Could icy waters be the key to fighting climate change and the skills gap?
The Net Zero Polar Science (NZPS) Doctoral Training Programme has welcomed its first ever class of PhD researchers. The programme aims to produce the talent needed to plug the UK’s green skills gap.
Funded by a Natural Environment Research Council doctoral focal award (£2.6 million) alongside partner universities and industrial partners, it aims to recruit 49 researchers in the next three years, working on polar science and the broader creation of low-carbon technological solutions across all areas of environmental science.
NZPS say they are aiming to improve understanding of lesser understood (and colder) aspects of Earth, including submarine cavities, ice sheet grounding lines, ice cliff failure, ice rheology, mountain glacier run-off, sea ice thickness and polar ocean circulation.
Dr Sammie Buzzard, a member of the NZPS Leadership Team at Northumbria University, said: “This programme not only focuses on the research but on reducing the impacts of the science to ensure we are not contributing to the problem of climate change.
“This involves using new technologies such as drones, machine learning, advanced modelling and digital twins, but also re-using data we already have and rethinking how we power our science using renewable energy sources.”
Each PhD researcher on the programme will take up a funded work placement with one of the programme’s 42 industry partners or external organisations, focusing on a key challenge faced by that partner.
The aim is to allow researchers to apply their expertise in a real-world setting, build networks and prepare for a career beyond academia.
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