DTP 2224 Queen Mary University of London

Queen Mary University of London will use this grant to train doctoral students across engineering and physical sciences, funding a cohort of PhD researchers through the EPSRC’s Doctoral Training Partnership. This matters because the UK needs a steady pipeline of skilled researchers to sustain its science and technology base. Without structured funding for postgraduate training, universities struggle to recruit and support the next generation of engineers, physicists, and computer scientists. The grant addresses that gap by providing a framework for selecting, funding, and supervising PhD students over several years. If successful, this training partnership will produce dozens of PhD graduates who go on to work in industry, academia, or public service. Their research could improve anything from battery storage and semiconductor manufacturing to medical imaging algorithms and water treatment systems. Many of these graduates will end up in roles the public rarely sees—designing more efficient power grids, developing lighter aircraft components, or writing code that keeps financial networks stable. This is primarily a training grant, not a single research project. The fundamental science and engineering discoveries will emerge from the individual PhD projects themselves, not from the partnership structure. Past DTP cohorts have contributed to breakthroughs in quantum computing, renewable energy materials, and AI hardware—unexpected outcomes that began as curiosity-driven PhD work.