Completed Clean Energy Engineering

Sheffield Training in Interdisciplinary Energy Research: STIER

Funder EPSRC (part of UKRI)
Recipient organisation University of Sheffield
Funding £7.1M
Period Sept 2009 — Oct 2016

In plain English

AI plain-English summary

The UK needs to train a new generation of researchers who can tackle the transition to a low-carbon energy system from multiple angles at once. Rising fuel prices and the push for energy security create both pressure and opportunity for change, but the problems span engineering, biology, social science, and policy—no single discipline can solve them alone. This training programme gives PhD students a broad first-year overview of energy issues before they specialise, covering energy generation, demand reduction, and waste management. Research topics range from advanced battery materials and photovoltaics to building efficiency, transport, local policy, and nuclear waste immobilisation. If successful, the programme will produce researchers who can connect technical solutions—like new fuel cells or lightweight materials—with real-world constraints such as land use, infrastructure, and regulation. The impact is not a single breakthrough but a steady pipeline of people who can design, evaluate, and implement energy systems that work at both city and household scale. This is a skills investment, not a discovery project; its value lies in the breadth and integration of training, not in a specific technological outcome.

View original technical description
Making the transition to a low carbon economy while ensuring a secure energy supply is one of the greatest challenges facing the UK today. Rising fuel prices are also creating opportunities for innovative approaches to low carbon energy provision at both city and household scale.By developing a comprehensive research and training strategy, we will deliver on research challenges inherent in making the change to a sustainable energy future and capitalise on the opportunities arising. Students will receive a uniquely broad introduction and overview of energy issues in the first year of their training before developing individual specialisations through research projects. We will address 'Energy Generation', 'Energy Utilisation and Demand Reduction' and 'Energy Industry By-products and Waste'. Specific topics for research will be drawn from Engineering, the Physical and Biological and Social sciences, and include: Advanced materials for batteries and fuel cellsPhotovoltaics, photosynthesis and PV materials Wind and water based technologies Biofuels & alternative fuels High temperature materials and coatings Engine technology Solid, liquid and particulate emissionsEnergy management strategiesTransport and light weight materials Building energy efficiencyProcess efficiencyResource constraints including land and infrastructureEnergy flowsLocal/national policy on energyNuclear energy and nuclear waste immobilisation and storageRecycling of waste and waste heat

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Researchers

Anthony West (Principal Investigator)

Related Research

Grants with similar aims, by meaning.

EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Resilient Decarbonised Fuel Energy Systems
EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Energy Storage and its Applications
Industrial Doctorate Centre: Technologies for Sustainable Built Environments
EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Bioenergy
EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Carbon Capture and Storage and Cleaner Fossil Energy

Original classification

Training Grant

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