<tiptext>EPSRC announces new Centres for Doctoral Training<em> - News Release</em>

Imperial College London news release

For immediate release
Friday 5 December 2008

Young scientists with the potential to make the next generation of world-changing breakthroughs will have their talents nurtured by five new Centres for Doctoral Training at Imperial College London, thanks to a funding injection of over £18 million announced today.

The funding is part of a larger £250 million award from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) announced by Minister of State for Science and Innovation, Lord Drayson, today, which will fund 44 Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs) and create over 2,000 PhD studentships at universities across the UK over five years.

Unlike traditional PhD programmes, CDTs enable PhD students to work with, and learn from, scientists across a variety of fields. This aims to produce a new generation of researchers with the interdisciplinary skills and expertise to help them tackle some of the major challenges facing the world today.

Sir Roy Anderson, Rector of Imperial College, welcomed the award, saying: "Providing excellent and exciting research training for our future scientists and engineers is central to Imperial's mission and of vital importance to the UK. These new training centres will ensure that the College continues to produce innovative young researchers who have the breadth of interdisciplinary experience needed to meet the global demand for highly trained specialist scientists and engineers."

Centres for Doctoral Training enable PhD students to work together across different disciplines

Three of Imperial's new CDTs will be led by the College’s Department of Physics and will focus on:
• plastic electronic materials
• materials theory and simulation
• controlled quantum dynamics.

The two additional centres will be led by other institutions, in collaboration with Imperial. They have both been designated 'industrial doctorate training centres' by the EPSRC.

The first one, led by Cranfield University, aims to produce the next-generation of engineering leaders for the UK water sector, in collaboration with Imperial's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and the universities of Sheffield, Exeter and Newcastle. Students will benefit from working closely with partners from the UK water industry throughout their doctoral training.

The second one, led by the University of Manchester, will focus on nuclear engineering and is a continuation of the successful Nuclear Engineering Doctorate programme, which is led by the University of Manchester in partnership with Imperial College London and supported by four other universities.

Imperial's CDT in the science and application of plastic electronic materials will be run in collaboration with the School of Engineering and Materials Science at Queen Mary, University of London.

Plastic electronics research is based on developing semiconductors, on which the whole electronics industry is based, from organic materials such as polymers, instead of inorganic materials like silicon. Plastic electronics has the potential to facilitate a wide range of technological developments in the future, from flexible electronic devices and low-cost, efficient solar cells, to energy efficient light sources, sensors and displays.

Professor Jenny Nelson from Imperial's Department of Physics, Director of the CDT in the science and application of plastic electronic materials, says: "Plastics electronics is a rapidly growing industry which badly needs a new injection of scientists and engineers capable of both fundamental research and carrying ideas forward to application. Our new Centre for Doctoral Training will fulfil that need and ensure that the UK maintains its world-leading position in this exciting field."

Imperial's CDT in the theory and simulation of materials will support researchers to develop the skills for understanding and modelling the properties of advanced materials, from the very small scale of individual atoms and their chemical bonds, up to the very large scale of structures such as aircraft wings, wind turbine blades, and buildings.

Understanding how materials work on these different scales is very important for a multitude of technological applications. For example, for nuclear fusion to become a viable energy source scientists and engineers will need to develop a material to line the fusion reactor, which will experience extreme doses of radiation and heat over the lifetime of the reactor. In the absence of a suitable experimental test facility researchers can use simulations and models, and their theoretical knowledge of materials' properties, to design and develop these materials and predict their performance over the lifetime of the reactor.

Professor Adrian Sutton from Imperial's Department of Physics, Director of the CDT in the theory and simulation of materials, says: "At the moment there are no PhD graduates produced in the UK with a knowledge of advanced theoretical materials physics across the length scales from the atomic to the macroscopic. The new CDT will begin to rectify this position, producing a new generation of scientists with the capability to carry out urgently needed theoretical and computational work on materials used in technologies from air and land transport, to communications, energy and defence."

The research in Professor Sutton's CDT will be carried out in the Thomas Young Centre which is the London centre for the theory and simulation of materials involving UCL and King's College London, as well as Imperial College.

Imperial's CDT in controlled quantum dynamics will focus on the scientific and technological developments necessary to control and manipulate small numbers of atom-sized components with high levels of precision. This is vital for developing the next generation of information processing devices which are the size of only a few atoms.

At this very small scale, the behaviour of materials is governed by quantum theory instead of the classical laws of physics. The field of controlled quantum dynamics involves using the laws of quantum mechanics in new ways which allow the manipulation of matter on the atomic scale for new applications in diverse fields including precision measurement, global positioning systems and communications.

Professor Martin Plenio from Imperial's Department of Physics, Director of the CDT in controlled quantum dynamics, says: "If we're to continue developing ever smaller and more powerful devices, we need to turn the quantum behaviour of nano-structures to our advantage. Doing so will revolutionise information processing in the 21st century, and this new award from the EPSRC will enable Imperial to provide the scientists to make these breakthroughs."

The Cranfield University-led industrial doctorate training centre that Imperial will participate in will focus on skills, technology, research and management in the UK water sector. Areas covered by the centre will include chemical-free and energy efficient water treatment, flood risk management, and measuring and treating contaminants in the water supply.

Dr Michael Templeton from Imperial's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, said: "Postgraduate students undertaking a course at this Centre will get the chance to work closely with partners in industry to apply research skills to solving real world problems. This is a great opportunity for early career engineers to get involved with the water sector at an important time, when both public and private sector organisations are seeking responses to a host of emerging global, national and regional challenges."

The Manchester led CDT in nuclear engineering will develop outstanding research engineers so they are equipped to take up senior roles in the nuclear industry in support of plant life extension, new build, waste management, and decommissioning. The programme is designed specifically to provide the means of developing the required nuclear competence and expertise through industry-focused research complemented by technical and professional development training.

Announcing the EPSRC's funding for the new Centres for Doctoral Training, Lord Drayson said: "Britain faces many challenges in the 21st Century and needs scientists and engineers with the right skills to find answers to these challenges, build a strong economy and keep us globally competitive. EPSRC’s doctoral training centres will provide a new wave of engineers and scientists to do the job."

The addition of these five new Centres at Imperial brings the total number at the College up to six. The College's Chemical Biology Centre Doctoral Training Centre was set up in 2003 and in 2007 received a renewal of its funding from the EPSRC for another five years.

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For more information please contact:
Danielle Reeves, Imperial College London press office
Tel: +44 (0)20 7594 2198
Out-of-hours duty press office: +44 (0)7803 886248
Email: Danielle.reeves@imperial.ac.uk

Notes to Editors:

1. About Imperial College London

Consistently rated amongst the world's best universities, Imperial College London is a science-based institution with a reputation for excellence in teaching and research that attracts 12,000 students and 6,000 staff of the highest international quality.

Innovative research at the College explores the interface between science, medicine, engineering and business, delivering practical solutions that improve quality of life and the environment - underpinned by a dynamic enterprise culture.

Since its foundation in 1907, Imperial's contributions to society have included the discovery of penicillin, the development of holography and the foundations of fibre optics. This commitment to the application of research for the benefit of all continues today, with current focuses including interdisciplinary collaborations to improve health in the UK and globally, tackle climate change and develop clean and sustainable sources of energy.

Website: www.imperial.ac.uk

2. Cranfield University is a wholly postgraduate institution with a worldwide reputation for excellence and expertise in aerospace, automotive, defence, engineering, environment and water, health, management and manufacturing. The University is made up of the following Schools: Cranfield Health, School of Management, School of Applied Sciences, School of Engineering, and The Defence College of Management and Technology at Shrivenham. For more information visit www.cranfield.ac.uk 

3. About EPSRC

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is the main UK government agency for funding research and training in engineering and the physical sciences, investing around £740 million a year in a broad range of subjects – from mathematics to materials science, and from information technology to structural engineering.