Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/L002574/1
NERC Science @ Leeds and York - Site for PhD Training in Environmental Research (SPHERES)
Training Grant Award
- Lead Supervisor:
- Professor S Rost, University of Leeds, School of Earth and Environment
- Grant held at:
- University of Leeds, School of Earth and Environment
- Science Area:
- Atmospheric
- Earth
- Freshwater
- Marine
- Terrestrial
- Overall Classification:
- Atmospheric
- ENRIs:
- Biodiversity
- Environmental Risks and Hazards
- Global Change
- Natural Resource Management
- Pollution and Waste
- Science Topics:
- None
- Abstract:
- The distinctive nature of our proposed DTP is our ability to train a large and well integrated cohort of students across a wide range of the NERC science remit, within a vibrant, multi-disciplinary research environment, mostly on a single site in Leeds. Students will be part of an organisation that has a long and successful track record of blending outstanding disciplinary research with imaginative cross-disciplinary initiatives. Our DTP is a partnership between five academic units at the University of Leeds, the Academic Lead Partner, and the Department of Chemistry at the nearby University of York. Together, Leeds and York provide one of the UK's largest cohorts of NERC-facing university-based researchers, and are currently the leading recipients of NERC research funding. Our DTP will span a unique array of disciplinary and multidisciplinary research themes related to the Earth's Atmosphere, Geosphere and Biosphere, and includes over 140 permanent academic staff, organised loosely into 10 major interdisciplinary NERC-facing research clusters which span our internal organisational divisions. Consequently, we have the capacity to train a large, diverse and integrated cohort of PGR students. Amongst the 48 partner institutions in this bid, we have four designated Key Partners, the Met Office, the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH), the British Geological Survey (BGS), and the National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS). Colleagues at these partners will be fully involved in the design and supervision of PhD projects, thereby further increasing our supervisory and training capacity. Additional CASE partners (27 signed up already) will also provide external supervision and training, and access to their specialised facilities. Based on our very strong track record of NERC research, and excellent laboratory and computing facilities, we will offer PhD projects which address some of the major challenges in the environmental sciences today and in the coming decades. Our PhD projects will focus on both fundamental and applied research questions. All of our DTP students will be immersed in a multidisciplinary training environment. We will recruit highly qualified postgraduate students with a range of scientific backgrounds, including the Earth and environmental sciences, physical science and natural science. Our students will interact with those from other doctoral training centres and partnerships that our departments host, such as those funded by EPSRC, ESRC and BBSRC. Our DTP will have a comprehensive training programme to ensure that our students make best use of their time whilst studying for a PhD, and to increase their range of career options on graduation. The close geographical proximity of the academic units involved in the DTP (1 hour travel from Leeds campus to York campus) means that we will develop a tightly-knit cohort of students able to access all the developmental opportunities available to them, and who can support each other through peer-to-peer learning. Our DTP will use a combination of existing and new transferable skills training initiatives, combined with new courses in a range of technical subjects, to provide a comprehensive training programme arranged in a series of 'Training Nodes', linking to the Researcher Development Framework. There will be a range of delivery mechanisms, including class-based, group, online, peer-to-peer and social media. Our external partners will be heavily involved in the design and delivery of training. All students, not just CASE students, will have the opportunity for a placement of at least 1 month with our external partners, broadening their experience beyond Leeds and York. A total of 17 Training Partners, in the UK and abroad, have already committed to this. Many of the specialised training courses that we develop for our NERC DTP will be offered to students from other DTPs, including, for example, courses on instrumentation and numerical modelling.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/L002574/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- Doctoral Training
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- DTP 2013
This training grant award has a total value of £6,893,335
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| Total - DSA | Total - Other Costs | Total - Fees | Total - RTSG | Total - Student Stipend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £12,812 | £182,301 | £1,339,002 | £825,001 | £4,534,223 |
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