Multidisciplinary Centre for Doctoral Training in Energy at Durham University
Lead Research Organisation:
Durham University
Department Name: Engineering and Computing Sciences
Abstract
Durham University is launching a multidisciplinary Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Energy in October 2009 with an initial cohort of 15 postdoctoral students. This proposal seeks funding to enhance their learning experience by providing additional training during an extended programme of study that will broaden their understanding of wider energy issues and provide them with skills that will better equip them to deal with future energy challenges. This proposal describes a 5 year plan that will offer enhanced training opportunities for 63 PhD students. Durham University will fund the CDT Director, however secretarial support is being sought from EPSRC (0.25 FTE). To support the wider activities of the CDT funding for module development and annual events are also requested. Energy is fundamental to society and the provision, security of and access to energy supplies is a key challenge in the 21st century. Shortage of supply, concerns about climate change and national and global policy are driving society to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels and move towards a low carbon future. Energy is a multidisciplinary topic and in order to remain competitive within this sector, the UK will require a critical mass of versatile individuals trained in a wide range of skills. These individuals will be faced with the many research challenges that this sector presents and will be future decision-makers. The reliance of society on energy means that this sector can offer graduates an exciting, rewarding and secure career choice with many opportunities for diversification. The Durham Energy Institute (DEI) has been recently established at Durham University in response to the multi and interdisciplinary research challenges and opportunities offered by the energy sector. This institute will build upon the existing track record for energy research and promote a step change in inter-disciplinary energy related research activity across the Faculties of Science and Social Sciences/Health. The DEI covers the spectrum of energy research at Durham University and actively encourages research at the boundaries between disciplines. The relatively small and compact nature of the university naturally stimulates interactions between departments and disciplines. The DEI focuses heavily on energy technologies and the societal aspects of energy use and is anticipated to have research income of around 15M per annum. The DEI has a Development Board who meet twice a year. The board comprises senior academics, representatives from the private sector and from local and national government including Ofgem, Fairfield Energy and DONG Energy. This collective represents a large body of expertise and experience which can be used to develop and deliver the multidisciplinary CDT training programme and areas for research.Both UKERC and the ETI are delivering a step change in the ambition and level of UK energy research. They have recognised the importance of enhancing energy research capacity and of undertaking multidisciplinary research. The CDT has been developed in response to these needs and forms an integral part of the DEI. The CDT will produce a skilled and diverse range of researchers equipped to address the challenging research problems that face every aspect of the energy sector. There are no other training programmes that offer such broad training on all aspects of the energy sector. Existing UK energy related CDTs offer training within specific fields e.g. Wind, Hydrogen Fuel Cells, Nuclear Fission, E-Futures, Low Carbon Futures and Demand Reduction in the Built Environment. The Durham University CDT will draw upon the expertise currently located within the Anthropology, Biology, Business, Chemistry, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Geography, Government and International Affairs, Law, Mathematics and Statistics and Physics Departments and will be truly unique in its multidisciplinary approach.
Planned Impact
N/A
Organisations
Publications
Adams C
(2015)
Geothermal energy - The global opportunity
in Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part A: Journal of Power and Energy
Auld A
(2014)
Power production via North Sea Hot Brines
in Energy
Auld A
(2013)
Organic Rankine cycles in waste heat recovery: a comparative study
in International Journal of Low-Carbon Technologies
Bhatnagar S K
Algae Biofuel
Bordin C
(2017)
A linear programming approach for battery degradation analysis and optimization in offgrid power systems with solar energy integration
in Renewable Energy
Bosson C
(2017)
Cation disorder and phase transitions in the structurally complex solar cell material Cu 2 ZnSnS 4
in Journal of Materials Chemistry A
Bosson C
(2017)
Polymorphism in Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 and New Off-Stoichiometric Crystal Structure Types
in Chemistry of Materials
Bracken F
(2012)
POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF SMALL-SCALE HYDROELECTRIC POWER GENERATION ON DOWNSTREAM MOVING LAMPREYS
in River Research and Applications
| Description | Key findings: 1. The Multidisciplinary Centre for Doctoral Training in Energy at Durham University (CDT) has fully met all the original objectives. 2. The CDT is now one of the largest, most successful and longest running CDTs at Durham. 3. Funding has been secured to continue the CDT beyond the period of EPSRC funding. 4. The CDT is a key aspect of the Durham Energy Institute (DEI) - a multidisciplinary pan-institution research institute. The DEI has developed an institutional early career research training framework providing a multidisciplinary approach to energy training. The CDT is a key element of this training which has been fully supported and endorsed by the DEI Industrial Advisory Board. 5. The setting of the DEI at Durham means that the CDT-lite or top up model has been demonstrated to be a great success at Durham. Continuing demand for Energy CDT places has resulted in the CDT continuing beyond the initial five year period of EPSRC funding through funds secured from industry and other sources. 6. The CDT programme is highly value by students in questionnaires and evaluations. 100% of PhD students would recommend CDT membership as worthwhile and a valuable addition to their PhD research training. 7. Public outreach has emerged as a particular strength of the Durham CDT with a number of high profile events successfully engaging many groups with the energy agenda. The Multidisciplinary CDT in energy was originally funded by EPSRC for a period of five years from October 2009. The funding model was the CDT-lite or top-up model whereby PhD students who are accepted as members of the CDT (following a thorough interview and selection process) are provided an additional six months funding covering fees and stipend, at the RCUK rate, to enable them to participate in CDT activities. As noted above CDT will be continuing beyond the period of EPSRC funding. The CDT currently has fifty PhD students with members of the first cohort, admitted in 2009, having successfully completed their PhD programmes and graduated. The CDT is one of the largest, longest running and most successful CDTs at Durham. The Original Objectives of the CDT were: 1. To provide a stimulating and interdisciplinary postdoctoral training programme in energy for 15 postgraduate students within the setting of the established Durham Energy Institute. 2. To produce a cohort of highly employable, skilled and talented researchers who are equipped to deal with the multi faceted challenges facing the energy sector and wider society in the 21st century. 3. To deliver a challenging and broad ranging taught programme and a specialist doctoral research project involving world-leading interdisciplinary energy related research. This will eventually lead to the development of an accredited MSc in Energy. 4. To provide the students with transferable and generic skills, that enables them to pursue a wide range of professional careers within the energy sector. This will include presentation communication and business skills, scientific writing and research skills, personal and team working skills, networking and career management, and outreach and ethics. 5. To effectively disseminate research results by developing an engaging outreach programme for the wider community. Dissemination and outreach activities will include establishing links to local schools, publicising information via the web and also through the media. 6. To create a truly cross-disciplinary centre that will undertake world leading energy related research across the faculties of Science and Social Sciences and Health and form an integral and valuable part of the Durham Energy Institute. 7. To increase links with and identify opportunities for collaborative student research activity between the Regional Development Agency, relevant companies and other industrial stakeholders. These links will be crucial for encouraging effective knowledge transfer. These objectives have all been fully met as described and evidenced below. Understanding the success of the CDT at Durham requires a description of the Durham Energy Institute (DEI). The CDT is embedded within the DEI and draws on the resources and expertise available through the DEI. A brief description of the DEI is given below. The Durham Energy Institute (DEI) is a pan-university research institute which brings together academic staff from academic departments across the science and social science faculties with over 100 academic staff engaging in energy related research. The Institute draws on the expertise of world-leading researchers across Durham University with a membership spanning departments in Science, Social Science and Humanities. Through a unique "Science and Society" approach DEI researchers address a wide spectrum of energy issues such as bio-fuels, carbon capture and storage, renewables generation (wind, solar, hydro, bio) and integration, shale fracturing, smart grids and networks, low carbon transitions, energy risk, and energy for development. DEI supports and produces cutting-edge research that tackles the societal aspects of energy technology through a unique interdisciplinary approach. DEI was born out of the realisation that energy challenges cross conventional discipline boundaries and that new ways of thinking about and conducting energy research are required. DEI has now grown into an internationally leading institution, recognised for its ability to apply new methods and perspectives to existing and emerging energy challenges. DEI addresses energy challenges collaboratively through strong partnerships with industry, international partners, governments, community groups and other academic institutions. This ensures DEI research is relevant, timely and effective. By unlocking research synergies between different disciplines and sectors, DEI aims to produce major breakthroughs in our understanding of how to best meet the energy demands of the future. The vision of DEI is to tackle the societal aspects of energy technology development and use. This is increasingly recognised as an important aspect of energy research, which has previously been overlooked. The UK government has set ambitious targets for increasing energy security, reducing energy consumption and for producing energy from low (or no) carbon sources. However, society drives the demand for energy and it is essential to develop technologies that can operate in a more energy efficient way and/or exploit energy from low carbon sources. A low carbon energy future will only be achieved if technology development is relevant to the needs of the private sector and acceptable to society such that effectively adopted. The DEI draws upon its existing considerable knowledge base, skills and expertise to: • promote technical scientific excellence in energy science • solve technological-social problems associated with energy provision, demand and use The DEI is an internationally leading institution which is recognised worldwide as a centre for integrating energy science with society. A key strategic aim of the DEI is early career researcher training. This is delivered through the DEI's Multidisciplinary Centre for Doctoral Training in Energy (CDT), launched in October 2009. The CDT is Durham University's largest and longest running CDT with 50 PhD students based in eight different departments from both the Science and Social Science faculties. Durham's unique approach to solving energy issues is achieved through linking science, technology and technical issues to societal, political and economic issues. This approach is embedded in the CDT where students have the opportunity to undertake world class research in a specific energy area, but also the opportunity to gain a broader knowledge of energy issues from engineering to social aspects. PhD students learn the valuable skills of interdisciplinary dialogue and the ability to address challenges from multiple perspectives using a range of research methodologies The DEI has developed an early career researcher training framework in Energy which is currently delivered through three channels: • DEI's Multidisciplinary Centre for Doctoral Training in Energy (CDT) supporting PhD students, • MSc Energy and Society, • MSc in New and Renewable Energy. The DEI's Energy Researcher Training Framework has been fully endorsed by the DEI Industrial Advisory Board whose members were very "impressed" with the approach. Durham's unique approach to solving energy issues is embedded in the CDT where students have the opportunity to undertake world class research in a specific energy area while gaining a wider understanding of energy issues from a socio-technical perspective. CDT students learn the valuable skills of interdisciplinary dialogue and the ability to address research challenges from multiple perspectives using a range of conceptual ideas and related research methodologies. The CDT programme is designed to complement the extensive postgraduate training offered at Durham. All CDT research students undergo the formal requirement of completing a skills training needs analysis and subsequent wider skills training. They also undertake specialist research skills training in their academic department and research groups. The CDT programme provides an additional unique multidisciplinary perspective on energy related issues. The CDT was reviewed by EPSRC in 2011 as part of the mid-term review process. The review noted that the objectives has been broadly met and also noted that some limitations of the CDT-lite model were apparent. The review also recommended that there should be some training for CDT supervisors. Since the review we have introduced a programme of supervisor events for CDT supervisors. These have covered: 1) CDT expectations, 2) How supervisors can help build strong cohorts within the CDT, 3) Exploring the roles and impact of the different supervisory styles used by different supervisors, and 4) Issues in interdisciplinary supervision. We have also worked to strengthen the CDT-lite model which we believe, for reasons stated elsewhere in this report, works well in the broader context of the DEI. The DEI provides an overarching strategic framework of research from which to draw a strong pool of PhD applicants for the CDT. We have demonstrated that the value added achieved by a CDT-Lite model has been substantial as we have research students whose primary source of funding comes from a wide range of industrial and other sponsors including RCUK. The CDT-lite model as operated at Durham enable us to select the most able and promising research students for CDT membership thereby ensuring continued success and high levels of achievement for the CDT. A list of some of the PhD projects being undertaken within the CDT illustrates the multidisciplinary and diverse work being undertaken within the CDT: • The behavioural and evolutionary ecology of lampreys in relation to anthropogenic effects (Fiona Bracken) • Direct and indirect diagenetic effects in igneous affected basins - Constraining diagentic timing, processes and reservoir quality (Samantha Clark) • Geological Characterisation of Deep Saline Aquifers for CO2 Storage on the UK Continental Shelf using Borehole and 3D Seismic Data (Amy Clarke) • Identification of power system dynamic model using Wide Area Measurement Systems (Song Guo) • Geological Risk and Public Relations Impact of CO2 Leak from an Offshore Geological Storage Site (Ben Hedley) • A Multi-Agent System Approach to Optimising Small Scale Energy Zones (Guy Hutchinson) • Technical and social aspects of demand side management (Mark Lawson) • Reconfiguring the city: climate change, energy systems and urbanization in middle income countries • (Andres Luque) • Modelling & Recreation of the Atmospheric Boundary Layer unsteady air flows in Wind Tunnels (Oliver Mankowski) • Uncertainty in complex physical systems with application to climate change (Benedict Powell) • Climate change, sociotechnical transitions and cities in the Global South (Jonathan Silver) • New organic donor and acceptor molecules for doping charge transport layers to achieve efficient organic multilayer devices (Javan Cook) • The Effect of Ducting on Ocean Current Turbines (Nicholas Cresswell) • Optimising the Use of Spent Oil Shale (Helen Foster) • Power System Real Time Thermal Ratings (David Greenwood) • Influence of Pressure on Lubricant Additive Properties (Mario Possiwan) • Developing pathways for biofuels: governing energy technologies in transition (Katie Thompson) • Advanced Wind Turbine Condition Monitoring (Donatella Zappalà) • Dynamic zones of control in future power grids (Barbara Alimisi) • Organic Rankine Cycles in Waste Heat Recovery Applications (Alison Auld) • Risk Limiting Dispatch (Joshua Campion) • Energy Storage (Andrew Crossland) • Photovotaics for Future Societies (Raihana Ferdous) • Electricity access for rural India: Is micro-generation the solution? (Ankit Kumar) • Bioinspired Biometallic Catalysts Containing Multiple Redox Sites (Stacey Lindsay) • Characterising the Architecture and Petrophysical Properties of Pyroclastic Deposits and Lavas from Basaltic Fissure Eruptions (Peter Reynolds) • Catalytic Pyrolysis of Macroalgae (Jack Rowbotham) • Photovoltaics, Energy Consumption and Home (Britta Turner) • Network Demand Analysis (Brian Akperi) • Investigating in Multi-Agent System Architectures for power system control (Calum Cameron) • Hierarchical Type-2 Fuzzy Systems for Power System Operation & Control (Ivan Castro Leon) • Helium Exploration (Diveena Danabalan) • Assessing the UK's low enthalpy geothermal resources with specific focus on deep sedimentary basins (Cat Hirst) • Bayesian Statistical Methods in application to inspection problems arising in the oil industry (Matthew Jones) • Electricity Transmission Investment Planning Under Uncertainty Using Statistical Emulators (Antony Lawson) • Methodologies for Massively Decentralized Energy Trading (Emmanouil Loukarakis) • Understanding and modelling deposition on steam turbine blades (Alan May-Estebaranz) • Sustainable materials for thin film solar cells (Chris Bosson) • Evaluation of the gas potential of Holywell Shale, North Wales (Leo Newport) • Petroleum Habitats in Magma rich Margins (Alex Peace) • Fabricating High-Field Nanocrystalline Superconductor (Guanmei Wang) • Multi-scale Characterisation of the Bakken Formation, USA (Mark Brodie) • Advanced Turbine Sealing Technologies (Andrew Messenger) • Structural and Thermal evolution of the Mozambique Margin (Jordan Phethean) • Reliability Assessment and Improvement of Offshore Wind Farm Converter-Collection Systems (Chris Smith) • Understanding the Molecular Basis for Low Salinity EOR through Molecular Simulation (Tom Underwood) The CDT programme includes: seminars, workshops, a guest lecture series, a series of lectures from DEI academics entitled "Energy Perspectives", site visits, public engagement events and residential fieldtrips. An important facet of the training programme is the requirement for CDT students to present their work to their CDT peers to stimulate discussion of different issues and approaches. The top-up model works well in the context of the DEI as we can draw on the broad and diverse range of PhD projects being undertaken across the university. The Multidisciplinary CDT in Energy was also a member of the national EPSRC funded Network of Energy CDTs. This has provided links between the 13 Energy related Centres for Doctoral training across the country with over 600 PhD students. It has allows Durham researchers to collaborate with those in other universities giving access to a wider range of training, facilities, events and networking opportunities. Many of our CDT students have attend Energy CDT Network events including the annual Network Energy Conference. The Director of the Durham CDT was a member of the Network Management Committee for one term. Durham was very keen that the Network should continue to be funded by EPSRC. To enable CDT students to see energy in action the CDT has organised a wide range of field trips and site visits. These have included: • NaREC Clothier Laboratories • Chemical Process Industries, Wilton • Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station • Eastgate borehole in Weardale • Cullercoats coal seams • Tow Law - Banks open cast mining site • Sharp Solar Factory Wrexham • DONG Energy Off shore Walney wind farm • Centre for Alternative Technology Machynlleth • DInorwig Pumped Hydro Scheme • Torness Nuclear Power Station One important part of the CDT programme is outreach events to schools and the local community. Recent events highlight the CDT's innovative approach to outreach and encapsulates the considerable creativity, skill and drive of the CDT students. 1. Energy Dragons' Den Event at the British Science Festival PhD researchers from the CDT ran an interactive energy based activity for GCSE level students at the 2013 British Science Festival in Newcastle. The session aimed to increase the students' awareness of the growing energy gap within the UK, highlighting the challenges faced by today's government and society. The Energy Dragons' Den format has been used subsequently for other school public engagement events. The task is introduced by setting a scene of impending doom; the UK is importing more fuel from foreign sources than ever before in order to cover the gap caused by the decrease in UK indigenous energy resources. To reduce this gap, the students were split into groups and given £300M to invest in energy resources. They become the Energy Dragons. Each group visited five energy stalls run by CDT students, each vying for their investment. Nuclear energy, wind energy, geothermal energy, Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) and biofuels formed the five resources available for investment. The groups' aim was to invest their money such that the annual energy consumption of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne (6000 GWh) could be covered, whilst trying to keep CO2 emissions as low as possible. The final results showed the Energy Dragons had understood the need to spread their investment widely across all resources, thus achieving the goal set by the CDT group. The Energy Dragon's Den activity has also been used several times in local schools. 2. Durham Energy Futures Film Festival (DEFFF) The CDT organised the Durham Energy Futures Film Festival (DEFFF) in 2012. The event took place in the Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle and consisted of a photo competition, a drinks reception and a screening of energy related short films. Finally there was a question and answer panel with some of the film makers, and a talk from Professor Phil Taylor. The photo and film competition was entered by students from across the National Network of Energy CDTs. The event was free and attended by a mixture of students, academics and members of the public. Film entries have been put on a Durham CDT YouTube channel. 3. Elect Energy Debate Durham Energy Centre for Doctoral Training and the Durham Energy Institute held a political debate on energy policy in August 2014. The CDT in energy hosted an evening debate on the future of energy policy in the UK. The event sparked significant debate between representatives of 5 of the largest UK political parties; James Wharton MP from the Conservative Party; Liam Carr from the Labour Party; Cllr Wendy Taylor from the Liberal Democrats; Jonathan Arnott from UKIP; and Jonathan Elmer from the Green Party. The event itself was an overriding success, with over 180 people in attendance from a cross-section of local and national industry, academia and pressure groups. Before the debate, audience members were asked to vote down an energy technology in a "reject a tech" ballot. In this, coal and fracked gas were overwhelmingly rejected as future energy sources. Some discontent was expressed towards nuclear and renewables, but this was minor in comparison to the strong opposition to fossil fuel. The debate itself provided members of the public to directly quiz these political figures with questions focussing on energy efficiency, fracking, energy bills and renewables policy. There was a rare display of unanimity and harmony amongst the panellists in agreeing the need to improve energy efficiency of our homes. However, political points scoring soon occurred with Labour and the Conservatives clashing on energy prize freezes and the record of the current coalition Government and the previous Labour regime. After the debate, the public were asked to vote on the party which they felt best represented their "energy future". In contrast to national electoral ballots, the Green Party were chosen by the public with the Conservative Party in second place. The CDT hopes to host a similar event in the future in the build up to the General Election. Extensive use was made of Twitter during the event with the post event activity report showing 134,000 hits #electenergy. CDT students were interviewed on BBC Radio Newcastle and BBC Radio Tees for the event. Reviews videos links to the BBC radio interviews are available https://www.dur.ac.uk/dei/events/past.events/electenergy/ Another key activity in the CDT is the annual mini-project which runs for a two week period each year. CDT students are placed in multi-disciplinary teams and tasked with completing a specific project to a brief. Past projects have included: 1) an energy audit of Durham Colleges, 2) Design a low carbon Olympics (in 2012) and 3) What does an internationally excellent low carbon university look like? Each team must produce a 5000 word report and give a team presentation at the end of the project. Winners are chosen by a panel of invited judges. Recommendations from the energy audit of Durham Colleges are still being implemented by the University. The University's Environment Office, Greenspace, is considering recommendations from the most recent mini project on internationally excellent low carbon universities with a view to implementing some of the recommendations across the institution. In conclusion the Energy CDT at Durham has evolved beyond its original concept and now provides a stimulating, engaging, well-received multidisciplinary environment to expose PhD researchers to the full spectrum of energy related activities. A particular strength is the multidisciplinary environment where PhD researchers learn to discuss and share their research with researchers from other disciplines. This has been highlighted by the DEI Industrial Advisory Board as a key requirement for those wishing to be successful in the demanding environment of the world's energy industries as we seek sustainable solutions to the world's future energy demands. A list of publications and secondments involving CDT students is also included in this report. Text added March2016 Energy CDT students continue to engage in a wide variety of outreach projects. Some examples are given here: 1. One is a founding member of ChemSG which is a scheme which has been set up to take Chemistry outreach session to Scout and Guide groups in the local area. Along with two other PhD students in the department they were awarded £5000 in funding from the RSC to make this a possibility. From the 3 visiting a group every few weeks they now have around 50 volunteers and do sessions at least once a week. 2. GeoBus - What to do with CO2?: A team of CDT students and staff joined the 'GeoBus' from St Andrews University for the launch event of their new outreach project "What to Do With CO2?". The team of academics and post-graduate research students spent the day at Wolsingham School, working with over one hundred Year 9 learners exploring the science behind Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). 3. A pebble safari for a U3A group at Seaham Beach. The idea behind it was to look at all the different pebbles on the beach and discuss where they came from, giving not only geological context but also historical context. 4. One is a tutor on the engineering Supported Progression Summer School. |
| Exploitation Route | We have shown that in the context of Durham where there is an institution wide multidisciplinary research institute that the model of a multidisciplinary training centre focussed on the theme of Energy can be very successful. We have shown that PhD students accrue considerable benefit from being exposed to a multidisciplinary research environment, even although not all the research projects are multidisciplinary. We have shown that it is possible to continue an EPSRC funded CDT beyond the original EPSRC funding. We have shown that there is considerable demand from the Energy industry for researchers who have a broad multidisciplinary perspective on Energy issues. We have shown here at Durham that there is growing interest in a multidisciplinary training programme on energy, Our "Energy, Science and Society" approach continues to offer PhD students the opportunity to learn about energy from multiple perspectives. We also enable researchers to think about the wider economic, societal, economic and political environment offered by the Multidisciplinary Energy CDT. The approach at Durham has been developed by the UNI-SET project to inform that European energy training framework published by the European Universities Associaton. See the roadmap and action agenda at http://uni-set.eu/ Dr Douglas Halliday the Energy CDT director is a member of the UNI-SET Steering Committee. The aim of this project is the mobilising of the research, innovation and educational capacities of Europe's universities in the SET-Plan (UNI-SET). See http://uni-set.eu/ for further details. Dr Halliday was a plenary speaker at the recent 1st UNI-SET Energy Clustering Event on Human resources and new knowledge to build the future energy system. This event explored how European universities can cooperate more with each other and work together to address the challenge of educating people for the future energy society. http://www.eua.be/activities-services/events/event/2016/02/24/default-calendar/1st-uni-set-energy-clustering-event Dr Halliday have a presentation on the work of the Multidisciplinary Centre for Doctoral Training in Energy which has been identified through this project as an example of best practice in training energy researchers in Europe. We have shown that there is continuing demand for multidisciplinary energy related training at Durham. Our Energy CDT continues to operate beyond the period of EPSRC funding and continues to provide PhD students with an exemplary energy training which includes consideration of societal, economic, political and legal barriers for the adoption of new and renewable energy technologies. Our model has informed the development of a European action agenda and roadmap for energy research and education developed through the UNI-SET project http://uni-set.eu/ During 2018 the EUA published an action agenda calling for novel multidsciplinary approaches to energy related training. This has been sent to ~800 universities across Europe and can be found at http://bit.ly/action_agenda Much of the thinking in this document was informed by experiences of this CDT at Durham |
| Sectors | Energy Environment |
| URL | https://www.dur.ac.uk/dei/cdt/ |
| Description | After ten years of operation the Energy CDT at Durham has met all the objectives set in the Impact Plan provided in the Case for Support. The Energy CDT continues to support research students beyond the period of the original EPSRC funding. Establishing a multidisciplinary CDT in energy at Durham University has helped create highly trained and knowledgeable energy researchers equipped with a wide range of skills. These individuals will become the decision makers of the future and will be responsible for meeting future challenges within the energy sector, steer the UK towards a low carbon future and ultimately meet the targets set out in the Energy White Paper. The CDT in energy has facilitated strong interactions with companies and industrial organisations regionally, nationally and internationally with CPI, NaREC, E.ON, EDF, CE Electric and DONG Energy. The CDT has produced significant outputs in the form of skilled energy professionals. Local industries and schools have benefited from the dissemination and knowledge transfer activities associated with the research being undertaken by CDT members through highly successful outreach events as described elsewhere in this report. Sending highly qualified and motivated postgraduate students into industrial research has led to some CDT students being offered permanent positions within their partner institutions. Sending CDT students into local schools has helped inspire future scientists to develop an interest in energy through successful and well planned outreach activities. The multidisciplinary nature of the research undertaken at the CDT will have much value for policy makers because many of the interrelated issues associated with energy policy will already have been addresses. This will allow the UK to remain competitive within the energy sector. Wider society will reap the benefits if issues such as fuel shortages, security of supplies and fuel poverty can be tackled through innovative cross-cutting research and technology development. The CDT in close association with the Durham Energy Institute has also engaged with opinion formers and policy-makers at local level and national level through the Elect Energy debate, reported elsewhere, and other activities. Alumni from the Energy CDT have gone on to a broad range of energy related leadership roles in industry, government and other sectors. During the period 2015-2018 the PI of this Centre was a member of a European Universities Association Project (UNI-SET) which developed a road map for energy related education, training and research including doctoral level training. The example of this CDT was identified as an example of best practice in multidisciplinary training across Europe. As of February 2021 this Centre is continuing to provide training for doctroal candidates and has admitted 95 PhD candidates. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2012 |
| Sector | Energy,Environment |
| Impact Types | Societal Economic Policy & public services |