT on a cohort approach designed to encourage peer learning from each other, for example by co-locating the entire cohort in one space, by pairing students from computer science and health backgrounds from day one, and by including group projects in the first year curriculum. This cohort approach will help to develop team players who are well-prepared to work closely with health professionals, experts in scientific domains ranging from psychology to machine learning, and with members of the public. Their cohort experience will teach them to value the input, needs and concerns of others in the multi-stakeholder health domain and they will learn how to integrate different inputs and viewpoints within research programmes tackling real health problems.
Students will start the programme with a wide range of different first degrees, but by the end of the first year, they students will be able to speak a common language, be aware of the range of skills needed to solve real problems and will be able to work well with experts from other disciplines. From the second year onwards, all students will undertake an individual project and all research projects will have supervision from experts in different disciplines, drawn from 3 different Faculties.
King's College EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Cross-Disciplinary Approaches to Non- EP/S008543/1 Bhaseen, Dr MJ London Equilibrium Systems (CANES)
The vast majority of systems found in nature are not in equilibrium. They evolve in time and may receive continuous inputs from their surroundings. Life itself is a prominent example. Non-equilibrium systems are typically irreversible, so that if a movie of the system is played backwards it would look very different.
Characterising and controlling the behaviour of systems away from equilibrium is a pivotal challenge that cuts across traditional scientific boundaries. Problems ranging from the fracture of materials, to the growth of cells in health and disease, to environmental dynamics, all require a deep understanding of complex dynamical processes. In contrast to systems that are at, or close to equilibrium, our understanding of non- equilibrium behaviour is still in its infancy. Non-equilibrium science has thus been identified as a Physics Grand Challenge by EPSRC, in order to mobilise the development of new approaches and transferrable techniques. Advancement requires investment in highly skilled researchers that can exploit the links between disciplines in order to expedite the search for new solutions.
The proposed Centre for Doctoral Training in Cross-Disciplinary Approaches to Non-Equilibrium Systems (CANES) will deliver cohort-based training in non-equilibrium science by exploiting the strong interdisciplinary connections that underpin this frontier. Students will be trained in advanced mathematical modelling, data analytics and state of the art computing techniques, including recent developments in machine learning. Research projects will combine expertise from different disciplines in order to advance problems at the interfaces between mathematics, physics, biomedicine, environmental, and informational sciences. Graduates will emerge with an exceptional portfolio of skills, including quantitative Page 126 of 183 problem solving skills, the ability to integrate knowledge from different domains, leadership, and the ability to work in diverse teams. These are skills that are actively sought in academia and industry. CANES students will benefit from the direct involvement of industrial partners via careers events and internships. Students will be trained in public engagement and communication skills in order disseminate their activities to a broad audience.
Cartmell, The University of EP/S008551/1 EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Advanced Biomedical Materials Professor SH Manchester
Biomedical Materials have advanced dramatically over the last 50 years. Historically, they were considered as materials that formed the basis of a simple device, e.g. a hip joint or a wound dressing with a predominant tissue interface. However, biomedical materials have grown to now include the development of smart and responsive materials. Accordingly, such materials provide feedback regarding their changing physiological environment and are able to respond and adapt accordingly, for a range of healthcare applications. Two major areas underpinning this rapid development are advances in biomedical materials manufacture and their characterisation. Medical products arising from novel biomedical materials and the strategies to develop them are of great importance to the UK and Ireland. It is widely recognised that we have a rapidly growing and ageing population, with demand for more effective but also cost effective healthcare interventions, as identified in recent government White Paper and Foresight reports. This links directly to evidence of the world biomaterials market, estimated to be USD 70 billion (2016) and expected to grow to USD 149 billion by 2021 at a CAGR of 16%. To meet this demand an increase of 63% in biomedical materials engineering careers over the next decade is predicted. There is therefore a national need for a CDT to train an interdisciplinary cohort of students and provide them with a comprehensive set of skills so that they can compete in this rapidly growing field. In addition to the training of a highly skilled workforce, clinically and industrially led research will be performed that focuses on developing and translating smart and responsive biomaterials with a particular focus on higher throughput, greater reproducibility of manufacture and characterisation. We therefore propose a CDT in Advanced Biomedical Materials to address the need across The Universities of Manchester, Sheffield and The Centre for Research in Medical Devices (CÚRAM),Republic of Ireland (ROI). Our combined strength and track record in biomaterials innovation, translation and industrial engagement aligns the UK and ROI need with resource, skills, industrial collaboration and cohort training. This is underpinned strategically by the Biomedical Materials axis of the UK's £235 million investment of the Henry Royce Institute, led by Manchester and partner Sheffield. To identify key thematic areas of need the applicants led national Royce scoping workshops with 200 stakeholders through 2016 and 2017. Representation was from clinicians, industry and academia and a national landscape strategy was defined. From this we have defined priority research areas in bioelectronics, fibre technology, additive manufacturing and improved pre-clinical characterisation. In addition the need for improved manufacturing scale up and reproducibility was highlighted. Therefore, this CDT will have a focus on these specific areas, and training will provide a strongly linked multidisciplinary cohort of biomedical materials engineers to address these needs. All projects will have clinical, regulatory and industry engagement which will allow easy translation through our well established clinical trials units and positions the research well to interface with opportunities arising from 'Devolution Manchester', as Greater Manchester now controls long-term health and social care spending, ready for the full devolution of a budget of around £6 billion in 2016/17 which will continue through the CDT lifespan.
Raval, Professor University of EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Biofilm Innovation, Technology and EP/S00856X/1 R Liverpool Engineering (BITE)
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Biofilms are ubiquitous and are broadly defined as any group of microorganisms adhering to each other within a matrix or at a surface. Biofilms impact on a ~$5 trillion global economic activity, approximately twice the GDP of the UK, covering major cross-sectoral UK industries. Biofilms are also implicated in major societal challenges of AMR, Infection, Food Security, Clean water and Energy.
This proposal is to set up a Centre for Doctoral Training in Biofilms Innovation, Technology and Engineering (BITE). A world class consortium involving the Universities of Liverpool, Southampton, Nottingham and Edinburgh, alongside international institutes, major national facilities and a large industrial consortium come together to establish the UK's first graduate training Centre that will address the skills and knowledge gap in the Biofilm field.
The BITE CDT will: (i) eliminate the long-standing silos in the field by creating a highly-networked community of researchers and academics whose access to a world-leading infrastructure and knowledge-base will enable them to compete with the international best, encompass exceptional interdisciplinarity and revolutionise research PhD projects in the biofilms field; (ii) embed innovation and entrepreneurship to catalyse high impact translation of ideas into technology and enhance the business and career prospects of our students and contributing to UK growth and prosperity. (iii) impart knowledge of regulatory and ethical frameworks alongside Responsible Innovation and Frugal Innovation for resource-compromised markets. (iv) engage with the international best via students exchange programmes, joint conferences and staff secondments with leading international institutes. (v) train graduates in team problem-solving, peer-to-peer learning, leadership and communications across disciplines and across sectors. (vi) ensure all talents are nurtured and able to realise their full potential via active equality and diversity policies.
Atkinson, EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Materials for Integration into Technology: EP/S008586/1 Durham University Professor D An SME Innovation Enabler
Small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) is a blanket term for businesses that span a range in the numbers of employees up to 250 staff for medium size companies, less than 50 for small businesses and less than 10 for micro-scale businesses. SMEs are vital to the UK economy, accounting for 60% of all jobs in the private sector and generating nearly half of all revenue. Also, significantly SMEs are very important in creating growth in the UK economy and with that growth an increase in the number of high quality jobs, with SMEs creating 73% of new jobs since 2010 and high growth SMEs, which represent less than 1% of businesses creating 20% of that jobs growth. Boosting SME growth would significantly improve UK economy and jobs, but a major issue identified by national and international studies is a shortage of highly skilled personnel.
SMEs cover all kinds of businesses, but an important sector is high technology SMEs, including a range of small companies that utilise a scientific understanding of the physics and chemistry of materials in combination with engineering knowledge to develop technologies based upon these materials. Examples include materials for energy efficient lighting, and electronic materials that can be made flexible and cheaply for use in the "Internet-of-things" revolution. Importantly, the research and development of materials for these applications needs to consider low- Page 128 of 183 cost, environmentally sustainable manufacturing, novel and improved materials measurements to better understanding, and control the behaviour and design of devices that builds upon a deeper understanding of materials from theory, modelling and experimental studies.
The SMEs making use of materials for integration into technologies form an important and growing sector of the economy. However, in common with SMEs in general, they face a shortage of trained personnel and in particular need trained scientists and engineers with the knowledge to develop and integrate materials into products. Furthermore, these small companies often need flexible staff with broader skills and business awareness, but the timescale and resources of small companies are such that they are not usually capable of developing and delivering the wider skills training needed in addition to the underpinning scientific training. What is needed is a pipeline of trained scientists to meet the needs for sustainable growth of high-tech SMEs. Conventional centres for doctoral training (CDTs) work well for larger companies with significant budgets and training opportunities, but these conventional CDTs are really challenging for many SMEs to engage with due to their limited resources and the four-year timescale associated with training PhDs. The EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Materials for Integration into Technology, MinT, will address these issues directly. MinT touches many aspects of the EPSRC priority areas in materials, but it uniquely addresses SME-focused needs for materials-based research and business skills training.
The CDT will deliver research, technical training, business training (mini-MBA) and broader skills training, including industrial placement Team Projects to cohorts of PhD students, to meet the needs of the UK's high-technology SMEs. MinT has a pool of 50 supervisors with expertise in materials from fundamentals through to applications from the Departments of Physics, Chemistry and Engineering at Durham University. The leadership team has extensive expertise in research management, postgraduate training and supervision, and an outstanding record of working with industry. MinT was developed in partnership with SMEs and the national Centre for Process Innovation, and is founded on research excellence in materials at Durham. To ensure success, it will be based on the industrial North East Technology Park site to create an integrated programme of postgraduate research and training linking SMEs and the University.
Martin, Professor EP/S008608/1 University of Oxford EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Cyber Security (Phase 3) A
It is now widely accepted that in order to make progress in addressing the problems which arise in the Establishing Trust, Identity, Privacy and Security for a Hyperconnected Digital World priority area - for which we use the shorthand 'cyber security - an approach which integrates insights from diverse disciplines is essential. This need arises both because deeply inter-disciplinary research is needed in some areas; because even where that integration is unnecessary, it is crucial that researchers and practitioners can communicate with each other; and because it is widely reported in business that the leaders of the future need to bridge the 'technical' and 'social' domains.
The format of the Centre for Doctoral Training in Cyber Security is ideal to achieve this. The Centre will recruit a diverse cohort of students - with differing academic backgrounds and career paths. All will learn together during the first year, with the curriculum designed to introduce each to the disciplines they have not encountered before. As well as learning from the professors and instructors, they learn from each other. There is long-term benefit here, in that this cohort of student then has a broad group of peers with whom to discuss their research - and, as they move on from the CDT to make an impact in the wider world, they will have a ready-made network of contacts in many disciplines and sectors. This will enable them to make intellectual and scientific connections to advance the field with the greatest effectiveness. Page 129 of 183
The centre is organised around three academic pillars, shaping the design of the educational programme and the research in the centre: Systems Engineering for Trust, Identity, Privacy, and Security; Cyber Social Science; and Safe, Secure, Reliable Operations.
The education and research in the Centre is designed to fulfil the highest standards of academic rigour, and students will be tested to the same level as they would experience on a Master's degree. First year student undertake mini-projects during the summer, and these are co-created with partners in government, business, and the voluntary sector. "Deep Dive Days" introduce the students in depth to cyber security issues as encountered by some of the centre's external partners.
Steel, Professor EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Agricultural Technologies: North East EP/S008616/1 Durham University P Agricultural Technologies CDT (NEAT-CDT)
With a requirement to increase food production by 60% in the next 20 years to provide for increases in population and consumer need and challenged by resource depletion and an increasingly unstable climate, there is an urgent need to enhance the productivity and sustainability of global food production. As in the first green revolution in the latter part of the 20th century, engineering and the physical sciences are now set to play a fundamental role in this transformation. This will require the development of new technologies, products and the better use of data in decision systems in a time scale of innovation that is without precedence. To drive this innovation, we will need a new generation of specialists, entrepreneurs and technically-grounded business leaders, trained in the physical sciences and engineering who have a rounded knowledge of the needs of the agricultural sector. Current opportunities for engineering, computer science, chemistry and physics to transform agriculture include adapting, enhancing and applying technologies that enable astronomers to detect new stars, the development of autonomous /driver-less cars, high resolution ink jet printers, targeted formulation strategies to provide for controlled release of active drugs that require lower levels of chemical in puts, communication methods based on smart phone technologies. Developing and applying these technologies require a skilled work force that is both expert in each of these areas but can understand the language of the other disciplines, along with the needs of the agricultural (farming) sector and consumers. The proposed North East AgriTech (NEAT) Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) is focussed on training those future agritechnology leaders in the multiple disciplines needed to work at the interface with food production. A principal feature of the CDT is the cohort model in which much of the training spans disciplines leading to a network of scientists and engineers who will be better able to exchange ideas and learning across traditional boundaries thereby accelerating the change needed to underpin the improvement in global productivity and the associated opportunity for the UK to be an industrial leader in the agritechnology sector.
In collaboration with a network of UK industries, both large multinationals and small SMEs, and the Government (DBEIS) funded Agritech Centres of Innovation, the NEAT CDT will recruit five cohorts of students (minimum 14pa) who have a background in physical science and engineering to work on challenging research problems at this interface. Each project will have an industrial (co)supervisor and all students will gain industrial experience through research secondments and training placements. To ensure that the CDT will meet the UK agritech industry need, each student will develop a portfolio of skills through a training programme, that involves the whole cohort, providing an understanding of the breadth and diversity of agrifood industry, including the technical challenges, business needs, societal and environmental interests and regulatory landscape of modern farming, generic scientific skills in subjects such as statistics and data visualisation, career enhancing skills in business, intellectual property and teaching as well as enhancing essential in modern presentation and communication techniques. All CDT Page 130 of 183 courses will have input from the industrial partners in the centre, including farmers, both as trainers and co-trainees (CPD for industrial scientists). In addition to developing the next generation of leaders and innovators in this important field the CDT will also develop a closer network of companies working in the area. For some of the companies, this will represent a new area in which to apply their technologies whilst for others it will be an opportunity to learn new techniques underpinning the development of new products and business opportunities.
Richards, King's College EP/S008624/1 EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Advanced Light Technologies Professor D London
Photonics is set to become one of the most important technologies of the 21st century, with a diverse range of applications including imaging, sensing and security, healthcare and medicine, energy and quantum technology, among others, recognised by the UN in 2015 by the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies. Technologies based on light penetrates all of lives.
Our nation is connected via the earth's information infrastructure, which uses optical fibre communications systems to span long distances. However, our hunger for data connectivity is pushing optical fibre into our homes with current trends suggesting that light will eventually be required within conventional computers to cope with the sheer amount of data. How to accomplish this is currently unclear.
The health of our nation now depends on light-based imaging and sensing technologies. Light is used to predict, diagnose and treat diseases. Developments in optical microscopy in recent years now enable us to investigate the machinery of living cell with unprecedented molecular and spatial precision, to inform us of the mechanisms of disease and of new drugs. Optical sensing technologies open new opportunities for ultra- sensitive detection in disease diagnosis and drug discovery.
The resilience of our Nation is enabled through novel materials with new optical properties which provide new opportunities in defence and security, and for clean energy, through new photovoltaic materials for energy production, to materials which enable more efficient lighting.
The productivity of our Nation is powered by rapidly growing photonics industry, which delivers an ever increasing range of photonic components and photonic-enabled products to power emerging technologies.
This Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) draws on a world-leading portfolio of research across a range of advanced light technologies, with a pool of about 50 supervisors from King's College London, Imperial College London and University College London. The CDT builds on a recent London-wide effort to consolidate advanced light technologies research, via London Light, the London Institute for Advanced Light Technologies (http://www.london-light.org). The diversity of applications is a strength of this CDT, with research areas including biophotonics, nanophotonics, ultrafast photonics, optomechanics and photonic materials. The three partners are members of the London Centre for Nanotechnology with shared access arrangements for a wide-range of state-of-the-art fabrication and characterisation facilities. Research in advanced optical microscopy in the biological sciences draws on an additional >15 joint supervisors from the partner universities and the Francis Crick Institute, while the new UK Technology Touching Life Network in optical microscopy is led by the consortium. International interactions are strengthened through partnership with the Abbe School of Photonics in Jena, which is the co-ordinator for the new Max Planck School of Photonics in Germany. Page 131 of 183
The global photonics market was worth $600bn in 2015 and is growing by >6% per year, twice as fast as the global GDP. This London-based CDT will deliver scientists and engineers with the skills required to grasp this opportunity, by producing a generation of multi-skilled scientists with strong practical and theoretical expertise and experience of high-level research, who understand light and photonics and how it works.
Bowman, Queen's University EP/S008632/1 EPSRC CDT in Photonic Integration and Advanced Data Storage Professor R of Belfast
Cloud storage is rapidly growing because we all, as individuals, companies, organisations and governments, rely on data farms filled with large numbers of 'server' computers using hard disk drives (HDDs) to store personal and societal digital information. One server is required for every 600 smartphones or 120 tablet computers, and trends such as Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things are generating yet more new data, so the Cloud will continue to grow rapidly. The Cloud accounted for 25% of storage in 2010 and will account for >60% by 2020. As a result of these trends, the Cloud storage market is growing at 30% p.a. and is expected to be worth nearly $100b by 2022. While almost all personal computing and related electronic devices have migrated to solid state drives (SSD), HDDs are the only viable technology for cloud storage and a step change in the capacity of HDDs is required.
Due to the limitations of existing magnetic materials, a new technology is needed to increase the density of magnetic data recording beyond the current 1Tb/sq. inch out to well beyond 10Tb/sq. inch and meet the 30% annual growth rate. Heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) has been identified to overcome physical challenges and has now demonstrated proof of principle.
HAMR requires the integration of photonic components including lasers, waveguides and plasmonic antennas within the current magnetic recording head transducer. With a total addressable market (TAM) of 400-600 million hard disk drives p.a. with 3-4 heads per drive, HAMR is projected to require 2+ billion diode lasers p.a. & become the largest single market for laser diodes and photonic integration. HAMR will only be successful if it can be deployed as a low-cost manufacturable technology. Its successful development will therefore drive low-cost photonic integration and plasmonic technology into other industries and applications.
Queen's University Belfast & University of Glasgow co-created CDT PIADS in 2014/15 with 9 companies, and the founding vision of CDT PIADS was to train cohorts of high calibre doctoral research students in the skillsets needed by the data storage & photonics partner-base & the wider UK supply chain. Students are trained in an interdisciplinary environment encompassing five themes of robust semiconductor lasers, planar lightwave circuits, advanced characterisation, plasmonic devices, & materials for high density magnetic storage. By providing high-level scientific & engineering research skills in the challenges of integrating photonics & advanced materials alongside rich & enhanced skills training, graduating doctoral students are equipped to lead & operate at the highest technical levels in cross geographic distributed environments
In renewal we exploit the opportunity to engage & enhance our programme in collaboration with Science Foundation Ireland & the Irish Photonics Integration Centre with complementary capabilities including packaging & microtransfer printing for materials/device integration. Our training is expanded to include research on computational properties of functional & plasmonic materials and introduce a new programme of professional externally validated leadership training & offering both PhD and EngD routes. All 50 students recruited in renewal will have industry Page 132 of 183 involvement in their programme, whether through direct sponsorship/collaboration or via placements.
Our anchor tenant partner, Seagate Technology, has a major R&D and manufacturing site in the UK. Their need to manufacture of up to 1b p.a. photonic integrated devices at this site gives CDT PIADS a unique opportunity to create an ecosystem for training & research in photonic integration and data storage. The anchor tenant model will bring other companies together who also need the human resource & outcomes of the CDT to meet their skills demands.
Jarvis, Professor EP/S008640/1 Cranfield University EPSRC CDT in Water Resilience for Infrastructure and Cities - WRIC P
The aim of this Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) is to deliver the research leaders to provide the multi-disciplinary, disruptive thinking to change technologies and practice to significantly enhance the resilience of new and existing water infrastructure. This will enable holistic consideration of both water infrastructures and water on infrastructure, reflecting the interdependencies between urban and rural catchments, treatment, distribution, environment, policy and regulation, asset management, monitoring & control, the built and natural environment, and human factors. These ambitions are fully aligned with the requirements of EPSRC and industry.
The need for the CDT is simple: Water infrastructure is fundamental to our society and economy in providing benefit from water as a vital resource and in managing risks from water hazards, such as wastewater, floods, droughts, and environmental pollution. Recent water infrastructure failures caused by climate change have provided strong reminders of our need to manage these assets against the forces of nature. The need for resilient water systems has never been greater and more recognised in the context of our industrial infrastructure networks and facilities for water supply, wastewater treatment and urban drainage. Similarly, safeguarding critical infrastructure in key sectors such as transport, energy and waste from the impacts of water has never been more important. Combined, resilience in these systems is vitally important for public health and safety.
Centred around unique and world leading water infrastructure facilities, and building on internationally renowned research expertise, this CDT will produce scientists and engineers to deliver the innovative and disruptive thinking for a resilient water infrastructure future. This will be achieved through delivery of a relevant and end user-led training programme for researchers. Producing innovative solutions and high quality research outputs to contemporary water infrastructure challenges. The CDT will be delivered in cohorts, with deeply embedded horizontal and vertical training and integration within, and between, cohorts to provide a common learning and skills development environment. Training will be spread across the consortium, using integrated delivery and bespoke training.
Taught modules will ensure students have a global, joined-up perspective on water infrastructure, and socio-economic and management issues. Internationalisation will be promoted through overseas training with international partner organisations to focus on inspiring multidisciplinary collaboration on global water infrastructure challenges. All graduates will be trained as highly effective communicators for different audiences using various media. There will be a strong emphasis on entrepreneurship, harnessing close links with SMEs and start-ups. Students will develop understanding of routes to technology exploitation and getting innovations to market through 'Ideas to Innovation' training. The importance of digital communication and data management in water infrastructure systems will be given through training on processing data, and Page 133 of 183 dealing with uncertainties. Students will be supported in making their research highly impactful and in developing confident, collaborative, and connected individuals. Each year a summer school will address a group design challenge, focusing on the interconnectivity of water infrastructure. We will join forces with other CDTs to lead on the development of an annual resilience conference to cross fertilise more general concepts and develop strong, broad reaching networks. All students will be assigned a mentor from industry in addition to their academic supervisory team and access to professional networks. Co-creation of the WRIC CDT's vision and outline training programme with knowledge users and potential employers assures relevance to stakeholder ambitions (e.g. utility strategic direction statements), bro
Davies, EP/S008667/1 University of Oxford EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Health Data Science Professor J
The United Kingdom is a world leader in large health datasets, which link detailed biological measurements with information on symptoms, treatments, and outcomes. The University of Oxford's Big Data Institute (BDI) plays a key role in a number of these national projects, including UK Biobank, Dementias Platform UK, and the UK 100,000 Genomes Project.
The BDI sits at the heart of the University's Medical Campus, housing 250 researchers across over 20 research groups. It acts as an analytical hub for the wider experimental and clinical community in Oxford and beyond. Working in partnership with national initiatives, the BDI is connecting academic researchers, NHS organisations, and health technology companies.
In the Life Sciences Industrial Strategy (2017) the UK Government identified an urgent, national need for scientists who are able to apply and extend new methods in statistics, computing, and artificial intelligence to real-world health data challenges, enabling and accelerating the development of new treatments and new technologies, reducing the cost of healthcare delivery, and leading to better outcomes for patients.
In response to this need, The University of Oxford proposes to develop an EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Health Data Science, based at the BDI. The training will be provided by leading experts from the University's departments of Computer Science, Statistics, and Engineering, working with colleagues from the departments of Population Health and Medicine.
Graduates of the training programme will be able to understand and explore complex health datasets, helping others to ask questions of the data, and to interpret the results. They will be able to develop the new algorithms, methods, and tools that will be required. They will be able to create explanatory and predictive models for disease, helping to inform treatment decisions and health policy.
Every graduate will have extensive training in the ethics of working with personal and population health data, in data governance, and in information security. They will also gain accreditation in responsible research and innovation.
A cohort-based approach, in which groups of students are trained together, will provide experience in collaborative working, facilitate peer-to- peer learning, and foster interdisciplinary thinking. Students will interact with each other, within and across cohorts, for the purposes of skills transfer, individual mentoring, and research collaboration.
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The programme will build upon partnerships with NHS organisations providing healthcare across the region. The BDI houses the research data team for Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, one of the largest NHS teaching trusts in the UK, and works in close collaboration with the regional Academic Health Science Network. Students will be able to access real-world patient information, under appropriate governance, and work with healthcare professionals and patient representatives as part of their research training.
Industry partners can sponsor students, collaborate on the development of research proposals, and participate in a visiting scientist programme, in which employees are able to spend an extended period working at the BDI. Students will be able to visit partners sites, and see how novel methods and research outputs can be turned into practical, innovative products and services.
Cronin, University of EP/S008675/1 EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Chemical Digital Technologies Professor L Glasgow
Vision: The Chemical Digital Technologies CDT will enable a cohort of innovators who have backgrounds from chemistry, computer science, maths, and engineering to develop a unique set of skills for the future generation of chemical and biological digital technologies. This will fill an unmet growing need for industry-ready researchers who can combine skills in chemistry, programming, machine learning, databases, robotics, autonomous system. Application areas include chemical robotics, reaction discovery, automated drug discovery, chemical synthesis, soft matter, molecular and synthetic biology, and diagnostic devices.
Chemists, whilst fantastic specialists, lack the digital skills to take full advantage of recent technological developments. This because chemists are not routinely trained at postgraduate level in an interdisciplinary environment that combines chemistry with digital and engineering subjects. The UK has potential be the leading economy to utilise such a development in skills, enabled by the strong Pharmaceutical, food and drink, and materials sectors with the right investment in training. This is because the digitally driven synthesis of molecules promises to revolutionise access to medicine, drug discovery, and fine chemical manufacturing. With major UK investments in the Crick, Turing, Rosalind Franklin, Royce, and Faraday institutes, as well as the Catalysis hub, the development of interdisciplinary digital skills centred around the chemical sciences has never been more important. In addition, companies like GSK have identified that chemists with a shortage of digital skills has been limiting their mission to focus on data driven science solutions to health care. This centre for doctoral training will address the unmet need to equip a new generation of scientists and engineers as researchers and leaders in this emerging multi-disciplinary field. Research and training will cross the traditional disciplines of Chemistry, Computer Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Medical Sciences and will interact with a user community that includes, Pharma, high tech manufacturing, digital technologies, fine chemicals, food and drink, and oil and gas. This new generation of researchers will help change the disciplines, acting as conduits for translation as they take their skills and technologies into our supporting companies. Working with a range of partners we will develop training environment that allows PhDs to tackle the challenges of chemical digitisation from skills point of view combining synthetic chemistry, sensing, analytics, novel approaches to chemical robotics.
University of EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Integrated Energy Conversion and EP/S008683/1 Corr, Dr S Glasgow Storage for Sustainable Supply (InECSeSS)
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Renewables now account for 30% of the UK's electricity generation, and this proportion is rising rapidly. However, renewable energy sources tend to be intermittent (the sun does not always shine), which presents the problem of how to iron-out the peaks and troughs in supply that these sources produce to secure a reliable, steady flow of energy. Moreover, renewable power sources are often rather spread out geographically, which means that it is often too expensive to connect remote sources of electricity to the grid in any case. The solution to both these problems is energy storage that is integrated with the energy source. This would allow spare energy from times of plenty to be stored for times of deficit, either on-site with the generation source or as part of grid-scale storage.
However, the UK currently has very little storage capacity of this nature. Against this background, there is a pressing need to integrate renewable electricity generation with practical storage mechanisms that will allow the UK to transition to a more renewables-led energy landscape. Such a transition is currently hampered by a severe skills shortage in the energy supply chain downstream from renewable energy generation. The InECSeSS CDT will address this critical skills gap by training a cohort of PhD students who will be uniquely qualified in the development of energy conversion and storage systems that are fully integrated (and compatible) with renewably-generated electricity. This ambition also marries extremely well with the UK Industrial Strategy, the Scottish Government Energy Strategy and the Clean Energy Growth Plan which highlights the need for skilled doctorates in cutting edge research who can plug a significant industry skills shortage.
Our chief aim is therefore to produce highly-trained doctoral graduates with both breadth and depth of understanding across this very interdisciplinary research area. We will ensure graduates leave with a unique breadth of knowledge through holistic cohort training, including formal coursework and workshops across the global spectrum covered by the CDT supervisor pool. We will instill a world-leading depth of knowledge in a given sub-discipline of energy storage and conversion through the primary research project undertaken by each student. All of these primary research projects will be focused on real-world challenges in renewable energy storage and conversion, which we will define with the help of our end-user advisory board. In this way, we shall train uniquely-qualified graduates that span traditional scientific and engineering disciplines and are therefore ideally equipped to address the UK's future energy requirements.
To this end, we will focus our CDT projects on the following main research themes:
1. Solar-based integrated energy storage devices (SOLINEDs), whereby semiconductor solar cell conversion devices are integrated with electrolysers, Li-ion batteries or supercapacitors.
2. Thermal-based integrated energy storage devices (THERMINEDs), whereby (i) thermoelectric devices using heat waste from industrial or geothermal activities are integrated with supercapacitors or (ii) power-to-heat devices will be developed where we can convert excessive "wrong time" power to heat using heat pumps and store for later use.
3. Multiple platform-based integrated energy storage devices (MULTINEDs) whereby combinations of conversion devices are integrated with electrolysers or batteries (Li-ion, solid state and redox-flow).
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Smowton, EP/S008691/1 Cardiff University EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Compound Semiconductor Manufacturing Professor PM
TOPIC: "Semiconductors" are often synonymous with "Silicon Chips". After all Silicon supported computing technologies in the 20th century. But Silicon is reaching fundamental limits and already many of the technologies we now take for granted are only possible because of Compound Semiconductors (CS). These technologies include The Internet, Smart Phones, GPS and Energy efficient LED lighting! CSs are also at the heart of most of the new technologies expected in the next few years including 5G wireless, ultra-high speed optical fibre connectivity, LIDAR for autonomous vehicles, high voltage switching for electric vehicles, the IoT and high capacity data storage. To date CSs are made in relatively small quantities using fairly bespoke manufacturing and manufacturers have had to put together functions by assembling discrete devices. But this is expensive and for many of the new applications integration is needed along the lines of the Silicon Integrated Chip.
CDT research will involve the science of large scale CS manufacturing (e.g. materials combinations to minimise wafer bow, new fabrication processes for non-flat surfaces); manufacturing integrated CS on Silicon and of applying the manufacturing approaches of Silicon to CS; in approaches to exploit the highly advantageous electronic, magnetic, optical and power handling properties of CSs; and in generating novel integrated functionality for sensing, data processing and communication.
NEED: This CDT is a critical part of the strategic development of the CS Cluster centred in South Wales, supporting activity throughout the UK. It is part of the development of a wider training portfolio including apprenticeships, MScs and CPD activities, to train and upskill the entire workforce. Evidence of the critical need for a CDT, has been identified in a survey and analysis conducted by UK Electronics Skills Foundation highlighting the specific skills required in this rapidly growing high technology industrial sector. "We are looking for PhD level skills plus industry experience. We don't have the time to train up new staff." "There are no 'perfect employees' for CS companies, as this is effectively a new area. Staff, including those with PhDs, either have silicon skills and need CS-specific training, or have CS skills and need training in volume tools and processes, either in the cleanroom or in packaging." - quotes from CS Skills Survey - Interim Report UKESF March 2018.
We have worked with the CSA Catapult utilising the skills need they have identified as well as companies across the spectrum of CS activities and are confident of the absorbative capacity: the expected PhD level jobs increase for the existing local cluster companies alone would mop up all the students and the CDT will support many more companies and academic institutions.
APPROACH: a 1+3 programme where Year 1 is based in Cardiff, with provision via taught lectures based on existing MScs and transferable skills training, hands on and in-depth practical training and workshop material supplied by University, Patent Office and Industry Partner staff. A dedicated nursery clean room to allow rapid practical progress, learning from peer group activity and then an industry facing environment with co-location with industry staff and manufacturing scale equipment, where they will learn the future CS manufacturing skills. This will maximise cross fertilisation of ideas, techniques and approach and maximise the potential for exploitation. A personal development plan is initiated in Y1, with the opportunity to add training from any of the GW4 universities or Manchester's Royce Material Institute and mentored project planning for the PhD project. Page 137 of 183
Y2-Y4 consist of an in depth PhD project, co-created with industry and hosted at one of the 4 universities, and specialised whole cohort training and events, including Communication, Responsible Research and Innovation and innovative outreach.
McHale, Northumbria EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Renewable Energy Northeast Universities EP/S008772/1 Professor G University (ReNU)
The EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Renewable Energy Northeast Universities (ReNU) is driven by industry and market needs, which indicate unprecedented growth in renewable and distributed energy to 2050. This growth is underpinned by global demand for electricity which will outstrip growth in demand for other sources by more than two to one (The drivers of global energy demand growth to 2050, 2016, McKinsey). A significant part of this demand will arise from vast numbers of distributed, but interconnected devices (estimated to reach 40 billion by 2024) serving sectors such as healthcare (for ageing populations) and personal transport (for reduced carbon dioxide emission). The distinctive remit of ReNU therefore is to focus on materials innovations for small-to-medium scale energy conversion and storage technologies that are sustainable and highly scalable.
ReNU will be delivered by Northumbria, Newcastle and Durham Universities, whose world-leading expertise and excellent links with industry in this area have been recognised by the recent award of the North East Centre for Energy Materials (NECEM, award number: EP/R021503/1). This research-focused programme will be highly complementary to ReNU which is a training-focused programme. A key strength of the ReNU consortium is the breadth of expertise across the energy sector, including: thin film and new materials; direct solar energy conversion; turbines for wind, wave and tidal energy; piezoelectric and thermoelectric devices; water splitting; CO2 valorisation; batteries and fuel cells.
Working closely with a large group of companies representing industry, the ReNU team has designed a compelling doctoral training programme which aims to engender entrepreneurial skills which will drive UK regional and national productivity in the area of Clean Growth, one of four Grand Challenges identified in the government's recent Industrial Strategy White Paper. The same group of companies will also provide significant input to the ReNU in the form of industrial supervision, training for doctoral candidates and supervisors, and access to facilities and equipment.
Success in renewable energy and sustainable distributed energy fundamentally requires a whole systems approach as well as understanding of political, social and technical contexts. ReNU's doctoral training is thus naturally suited to a cohort approach in which cross-fertilisation of knowledge and ideas is necessary and embedded. The training programme also aims to address broader challenges facing wider society collaborating through policy internships with the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, as well as gender awareness training and outreach to address diversity issues in STEM industries. Furthermore, external professional accreditation will be sought for ReNU from the Institute of Physics, Royal Society of Chemistry and Institute of Engineering Technology, thus providing a springboard for the graduates into industry.
The combination of an industry-driven doctoral training programme to meet identifiable market needs, strong industrial commitment through the provision of training, facilities and supervision, an established platform of research excellence in energy materials between the institutions and
Page 138 of 183 unique training opportunities that include internationalisation and professional accreditation, creates a transformative programme to drive forward UK innovation in renewable and sustainable distributed energy.
Fliege, Professor University of EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in: from Data & Intelligence viA MOdelliNg to EP/S008780/1 J Southampton Decisions (DIAMOND)
Our data rich world is useless unless we have the computational skills to generate actionable insights & decisions from data. Together, data, mathematical & statistical modelling, & corresponding computational approaches provide ways to model & predict the future & drive decision making as well as policy utilising mathematical, scientific & engineering principles. A revolution is under away & we need to drive it by training highly skilled & engaged computational researchers, scientists and engineers, capable of developing, perusing, & conveying novel ideas in a collaborative, co-creation environment to create a radical shift in data-driven decision making & the manufacturing base of the UK economy. A key need is the wide range of skills necessary to support the coherent treatment of the Data/Modelling/Decision process. This requires multi- skilled individuals who can work together as a team; our Centre for Doctoral Training DIAMOND (from Data & Intelligence viA MOdelliNg to Decisions) will meet this demand by supporting a cohort-based approach to recruit & train students in designing, building, analysing, exploiting & innovating novel approaches that lead from data to decisions. We will focus both students & staff into one cooperative, co-creative, innovative structure.
Mawby, University of EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Wide-Bandgap Power Electronics and EP/S008845/1 Professor P Warwick Applications
'Power electronics is the muscle that makes possible electric and hybrid vehicles, smart appliances, smart buildings, the smart grid, all renewable energy sources and the efficient use of electrical energy ... It is a critical enabling technology to reduce energy demand across all energy sectors and is at the heart of radical innovation in aerospace, automotive, factory automation, robotics, medical engineering and communications.' So says PowerelectronicsUK, an industry body established in 2012 to represent the UK's power electronics community, in a 2017 white paper.
The aim of the proposed Centre for Doctoral Training in Wide-Bandgap Power Electronics and Applications is to train a body of at least 55 doctoral students to prepare them to form the next generation of highly skilled power electronics professionals by providing them with the background and knowledge to advance power electronics in UK industry as society becomes ever more reliant on electrical energy. This will ensure that the UK continues to produce the power electronics engineers required to maintain the UK's position in as a leader in power electronics.
The main beneficiaries of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Wide-Bandgap Power Electronics and Applications will be its graduates, industry and society more broadly. Through the knowledge and skills they will acquire as doctoral students, the graduates of the CDT will form the next generation of power electronics professionals in the UK and overseas. The sectors of industry that depend on power electronics - especially transportation, electrical power grids and renewable energy and the sectors that design and manufacture domestic and consumer products - require this new generation of power electronics professionals if they are to prosper in a world in which power electronics is central (if Page 139 of 183 not often visible) in the ever profilerating uses to which electrical energy is put. Society more broadly benefits in two ways. First, through the contribution that these power electronics professionals will make to the development of electric vehicles, smart appliances, smart buildings, the smart grid and renewable energy - all of which enable the reduction in energy use society demands for a sustainable future. And secondly through the creation of new jobs in the many industry sectors dependent on power electronics.
Cochran, University of EP/S008853/1 EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Future Ultrasonic Engineering Professor S Glasgow
We propose a CDT in Future Ultrasonic Engineering (FUSE) hosted in a unique, synergistic partnership between Medical and Industrial Ultrasonics, University of Glasgow, and the Centre for Ultrasonic Engineering, University of Strathclyde, combining to create the largest co- located, global critical mass in ultrasonic engineering. This platform includes ~100 academics, postdocs, research students and support staff based in Glasgow. The complementarity of research spans the entire spectrum of ultrasonic engineering and applications. This exceptional partnership will focus on ensuring that all FUSE CDT students develop into highly valuble ultrasonic engineers and future industry leaders through the unparalleled learning experience offered by the core technical competencies, outstanding research facilities, and broad range of industrial partners.
FUSE has been designed specifically to meet the growing demand for advanced skills, adventurous research, and technical innovation in ultrasonics, meeting an industry need across multiple sectors. Ultrasonics is an underpinning sensor technology in diverse industrial and medical applications, and has growing impact in consumer products, with FUSE positioned to have a pivotal role in the future health and economic prosperity of the UK and global markets. In the medical domain, ultrasound provides 20% of medical scans worldwide, is integral to advanced surgical tools, and is used increasingly in cancer therapy. Important industry applications include inspection and monitoring of safety critical infrastructure, increasing manufacturing throughput and part quality, and providing greener solutions in chemical reactions. Ultrasonic devices are essential components in every smartphone, are being developed for enhanced biometric security, and are finding application in domestic appliances. Importantly, FUSE has the breadth of expertise and facilities to deliver advanced training and research innovation through a student cohort and a broader mutually-supportive network to support this eclectic client base.
An important feature of FUSE is the diversity and strength of industrial engagement, not only in the range of applications, but also in working across the scale of companies from micro-SMEs to multinational organisations. A key driver is to provide uncomplicated access to SME organisations, to enrich the learning experience of the student cohorts and to maximise the impact of our research. To achieve this, FUSE will embody an international ethos, recognising the global reach of the core technology by including international secondments through industry and academic partners such as, in the US: Penn State and North Carolina State Universities, and in China: Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology (SIAT); Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (SICCAS); and the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC), with all of which we have existing partnerships.
We recognise that the success of the FUSE CDT will be judged by its creation of the future generation of ultrasonic engineers with a highly relevant, advanced, distinctive and transferable skill-set, equipping them to become leaders and entrepreneurs in industry, public health and other organisations, and universities. The close proximity of the two academic partners offers an unmatched learning experience, where strongly Page 140 of 183 integrated student cohorts will be developed in a unified research environment, and each student will be afforded excellent educational and research resources to reach their maximum potential. When coupled with the proposed academic-industrial ecosystem through which high quality, innovative projects will be co-created and supported, the 54 postgraduate ultrasonic engineers in FUSE will be ideally placed to thrive and contribute to future UK economic success within the global economy.
Bridgwater, EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Sustainable Bioenergy for the Future EP/S008861/1 Aston University Professor AV (SUSBIO)
This new Centre for Doctoral Training in Sustainable Bioenergy for the Future is proposed by Aston and Cranfield Universities who both have a long and distinguished track record of thermal and biological processing of natural materials. Biomass is the only source of renewable fixed carbon and has the capability of providing our fuel, energy, chemicals and material needs for the future. Biomass and wastes are expected to be a major player in the energy transition toward low-and neutral carbon economies in response to the pressing challenges of climate change and security of energy supplies. The projected global market value of this whole sector has been estimated to be £900 billion by 2030. Bioenergy may contribute up to half the total use of primary energy worldwide by 2050. This will require a substantial increase in the production of all bioenergy vectors including heat, power, fuels and commodities, and poses major challenges for all areas of bioenergy, biofuel and bio-chemical value chains. This expanding industry will require experienced scientists, engineers and managers to satisfy the demand for new businesses and this programme will take a multidisciplinary approach in training up to 65 scientists, engineers and managers in all areas necessary for development of successful and competitive bioenergy systems. This CDT will result in innovative solutions for this entire sector as well as giving all students in the programme a sound appreciation of the interactions and opportunities for these value chains in addition to the specialist skills arising from the PhD projects. Successful outcomes from the teaching and research elements of the programme will include new processes, new products, reduced costs, higher conversion efficiencies, reduced wastes and further CO2 reduction. Successful commercialisation of the resulting bio-related processes will result in a high demand for suitably qualified engineers, scientists and managers graduating from this CDT. A cohot approach is also ideal for encouraging and implementing leadership through vertical and horizontal interactions between students and between cohorts to provide cross fertilisation to encourage initiative. Bioenergy is interdisciplinary in nature and there are complex interactions between feedstock, conversion, and refining, often within a multi- product industry. The CDT will equip graduates with the necessary skills to enable bioenergy to grow as an integrated and advanced industry and realise its potential to contribute to the UK economy. The continued commitment to decarbonise society and improve security of supply will require considerably increased doctoral and managerial skills over at least the next 30 years. The UK economy therefore requires: - advanced scientific skills to identify and research innovation solutions to meet the national challenges of providing heat, power, transport vectors and chemicals - advanced technological skills to research, engineer and deploy industrial scale solutions to meet these national challenges, - application of sustainable, environmental, economic and social criteria to ensure that all solutions fully meet societal requirements, - development of leaders for tomorrow's bioenergy and biorefinery industries to provide innovative and imaginative solutions for development and deployment of world class industries.
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Yeomans, EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Innovative Physical Approaches to EP/S00890X/1 University of Oxford Professor J Complexity in the Life Sciences
The goal of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Innovative Physical Approaches to Complexity in the Life Sciences (iPAX) is to train outstanding graduates from the mathematical and physical sciences to lead research and innovation in the life sciences.
21st century challenges to health and well-being are serious and complex. An aging society is leading to a steep increase in cases of diabetes, dementia, heart disease, cancer, and those living with multiple, chronic conditions. Mixed messages about what constitutes a healthy diet, unhelpful lifestyle choices, and economic drivers are leading to an obesity time-bomb. We are facing the problems of growing antibiotic resistance and unpredictable epidemics.
Physical scientists, versed in experiment and scientific modelling, have a vital part to play. An analysis of international organisations undertaking health- and life-science relevant research has shown that very many cutting edge advances have been initiated in physics, mathematics and engineering: X-rays, magnetic resonance imaging, the double-helix structure of DNA and uncovering the link between smoking and cancer are classic examples that have revolutionised healthcare. This progress continues with single-molecule and super-resolution optical microscopies that can image the molecular workings of the cell, the application of cryo-electron microscopy to elucidate the structure of proteins, using mass spectrometry to study macromolecular biological machinery, and the applications of computer modelling and techniques of theoretical physics to tissue dynamics and tumour growth. This was recognised in Professor Sir John Bell's report that formed part of the Government's green paper on industrial strategy: "It is clear from the scientific successes in biomedicine over the past three decades and from the opportunities that exist now that the interface between life sciences and disciplines such as computer science, mathematics, statistics, engineering and chemistry, provides an enormous opportunity for further innovation."
Therefore the aim of the EPSRC CDT in Innovative Physical Approaches to Complexity in the Life Sciences (iPAX) is to provide the life sciences sector with highly numerate, game-changing, leaders who can initiate and respond to transformative science, and who have the skills and insight to translate scientific discoveries in the mathematical and physical sciences into innovations promoting health and well-being. We will complement their degrees in physics, mathematics and related disciplines with the fundamentals of modern biology and biochemistry, together with training in communication skills and project and research management. They will undertake a DPhil exploiting the innovative experimental and modelling approaches in the physical sciences now being pioneered at Oxford and elsewhere to address a problem relevant to the life sciences.
An essential component of our vision for iPAX is close involvement with industrial partners. The majority of DPhil projects will be designed, and jointly supervised, by an academic and industrialist working in tandem. We will build on an intellectual property agreement which has been pioneered at Oxford which allows students, academics and industrialists to interact freely. This collaborative and interdisciplinary working will give students an appreciation of a wide range of industrial environments, and allow the free circulation of scientific information and ideas.
Over the lifetime of the programme iPax will train over 50 scientists who will be future leaders of research at the interface between the physical and life sciences. They will identify opportunities across disciplines, and use cutting-edge methods, and collaborations across academia and Page 142 of 183 industry, to address them. Hence they will create innovative technologies that will contribute to overcoming the challenges of improving health and well-being against a background of changing lifestyles.
Nason, EP/S008942/1 University of Bristol EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Computational Statistics: COMPASS Professor G
The COMPASS Centre for Doctoral Training will provide a high-calibre cohort-based training for at least 50 PhD students in computational statistics, a key component of data science. The current disruptive data revolution has revealed new ways of using data to enhance productivity and improve citizens' well-being, and even created novel transformative ideas and ventures that were undreamt of only a few years ago. It is no surprise that the revolution has not only created new classes of data-centred companies, but also whole new data science groupings in many existing organizations. Big and complex data is now ubiquitous and fundamental for research and development, including for our integrated CDT academic partner disciplines of economics, education, engineering, medicine, computer, geographical, earth and life sciences, and for our external partners: Adarga, CheckRisk, EDF, GCHQ, McLaren, the Office for National Statistics, Sciex and Shell. Exploiting the full potential of big and complex data requires advanced statistical methods and computation working together, hence the need for computational statistics. Bristol has long-established world-leading experience in computational statistics, a broad base of already engaged and co-creative statistical academic and dynamic external partners, excellent facilities, and extensive experience of running successful CDTs under the auspices of the Bristol Doctoral College.
The sheer value of unlocking the potential in data has spurred enormous demand for people trained to PhD level in computational statistics, and demand dramatically exceeds supply, internationally and in the UK. A COMPASS PhD will deliver a highly attractive programme of advanced technical, interdisciplinary and professional training, priming students to seize rewarding and worthy careers, at a time where there are a large and increasing number of appealing employment opportunities.
COMPASS will strive to recruit the best students from numerate backgrounds and provide a multimodal training within and across cohorts. The training will include an assessable programme of taught coursework, in a wide range of topics both in the statistical core and crossover areas, which are important to, and sometimes arose in, the cognate disciplines of our academic partners. For example, causality in medical statistics or multilevel modelling in education. Contemporary statistical research and application is frequently best prosecuted by teams, often made up of people from multiple disciplines. Hence, cohort and cross-cohort activities are essential for modern doctoral training and permeate the design of COMPASS. We will adopt tried and trusted cohort training methods, such as group work, group & partner projects and Masterclasses, and innovative cross-cohort activities such as the COMPASS policy workshops, statistical consultancy teams and rapid response teams (small teams, formed at short notice, with staff from partners, to attack important and urgent problems in their business, a co-creation idea from the Office for National Statistics).
Our academic and external partners are already, and will in future be, deeply integrated into our training delivery. They are/will be involved in COMPASS co-creation and committed to providing significant personnel and resources to support this. COMPASS meshes with the UK Academy of Postgraduate Training in Statistics, the University of Bristol's Jean Golding Institute for Data Intensive Research, and the national Alan Turing and Heilbronn Institute for Mathematical Research Institute to provide outstanding PhD training enhancement and enrichment. Page 143 of 183
COMPASS will be an attractive focal point for the best students, preparing them for rewarding careers and enabling them to make crucial contributions to the health, productivity, connectivity and resilience of the UK and its citizens.
Dalby, Professor University of EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Engineered Tissues for Discovery, EP/S008950/1 MJ Glasgow Industry and Medicine
The UK is a world leader in the development of new medicines. In recent years, however, there has been a drop in the number of drugs that make the transition to clinical and commercial benefit. Many new drugs fail to make it through initial pre-clinical screens into trials. Of those that do issues of safety and efficacy may then be raised in humans. 66% of new candidates that pass pre-clinical hurdles then fail in the clinic. Given that it costs £1.85 bn to develop a new drug and 12-15 years to reach patient benefit, it is imperative for the pharmaceutical industry, and the competitiveness of the UK economy, that we find smarter and more effective ways to screen drug candidates prior to clinic.
The high attrition rates of drug candidates suggest that present in vitro models (cell cultures) and in vivo models (animals) used to screen drugs are poor predictors of whether a drug really works. Thus, there is a move towards the development of non-animal technologies (NATs) closer to human physiology and more likely to predict efficacy. These include engineered systems comprising human cells placed in environments similar to those that may be encountered in the body, created using a range of advanced structuring methodologies including 3D printing, electrospinning, amongst others. These may be placed in bioreactor systems that may simulate the in vivo environment, by providing compression, vibration, stretch or local flows, which may be modified with microfluidic systems. The response of these "tissues" to candidate molecules can then be assessed in real-time using a range of analyses (microscopy and mass spectrometry).
The development of the above technologies is driven by engineers, but few are able to work across disciplinary boundaries. At present, the UK lacks a critical mass of such engineers and so we import talent from abroad. This CDT will train engineers in the skills needed to work with life scientists and clinicians and to develop NATS to screen drug cadidates. This will not only provide the skills needed to provide home-grown talent in this area, but also maintain the UK's position as a global leader in medicines development that will sustain the UK economy.
The training will take place across the universities of Glasgow and Birmingham/Aston. These centres are well aligned in terms of research interest. We all focus on fabrication of novel materials for use in the body (biomaterials), lab-on-chip technologies (these are miniature labs where screening can rapidly take place) and tissue engineering (mixing cells with materials to make 'off the shelf' tissues). However, each institute focusses on a different technology readiness stage. Glasgow focusses on fundamental materials and their interactions with cells, Birmingham on taking novel materials into real world and Aston on industrial implementation of these technologies. Together with our club of industrial partners and our strong links to clinic, we can offer unprecedented, world-class, training in NAT development with industrial delivery. We will look after the students as year (and cross year) cohorts. We will provide teaching, activities and hands-on training in interdisciplinary science, responsible research and ethics, impact and translation and user engagement. The students will be regularly brought together for this training. This is essential to help the students become the interdisciplinary experts with strong community links that the UK economy is demanding.
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Booker-Milburn, EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Technology Enhanced Chemical EP/S008977/1 University of Bristol Professor KI Synthesis
Synthesis, the science of making molecules, is central to human wellbeing through its ability to produce new molecules for use as medicines and materials. Every new drug, whether an antibiotic or a cancer treatment, is based on a molecular structure designed and built using the techniques of synthesis. Synthesis is a complex activity, in which bonds between atoms are formed in a carefully choreographed way, and training to a doctoral level is needed to produce scientists with this expertise. Our proposed CDT is tailored towards the formation of highly creative, skilled people that are essential to the pharmaceutical, biotech, agrochemical and materials sectors, and to many related areas of science which depend on novel molecules. Irrespective of the ingenuity of the synthetic chemist, synthesis is often the limiting step in the development of a new product or the advance of new molecular science. This hurdle has been overcome in some areas by automation (proteins and DNA are routinely made by machines), but the operational complexity of a typical synthetic route in, say, medicinal chemistry has hampered the wider use of the technology. Recent developments in the fields of automation, machine learning, virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI) now make possible a fundamental change in the way molecules are designed and made, and we propose in this CDT to engineer a revolution in the way that newly trained researchers approach synthetic chemistry, creating a new generation of pioneering innovators. Making use of Bristol's extensive array of automated synthetic equipment, flow reactors, peptide synthesisers, and AI retrosynthesis engines, students will learn and appreciate this cutting-edge technology-driven program, its potential and its limitations. We will integrate into our CDT direct interaction and training from entrepreneurs who themselves have taken scientific ideas from the lab into the market. Bristol has outstanding facilities, equipment and expertise to deliver this training. At its core will be a state-of-the-art research experience in our world-leading research groups, which will form the majority of the 4-year CDT training period. For the 8 months prior to choosing their project, students with complete a unique, multifaceted Technology & Automation Training Experience (TATE). They will gain hands-on experience in advanced techniques in synthesis, automation, modeling and virtual reality. In conjunction with our Dynamic Laboratory Manual (DLM), the students will also expand their experience and confidence with interactive, virtual versions of essential experimental techniques, using simulations, videos, tutorials and quizzes to allow them to learn from mistakes quickly, effectively and safely before entering the lab. In parallel, they will develop their teamworking, leadership and thinking skills through brainstorming and problemsolving sessions, some of them led by our industrial partners. Brainstorming involves the students generating ideas on outline proposals which they then present to the project leaders in a lively and engaging interactive feedback session, which invariably sees new and student-driven ideas emerge. By allowing students to become fully engaged with the projects and staff, brainstorming ensures that students take ownership of a PhD proposal from the start and develop early on a creative and collaborative atmosphere towards problem solving. TATE also provides a formal assessment mechanism, allow the students to make a fully informed choice of PhD project, and engages them in the use of the key innovative techniques of automation, machine learning and virtual reality that they will build on during their projects. With our track record of synthesis training and new training platforms in automation, AI, AR and entrepreneurship, co-created with our commercial partners, this new CDT will produce graduates better able to navigate the fast-changing chemical landscape.
Macpherson, EP/S008985/1 University of Leeds EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Algebra and Logic: Leeds and Manchester Professor HD
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This Centre for Doctoral Training combines the expertise in Algebra and Logic of the Universities of Leeds and Manchester.
Algebra and logic are closely allied fields, both fundamental to pure mathematics. They also have well-established applications in many areas of science, engineering, technology and finance, and play a key role in cyber-security and in many approaches to data science more widely. PhD graduates in these areas are in high demand in many industries, for both their subject expertise and their exceptional analytic skills. Historically, the highly specialised nature of pure mathematics research means many PhD graduates have been poorly equipped to translate their skills into wider contexts.
The vision of this CDT is to produce a generation of outstanding algebraists and logicians who also are equipped to address key societal and industrial challenges due to their broad research outlook and excellent transferable skills. Graduates who wish to pursue careers in industry or public service will have the skills, experience and opportunities for a seamless transition into their chosen profession. Graduates who remain in academia will have the foundation for a successful research and teaching career, as well as the ability to maximise the impact of their research and to act as ambassadors for UK science.
These aims will be achieved through the partnership of two major academic institutions (the Universities of Leeds and Manchester) and industrial and public sector partners providing skills training, career development and placements. These include the Heilbronn Institute for Mathematical Research, the Laurus Trust, ONERA, Microsoft Research, Transfinite Systems, Eigen Technologies, Jaywing Intelligence, cap hpi , Royal Bank of Canada, Mercer. They cover cyber-security, school education, aerospace, the communications industry, data analysis in differing industries, and finance, and include partners with a major Leeds-Manchester presence.
Leeds and Manchester conduct world-leading research in algebra and logic, with over 40 supervisors research-active in these areas, covering interfaces with combinatorics, number theory, and integrable systems, and more broadly with computer science and physics. Algebra is central to pure mathematics, and logic also bridges mathematics, computer science and philosophy. The fields are well-linked, for example through model theory and category theory. The teams also have an outstanding track record of PhD education, both separately and (through 3 EU- funded training networks) together. Both institutions have excellent physical facilities, and vibrant research environments with extensive programmes of seminars (including specialist algebra and logic seminars), conferences and other events and numerous research visitors (with dedicated space to host them).
The CDT will train 5 cohorts, each of at least 11 students. We are requesting student costs for 6.5FTE students per year from EPSRC, with the remaining 4.5 students per year funded variously by the universities and the Heilbronn Institute.
Training and cohort coherence will centre on weekly CDT days, bringing together all CDT students from Leeds and Manchester. In the mornings first years will attend bespoke lecture courses in core CDT subject areas, assessed partly through group mini-projects, whilst more advanced students attend specialist courses, study groups, and group problem-solving sessions. In the afternoons all CDT students will come together for joint activities, such as invited speaker seminars, student seminars, and workshops run by our partners. Mathematical computation will be introduced to each cohort in an intensive initial course, and reinforced through computational work in the wider taught component. The CDT will Page 146 of 183 host an annual 5-day conference, a 2-day industrial workshop, and a 2-day student conference. Activities will be open to non-CDT students, and advertised to other universities.
Duckett, EP/S009027/1 University of Lincoln EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Agri-Food Robotics: AgriFoRwArdS Professor T
Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS) technologies are set to transform global industries. These technologies will have greatest impact on large sectors of the economy with relatively low productivity such as Agri-Food (food production from the farm, through manufacturing to the retail shelf). Agri-food is the largest manufacturing sector in the UK, contributing over £38bn GVA to the UK economy and employing 420,000 people. It supports a food chain (primary farming through to retail), which generates a GVA of £108bn, with 3.9m employees in a truly international industry, with £20bn of exports in 2016.
The global food chain cannot be taken for granted: it is under pressure from global population growth, climate change, political pressures affecting migration (e.g. Brexit and potential US migration restrictions), population drift from rural to urban regions, and the demographics of an aging global population in advanced economies. In addition, jobs in the agri-food sector can be physically demanding, conducted in adverse environments and relatively unrewarding. Given these circumstances the global agri-food sector could be transformed by advanced RAS technologies.
The proposed CDT provides a unique vision of advanced RAS technologies embedded throughout the food supply chain, training the next generation of specialists and leaders in agri-food robotics, and providing the underpinning research for the next generation of food production systems. Our vision encompasses a new generation of smart, flexible, robust, compliant, interconnected robotic systems working seamlessly alongside their human co-workers in farms and food factories. Teams of multi-modal, interoperable robotic systems will self-organise and coordinate their activities alongside and within existing agri-food systems. Electric farm and factory robots will support the sustainable intensification of agriculture and drive manufacturing productivity.
Studying robots for both agriculture and food prodion allows us to address common challenges, delivering efficiencies and synergies across both sides of the farm gate. Core research themes thus include: soft robotics for handling delicate and unstructured food products, 'co-bots' for safe human-robot collaboration in farms and factories, logistics from field to packhouse to warehouse to consumers, safety of both food products and people, sensing and image interpretation in challenging agricultural and food manufacturing environments, and key technologies for enabling long-term autonomy of robotic systems for food production. All these themes will be applied across a full range of real-world challenges "in the field", from soil preparation to selective harvesting and on-site grading, through to food processing and manufacturing.
The Centre brings together a unique collaboration of leading university and industry researchers at the heart of the UK agri-food business, supported by leading industrial partners and stakeholders. The wide-scale engagement with industry and end-users in the CDT will enable this basic research to be pushed rapidly towards real-world applications in the agri-food industry. An ongoing training programme will take place throughout the CDT, addressing subject-specific and general scientific and technical skills, agriculture, food manufacturing, technology transfer, entrepreneurship, public engagement, and personal and career development. The programme is supported by excellent facilities, including an Page 147 of 183 agri-robotics field centre with a fleet of state-of-the-art agri-robots; a demonstration farm with arable holdings, glasshouses, polytunnels, and livestock; an experimental food factory with robots for food production and intralogistics; multiple robotics laboratories; advanced sensing, imaging and camera technologies; high-performance computing facilities; and excellent links to local research and technical development facilities.
EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Circular Processes, Products and EP/S009035/1 Charnley, Dr F Cranfield University Practises (CP3)
One of the most critical challenges facing the long-term productivity, innovation and resilience of the UK industrial system is to decouple economic growth from global resource constraints and transition to a technology enabled industrial system capable of maximising the advantages for UK industry from the global shift to clean growth. With increasing global recognition of the contribution that a circular industrial system can realise, and to address this need for systemic change, a new generation of engineering leaders is needed with a union of technical circular engineering skills, whole system understanding and business competency to develop new processes, products and practises and to inspire and realise transformational change.
A Centre for Doctoral Training in Circular Processes, Products and Practices (CP3) is therefore proposed to deliver an industrially-connected cohort-based training approach to foster the interconnected interdisciplinary skills and research projects necessary for a future generation of technical experts and engineering leaders. The CP3 initiative draws together three of the UK's leading universities recognised for pioneering research and education in the circular economy, with complementary strengths in design, innovation, engineering, environmental science and business. Led by the Centre for Competitive Creative Design at Cranfield University, the consortium also draws on the expertise of the Circular Economy Lab at University College London and the Global Centre for Circular Economy at the University of Exeter. CP3 offers a bespoke Doctoral level training programme which incorporates; (i) acquisition of core circular skills and (ii) advanced technical skills through attendance of masters level training courses, (iii) transferable circular skills including systems thinking and core leadership competences necessary to overcome the challenges of implementing circular practises across a business and iv) research impact and application activities including annual symposia, industrially focused group projects, multi-sector innovation weeks and international placements. Students will collaborate with industrial partners across sectors addressing complex engineering challenges, including for example; the development of novel materials, products, manufacturing processes and systems for circularity, and methods for information capture, evaluation and decision making and the development of cross-cutting policy frameworks and business practices. Outputs from the centre will include academic papers as well as artefacts, products, processes, models and methodologies. Some will inform new ways to recover, re-engineer, re- purpose and reuse critical resources and materials, whilst others will open up new relationships between businesses and users leading to enhanced value capture for businesses and society.
Eleven studentships per year for five years will be offered with each position being sponsored by an industrial partner from across industrial sectors. A series of 'Cohort Culture' events will underpin the programme to ensure a cohesive group identity. These include, (i) an initial three- month taught programme based at Cranfield University, (ii) an annual CP3 symposium, (iii) an industrially focused, multi-cohort Innovation Week and (iv) multi-disciplinary group projects.
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Outreach activities such as participation in the Disruptive Innovation Festival, International Exchanges with the Circular Economy Pioneer University Network and events with the Circular Economy 100 Network will extend participation in the programme and engage with a wide range of stakeholder groups (including the public) to promote engagement with CP3 activities. A more circular economy has become a priority aspiration for governments across the globe. The CP3 CDT will graduate a new breed of professional capable of undertaking the progressive science and engineering that is indispensable if we are to realise this ambition.
Greaney, The University of EP/S00906X/1 EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Integrated Catalysis (iCAT) Professor M Manchester
The EPSRC CDT in Integrated Catalysis (iCAT) will train students in process-engineering, chemical catalysis, and biological catalysis, connecting these disciplines in a way that will transform the way molecules are made. Traditionally, PhD students are trained in either chemocatalysis (using chemical catalysts such as metal salts) or biocatalysis (using enzymes), but very rarely both, a situation that is no longer tenable given the demands of industry to rapidly produce new products based on chemical synthesis. Graduate engineers and scientists entering the chemical industry now need to have the skills and agility to work across a far broader base of catalysis - iCAT will meet this challenge by training the next generation of interdisciplinary scientists and engineers who are comfortable working in both bio and chemo catalysis regimes, and can exploit their synergies for the discovery and production of molecules essential to society. iCAT features world-leading chemistry and engineering groups advancing the state-of-the-art in bio and chemo catalysis, with an outstanding track record in PhD training. The CDT will be managed by a strong and experienced team with guidance from a distinguished membership of an International Advisory Group. The rich portfolio of interdisciplinary CDT projects will feature blue-sky research blended in with more problem- solving studies across scientific themes such as supramolecular-assisted catalysis using molecular machines, directed evolution and biosynthetic engineering for synthesis, and process integration of chemo and bio-catalysis for sustainable synthesis.
The iCAT training structure has been co-developed with industry end-users to create a state-of-the-art training centre at the University of Manchester, equipping PhD students with the skills and industrial experience needed to develop new catalytic processes that meet the stringent standards of a future sustainable chemicals industry in the UK. This chemical industry is world-class and a crucial industrial sector for the UK, providing significant numbers of jobs and creating wealth (currently contributing £15 billion of value each year to our economy). The industry relies first and foremost on skilled researchers with the ability to design and build, using catalysis, molecules with well-defined properties to produce the drugs, agrochemicals, polymers, speciality chemicals of the future. iCAT will deliver this new breed of scientist / engineer that the UK requires, involving industry in the design and provision of training, and dovetailing with other EPSRC-, University-, and Industry-led initiatives in the research landscape.
Hainsworth, EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Connected and Autonomous Pervasive EP/S009094/1 Aston University Professor SV Technologies for Urban and Rural Environments (CAPTURE)
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Information technologies offer greater connectivity, data availability and autonomous operation that revolutionise the way we use devices, systems and networks. Modern engineering systems and corresponding products and services are characterised by a high level of complexity, utilising new smart technologies that combine hardware, sensors, data storage, software, and connectivity in various innovative ways. The enormous growth in connectivity and availability of data shared between people, sectors, systems and devices create huge opportunities for businesses, local and regional government, and offers the potential to improve economic and societal well-being; on the other hand the unprecedented complexity and deluge of data present huge challenges in the efficient extraction and effective use of information. To take full advantage of these existing, emerging and future opportunities the UK needs an adaptive workforce with a matching skill set, a broad knowledge base and vision well beyond the ones provided by standard doctoral training in a narrow discipline or field.
CAPTURE has a broad interdisciplinary research and cohort-based education scope rooted in the following major interconnected areas: (i) a new generation of communication technologies and networks for urban and rural connectivity; (ii) advanced optical sensors and sensing networks combined with autonomous intelligent systems, (iii) system analytics, data security and signal/data modelling and processing; (iv) smart technologies for urban and rural environments (including sustainable energy, water and environment, intelligent logistics, new materials for healthcare, food industry and agriculture). This will help to cross-fertilise technologies and train a new generation of highly employable and skilled researchers and engineers in the areas relevant to future connected and autonomous technologies.
Despite the constant growth of towns and cities, the UK geographic landscape is still predominantly rural. Less than one third of the land area is classified as urban (however, more than 60% of the population lives in these areas). Rather than looking separately at key challenges for urban and rural areas, it is vital to look at both simultaneously and the interface between them, and develop technologies, systems and networks capable of benefiting both. The proposed CDT will produce a new generation of researchers and engineers with expertise in smart technologies for urban-rural environments that are in high demand by UK industry. CAPTURE will build on the unique regional opportunity in the Midlands to implement a novel academia-industry-regional partnership approach to cohort-based doctoral training, offering academia-to-industry knowledge transfer, industry-led projects for the solution of real regional (and global) problems, engagement with regional government and organisations, allowing students to see the impact of their research and how it will benefit community and society, and providing them with experience in applying research to real-world challenges.
The CDT will deliver this vision through focusing on specific research and skills gaps, and providing cutting-edge doctoral training within a diverse research culture. The industrial co-supervision encourages innovation in areas of high practical interest and provides unique possibilities to work in cross-disciplinary partnerships. CAPTURE will combine the critical mass of expertise of UKs leading research centres at Aston University (optical communications, sensing, photonic technologies for food, agri-tech and healthcare, system analytics, data and signal processing, logistics, new materials, sustainable energy and water technologies), University of Birmingham (autonomous systems, microwave and wireless technologies, radars) and Harper Adams University (agri-tech technologies) that is uniquely able to address the current challenges in connected and autonomous technologies for urban-rural environments.
Chang, Brunel University EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Liquid Metal Engineering with an extended EP/S009108/1 Professor IT London coverage of related downstream processing of light alloys (CDT-LiME+)
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Metallic materials are the backbone of manufacturing and fuel for economic growth. The UK metals industry consists of 11,100 companies (predominantly SMEs), employs directly 230,000 people, supports 750,000 further jobs, directly contributes £10.7bn (GVA) pa to the UK economy and supports a further £200bn UK GDP. As a foundation industry, it underpins the competitive position of every sector of UK manufacturing across automotive, aerospace, defense, construction, energy, electronics and healthcare. However, the metals industry, in particular the metal casting industry, faces a severe shortage of supply of highly skilled people. A conservative estimate is that at least 460 metallurgists at the PhD level are required per year in the UK before 2030. The UK HEIs currently supply a total of 85 metallurgists at PhD level with a significant proportion of overseas candidates. There is, therefore, a compelling need to train highly skilled researchers and industrial engineers in the field of metallurgy, particularly in liquid metal engineering. We propose to establish the Centre for Doctoral Training in Liquid Metal Engineering with an extended coverage of related downstream processing of light alloys (CDT-LiME+). The CDT-LiME+ will be built on the success of an existing CDT-LiME (2016-2020), which is embedded in the Future LiME Research Hub and co-funded by Brunel University London and industrial partners as part of their contributions to the Future LiME Research Hub. The CDT-LiME+ aims to provide the UK metallurgical community with the future leaders of academic research and industrial development in the field of liquid metal engineering and light metal processing to bridge the skills gap in this important sector. BCAST, the host of the CDT-LiME+, is the largest solidification research group in the UK and one of the largest in the world with an international reputation for research in solidification science, development of closed-loop recyclable high performance light alls, innovation in resource efficient metal processing technologies and a strong industrial link with the automotive OEMs and their supply chains. We have assembled a critical mass of 30 academic supervisors, mainly from BCAST and supplemented by selected academics from other departments at Brunel University London, and supported by key industrial partners. We will recruit 5 cohorts (at least 12 pa) of highly motivated candidates, most likely with a varying academic background; we will deliver an intensive taught cohort training programme in Year 1 to convert them into metallurgists at graduate level; we will continue the cohort training in Years 2-4 for research skills, transferable skills and wider socio-economic awareness; we will provide the students with a highly innovative, stimulating and exciting research environment in which they can complete their PhD research and training to prepare themselves to be the future leaders in liquid metal engineering. The CDT-LiME+ will provide the highly skilled metallurgists urgently needed by the UK manufacturing sector to bridge the skills gap, which will, in turn, have a significant impact on the UK's productivity and economic growth. They will lead the future of academic research and technological development in liquid metal engineering to enhance the UK's leading position in this important research field.
Browning, EP/S009116/1 University of Bristol EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Discrete Mathematics and its Interfaces Professor TD
Discrete mathematics not only encompasses some of the oldest disciplines and deepest problems in mathematics, but also provides the advanced tools required to tackle a broad range of societal, scientific and industrial challenges. Our CDT concentrates on Discrete Mathematics and its Interfaces, focusing on the core subjects of number theory, combinatorics, algebra, geometry, and probability, but stretching into the abstract study of algorithms and data science. Over the last 30 years many interfaces with the real world have emerged, and these contact points act as an engine for innovation. Notable examples that our CDT will interact with include:
1. Algorithms (powering much of our everyday lives, from deciding the results of internet searches, to predicting the weather and fixing loan rates); 2. Cryptocurrency (protocols for which are based on discrete mathematics); Page 151 of 183
3. Cybersecurity (real-world problems in cybersecurity can be reduced to abstract problems in discrete mathematics, and it is these problems that drive the success of the Heilbronn Institute for Mathematical Research in Bristol); 4. Streaming data (the reading out of very large data sets generates streams of data that are processed via algorithms whose design is based on cutting-edge combinatorics); 5. Topological data analysis (abstract ideas from persistent homology in pure mathematics can be used to understand the underlying structure of complicated data sets).
Research in the mathematical sciences is fundamental for the advancement of all areas of science and technology, as well as being a vital area in its own right. Difficult problems increasingly require collaborative solutions, both in academia and in industry, and cohort-based collaborative problem solving lies at the heart of our CDT. In fact the cohort experience is essential to the success of the CDT, and runs through all aspects of the training programme. We shall provide an environment that fully takes advantage of cohort-based opportunities for learning and blends the talents of students from different backgrounds. Our CDT will take top tier mathematics graduates and ultimately produce at least 50 multi-disciplinary problem-solving mathematicians, who are extremely well-equipped for careers both within academia and across relevant sectors in government, in digital technology industries and in finance.
CONT, EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Mathematics of Random Systems: EP/S009124/1 University of Oxford Professor R Analysis, Modelling and Simulation (Imperial / Oxford)
EPSRC CENTRE for DOCTORAL TRAINING in MATHEMATICS OF RANDOM SYSTEMS
(University of Oxford, in partnership with Imperial College London)
Probabilistic modelling permeates all branches of engineering and science, either in a fundamental way, addressing randomness and uncertainty in physical and economic phenomena, or as a device for the design of stochastic algorithms for data analysis, systems design and optimisation. Probability also provides the theoretical framework which underpins the analysis and design of algorithms in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence.
The "CDT in Mathematics of Random Systems" is a new partnership in excellence between the Oxford Mathematical Institute, the Oxford Dept of Statistics, the Dept of Mathematics at Imperial College and multiple industry partners from the healthcare, technology and financial services sectors, whose goal is to establish an internationally leading PhD training centre for probability and its applications in physics, finance, biology and Data Science, providing a national beacon for research and training in stochastic modelling and its applications, reinforcing the UK's position as an international leader in this area and meeting the needs of industry for experts with strong analytical, computing and modelling skills.
We bring together two of the world's best and foremost research groups in the area of probabilistic modelling, stochastic analysis and their applications - Imperial College and Oxford- to deliver a consolidated training programme in probability, stochastic analysis, stochastic simulation and computational methods and their applications in physics, biology, finance, healthcare and Data Science. Doctoral research of students will focus on the mathematical modelling of complex physical, economic and biological systems where randomness plays a key role, covering Page 152 of 183 mathematical foundations as well as specific applications in collaboration with industry partners. Joint projects with industrial partners across several sectors -technology, finance, healthcare- will be used to sharpen research questions, leverage EPSRC funding and transfer research results to industry.
Our vision is to educate the next generation of PhDs with unparalleled, cross-disciplinary expertise, strong analytical and computing skills as well as in-depth understanding of applications, to meet the increasing demand for such experts within the Technology sector, the Financial Service sector, the Healthcare sector, Government and other Service sectors, in partnership with industry partners from these sectors who have committed to co-funding this initiative.
ALIGNMENT with EPSRC PRIORITIES
This proposal reaches across various areas of pure and applied mathematics and Data Science and addresses the EPSRC Priority areas of (15. Mathematical and Computational Modelling), (22. Pure Mathematics and its Interfaces) ; however, the domain it covers is cross-disciplinary and broader than any of these priority areas taken in isolation. Probabilistic methods and algorithms form the theoretical foundation for the burgeoning area of Data Science and AI, another EPSRC Priority area (30. Towards a Data-driven Future) which we plan to address.
IMPACT
By training highly skilled experts equipped to build, analyse and deploy probabilistic models, the CDT in Mathematics of Random Systems will contribute to: - sharpening the UK's research lead in this area and training a new generation of mathematical scientists who can tackle scientific challenges in the modelling of complex, simulation and control of complex random systems in science and industry, and explore the exciting new avenues in mathematical research many of which have been pioneered by researchers in our two partner institutions; - train the next generation of experts able to deploy sophisticated data driven models and algorithms in the technology, finance and healthcare sectors
EP/S009167/1 Turner, Dr P S University of Bristol EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Quantum Engineering
Quantum Technologies (QT) are at a pivotal moment with a major global effort underway to translate quantum information science into new products that promise disruptive impact across a wide variety of sectors from communications, imaging, sensing, metrology, simulation, to computation and security. We will grow a world-leading Centre for Doctoral Training in Quantum Engineering that will be a vital component of a thriving UK ecosystem, training not just highly-skilled employees, but the CEOs and CTOs of the future QT companies that will define the field.
Due to the excellence of its basic science, and through investment by the national QT programme, the UK has a positioned itself at the forefront of global developments. But, there have been very recent major [billion-dollar] investments world-wide, notably in the US, China and Europe, both from government and leading technology companies. There has also been an explosion in the number of start-up companies in the area, both in the UK and internationally. Thus, competition in this field has increased dramatically. PhD trained experts are being recruited Page 153 of 183 aggressively, by both large and small firms, signalling a rapidly growing need.
The supply of globally competitive talent is perhaps the biggest challenge for the UK in maintaining its leading position in QT. The new CDT will address this challenge by providing a vital source of highly-trained scientists, engineers and innovators, thus making it possible to anchor an outstanding QT sector here, and therefore ensure that UK QT delivers long-term economic and societal benefits.
Recognizing the nature of the skills need is vital: QT opportunities will be at the doctoral or postdoctoral level, largely in start-ups or small interdisciplinary teams in larger organizations. With our partners we have identified the key skills our graduates need, in addition to core technical skills: interdisciplinary teamwork, leadership in large and small groups, collaborative research, an entrepreneurial mind-set, agility of thought across diverse disciplines, and management of complex projects, including systems engineering. These factors show that a new type of graduate training is needed, far from the standard PhD model. A cohort-based approach is essential.
In addition to lectures, there will be seminars, labs, research and peer-to-peer learning. There will be interdisciplinary and grand challenge team projects, co-created and co-delivered with industry partners, developing a variety of important team skills. Innovation, leadership and entrepreneurship activities will be embedded from day one. At all times, our programme will maximize the benefits of a cohort-based approach. In the past two years particularly, the QT landscape has transformed, and our proposed programme, with inputs from our partners, has been designed to reflect this. We are at an exciting juncture, with "Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum'' devices now available. Applications that run on such machines have become a priority. Thus, our training and research programme has evolved and broadened from our highly successful current CDT to include the challenging interplay of noisy quantum hardware and new quantum software, applied to all three QT priorities: communications; computing & simulation; and sensing, imaging & metrology.
Our programme will be founded on Bristol's outstanding activity in quantum information, computation and photonics, together with world-class expertise in science and engineering in areas surrounding this core. In addition, our programme will benefit from close links to Bristol's unique local innovation environment including the visionary Quantum Technology Enterprise Centre, a fellowship programme and Skills Hub run in partnership with the Cranfield School of Management, as well as internationally recognised incubators/accelerators SetSquared, EngineShed, UnitDX and the recently announced £43m Quantum Technology Innovation Centre.
Siviour, EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Performance and Integrity of Engineering EP/S009183/1 University of Oxford Professor CR Systems (PIES)
PIES addresses the fundamental UK requirement for doctoral level engineers trained in topics related to advanced structural performance and integrity, with applications in high value added design and manufacturing in sectors including aerospace, energy and high-value consumer products.
UK manufacturing is increasingly focussing on high-value products, for which there is likely to be a step-change in both design and manufacturing. Shorter design cycles will see further increases in design in-silico, with little, if any, prototyping. Advances in additive manufacturing provide opportunities for novel products, but challenges in the behaviour of the new materials. This is compounded by the Page 154 of 183 requirement to reduce environmental impact and user costs by increasing lifespan whilst operating in ever more hostile environments for which the interplay between, for example, thermal, fluid-structure and mechanical loading must be increasingly well understood. Successful design of multifunctional systems, combining structural roles with other requirements such as energy storage, will require graduates who can work as part of a systems approach and who are familiar with collaborating across topics and disciplines.
We will address this requirement in a CDT that combines an academically rigorous MSc with industrially focussed research projects. The strong underpinning of the academic course will ensure that the fundamental concepts and skills are relevant across different application areas, whilst the complementary expertise of the universities involved means that we can produce a course that combines breadth and depth. MSc and PhD projects will be designed to reinforce the links between fundamental research and industrial application. Industrial involvement has been crucial to the design of the course from the very outset; we have identified 'industrial champions' - inspiring Engineers who will help the students to position their learning and research towards industrial impact. All the partner universities have experience of PhDs joint-supervised with industry, in which the industrial partner provides significant intellectual input. In the CDT this will be enhanced by the cohort approach, giving the students opportunities to understand the wider systems implications of their research beyond that which would otherwise be possible.
Future advances in industry will be underpinned by collaboration between experimentalist and modeller, and interaction between different engineering disciplines. This will require future generations of engineers to be drawn from different undergraduate background and given a breadth of understanding that can only be achieved through a CDT programme. The academic and industrial consortium behind PIES is uniquely placed to form this CDT.
Reid, Professor EP/S009191/1 University of Bristol EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Aerosol Science JP
An aerosol consists of solid particles or liquid droplets dispersed in a gas phase with sizes spanning from clusters of molecules (nanometres) to rain droplets (millimetres). Aerosol science is a term used to describe our understanding of the collective underlying physical science governing the properties and transformation of aerosols in a broad range of contexts, extending from drug delivery to the lungs to disease transmission, combustion and energy generation, materials processing, environmental science, and the delivery of agricultural and consumer products. Despite the commonality in the core physical science in all of these contexts, doctoral training in aerosol science has been focussed in specific disciplines such as inhalation medicines, atmospheric aerosols and material science. Not only does such an insular approach reinforce artificial barriers, it fails to equip practitioners with an understanding of the shared core concepts that would allow them to move easily between these varied contexts. We will establish a CDT in Aerosol Science that, for the first time on a global stage, will provide foundational and comprehensive training for doctoral scientists in the core physical science. Not only will this bring coherence to training in aerosol science in the UK, but it will catalyse new collaborations between researchers in different disciplines. Inverting the existing training paradigm will ensure that practitioners of the future have the technical agility and confidence to move between the different application contexts, leading to exciting and innovative approaches to address the technological, societal and health challenges in aerosol science.
We will assemble a multidisciplinary team of supervisors from the Universities of Bristol, Bath, Cambridge, Hertfordshire, Imperial, Leeds and Manchester, with expertise spanning chemistry, physics, biological sciences, chemical and mechanical engineering, life and medical sciences, Page 155 of 183 pharmacy and pharmacology, and earth and environmental sciences. Such breadth is crucial to provide the broad perspective on aerosol science central to developing researchers able to address the challenges that fall at the boundaries between these disciplines. In addition, we will engage with partners from across the industrial, governmental and public sectors, and with the Aerosol Society of the UK and Ireland, to deliver a legacy of training packages and an online training portal for future practitioners. These partners are already helping us to define the key research competencies in aerosol science necessary for their employees and will provide support through skills-training placements, co- sponsored studentships, and contribution to taught elements.
5 cohorts of 16 doctoral students will follow a period of intensive training in the core concepts of aerosol science with subsequent training placements in complementary application areas. In subsequent years we will continue to build the activity of the cohort through summer schools, workshops and conferences hosted by the Aerosol Society, virtual training and enhanced training activities, and student-led initiatives. The students will acquire a perspective of aerosol science that stretches beyond the artificial boundaries of traditional disciplines, seeing the commonalities in the core physical science. A cohort-based approach will provide a national focal point for training, acting as a catalyst to assemble a multi-disciplinary team with the breadth of research activity to provide opportunities for students to undertake research in complementary areas of aerosol science, and a mechanism for delivering the broad academic ingredients necessary for core training in aerosol science. A network of highly-skilled doctoral practitioners in aerosol science will result, capable of addressing the biggest problems and ethical dilemmas of our age, such as healthy ageing, sustainable and safe consumer products, and climate geoengineering.
Stolnik-Trenkic, University of EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Transformative Pharmaceutical EP/S009221/1 Dr SS Nottingham Technologies
A drug is a molecule that causes a pharmacological effect in the body. In contrast, a medicine is a product that comprises both the drug and other ingredients packaged into a final dosage form that can be administered to a patient to ensure there is beneficial therapeutic effect with minimum side-effects. It is vitally important to ensure that the drug is delivered to the appropriate part of the body at the right time, and in the correct amount. This is challenging: some drug molecules are poorly soluble and are not taken up in the patient, while others are not stable and require careful processing to ensure they remain biologically active. Often patients find it difficult to take medications multiple times a day and it is frequently necessary to develop products that minimise the frequency of dosing, since non-compliance is often one of the key reasons that chronic conditions progress rapidly. Pharmaceutical technologies are central to developing products that ensure patients are dosed in the most optimal way possible.
The design and development of new medicines is inherently extremely complex and requires very highly skilled staff. Traditionally, this has been a strength of the UK, but recently our pharma industry has declined in productivity. To redress this decline and to ensure future leadership, new and highly-trained graduates at doctoral level are required.
Our CDT will directly address this problem by training an empowered network of at least 60 PhD students over its lifetime. This will be done in collaboration between two universities and multiple industry partners of varied sizes, ensuring that students receive comprehensive training in the scientific skills they need to succeed, but also in the leadership, entrepreneurial and other "soft" skills which will be crucial to allow them to function effectively as future leaders of industry and agents of change. Through working closely with industry, we will ensure that the research Page 156 of 183 work undertaken in the CDT is of direct relevance to contemporary challenges being faced in medicines development. This will allow us to make significant contributions to the development of new medicines through the work done in the CDT, leading ultimately to major benefits to patients as new products come on to the market. Beyond the research undertaken in the CDT, our graduates will go on to join companies across the pharmaceutical and healthcare fields, where they will lead innovative research programmes aiming to develop new medicines for a broad range of diseases. They will therefore, throughout their working lives, ensure that new therapies come to market and the health and well-being of individuals across the world is improved.
We will train our students in four key science themes: (i) predictive pharmaceutical sciences; (ii) advanced product design; (iii) pharmaceutical process engineering; and, (iv) complex product characterisation. This will ensure our alumni are perfectly positioned to prepare potent and stable medicines from a range of therapeutic molecules, including emerging cutting-edge systems (e.g. CRISPR, locked RNAs) - these are currently at a critical stage of development, and individuals trained to doctoral level in the latest predictive and product design/development technologies are required to fully exploit them. We will train our students in the latest product characterisation approaches to ensure that we have unprecedented levels of understanding as to the distribution and behaviour of a drug in the new medicines we will develop. Comprehensive training in pharmaceutical process engineering will be given to ensure students consider early the "end game" of their research and understand how the work they are doing in the lab can be translated into products which are easily manufactured, so that they can be taken into the clinic and become marketed medicines.
Gavaghan, EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Sustainable Approaches to Biomedical EP/S00923X/1 University of Oxford Professor D Science
We will build upon our existing flagship industry-linked EPSRC & MRC CDT in Systems Approaches to Biomedical Science (SABS). We will train a further five cohorts, each of 15 students, in cutting-edge systems approaches to biomedical research and, uniquely within the UK, in advanced practices in software engineering. Our renewed goal is to bring about a transformation of the research culture in computational biomedical science.
Computational methods are now at the heart of biomedical research. From the simulation of the behaviour of complex systems, through the design and automation of laboratory experiments, to the analysis of both small and large-scale data, well-engineered software has proved capable of transforming biomedical science. The growth of high-throughput technologies and continual innovation in hardware, imaging, sensing, and monitoring demand unprecedented levels of collaboration between computational and experimental scientists, to continue to transform biology and medicine from descriptive to quantitative and predictive endeavours. Biomedical science is therefore dependent as never before on research software.
Industries reliant on this continued innovation in biomedical science play a critical role in the UK economy. The biopharmaceutical and medical technology industrial sectors alone generate an annual turnover of over £63 billion and employ 233,000 scientists and staff. In his foreword to the 2017 Life Sciences Industrial Strategy, Sir John Bell noted that, "The global life sciences industry is expected to reach >$2 trillion in gross value by 2023... there are few, if any, sectors more important to support as part of the industrial strategy." The report identifies the need to provide training in skills in "informatics, computational, mathematical and statistics areas" as being of major concern for the life sciences industry. Page 157 of 183
Over the last 9 years, the SABS CDT has been working with its consortium of now 20 industrial and institutional partnes to meet these training needs. Over this same period, continued advances in information technology have accelerated the shift in the biomedical research landscape in an increasingly quantitative and predictive direction. As a result, computational and hence software-driven approaches now underpin all aspects of the research pipeline. In spite of this central importance, the development of research software is typically a by-product of the research process, with the research publication being the primary output. Research software is typically not made available to the research community, or even to peer reviewers, and therefore cannot be verified. Vast amounts of research time is lost (usually by PhD students with no formal training in software development) in re-implementing already-existing solutions from the literature. Even if successful, the re-implemented software is again not released to the community, and the cycle repeats. No consideration is made of the huge benefits of model verification, re-use, extension, and maintainability, nor of the implications for the reproducibility of the published research. Progress in biomedical science is thus impeded, with knock-on effects into clinical translation and knowledge transfer into industry.
There is therefore an urgent need for a radically different approach. The proposed EPSRC CDT in Sustainable Approaches to Biomedical Science will build on the existing SABS Programme to equip a new generation of biomedical research scientists with not only the knowledge and methods necessary to take a quantitative and interdisciplinary approach, but also with advanced software engineering skills. By embedding this strong focus on sustainable and open computational methods into all aspects of the new SABS programme, our computationally-literate scientists will be equipped to act as ambassadors to bring about a transformation of biomedical research.
Nikolopoulos, Queen's University EP/S009248/1 Centre for Doctoral Training in Connected Intelligence Professor D of Belfast
Ubiquitous data connectivity as the combination of sustained capability of high bandwidth and low latency data transport and sustained capability to continuously extract new intelligence from data processing over global computing and networking infrastructures. Examples of these systems that bring together myriads of sensing devices, mobile devices, and the Cloud, arise in all walks of life, from personalised healthcare to smart vehicles and cities, and from the homes and factories of the future. The CDT-CI provides a unique, holistic training approach to the computing and communication systems that will underpin the next industrial revolution by connecting and fusing data from billions of sources.
Based in ECIT, the Queen's Global Research Institute on Electronics, Communication and Information Technology, the CDT in Connected Intelligence will train independent, creative thinkers and future leaders in five strategically important capabilities, four of which are called out in the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee 2017 report on the Digital Skills Crisis (cyber-security, big data, Internet of Things, mobile technology) in addition artificial intelligence, is identified through the UK industrial strategy as fundamental to boosting UK productivity, poised to add some £232B and thousands of high paid jobs to the UK economy by 2030. The CDT will train the cohort in both fundamental concepts and the interfaces between the above five core technologies and capabilities with emphasis on their fusion in end-to-end solutions that deliver ubiquitous data connectivity.
The CDT is uniquely positioned in the current EPSRC training portfolio, by offering balanced training in five core technologies and their fusion. It will train a cohort of 50 students at the interfaces between technologies and on methods for their effective integration in products and services Page 158 of 183 delivered by our industry partners and stakeholders. None of the 2013-2018 EPSRC CDT programmes covrs the entire spectrum of technologies of CDT-CI or addresses the challenge of integrating those technologies in real world systems to achieve ubiquitous data connectivity.
The CDT aligns strongly with Priority Area 12 (Future Connected Technologies) of the 2018 EPSRC CDT exercise. It will provide students with a multi-disciplinary training experience from a team of 32 academic experts in the fields of; electronics, computer science, mathematics, psychology, and mechanical and aerospace engineering. Providing support will be an International Advisory Board and from the commercial side, 16 industry-based co-supervisors, one from each of the following industrial partners that have expressed interest to support the CDTs. In conjunction with industry placements, these partners make the CDT highly practical, applied, technology-focused and challenge-driven. The CDT will be highly relevant to growing cutting edge digital technology industries within the UK. The vision is to equip a cohort of future leaders and independent, creative thinkers with both a firm grasp of the fundamentals of future digital technologies and highly practical and highly applied skills for developing full system solutions.
The CDT will maximise the benefits of cohort training via four approaches: First, by training the cohort using an Academy Model with specialist taught modules and continuous developmental training. Second, by fostering cohort interaction and collaboration from the get go and throughout the training process, including the direct linking of PhD projects that will jointly tackle common challenges. Third, by continuous interaction with industrial co-supervisors and industrial placements, that will provide the cohort with valuable skills in understanding business processes, product cycles, and market demand. Fourth, by organising cohort residential away days to encourage blue-sky thinking and independence via creativity@home and support from international leaders.
King, Professor EP/S009256/1 University of Kent EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Verification A
Software systems provide unprecedented benefits to society, science, technology, health, and policy. However, they have a fundamental problem: their reliability cannot be guaranteed by the established, non-mathematical techniques, such as informal prose specification and ad-hoc testing. Software faults, due to accidents and mistakes as well as deliberate attack, have led to compromised performance, intellectual and monetary theft and even loss of life. As society becomes even more dependent upon software systems, and the complexity of these systems grows, we expect to see even more failures and even greater damage. Verification techniques for establishing the correctness, security and privacy of computer systems are crucial.
Verification is also crucial to the economy. Verification shifts the discovery of a flaw from a system in-use to early in the development cycle, thus reducing the cost of the flaw. IBM report that errors found on deployed code cost 100 times what they would have cost if found at the start of the cycle. Runtime correctness and security bugs require substantial engineering effort that must be diverted from productive activities to mitigate problems and develop patches. Nowadays, large interconnected systems are composed of software components constructed by many parties, ranging from individual open source developers, to companies and government organisations that span the globe, significantly magnifying the impact of even a tiny flaw. Techniques that provide trust, in the deep technical sense of verification, are absolutely vital to support not only safe software, but also to give stability to this important, international software infrastructure.
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We are at the beginning of a quiet revolution in verification. Until recently, although the need was critical, the techniques could not scale to real systems and so the work was largely academic. However, the tide has turned. Our techniques are beginning to scale and our verification tools are being used in industry. Examples include: the verified UK air-traffic control system, developed by Altran, with contracts requiring bugs to be fixed immediately; the verified autonomous helicopter software for the Darpa $70M HACMS project, which passed the military security tests with flying colours: and code written by the general programmer with bug reports coming from verifiers developed inside Amazon, Facebook, and Google. The demand for verification from technology companies coupled with the push of scientific advances suggests that now is the time for leading UK institutions to equip a new generation of researchers and professionals for this emerging sector.
Our vision for this CDT, in summary, is to train students in foundations and applications, theory and practice, providing them with the chance to develop systems-scale approaches for the next generation of verification.
Rosseinsky, University of EP/S009272/1 EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Next-Generation Materials Chemistry Professor M Liverpool
This Centre for Doctoral Training addresses a national need for cohort-based doctoral training in Materials Chemistry. The role of technology is pervasive in modern society and the advancement of technology is underpinned by access to enhanced materials which is essential for economic growth and social wellbeing. Chemicals manufacture accounted for £1bn UK R&D spend in 2016, and the Northwest region is 1st for manufacturing output in the sector. Materials research underpins innovation in multiple downstream industries including manufacturing, construction and energy. The drive to accelerate the design and discovery of high-performance materials requires new approaches that fuse computation and experiment. Consequently, researchers with capabilities in materials chemistry, data science and automation are required to work in this field. The CDT will draw together a diverse cohort of students from backgrounds spanning the physical and computer sciences. A cohort-based training approach is pivotal in developing the required multi-disciplinary expertise and perspective. Working with a cross-sector group of industrial partners, spanning energy technologies to fast-moving consumer goods, we have created a vision and approach for the multi- methodology training environment needed to tackle the scale and nature of the resulting skills needs.
Our vision is that students will develop core skills in automation, robotics and artificial intelligence, which they will apply in their domain-specific research in materials design and discovery. The students will become leaders and entrepreneurs through working with our industrial partners, the University of Liverpool Management School and their supervisors. The leadership team of this CDT is recognised for its contributions to pioneering world-class research. The CDT will draw on a 40-strong academic team from Chemistry, Computer Science, Physics, Engineering and Pharmacology who can deliver research training for all stages of targetd next-generation materials design, spanning a broad range of materials classes including polymers, extended inorganic solids and composites. The CDT team have a leading record of research in the fusion of computation and experiment; innovation in materials characterisation (e.g., in-situ electron microscopic observation of energy materials in operation); and the integration of new tools in robotics, automation and artificial intelligence developed by physical and computer scientists.
The CDT will benefit from an excellent physical environment. It will be located in the Materials Innovation Factory (MIF) at Liverpool, which is the largest academia-industry collaborative activity in chemistry in the UK. MIF co-locates industrial with academic researchers in materials chemistry and computer science placing CDT students in an environment emphasising industrial engagement. MIF hosts a £5m robotics suite Page 160 of 183 providing a world-leading training facility for automated materials design. The CDT suite will provide a newly equipped space for cohort-based training which is core to the multi-disciplinary ethos for research in data-driven automated materials chemistry. Peer-to-peer learning and group working will be a key part of the training approach that emphasises cross-discipline communication. We will foster a critical mass of researchers with a shared, interdisciplinary language and mindset that will address the training needs identified with our Industry partners. The first six months of training combine modules setting out the fundamental scientific concepts, materials challenges and leadership tools with mini-projects, creating a common working approach across the cohort. This will be followed by 42 months of blended research and training, emphasising key technical skills, entrepreneurship and value creation, with each student pursuing a project spanning research themes in Synthesis, Computation, Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, Measurement, and Automation.
Hammond, University of St EP/S009280/1 EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Lightweight Verification (SCaLe) Professor K Andrews
The UK has a position of global leadership in software development and research. Software provides a massive contribution to the UK economy, estimated at £34bn in 2015). It is critical to address the safe, secure and correct operation of software since the quality of individual lives as well as entire economies now depend on software robustness and reliability. However, achieving this is very difficult: it is estimated that programmers make, on average, 15-50 errors per 1,000 lines of code and typical large software projects may have (tens of) millions of lines of code. These errors lead to system failures and security compromises which, in turn, can quickly result in huge financial losses or even major catastrophes. The ubiquity of software means that implications are society-wide: hackers have broken into, inter-alia special-purpose and general-purpose personal devices (e.g. insulin injectors, vehicle cruise controllers, mobile phones), autonomous cars/drones, and cryptocurrencies as well as NHS systems and the Ukrainian power grid. Many of the Grand Challenges identified in the UK's 2017 Industrial Strategy "Building a Britain fit for the future" depend on robust and reliable software. These include: putting the UK at the forefront of AI and the data revolution; delivering fully self-driving cars on the UK's roads by 2021; and producing more efficient and effective healthcare systems to help meet the needs of an ageing society. Advanced expertise in cutting edge, practically applicable techniques for software construction with verifiably improved security and safety aspects is key for maintaining and further improving the UK's position at the forefront of software development. In a nutshell, this is not just a huge problem in software development, but it is also fundamental to all software application areas: progress here will ripple into virtually every area of the economy. SCaLe will train a cohort of 65 PhD students to understand mathematical principles, engneering methods and industrial demands in the design, implementation and applications of new lightweight verification technologies.
SCaLe takes a multidisciplinary approach that integrates advanced expertise in software engineering (e.g. testing, verification, compiler design, programming languages, knowledge of modern complex systems) and mathematics (e.g. type theory, formal semantics, category theory), and relevant application domains (e.g. robotics, self-driving vehicles, cryptocurrency, security, fintech, parallel/distributed systems and healthcare). SCaLe combines this with in- tersectoral industrial expertise to ensure results are valuable in practice and work at an industrial scale: each individ- ual PhD (and the programme as a whole) will be co-created by academics, industrialists, and other interested parties; and individual PhDs will all be co-supervised by an applications expert. SCaLe will combine leading academic exper- tise at St Andrews (USTAN), Edinburgh (EDI), Glasgow (GLA), Strathclyde (STR) and Heriot-Watt (HWU) with leading domain expertise at Microsoft, Facebook, IBM, BT, ARM, Xilinx, NVidia, Jane Street Capital, Symphonic, Codeplay, Er- lang Solutions Ltd (ESL), Diviti, Programming Research Ltd (PRL), QuviQ, Maxeler,
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JetBrains, Simple Help, Leonardo, SCCH, The Data Lab, Potsdam Institute for Climate Research (PIK), and the Edinburgh Centre for Robotics (ECR).
EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Computational Behavioural Science and EP/S009302/1 Roggen, Dr D University of Sussex its Applications
We will create a centre of excellence in Computational Behavioural Science (CBS) and its Applications. It will train 54 PhD students to become leading researchers and innovators and establish UK's leadership in the field.
This Centre is led by the University of Sussex (UoS) school of Engineering & Informatics with the Centre for Secure, Intelligent and Usable Systems at the University of Brighton (UoB) and includes academics from the UoS schools of Psychology, Mathematical and Physical Sciences, and UoB school of Sport Science.
CBS is a multidisciplinary field using AI, advanced sensor technologies, internet of things, online data and big data analytics to capture, understand and utilise human behaviour for novel applications. It is concerned with the study of physiological parameters, activities (e.g. routines, social interactions), experiences (e.g. cognitive-affective states, perceptual data), online behaviour, and the context in which they occur. This provides rich data which enables important applications in health and social care and is crucial to innovative products in a wide range of industries.
CBS pulls together areas enabling substantial economic growth on their own - AI, sensor technologies, big data, internet of things, security and privacy engineering - into a unique science which is now fundamentally driving innovation.
Examples of CBS applications are fitness trackers which quantify physical activity and give fitness advice, or cars with built-in drowsiness monitoring and driving assistance. Besides health applications, CBS touches a wide range of sectors such as social media analysis, retail, human-robot interaction, creative industries, smart cities, or even veterinary science.
Students of this centre receive training in areas where there are major skills shortage. They will receive a unique multidisciplinary core training beyond sole computing. It includes the full spectrum of AI technologies, the understanding of systems (e.g. novel sensors, IoT, edge computing), of data science on upcoming computing platforms (e.g. GPU, cloud, special-purpose hardware) and a clear understanding of security and privacy challenges and enablers. Students develop additional skills along theoretical foundations of perception and empirical aspects important in evaluating novel applications. It provides a unique multidisciplinary expertise in CBS in a training environment that holistically considers academic and professional skills as well as training in research impact, public engagement, entrepreneurship and responsible innovation, in an environment supportive of equality and diversity
This Centre contributes to the UK's government Industrial Strategy in Artificial Intelligence and the Data-Driven Economy. Some of its applications support the needs of an Ageing Society, the Future of Mobility. It also contributes to the National Cyber Security Strategy.
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The proposed Centre trains students in responsible research and innovation together with the £3M-funded Sussex Humanities Lab, which explores ethical, societal, and public culture aspects in a digital age.
The Centre will impart entrepreneurial sensitivities through industry internships, industry mixers, and training on management of innovation and entrepreneurship, together with the UoS school of Business, Management and Economics. UoB will help form a conduit from fundamental research to industry translation through its significant experience in Knowledge Transfer and together with incubators in the Southeast.
The Centre provides a unique place to host this CDT with its tradition of interdisciplinary CBS research. On one hand, UoS has been involved in a holistic exploration of AI and cognitive sciences since the 1960s and it is leading cognitively informed AI through significant investments in the Sackler Centre and Sussex Neuroscience. On the other hand, UoB brings the expertise in security and privacy engineering and sports science.
Aldridge, EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Inorganic Chemistry for Future EP/S009310/1 University of Oxford Professor S Manufacturing (OxICFM)
The OxICFM CDT, centred in Oxford University's Department of Chemistry, and involving key industrial stakeholders, together with faculty from Oxford Materials, Physics and Engineering seeks to address a UK-wide need for the training of doctoral scientists in the synthesis of inorganic materials relevant to the future prosperity of the manufacturing sector.
Manufacturing processes and future materials are highlighted as key technologies in the recent UK Industrial Strategy green paper, and the long- term skills demand for scientists to develop new materials and nanotechnology was highlighted in the UK Government's 2013 Foresight report. The EPSRC's prioritisation in the area is highlighted by (among other things) the recent Future Manufacturing Hubs call. Future advances in societally critical areas such as petrochemical utilisation, battery technologies, semiconductors, smart materials, catalysts for chemical manufacturing, carbon capture, solar conversion and water supply/agro-chemicals are all underpinned by the ability to design and make chemical compounds and materials - to order - with custom designed properties. We will exploit the uniquely broad range of excellence, innovation and multi-disciplinarity offered at Oxford by a critical mass of world-class researchers in this area (40 faculty), to deliver a rigorous, challenging and relevant CDT programme in this hitherto under-represented area of graduate training. We believe that such a programme is not only timely but also complementary to existing CDT provision, and will address the national need for resilience and develop future capability in key manufacturing sectors.
The 'art and craft' of inorganic synthesis as applied to manufacturing is necessarily extremely diverse. OxICFM will exploit a cohort model allied to training incorporating faculty-, industry- and peer-led components, to deliver scientists (i) with a broad spectrum training across the interface between inorganic synthesis and manufacturing, and (ii) with in-depth expertise in one specific stream (molecular, nano-scale or extended materials). This model is driven by a strong end-user pull, including a desire expressed on numerous occasions by potential industrial partners, to recruit doctoral graduates who not only have depth of expertise in one area, but who can also apply themselves to a broader spectrum of inter-disciplinary challenges in manufacturing related synthesis. With this in mind, a central component of our approach is the integration of industry-led training from both larger partner companies and SMEs/start-ups in order to promote a holistic understanding of cross-scale issues relating to different business models. Page 163 of 183
Irons, Professor University of EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Resilient Decarbonised Fuel Energy EP/S009337/1 R Nottingham Systems
The motivation for the proposed Centre is the UK's long-term clean, affordable, resilient and safe energy strategy, with a common theme of allowing existing energy-intensive infrastructure to be used in new ways supportive of a low-carbon economy. The strategic vision is to develop a world-leading EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in 'Decarbonised Fuel Energy Systems', focussed on delivering research leaders and next- generation innovators with broad economic, societal and contextual awareness, having excellent technical skills and capable of operating in multi-disciplinary teams covering a range of knowledge transfer, deployment and policy roles. Graduates will be able to analyse the overall economic context of projects and be aware of their social, ethical and policy/political implications, in both a UK and international context. These skills will enable them to contribute to stimulating UK-based industry to develop next-generation technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from fuels and to increase the resilience of existing energy infrastructure as it finds new uses, thus improving the UK's position globally through increased jobs and exports.
The Centre will be a collaboration between the Universities of Nottingham, Sheffield and Cardiff, and will involve over 50 academics with relevant expertise to provide comprehensive supervisory capacity across our major research themes for the 50 doctoral students, with access to excellent technical facilities. It will provide an innovative training programme, co-created with our broad range of industrial partners and stakeholders to meet their advanced skills needs. The need for the type of graduate produced is evidenced by the high employability of the graduates from our previous Centres, where > 80% have found employment in relevant industry or academe. We have been working with over 25 partners to shape the nature of the new Centre including multi-nationals, UK-based companies, SMEs and groupings of companies that sponsor research. The extensive dialogue with our partners has identified the need for doctoral level recruits for their organisations that are both technically excellent and have a broad contextual understanding of energy, entirely consistent with our vision. The major research priority themes identified from this dialogue are: 1. Allowing the re-use and development of existing processes to generate energy and co-products from low-carbon biomass and waste fuels, and to maximise the social and economic benefits for the UK from this transition. [Projects are likely to involve SMEs in the energy-from-waste sector on emerging technologies, such as hydrothermal carbonisation and hybrid gasification/ incineration]. 2. Decreasing CO2 emissions from industrial processes by implementation of CCUS, integrating with heat networks where appropriate. ]Project topics include advanced CO2 capture processes, CO2 usage in producing saleable by-products]. 3. Assessing options for the decarbonisation of gas-fired power and industrial and domestic heating systems through a combination of hydrogen (H2) enhancement of the gas supply network and/or CO2 capture. [Project topics include exhaust gas recirculation approaches, post-combustion CO2 capture on GTs, and innovative heating]. 4. Automating existing electricity, gas and other vector infrastructure (including energy storage) based on advanced control technologies, data- mining and development of novel instrumentation, ensuring a smarter, more flexible power system at lower cost. [Project topics include the optimisation of distributed low carbon heating and power generation using advanced monitoring and control algorithms].
Our industrial partners have confirmed that all these themes are what they need for their future technology innovations and are appropriate for
Page 164 of 183 doctoral students where basic research is required to tackle the key technological challenges and fill the existing knowledge and engineering gaps.
Smith, Professor EP/S009345/1 University of Oxford EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Synthesis for Biology and Medicine MD
Modern society is reliant on chemical synthesis for the discovery, development and generation of a wide range of essential products. These include artificial materials and polymers, bulk fine chemicals and fertilizers and, most importantly, products that impact on human health and food security such as medicines, drugs, and herbicides. Future developments in these areas are key for society as a whole and also for a wide range of UK industries. We propose to build on the experience of our existing CDT and continue to train next-generation doctoral scientists in the practice of novel and efficient chemical synthesis coupled with an in-depth appreciation of its application to biology and medicine. This is a departure from the way chemists are usually trained, as detailed and in-depth knowledge of other disciplines is challenging to assimilate. To facilitate this, we have assembled an industry-academic consortium based on our previously successful model for doctoral training whereby we integrate the knowledge and expertise of industrialists into our programme for both training and research. To fully exploit the opportunities offered by our industry partners, our centre will adopt a patent free model to allow completely free exchange of information, know-how and expertise between students and supervisors on different projects and across different industrial companies; this would not be possible under existing industrial studentship arrangements. This free exchange of research data and ideas will generate highly trained and well-balanced researchers capable of world-leading research output, and importantly will enable students to benefit from networks between academics and industrial scientists. This will also facilitate interactions between distinct industrial groups (such as pharma- and agro-chemical scientists). The one supervisor - one student model, typical of current studentship programmes, is unable to address significant and long-term training and research topics that require a critical mass of multidisciplinary researchers; consequently, we propose that substantive research projects will also be cohort-driven. We envisage that this CDT will have four training and research foci ('Project Fields') in which synthesis is the unifying core discipline, to enable our industry-academic partnership to tackle major problems at the chemistry-biology-medicine interface.
Our industrial partners are global leaders in pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries and are committed to the discovery, development and manufacture of medicines and agrochemicals for the improvement of human health. All have agreed to house CDT students in their laboratories for training and research placements and to play a major role in course development and delivery.
This doctoral training programme will employ a uniquely integrated academic-industrial training model, producing graduates capable of addressing major challenges in the pharmaceutical/agrochemical industries who will ultimately make a major impact on UK science, society and commerce.
Barr, Professor EP/S009353/1 Newcastle University EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Geospatial Systems S
On a daily basis huge amounts of geospatial data that record location is created across a wide range of environmental, engineered and social systems. Globally 2.5 quintillion bytes of data is generated daily, much of which is location based. The economic benefits of geospatial data and Page 165 of 183 information have been widely recognised, with the global geospatial industry predicted to be worth $500bn by 2020. In the UK the potential benefits of 'opening' up geospatial data is estimated by the government to be worth an additional £11bn annually to the economy and led to the announcement of a £80m Geospatial Commission.
However, if the full economic benefits of the geospatial data revolution are to be realised, a new generation of geospatial engineers, scientists and practitioners are required who have the knowledge, technical skills and innovation to transform our understanding of the ever increasingly complex world we inhabit, to deliver highly paid jobs and economic prosperity, coupled with benefits to society.
To seize this opportunity, the Centre for Doctoral Training in Geospatial Systems will deliver technically skilled doctoral graduates equipped with an industry focus, to work across a diverse range of applications including infrastructure systems, smart cities, urban resilience, water engineering, climate impacts and adaption, energy systems, geotechnical engineering, planning, transport engineering, public health and social inclusion. Doctoral graduates will be trained in five core integrated geospatial themes:
Spatial data capture and interpretation: modern spatial data capture and monitoring approaches, including Earth observation satellite image data, UAVs and drone data, and spatial sensor networks; spatial data informs us on the current status and changes taking place in different environments (e.g., river catchments and cities).
Statistical and mathematical methods: innovative mathematical approaches and statistical techniques, such as predictive analyticsrequired to analyse and interpret huge volumes of geospatial data; these allow us to recognise and quantify within large volumes of data important locations and relationships.
Big Data spatial analytics: cutting edge computational skills required for geospatial data analysis and modelling, including databases, cloud computing, pattern recognition and machine learning; modern computing approaches are the only way that vast volumes of location data can be analysed.
Spatial modelling and simulation: to design and implement geospatial simulation models for predictive purposes; predictive spatial models allow us to understand where and when investment, interventions and actions are required in the future.
Visualisation and decision support: will train students in modern methods of spatial data visualisation such as virtual and augmented reality, and develop the skills on how to deliver and present the outputs of geospatial data analysis and modelling; skills required to ensure that objective decisions and choices are made using geospatial data and information.
The advanced training received by students will be employed within applied PhD research projects co-designed with a wide range of partners ranging from government agencies, international engineering consultants, infrastructure operators and utility companies, and geospatial technology companies; organisations that are ideally positioned to leverage of the Big Data, Cloud Computing, Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies that are predicted to be the key to "accelerating geospatial industry growth" into the future.
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Throughout their training and research, students will benefit from cohort-based activities focused on group-working and industry interaction around innovation and entrepreneurship to ensure that our outstanding researchers are able to deliver innovation for economic prosperity across the spectrum of the geospatial industry and applied user sectors.
EP/S00937X/1 Huang, Dr W University of Oxford EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Synthetic Biology (SynBioCDT)
Synthetic Biology is a growing field that combines bioscience, information technology and engineering. It has become a major driving force for the bioeconomy and a key element for advanced manufacturing: its global market is projected to reach $38.7bn by 2020, registering a compound annual growth rate of 44.2% during the period 2014-2020. The UK government and RCUK were amongst the first to recognise the opportunities raised by Synthetic Biology, highlighting it as one of the "Eight Great Technologies" and investing ~£400M over the last decade.
Synthetic Biology aspires to tackle grand challenges surpassing what is possible through traditional technologies. It has the potential to generate wide-ranging applications in healthcare, environment protection, energy, agriculture, computing, advanced chemicals and materials. Excellent progress has been made towards delivering the recommendations published in the 2012 Synthetic Biology Roadmap to help create a "skilled, energized and well-funded UK-wide synthetic biology community". With the support of the EPSRC the Universities of Oxford, Bristol and Warwick, have made a crucial contribution to this by: establishing the only CDT in Synthetic Biology in 2014; training 60 excellent PhD students to date; and attracting strong support from industrial, academic and public-facing partners. Our CDT received the top rating in its mid-term review by EPSRC. With two of the six BBSRC/EPSRC-funded Synthetic Biology Research Centres in Bristol (BrisSynBio) and Warwick (WISB), the Next Generation DNA Synthesis foundry and the excellent research base at Oxford, the current and new SynBioCDT provide an exceptional environment and foundation for synthetic biology training and research. Synthetic Biology features explicitly in the recent "Life Sciences Industrial Strategy" report and the new SynBioCDT is ideally placed to help the realization of this strategy.
The new SynBioCDT will train the next generation of academic and industrial leders in synthetic biology. It will enable students to gain expertise in the design, modelling and engineering of biological components and systems; to understand broad concepts ranging from biomolecular interactions, cell function, to systems biology; and to augment the synthetic biology approach with rapidly advancing robotic, automation and AI technologies. Students will obtain essential and advanced skills in programming and engineering; implement biological design across scales; place research in the context of both basic and applied science; and for the latter, become cognisant of challenges such as process development and scale-up in bioprocessing and biotechnology. SynBioCDT will take advantage of the expertise and opportunities provided by the three Universities and our industrial partners, which all will be catalysts for inter-University and inter-sector training and research. The CDT will encourage, develop and prepare cohesive cohorts of students to set the future research agenda and to tackle contemporary challenges highlighted in the EPSRC priority "Engineering for the Bioeconomy".
We have developed the new SynBioCDT closely with partners from industry, academia and other public-facing institutions on different aspects of the CDT (taught programme, mentoring, research). Students will also have superb opportunities to engage with leading international academics through an annual Summer School, and by participating in international conferences/summer schools/workshops.
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ter Haar, Institute of Cancer EP/S009388/1 Centre for Doctoral Training in Cancer Technology Professor GRt Research
Cancer is the UK's biggest killer. Despite significant progress against the disease in the last 20 years, it continues to claim around 160,000 lives every year. We propose to establish a Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Cancer Technology to train young researchers who will become future leaders, and who will develop new devices and technologies that address the major challenges in cancer for the benefit of patients and society. We will:
1. Develop non-invasive screening technologies and approaches for earlier and more accurate detection of cancer to maximise treatment efficacy and minimise co-morbidities.
2. Tackle the enormous complexity and unpredictable nature of cancer in order to develop individualised therapy.
3. Develop methods to track and monitor tumours, as cancers have the ability to adapt and evolve within a patient, and in response to treatment.
This CDT will address a skills shortage in this area - the UK has a declared need for experts in radiotherapy physics, biological sciences and biochemistry, physical sciences and engineering (www.davidsonmorris.com/tier-2-shortage-occupation-list). In order to develop the new technologies that address these challenges, and to fill the current skills gap in UK industry, we need to train a new generation of researchers with a broader range of expertise than is currently available. We will bring together individuals from engineering, physical, biological and clinical sciences to work collaboratively, through an approach called convergence research, which links physical scientists and engineers with those with underpinning cancer biology knowledge, and also those with understanding of the clinical context. This will teach the physical and engineering scientists to apply their methods and approaches to the clinical challenges. We therefore propose to establish a convergence based CDT in Cancer Technology at the The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) and Imperial College London. The ICR is a college of the University of London, the top academic research centre in the UK, and is internationally renowned for its work into cancer biology, personalised medicine, cancer imaging technologies and precision image-guided radiotherapy. Imperial is a world-class university with a mission to benefit society through excellence in science, engineering, medicine and business, and is renowned for its science and technology innovation. Both institutions have an excellent individual track record in training PhD students.
The proposed high quality doctoral training programme at these two leading UK centres, will train all the CDT students together so that they can learn from each other and share expertise. Convergence research can only be effective with a critical mass of researchers working across multiple fields and outside the normal structures of research organisations. They will be brought together through this programme which will link students and supervisors from the different disciplines across the various academic and commercial partners.
This programme will develop individuals with the skills that are needed in the UK in order to turn research ideas from the laboratory into novel technologies/devices that are used by doctors when diagnosing and treating cancer patients. This CDT will provide students with the skills and expertise to become international leaders in cancer research in universities, research organisations, companies and elsewhere. Ultimately it is hoped that participants in this CDT will develop new technologies and devices that are made available on the NHS and globally for improved Page 168 of 183 screening, diagnosis, detection and treatment for the benefit of all cancer patients. Through improving cancer care, in particular in the area of early diagnosis, the morbidity and mortality of cancer would reduce, which will have important cost saving implications for the NHS and society.
Wilson, EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Theory and Modelling in Chemical EP/S009426/1 University of Oxford Professor M Sciences
Theory and modelling lie at the heart of chemical sciences and, critically, at the interfaces with biology, physics and materials science. High performance computing, artificial intelligence and harnessing the resource of "big data" are key elements of the UK's industrial strategy and are the drivers of the so-called "fourth industrial revolution". The knowledge-based economy requires highly skilled and flexible workers, such as those produced by our training programme. There is a specific and evidence-based need for doctoral graduates with the specialist knowledge to develop ideas and software in this field, and to apply theory and modelling to real-world problems. However, graduate training in this area is often inadequate for three main reasons:
1. Typical undergraduate degree courses do not cover the detail required to engage in effective research in these key areas. Training often occurs too late in the process and becomes confined by sub-area. Students miss the "bigger picture".
2. No individual UK university contains the critical mass of staff required to deliver the required breadth of training.
3. Only training in a cohort setting provides students with the experience of integrating a wide range of ideas and backgrounds to provide smart, innovative solutions through pooling expertise.
The graduate training offered in our CDT is unique in its breadth, covering mathematics, theory, numerical methods and computer use (including software development and process control), and is aimed at the continued transformation of graduate training across these key areas. The unique selling point of TMCS lies in the fusion of the complementary expertise of the three partner Institutions which covers the entire spectrum of chemical science modelling and our symbiotic interactions with our project partners (now encompassing pharma, software development, defence, energy, and education sectors; and large multinationals, SMEs, startups and charities).
Our training model places all students in Oxford for the majority of Y1 (studying for an MSc) before moving to doctoral research in one of the three partner institutions for Y2-4. Studying together at a single institution in Y1 has clear advantages in terms of effective course delivery and, critically, horizontal cohort-building: the students occupy purpose-built facilities which comprise dedicated office, lecture and breakout spaces. We will deliver a broadened training programme to address known gaps in the typical undergraduate knowledge base covering, for example, both theory and computational methods, but extended to wider issues such as research ethics, innovation and research methodologies. Our partners are involved in creation and delivery of training, and will facilitate flexible training strategies. An MSc imposes a formal, assessable and rigorous framework while maintaining critical flexibility allowing us to respond to both student and project-partner requirements, as well as changes in a rapidly-evolving training landscape. Vertical cohorts will be maintained via an Annual Symposium and additional social events.
The CDT will be managed by a four-person Leadership Team advised by effective Advisory and Industry Boards. We are all committed to Page 169 of 183 improving diversity in STEM subjects.
Engagement with the wider community is taken seriously. We will reach out to i) researchers requiring computational training (through our Training in Computational Chemistry programme), ii) graduates via the UKTC summer school, and iii) the general public via our student-led outreach.
Murphy, EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Integrated Systems Approaches for EP/S009434/1 University of Surrey Professor R Sustainability: i-SUS
Every aspect of modern life has impacts, both positive and negative, on the environment, the economy and society. Current lifestyles seem to require more materials and energy, even without considering how we can bring everyone across the world up to the same standards of living. The greatest challenge facing us with over 7 billion people globally is that the earth does not have an infinite supply of resources and so current ways of life need to change. We need to support behaviours that waste less, use resources better and look beyond the traditional views to see clearly how to create truly sustainable futures.
Sustainability is a complex issue requiring a broad range of disciplines and stakeholders from academia, industry, government and civil society. Sustainability approaches are evolving as our knowledge grows about both the state of the planet and its interconnected systems.
It is therefore highly appropriate that the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) has made Sustainability a priority research area for a Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) to generate 'product-service-system approaches to improve performance and reliability over the whole life cycle'. At its core are two fundamental components which any application of new technology, policy and business models require in order to deliver a sustainable future; firstly, a whole supply chain view of environmental, economic and social factors has to be taken and, secondly, appropriate and transparent methods of sustainability measurement are needed. Correct methods, even those adopting the so- called Circular Economy, tend to deliver incremental improvements: these will not be sufficient to deliver real sustainability i.e. deliver within planetary constraints.
The i-SUS CDT will generate innovative approaches able to respond to our complex, modern world e.g. enabling products, processes and service systems to be delivered within natural limits. Combining cutting edge academic research with the industrial realities ensures that the CDT will deliver not only the next generation of sustainability practitioners to engage with and manage integrated sustainability issues, but also provide new assessment tools, business models and behaviours for sustainable livelihoods in the future.
The Universities of Surrey and Cambridge are leaders in sustainability research and have excellent records of engaging with industry and government on new concepts in sustainability. In particular, the multi-disciplinary Centre for Environment and Sustainability at Surrey is experienced in combining engineering, social and policy and regulatory approaches to advanced sustainability thinking. The Institute for Manufacturing at Cambridge has a complementary, outstanding track record in reducing impact in manufacturing. The partnership with the BEACON group in Ireland offers our CDT a specialist focus on developments in sustainable green economies.
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The need for the new focus on sustainability provided by the i-SUS CDT is well summarised in this quote from Dr Kieren Mayers, Director of Environment and Technical Compliance, Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe: "Better engagement between academics and industry is crucial to future success and progress towards sustainability goals and targets. In particular, finding solutions to global environmental and sustainability issues is extremely complex, requiring understanding of world-wide industrial supply-chain process and how they interact with the earth's natural systems. Applied doctoral research is highly suited to address these skills gaps, where prior knowledge and research is scant, but also where urgent solutions are needed in the present."
Hilton, Professor EP/S009469/1 University of Surrey EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Audio-Visual Machine Perception A
The EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Audio-Visual Machine Perception will establish a national hub for high-quality training of PhD researchers, with industry, in the fundamental science and practical application of machine perception, to ensure that the UK has the expertise and know-how to lead the development of future intelligent sensing technologies.
Machine Perception is the bridge between Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Sensory Data (seeing, hearing and other senses) which will enable machines to understand and interact with the world around them. Seeing(Vision) and Hearing(Audio) are the primary human senses that we use to understand the world. Machine perception of people, and the everyday environments that we live and work in, is a key enabling technology for future intelligent machines. This will impact and benefit many aspects of our lives, from robot assistants able to work safely alongside people, personalised healthcare at home, improved safety and security, safe autonomous vehicles and automated animal welfare monitoring, through to improved social communication and new forms of immersive audio-visual entertainment. The central research challenge for all of these technologies is to enable machines to understand complex real-world dynamic scenes. Reliable Machine Perception of complex scenes requires the fusion of multiple sensing modalities with complementary information, such as seeing and hearing.
The proliferation of low-cost digital audio-visual sensors together with advances in machine perception and AI, in areas such as face and speech recognition, has resulted in an explosion in the demand for expertise in this domain, as witnessed by the drain of UK researchers in computer vision and audio to major US corporations [Guardian, Nov.2017]. This has resulted in the need for doctoral training of skilled experts to catalyse growth of the UK Artificial Intelligence industry [Hall and Pesenti, Oct.2017]. Computer vision and audio recognition are two of the fastest growing areas of AI with a predicted market value in excess of $90Bn by 2023 [AI and Computer Vision Markets , tratica.com (2017)]. The UK leads many of the advances in audio and visual machine perception research. This Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) will bring together world-leading expertise in audio and vision, to establish the first national hub for training of doctoral researchers with the cross-disciplinary expertise required for future intelligent sensing technologies capable of reliable operation across a wide-range of applications and industries.
This CDT will directly enable high-quality training of 60 PhD researchers with a cross-disciplinary foundation in the theory and practical application of multi-sensory machine perception. CDT cohort-based training will add considerable value to develop researchers with advanced knowledge capable of working in cross-disciplinary teams to tackle industry challenges. The CDT will be hosted at the Centre for Vision, Speech and Signal Processing (CVSSP), University of Surrey, which is recognised internationally as a Centre of Excellence for Machine Perception with a unique track-record of world-leading research in both audio and vision. CDT training will ensure both breadth of cross-disciplinary foundation in Page 171 of 183 audio, vision, signal processing, machine learning and AI, and depth of knowledge related to the PhD and application domain. Cohort-based training will enable researchers to develop cross-disciplinary experience and teamwork skills working on industry led real-world challenges. All students will be sponsored by an industrial partner and undertake secondments to gain experience. This CDT will contribute significantly to ensuring that the UK has the critical mass of expertise required to lead future technologies leveraging machine perception for intelligent sensing.
Martin, Professor Royal Holloway, EP/S009477/1 EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Cyber Security for the Everyday K Univ of London
The 2015 UK National Security Strategy identifies cyber security as one of the top four UK national security priorities. The UK National Cyber Security Strategy 2016-2021 (NCSS) has an underlying vision to make the UK secure and resilient to cyber threats, prosperous and confident in the digital world. It is widely recognised that the UK, indeed the world, is short of cyber security specialists.
Cyber security is genuinely cross-disciplinary. It's about technology, and the networks and systems within which technology is deployed. But it's also about society and how it engages with technology. Researching the right questions requires researchers to fully understand the integrated nature of the cyber security landscape. A CDT provides the perfect vehicle within which suitably broad training can be provided. The establishment of a cohort of researchers with different backgrounds and experience allows this knowledge to be cultivated within a rich environment, where the facts of hard science can be blended with the perspectives and nuances of more social dimensions.
While society has made progress in developing the technology that underpins security, privacy and trust in cyberspace, we lag behind in our understanding of how society engages with this technology. Much more fundamentally, we don't even really understand how society engages with the concepts of security, privacy and trust in the first place. We will host a CDT in Cyber Security for the Everyday, which signals that research in our CDT will focus on the technologies deployed in everyday digital systems, as well as the everyday societal experience of security.
Research in our CDT will investigate the security of emerging technologies. As cyberspace continues to evolve, so, too, do the technologies required to secure its future. Research topics include the cryptographic tools that underpin all security technologies, the security of the systems within which these tools are deployed, the use of artificial intelligence to aid discovery of system vulnerabilities, and security and privacy of everyday objects which are becoming embedded in cyberspace. Our CDT will also research how to secure cyber societies. Securing increasingly networked, automated, and autonomous societies requires an integrated research approach which engages the social, technological, cultural, legal, social-psychological and political on equal terms. Research topics include exploring state, institutional and corporate responsibility over how information is gathered and used, investigating how cyber security is perceived, understood and practiced by different communities, and researching how social differences and societal inequalities affect notions of, and issues relating to, cyber security.
Our training programme will be based around a suite of relevant masters programmes at Royal Holloway, including in Information Security, Geopolitics and Security, and Data Science. This will be supplemented by workshops, practice labs, and a comprehensive generic skills programme. Students will work closely with the wider cyber security community through a series of industry engagement sessions and visits, summer projects, and three-month internships. Peer-to-peer learning will be fostered through group challenges, workshop design and delivery, reading groups and a social programme. Page 172 of 183
Hogg, Professor University of EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Next Generation Information EP/S009566/1 RA Glasgow Communication Technology Devices (GIFTED)
Information and communication technologies (ICT) are ubiquitous, and underpin society in terms of wealth creation, education, healthcare, security, and energy supply. Examples of applications that ICT systems are striving to enable span tactile sensing for robotics and prosthetics; green energy generation; distribution and utilisation; the wirelessly connected internet of everything; personalised medicine; quantum crypotography and computation; controlled biological assembly; in-building environmental control; wireless power distribution; precision medical imaging; and advanced imaging and sensing.
Future ICT systems will see ever-increasing convergence of currently disparate technologies as we strive to sense the world around us with ever-increasing precision. The opportunities for innovation are immense, but will only be fully optimised by innovative and creative combinations of a diversity of materials (metals, inorganic/organic semiconductors, insulators, dielectrics, superconductors, functional molecules, etc) and devices with electronic, photonic, magnetic, biological, cellular and molecular functionality. Routes to the effective integration of all of these in a robust and manufacturable way will unlock the true potential of future ICT systems, driving the need for the proposed CDT.
Modern ICT systems contain multiple devices from all these elements. As an example, if we consider the present, ubiquitous, smart phone, it can communicate on a range of channels (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Mobile Data, GPS) - each requiring specific electronic elements, has solid-state storage (yet through communications accesses cloud based storage), has a processor for content handling, and multiple cameras, motion sensors, and 3D imaging sensors. Future ICT systems will be of ever greater complexity.
The development of technologies to enable these applications has driven the critical dimensions of electronic and photonic devices and magnetic storage elements to biological and molecular lengthscales, and degrees of complexity that have grown to remarkable levels. Yet, the convergence and combination of these diverse functionalities is just beginning.
The opportunities for future innovation are immense, but will only be fully optimised by innovative and creative combinations of a diversity of materials (metals, semiconductors, insulators, dielectrics, superconductors, organics) and devices with electronic, photonic, magnetic, biological, cellular and molecular functionality.
Routes to the effective integration of all of these in a robust and manufacturable way will unlock the true potential of future ICT systems. The realisation of these types of system requires creative individuals who have both profound expertise and depth in a given area of specialism, but most importantly, are open-minded and sufficiently well educated in adjacent areas of technology that they can engage meaningfully across traditional domain boundaries.
In this culture, genuinely differentiating solutions will be conceived. The EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Next Generation Information Communication Technology Devices (GIFTED) will constantly instill the value of multidisciplinary in its students. The Centre will train innovators for whom collaboration is the norm, and where device and component optimisation, the area of specialism of the Centre, is driven by overall system need. Page 173 of 183
This vision will be delivered by a programme of training and research spanning materials, device design, component realisation, manufacturing, and integration. The value of this approach will be contextualised by compelling research projects that combine fundamental vision with genuine application need.
Bartolo, The University of EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Smart manufacturing with Industry 4.0 EP/S009612/1 Professor P Manchester compliance
The UK is lagging behind Germany and the USA in productivity and one of the key reasons is the skills shortage. UK manufacturing companies are finding it difficult to recruit people with technical and engineering skills, and this difficulty is being further exacerbated by the rate at which new technologies such as digital manufacturing are evolving. To address this need, a Centre for Doctoral Training in Smart manufacturing with Industry 4.0 compliance is proposed herein addressing the EPSRC priority areas of Future Connected Technologies and ICT Device Technologies, as well as two of the key areas in the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund: Manufacturing and Materials of the Future, Robotics and Artificial Intelligence. This Centre for Doctoral Training will involve over seventy academics from eight different Schools and three Faculties at the University of Manchester. These academics, together with industry partners, have the skill sets to supervise and develop the engineers of tomorrow who will have the technical capability to drive advances in the area of Industry 4.0 (integrating digital technology in production processes for intelligent manufacturing) as well as possessing the skill sets to address challenges in areas such as device manufacturability, cyber physical systems, energy/material efficiency and reduced-emissions. During the first year of the programme, each cohort of students will attend a lecture course which will give them a solid foundation in the basics of Industry 4.0 as well prepare them for their research project. This programme will be supported by industrial visits, internships and industry inspired group projects. Research projects will be focussed on creating and implementing innovative solutions in an industrial environment. Furthermore, as a cohort, they will have a unique opportunity to interact not only with academics from Manchester, but also from other international universities, industrial and policy experts. This will be achieved by organising workshops and seminars with international Universities with whom we have existing collaborations. This will foster interactions with international leading academics, and researchers. Students graduating from this CDT will possess the technical skills and leadership qualities to drive the implementation of Industry 4.0 and related technologies in the manufacturing sector. A CDT of this nature based in the North West which is the largest manufacturing sector in the UK, will act as a catalyst to improving the overall productivity in the region. The fact that the engineering schools at The University of Manchester are being brought together under one roof in a £350m, state-of-the-art building (aka Manchester Engineering Campus), it enhances its likelihood of success as well as promoting an ideal environment for the proposed Centre.
Granat, EP/S009655/1 University of Salford EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Prosthetics and Orthotics Professor M
The World Health Organisation says that there are about 100 million people globally who need prosthetic or orthotic services and as populations age, more than 2 billion people are expected to require health-related assistive devices by 2050. In the UK there are around 2 million amputees, Page 174 of 183 and about four times this number of people benefit from orthoses (such as stroke survivors and children with cerebral palsy). In parts of the developing world the aftermath of conflict, such as land mines, and greater rates of traumatic injuries from accidents, means there is a growing need for prosthetics and orthotics for younger people living in poor social and economic circumstances. Often they need prosthetic and orthotic devices to stay at work and sustain their families.
In the context of this global need, we want to establish the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Prosthetics and Orthotics. This will address the global shortage of suitably skilled engineers and scientists to become future innovators in prosthetic and orthotic technologies. Current academia, industry and care centres have limited researchers, and research activity has lagged behind rapid technology advancements. The Centre will support the academic and professional development of 58 doctoral students whose studies will enable them to become leaders of the future. The Centre will bring together the only two prosthetics and orthotics undergraduate education facilities in the UK (Salford and Strathclyde) allowing direct and regular impact of the CDT work on all UK P&O clinician cohorts over the life of the Centre, together with Imperial College and the University of Southampton,
Our vision is for the Centre to become the global leader in prosthetics and orthotic research training, and the translation of research into innovation that impacts on the lives of people each day, in developed and developing countries. The Centre will work to a quota of students from low and middle-income countries (LMIC), and expects to recruit students with disabilities to immerse all student learning close to the needs of users. Students will benefit from six 'pillars' of learning: 1. Cohorts of students will interact seamlessly with each other throughout their studies, including shared PhD tasks and placements, leading a student society, buddy systems, summer schools and writing retreats. 2. Interdisciplinary training will equip students with the breadth of skills required for health technology careers, including understanding contexts of LMIC. 3. Targeted training will enable students to learn about specific engineering, and clinical and health disciplines, from health behaviours through to clinical disease. 4. All students will undertake ambitious PhD projects that address real-world challenges using cutting-edge technologies. Through these, they will acquire advanced engineering and science skills. 5. Through real-world placements in industry, clinical and voluntary organisations, students will learn to think as user-informed industrialists as well as scientists, and thus be highly employable. 6. Partnerships with industry, clinical and third sector organisations will enable students to gain a practical understanding of the P&O sector across established and emerging global markets.
Creating a new generation of prosthetic and orthotic research leaders will, over time, have a significant economic, societal and health impact. For users, it will mean access to improved generations of assistive devices which will better match the users' needs resulting in improved quality of life. Clinical services will benefit from improved service data, better products and better patient outcomes. For industry, it will open up new market opportunities, nationally and globally. For the students themselves, they will have access to careers that have real purpose, enabling themselves and their future teams to make a difference to the lives of people with disabilities.
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Benford, University of EP/S009671/1 EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Horizon: Our Lives in Data Professor S Nottingham
The ability to utilise consumers' personal data to deliver ever more personalised goods, services and experiences lies at the heart of the Digital Economy. Search, social media, online entertainment and a plethora of other digital services from healthcare to transport are fuelled by personal data which allows them to profile and adapt to their consumers. An emerging generation of digital manufacturing technologies is now bringing this data-driven approach to the world of physical goods, personalising them and producing them in more agile ways. The net result is that personal data is fundamentally transforming the nature of our economy, blending goods, services and experiences to yield smarter products that are made in smarter ways.
To give just three examples: augmented reality can overlay personalized instructions on consumer goods or enable consumers to 'gift wrap' them with meaningful messages for others, transforming them into services; travellers can create playlists that dynamically adapt to their journeys, transforming transportation services into entertainment experiences; while movement data captured while playing sports can shape the advanced manufacture of personalized prosthetics, to create goods tailored to particular individuals and tasks. In all three cases, the use of personal data reconfigures relationships between goods, services and experiences and engages consumers in co-creation
However, this is not a 'free lunch' and there are now widespread societal concerns about the uncontrolled use of personal data. Consumers worry about their privacy and who owns and controls their data and digital identities, while producers worry about the responsibility of securely managing personal data and how to maintain trust in their brands. While new legislation such as GDPR may help, these concerns can only truly be addressed if a holistic approach to the development of personal data technologies is undertaken in a responsible and human-centred way that places people at the heart of design.
In turn, this requires new kinds of people working the digital economy; ones with both technical and human-centred skills who are able to contribute to and ultimately lead multidisciplinary teams. For the past nine years the Horizon CDT has been training such people. Our 2009 awards focused on understanding the nature of the personal digital footprint. From 2014, we explored how people could take greater control of their footprints and their digital identities. Our 2019 proposal tackles the new challenge of data creativity - enabling consumers to derive added value from their personal data by becoming co-producers of new kinds of smart products.
We will bring together over thirty industry partners with a hundred academic supervisors drawn from diverse disciplines to deliver a distinctive training programme for at least 60 PhD students that emphasizes multidisciplinary training; cross-fertilisation of innovations across diverse sectors of the digital economy; and an ethos of collaboration throughout.
Kumar, EP/S009736/1 University of Surrey EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Clean Air Engineering (CArE) Professor P
Air pollution is one of the most pressing of current issues, with substantial impact affecting public health, natural and physical capital, and economic growth. Targets to bring clean air to UK cities are ambitious and necessary for a prosperous and healthy nation. However, before this Page 176 of 183 can be achieved there are major technological challenges to be overcome and research questions to be answered in this complex and increasingly interdisciplinary field. The need for a pipeline of suitably trained and skilled experts is becoming increasingly pressing for both the research and implementation communities. The ambition of this CDT in Clean Air Engineering (CArE) is to fill this gap and help shape our cities and indoor environments as smarter, healthier and greener. To achieve this, CArE will develop a systematic and continuous programme of interdisciplinary cutting-edge training and research, the projects led by bright, young researchers in partnership with industry.
The UK's research in the areas of atmospheric chemistry and physics are world-leading. CArE complements this with an 'engineering' emphasis on pollution control and thereby offers an unprecedented opportunity for all-round UK leadership in the field of air pollution management and control. This CDT heralds the era of a new discipline, 'Clean Air Engineering' that brings together capability from a wide range of engineering, physical sciences and social sciences to build broad-based and sustainable expertise that can effectively tackle the full extent of the air pollution issues affecting our cities, and cities worldwide, 'from pollution to solution'. Its aim is to underpin the resource that will deliver cleaner air to our cities.
The structure will provide bespoke training in the underlying academic disciplines, exposure to real-world issues and problems, and high-quality research, all tailored to ensure holistic engineered and natural solutions. This will be delivered by three partner institutions, the University of Surrey, Imperial College London and the National Physical Laboratory, bringing access to world-quality expertise and facilities. The principal research streams in technological interventions, next-generation technologies, and tools for urban pollution system modelling will be supported by overarching streams in metrology, internet of things and sensors, built environment interfaces, policy, and public response. With the explosion of interest in the use of low cost sensors and engagement in citizen science, there is also a clear opportunity to engage the general public as stakeholders in clean air engineering science through the overarching themes.
CArE will provide a body of PhD-qualified professionals with a common mission to deliver cleaner air to UK cities and establish UK leadership in an area of global concern. It will prepare future leaders in this field who bring a strong collaborative ethos to transform our urban outdoor and indoor environments. With over thirty industrial partners and stakeholders on board, CArE will enable us to create research projects that are designed to meet the needs of industry and society, and be a key provider of our vision to reinstate clean air in our cities through focused scientific efforts. The engineering approach underpinning CArE is intended to bring a paradigm shift in current practices of air pollution control and bring benefits to millions of people in the UK and elsewhere through access to clean air. Hand in hand with this will be economic benefits in terms of reduced expenditure on health, and positive benefits for industry through innovative solutions and the revenue that new intellectual property and patents develop.
Walti, Professor EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Enabling Technologies for a Healthy EP/S009752/1 University of Leeds CP Nation
The vision of this CDT is to train a cohort of PhD students in the application of bionanotechnologies for the development of smart bio-materials, diagnostic platforms, and therapeutic delivery systems. It builds on strong and long-standing highly integrated collaborations between the biological, physical sciences and engineering, with medicine, in Leeds, to tackle healthcare problems requiring multidisciplinary teams. Our graduates will be the future leaders in Bionanotechnology, uniquely trained to close the innovation loop by translating scientific knowledge into Page 177 of 183 market opportunities and clinical applications. Society is facing unprecedented challenges in healthcare provision, in particular owing to an increasing ageing population, life-style-related diseases, and rapidly spreading occurrences of drug-resistant infections, inter alia. To achieve a sustainable healthy nation we require a step change in the way we understand, diagnose, and treat disease, which in turn requires the development of innovative technologies. This urgent need for the development of enabling technologies is reflected in the rapidly expanding bio-materials and medical technologies sector including associated service and supply chain, which will grow rapidly, from £21B to £31B over the next 8 years, driven by the need for the development of innovative technologies to ensure a sustainable healthy nation. The sector currently employs >35k PhD-level trained scientists (of which >5k are employed in in vitro diagnostic technology, drug delivery, contract manufacturing and research organisation), and therefore the forecasted growth creates a significant demand of new highly trained PhD-level scientists. In fact, the successful growth of the sector critically depends on the availability of such highly-trained interdisciplinary scientists. However, many companies in the sector report that hiring appropriately-skilled employees is becoming increasingly more difficult. Importantly, the sector is curntly made up primarily (>80%) of micro and small enterprises, who generally do not have the resources and/or capacity to provide extensive on-the-job training, and therefore have to rely on the ability to recruit experienced graduates. This CDT will address the need for such highly trained PhD scientists by training exceptional and versatile physical scientists and engineers, to meet the current and future needs of the biomaterials and medical technology sectors, ultimately delivering benefits to patients as well as contributing to the UK economy by delivering the next generation of scientific leaders to ensure the long-term success of the sector. We have worked closely with our stakeholders, including relevant industry (from micro enterprises and SMEs to large enterprises), clinicians and other healthcare professionals, and relevant organisations, to design an innovative training programme that addresses the skills need of the biomaterials and medical technologies sector, with the particular aim to train 'industry ready' graduates. The training programme will in particular include: (a) advanced technical skills training delivered in partnership with our stakeholders; (b) tailored secondments and placement with stakeholders; (c) communication, public engagement and outreach training and event development with external partners; (d) case-study-based training in commercialisation/technology translation delivered in collaboration with our stakeholders; (e) a cutting-edge PhD project which is designed to address a specific clinical challenge and which will be supported by a healthcare professional throughout the project. The CDT will be delivered collaboratively between the University of Leeds and our stakeholders, who will in particular will contribute to the taught programme, provide mentorship to individual students, fund some of the studentships, and provide advice to ensure that the programme remains aligned with the industrial needs.
Littlewood, The Faraday EP/S009817/1 EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Batteries for Transport Professor P Institution
The vision of a Faraday Institution Batteries for Transport CDT (BTCDT) is 'to develop interdisciplinary research leaders with the creativity, skills and vision for global breakthroughs in energy storage systems for the transport sector'.
Energy storage and conversion technologies can unlock a clean, renewable and sustainable future, but delivering them requires sustained investment in technology, infrastructure and skills across several multi-billion pound global industry sectors including electricity production and distribution, consumer electronics and transport. Transport is in the vanguard of this change, and the opportunity of this CDT proposal. Our Page 178 of 183 proposal will cover training across the transport sector widely, not just passenger electric vehicles.
Skills required for the future battery industry span electrochemistry, materials science, engineering (mechanical, electrical and manufacturing), economics, social sciences, maths, and business. UK companies are already struggling to recruit skilled employees with hundreds of unfilled vacancies at companies like Jaguar Land Rover and across the academic community. In the absence of experienced researchers today and a projected shortfall in the future, a dedicated effort in training and skills development is required. Due to the magnitude of skills gap in the UK and a projected increasing demand for postgraduates in both industrial and academic roles, a larger than average CDT is proposed.
Our Batteries for Transport CDT will align our training to the benefit of the research projects that are already funded and underway within the Faraday Institution: degradation, solid state batteries, modelling, and recycling. 40 such studentships will be funded by the FI, with a commitment from our industrial partners to double that number.
Students will be part of a unified cohort and will have access to a powerful network in industry, government and academia; leaders will provide a mini-MBA style programme to meet expect future demand for versatility in the battery research community. Professor Peter Littlewood, University of Chicago, former director of Argonne National Laboratory; Jorge Pikunic, a leader from Centrica Distributed Power; and Sir Oliver Letwin, MP, and former head of UK government energy policy, round out a stellar team that includes leaders from JLR, Siemens and the APC.
The five universities in this proposal are all leaders and participants on the research initiatives, and the FI student cohort will be integrated with the CDT, educating 30+ PhD and EngD students annually.
Further, the five universities will each contribute training courses available to all participants, but developed with their local strengths, leading in the areas below, with support from the other partners: Cambridge: Electrode Characterisation & Structuring; Imperial: Multi-scale modelling; Oxford: Materials Discovery; UCL: Diagnostics, safety and engineering; Warwick: Vehicle integration and scale up.
Students will apply to the lead institution and will then be assigned to a "home" university. Faraday students engaged in FI research programs but not members of the CDT universities will have access to the CDT courses as part of their research training: note that the CDT proposers are all in research collaborations with the partner universities as part of the FI, and training budgets for those students have been allocated.
Training will be provided across all four years of the doctoral program, not simply confined to the first year. We will invest in video conference facilities at the campuses in order to simplify access to courses, and also to allow participation from FI partners beyond the core.
Ingram, University of EP/S00985X/1 EPSRC Industrial CDT in Offshore Renewable Energy (IDCORE) Professor DM Edinburgh Page 179 of 183
The need for a network of doctoral scientists & engineers with interdisciplinary skills: The UK leads the world in research, innovation, development, demonstration & deployment in wave and tidal technologies. It has 35% & 50% of European wave and tidal current energy potential respectively, and 13% of the shallow-water offshore wind potential. Existing offshore wind technologies could be used to meet 15% of UK electricity demand, with significantly greater potential available in deeper waters for new innovative technologies. The 2017 Digest of UK Energy Statistics shows that wind energy capacity is 16GW (with 5.3GW offshore). The UK has a greater installed capacity of tidal current technologies and has demonstrated a greater number of wave technologies than the rest of the world put together. UK and European offshore wind capacity is expected to increase, respectively by 1 and 2.5 GW/year until 2030. Bloomberg New Energy Finance have projected 115GW of global installed offshore energy capacity by 2030. Cambridge Econometrics have identified that to drive even just this UK development, by 2032, offshore wind would alone need to grow human capacity in the sector to around 60,000 FTE jobs in the UK, with 14,000 directly employed in managerial and professional engineering and scientific roles.
The challenges to define and develop the necessary technologies and know-how for the ORE sector are defined by the interaction and inter- dependence of: impact on the natural environment; its energy resources; the emergence of new innovative technologies; manufacture, deployment, operation and maintenance at scale; micro- and macro-economic appraisal; regulation & policy; social & environmental acceptance. Prior experience in IDCORE and Supergen UKCMER, recent roadmaps, and advice from industrial partners show that we must train a connected network of scientists and engineers with deep use-inspired research & innovation skills in their individual domains, and an appreciation of the challenges and state of the art solutions across the breadth of the sector.
The approach that will be taken: We propose to establish a new centre, building on the strengths of the successful Industrial Doctoral Centre for Offshore Renewable Energy and Supergen UKCMER. To exploit synergy, opportunities for scale & additional impact, this proposal is made in partnership with the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Centre of Excellence in Marine and Renewable Energy (MaREI). Together we will deliver and operate a fully integrated CDT forming a best-with-best partnership to create future leaders for the British and Irish energy systems and to train them to fully integrate offshore renewables into the decarbonised energy systems of the future. Specifically, the new IDCORE CDT will * Graduate 75 new postgraduate students, supervised by a cohort of over 150 academic staff in the UK & Ireland. * Use world-class UKRI & SFI funded facilities to provide cutting-edge training in engineering, science & inter-disciplinary areas; * Deliver impact from excellent research in integrated cross-disciplinary themes from the ocean to the end user; * Train research students throughout the full life cycle of research, spanning theory to practice, including engineering, physical, data & natural science, economics, management, leadership & social-science skills.
Overview of the research areas of the centre: Experience, assisted by our industrial partners, has defined the need for research, training and innovation in the following areas: natural resource; environmental impact assessment (and mitigation); development of offshore energy technologies; new materials and science for components, sub-systems and devices in the offshore environment; data science; autonomous inspection and condition monitoring; remote and local operation and maintenance; energy conversion, conditioning, storage and delivery; energy economics, policy and regulation. IDCORE will provide this.
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Nuseibeh, EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Software Engineering for EP/S009892/1 Open University Professor B Connected People & Things
The increasing reliance of society on a wide range of software-based, connected technologies is reframing what it means to conceive, build, and deliver software. New and future computing systems are increasingly blurring the boundaries between the digital, physical, and social spaces that people inhabit, and are demanding that flexible digital spaces be seamlessly, yet deliberately, intertwined with their physical and social contexts. Therefore, compounding the global demand for software engineering graduates and professionals, there is an urgent need for substantive and sustained research on new paradigms of software engineering that inherit the challenges of systematic development of dependable systems, together with the modern challenges of reflecting society's global concerns and values.
The proposed Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) will train multi-disciplinary teams of researchers who can collaboratively address shared complex problems in key application domains (including aviation & transport, health & wellbeing, policing & forensics, finance & enterprises, and sustainability), and who are able deliver integrated, responsible solutions in close collaboration with domain experts and stakeholders. These solutions will be embedded in a set of 'living labs', aligned to the target application domains, where successive cohorts of students can work together to address challenging, multi-disciplinary research problems.
The CDT will draw upon the cumulative expertise of three centres of excellence in software research that uniquely provide (i) the depth and breadth of software engineering expertise required to address these challenges, and (ii) many years of experience of collaborative engagement, both with each other, and with external collaborators in research, practice, and end use. Broadly speaking, the Software Engineering and Design (SEAD) group at The Open University (OU) brings international expertise in requirements engineering and design, secure software engineering, and human behaviour; the Software Systems Engineering (SSE) group at University College London (UCL) brings expertise in systems engineering, analysis and testing; and SFI's Irish Software Research Centre (Lero) brings expertise in industry-focused software research distributed across multiple organisations.
The distinctive elements of the 4 year programme include:
- Real-world problem focus: Students will collaborate closely with industry partners and end users from the start of their PhD to identify and define real-world problems [external placements in years 1 & 3] - Domain focus: Students will work on shared problems of specific application domains. - Realistic experimentation: Students will develop and evaluate their research in rich contexts [living labs] - Responsible software engineering: Through their work with end users and industry, students will engage deeply with social responsibility concerns and responsible engineering practices. - Global outlook: The international dimension of software engineering practices, the reach of software systems, and the variations in natural cultures and values, will be explicitly addressed, including where possible through international internships in partner research centres across the world.
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Hovsepian, Sheffield Hallam EP/S009914/1 EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Advanced Performing Surfaces Professor PE University
This Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) brings together a unique consortium of world leading centres of excellence in surface engineering and national/international industry partners working in the field of ionised Physical Vapour Deposition (PVD) and Plasma Assisted Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD). The University partners are Sheffield Hallam, Liverpool, York, Strathclyde, Southampton, Queen's University, Belfast, University College London and Imperial College. The High Value Manufacturing Catapult, RAL, NPL and TWI as well as more than 10 industrial companies will interact with the centre. The CDT will deliver industry-focussed research training to address the UK skills gap and realise innovation opportunities with advanced performing surfaces.
Advanced performing surfaces that enhance bulk material properties are the backbone to strategic applications such as health, mobility, and energy with a products market of £2bn. Practically all high value manufacturing industry in the UK and Catapult centres rely on advanced surfaces produced by plasma PVD or plasma CVD.
Doctoral training will be the core activity of the consortium and form a catalyst for collaboration between academic and industrial partners. This synergistic approach is ideal for a CDT as the large number of students will allow the complete process chain from laboratory to fabrication to be explored in depth setting up the early career researchers to become world experts in a focussed field.
A dynamic community of students will work together and across the consortium on different aspects of a common technology to foster an understanding of the complex interdisciplinary field of plasma-produced materials which includes physics, chemistry, biology, materials science and engineering. The CDT will deliver this through a 1-year Masters by Research (MRes) course based at Sheffield-Hallam University (SHU), followed by a 3-year PhD project host institutions. A significant strength of this CDT will be anembedded programme of consortium workshops, aligned to the needs of the industrial partners and sector landscape. The students will consequently already be members of a vibrant, professional network when they graduate into a career, promoting cooperation and innovation.
The CDT will train the next generation of scientists and engineers to accelerate innovation in materials and production technology in the high value manufacturing industry and HVM, Satellite and Compound Semiconductor Catapults to ensure that the UK is a World Leader in the science and industrial application of advanced performing surfaces.
Ahmed- EP/S009922/1 Kristensen, Royal College of Art Design Intelligence Professor S
The growth of the UK's economy is expected to rely heavily upon a number of emerging and disruptive technologies such as AI, big data analytics, soft robotics and immersive technologies including v irtual, augmented and mixed reality changing the way we experience the world. To position the UK at the front requires new types of specialism. Vision The Design Intelligence CDT vision is to develop connective, interdisciplinary modes of thinking bringing together expertise in the fields of Page 182 of 183 computer science and design to produce new disciplines of knowledge enabling an emerging generation of researchers to bridge the gap between context (business, design, societal, ethical, personal) and the development of emerging digital technologies. The CDT will train the next generation of researchers with the necessary skills to address national industrial and research needs in real-world applications of emerging disruptive technologies, such as AI, VR/AR/MR within a wider context of complex wicked problems, rooted in societal, cultural and ethical understanding. Their research will help position the UK at the forefront in the rapidly moving field of digital technologies, developing capability and creating knowledge to tackle the longer term applications of the underpinning technologies and enable creative, critical disruption in the development of new insights, applications, and methods for the next generation of products and experiences. The CDT will bring world leading academic experts in design working with emerging technologies (RCA) and computer scientists (Goldsmiths) together with key AI industry partners, including Microsoft Research, and end users to foster new innovation approaches. Through combining design's critical engagement with the disciplines of computer science and new forms of research methods, the CDT addresses multiple sectors, focusing upon manufacturing (consumer, automotive, construction) and healthcare. The timeliness of the CDT is the availability of research in the underpinning technologies: AI, big data has already made an impact in well-defined disciplines, the longer term research problem as posed here, requires new forms of critical thinking aligning with the 10 year horizon for the CDT thus addressing questions that are relevant for the next 10-20 years.
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