The new EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Developing National Capability for Materials 4.0 has been announced.
The EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Developing National Capability for Materials 4.0 with the Henry Royce Institute, part of an exciting new wave of CDTs announced today by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, will meet the need for increased digitisation within materials science and innovation.
The Center will train over 70 researchers with the knowledge, understanding and skills required to ensure national capability in Materials 4.0 – a scientific discipline which aims to radically advance the rate and responsiveness of materials innovation, increasing the impact it has on both society and the economy. Its development and launch reflects that innovative materials are at the centre of all the global challenges we face, and are a key research strength in the UK.
Professor Chris Race CDT Co-Director and UKAEA Chair in Fusion Materials at Royce Partner the University of Sheffield said:
“Our new CDT is a really exciting development for the Henry Royce Institute. We are going to build a training centre to address key challenges in materials science and drive the adoption of new ways of doing research. I’m really pleased to be leading the new centre, alongside the great team at Royce and the partner organisations.
“Building a training initiative is a daunting challenge, but I am sure it will be a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to seeing our team and our training programme grow over the coming months. Training a new generation of scientists is one of the most rewarding aspects of my job, and seeing our CDT students go out into the world and apply the skills they learn in our centre will be a fantastic reward.”
Professor David Knowles, Henry Royce Institute CEO, said:
“We are currently in the middle of developing a National Materials Innovation Strategy which has involved a huge consultation across industry. All these discussions have highlighted the need for skills in Materials 4.0 to tackle a whole host of opportunities which the digital revolution affords the sector from new materials discovery to digital fingerprints.
“This exciting Royce CDT will develop a new cadre of scientists and engineers who will be able to help us realise the potential of the digital and data revolutions in materials science and keep the UK at the forefront of materials innovation. The students will not only acquire new, exciting skills, they will be able to work in new ways to both develop new materials and to predict how materials perform in a range of environments – from neutron irradiation in a reactor to degradation processes in a charging battery.”
About the CDT
The Materials 4.0 CDT will train a new generation of PhD researchers in all aspects of digital materials science; including robotics, data science, machine learning, and sensing and control. Each year the Centre will offer a range of exciting projects in Materials 4.0, enabling flexible and inclusive pathways for doctoral training, including part-time study and the opportunity to study whilst at work and sponsored by an employer. Learners will join a cohort of like-minded PhD students and will have a home in one of seven world leading UK research universities. There they will undertake a research project supervised by a leading researcher and sponsored by industry.
Our Partners
The CDT will bring together the following expert Partners:
- Henry Royce Institute (Royce)
- The National Physical Laboratory (NPL)
- University of Strathclyde
- University of Leeds
- The University of Manchester
- The University of Sheffield
- University of Oxford
- University of Cambridge
- Imperial College London
The new Centre is one of 65 new Centres for Doctoral Training launched today by EPSRC receiving a total of £1 billion funding – £500 million from EPSRC and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and a further £590 million from Universities and External partners – and is the only one focussed on discipline-wide digital materials research.
The first cohort of Materials 4.0 CDT students will start in October 2024, with recruitment now underway.
