📣 Help Shape the Future of UKRI's Gateway to Research (GtR)

We're improving UKRI's Gateway to Research and are seeking your input! If you would be interested in being interviewed about the improvements we're making and to have your say about how we can make GtR more user-friendly, impactful, and effective for the Research and Innovation community, please email gateway@ukri.org.

EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Aerosol Science: Harnessing Aerosol Science for Improved Security, Resilience and Global Health

Lead Research Organisation: University of Bristol
Department Name: Chemistry

Abstract

Aerosol science, the study of airborne particles from the nanometre to the millimetre scale, has been increasingly in the public consciousness in recent years, particularly due to the role played by aerosols in the transmission of COVID-19. Vaccines and medications for treating lung and systemic diseases can be delivered by aerosol inhalation, and aerosols are widely used in agricultural and consumer products. Aerosols are a key mediator of poor air quality and respiratory and cardiac health outcomes. Improving human health depends on insights from aerosol science on emission sources and transport, supported by standardised metrology. Similar challenges exist for understanding climate, with aerosol radiative forcing remaining uncertain. Furthermore, aerosol routes to the engineering and manufacture of new materials can provide greener, more sustainable alternatives to conventional approaches and offer routes to new high-performance materials that can sequester carbon dioxide.

The physical science underpinning the diverse areas in which aerosols play a role is rarely taught at undergraduate level and the training of postgraduate research students (PGRs) has been fragmentary. This is a consequence of the challenges of fostering the intellectual agility demanded of a multidisciplinary subject in the context of any single academic discipline. To begin to address these challenges, we established the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Aerosol Science in 2019 (CDT2019). CDT2019 has trained 92 PGRs with 40% undertaking industry co-funded research projects, leveraged £7.9M from partners and universities based on an EPSRC investment of £6.9M, and broadened access to our unique training environment to over 400 partner employees and aligned students. CDT2019 revealed strong industrial and governmental demand for researchers in aerosol science.

Our vision for CDT2024 is to deliver a CDT that 'meets user needs' and expands the reach and impact of our training and research in the cross-cutting EPSRC theme of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, specifically in areas where aerosol science is key. The Centre brings together an academic team from the Universities of Bristol (the hub), Bath, Birmingham, Cambridge, Hertfordshire, Manchester, Surrey and Imperial College London spanning science, engineering, medical, and health faculties. We will assemble a multidisciplinary team of supervisors with expertise in chemistry, physics, chemical and mechanical engineering, life and medical sciences, and environmental sciences, providing the broad perspective necessary to equip PGRs to address the challenges in aerosol science that fall at the boundaries between these disciplines.

To meet user needs, we will devise and adopt an innovative Open CDT model. We will build on our collaboration of institutions and 80 industrial, public and third sector partners, working with affiliated academics and learned societies to widen global access to our training and catalyse transformative research, establishing the CDT as the leading global centre for excellence in aerosol science. Broadly, we will: (1) Train over 90 PGRs in the physical science of aerosols equipping 5 cohorts of graduates with the professional agility to tackle the technical challenges our partners are addressing; (2) Provide opportunities for Continuing Professional Development for partner employees, including a PhD by work-based, part-time study; (3) Deliver research for end-users through partner-funded PhDs with collaborating academics, accelerating knowledge exchange through PGR placements in partner workplaces; (4) Support the growth of an international network of partners working in aerosol science through focus meetings, conferences and training. Partners and academics will work together to deliver training to our cohorts, including in the areas of responsible innovation, entrepreneurship, policy, regulation, environmental sustainability and equality, diversity and inclusion.

Organisations

Publications

10 25 50

Studentship Projects

Project Reference Relationship Related To Start End Student Name
EP/Y034821/1 31/03/2024 29/09/2032
2923410 Studentship EP/Y034821/1 30/09/2024 29/09/2028 Mehdi Abou Hamad
2924012 Studentship EP/Y034821/1 30/09/2024 29/09/2032 Patricia Barkoci
2926732 Studentship EP/Y034821/1 30/09/2024 29/09/2028 Daniel Draycott
2926765 Studentship EP/Y034821/1 30/09/2024 29/09/2028 Tanojit Paul
2925576 Studentship EP/Y034821/1 30/09/2024 29/09/2028 Eve Kerr
2926206 Studentship EP/Y034821/1 30/09/2024 29/09/2028 Henry MACPHERSON
2925590 Studentship EP/Y034821/1 30/09/2024 29/09/2028 Jack Bartlett
2925737 Studentship EP/Y034821/1 30/09/2024 29/09/2028 Amy Forsbacka
2925600 Studentship EP/Y034821/1 30/09/2024 29/09/2028 Moses Njeru
2923429 Studentship EP/Y034821/1 30/09/2024 29/09/2028 Ajay Potavadoo
2923996 Studentship EP/Y034821/1 30/09/2024 29/09/2028 Sujan Lamichhane
2925880 Studentship EP/Y034821/1 30/09/2024 29/09/2028 Rune Kragsberger
2925569 Studentship EP/Y034821/1 30/09/2024 29/09/2028 Umut Atik
2925518 Studentship EP/Y034821/1 30/09/2024 29/09/2029 Fengjiao ZHENG
2925471 Studentship EP/Y034821/1 30/09/2024 29/09/2028 Iarla Boyce