University of Hertfordshire to produce doctorates in aerosol science after huge UK investment
Ten aerosol science PhD students will be trained at the University of Hertfordshire during 2024 to help investigate how diseases are spread through the air and into the lungs, and how aerosols can also treat asthma, among other critical uses.
The University is part of the EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Aerosol Science, of which we were a founder partner in 2019. Academics from our School of Life and Medical Sciences and School of Physics, Engineering and Computer Science are involved.
The EPSRC is one of 65 centres to receive over a billion pounds of funding to continue a PhD programme that specialises in the critical field of aerosol science. £500 million of the funding comes through UK Research and Innovation and Ministry of Defence investment plus a further £590 million from universities and business partners.
90 PhD students in total will be trained over the next nine years as part of a national collaboration between several universities: Bristol, Bath, Birmingham, Cambridge, Manchester, Surrey and Imperial College London.
Each four-year PhD studentship is fully funded as part of the EPSRC CDT in Aerosol Science, by the EPSRC and / or by university institutional funding. Some of the projects are also part-sponsored by an industrial partner. Successful applicants who meet the funding criteria will receive a studentship covering tuition fees, research and training support grant, plus a stipend paid at the standard UKRI rate. Both UK and overseas candidates are encouraged to apply.
Aerosol science is crucial to delivering drugs to the lungs, understanding the transmission of disease, air quality, climate change and combustion, and in agricultural products to name a few applications. The pioneering work of the CDT informs public health policy and innovation.
The University of Hertfordshire’s Professor Darragh Murnane who is Deputy Director of the EPSRC CDT in Aerosol Science said: “The renewed funding by EPSRC of our Centre for Doctoral Training and our partnership with over 80 industrial and public sector organizations demonstrates the importance of aerosol research to the UK. We are excited to establish our national centre as a global centre of excellence in researcher training that delivers aerosol science research with impact on global scale challenges.”
The Aerosol Science CDT was established in 2019. After training five cohorts of PhD students it has secured investment from UKRI and over 80 industrial and public sector partners to grow its activities. It uses the mission statement: 'Harnessing Aerosol Science for Improved Security, Resilience and Global Health'.
Read more about Professor Darragh Murnane