FRESH - NERC Centre for Doctoral Training in Freshwater Biosciences and Sustainability

The NERC Centre for Doctoral Training in Freshwater Biosciences and Sustainability will train a new generation of PhD students to tackle the health of the UK’s rivers, lakes, and streams. Freshwater ecosystems are under pressure from pollution, climate change, and overuse, yet the scientists and engineers needed to address these challenges are in short supply. This programme fills a gap in postgraduate training by combining bioscience—how freshwater organisms function and interact—with sustainability science, which asks how to manage water resources for the long term. Without such dedicated training, the UK risks losing the expertise required to monitor water quality, restore damaged habitats, and adapt to shifting environmental conditions. If successful, the centre will produce researchers equipped to work across academia, government agencies, and the water industry. Their work could improve how we detect contaminants, manage fish stocks, or design river restoration projects. The impact will be felt in systems most people rarely think about: drinking water treatment, wastewater management, and flood control infrastructure that depends on healthy catchments. Because this is a doctoral training grant, its primary output is skilled people rather than a specific technology or product—but those people will go on to shape freshwater science and policy for decades.