Completed Engineering Education & Skills

DTP 2018-19 Heriot Watt University

Funder EPSRC (part of UKRI)
Recipient organisation Heriot-Watt University
Funding £2.6M
Period Sept 2018 — Sept 2023

In plain English

AI plain-English summary

Heriot-Watt University is using EPSRC Doctoral Training Partnership funds to recruit PhD students into five strategic research areas: lasers, robotics, artificial intelligence, sustainable energy, and resilience. Why this matters. The UK faces a shortage of highly trained researchers in fields that underpin both industrial competitiveness and national infrastructure. Without a steady pipeline of PhD graduates, advances in areas such as autonomous systems, clean power generation, and secure communications stall. This programme directly addresses that gap by funding projects aligned with the government’s Industry Strategy Challenge Fund and Global Challenges Research Fund. Potential impact. Success means a cohort of researchers who can move into academia, industry, or the public sector with 80 hours per year of transferable skills training—covering outreach, public engagement, and professional development. In the near term, their PhD projects could improve laser manufacturing, make AI systems more reliable, or develop new materials for energy storage. Over a decade, these graduates will populate the labs and boardrooms that keep the UK’s energy grids stable, its robotics sector competitive, and its research base globally connected.

View original technical description
The EPSRC DTP at Heriot-Watt enhances our delivery of postgraduate research (PGR), using funds to strategically support projects that fit the EPSRC portfolio and Heriot-Watt Strategy. In response to recent announcements on the Industry Strategy Challenge Fund and the Global Challenges research fund, we are actively seeking opportunities for collaborations in Lasers, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Sustainable Energy and Resilience. Our overarching principles include (i) recruitment of the brightest, motivated students; (ii) delivery of high quality projects and outcomes; (iii) provision of PhD projects that enhance and underpin our research strengths, or that help drive new research areas; and (iv) that have an impact within the academic, societal and industrial communities. All Heriot-Watt University PGR students are provided with at least 80 hours of transferrable skills training and development in each of the first 3 years of study that will enhance their employability profile. This includes a wide range of PGR training courses and opportunities to be involved in our outreach and public engagement activities. Further details on all Heriot-Watt University postgraduate research can be found on our website at: https://www.hw.ac.uk/research/phd-opportunities.htm

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Related Research

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DTP 2020-2021 Heriot-Watt University
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DTP 2020-2021 University of Glasgow
DTP 2020-2021 University of Huddersfield
DTP 2018-19 University of Huddersfield

Original classification

Training Grant

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