Environmental training receives £2.5m boost
14 Oct 2015
The University of Southampton is to share in £2.5 million funding to train the environmental scientists and engineers of the future in the use of smart and autonomous observation systems (SAOS).
Innovative sensor platforms such as drones and autonomous robotic submarines play an increasingly important role in environmental science, carrying out tasks from monitoring air pollution to exploring the deep ocean.
The new Centre of Doctoral Training in ’The use of Smart and Autonomous Observation for the Environmental Sciences’ known as NEXUSS (Next generation Unmanned System Science), will provide specialised training in this increasingly vital area, creating a community of highly skilled people whose expertise will contribute both to scientific breakthroughs and to economic growth.
It is an outstanding opportunity to develop a new generation of environmental scientists
Professor Alberto Naveira Garabato
NEXUSS is led by the University of Southampton in partnership with five other leading academic and research centres (British Antarctic Survey, Heriot - Watt University, National Oceanography Centre, Scottish Association for Marine Science and University of East Anglia).
Thanks to the funding from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), from 2016, it can fund training for three annual intakes of 10 PhD students each.
The Centre aims to provide the next generation of environmental scientists with the necessary skills to develop and deploy ambitious new unmanned systems, which can cover vast areas and stay in place for long periods.
They can also be sent to places traditionally considered too difficult or dangerous for humans to work, potentially opening up whole new fields of enquiry.
Alberto Naveira Garabato, a professor at the University of Southampton and director of NEXUSS, said: “We are delighted to be awarded this funding by NERC and EPSRC. It is an outstanding opportunity to develop a new generation of environmental scientists that is more aware of the vast possibilities that SAOS approaches offer, and that can take forward the environmental application of these technologies in decades to come.”
Meanwhile, NERC chief executive Duncan Wingham said: “Smart observation systems are an exciting and innovative field in which the UK has world-class capabilities.
“We have made major investments in SAOS in recent years, and this CDT will produce the expertise to ensure future researchers can take advantage of these investments, using new technologies to address the environmental challenges we face and support growth across the UK economy.”
