Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

Developing Leaders - EPSRC ENGINEERING AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES RESEARCH COUNCIL

Christina Turner

Portfolio Manager, ICT Theme, EPSRC

Overview

Introduction

Developing Leaders

Fellowships

Studentships

Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs)

Strategic Goals

Three clear goals:

Developing leaders

Shaping capability

Delivering impact

Strategic Plan goals

The Developing Leaders goal aims to

nurture the visionary leaders who set

research agendas and inspirational team

leaders who act as role models.

It builds upon EPSRC’s strong track record

of supporting high quality, internationally-

leading researchers throughout their

careers through innovations such as

EPSRC Centres for Doctoral Training,

Fellowship Schemes with embedded

research support, and Programme Grants.

Developing Leaders

Developing Leaders

Framework for Fellowships focuses on

leadership and takes account of strategic

priorities and directions

Several mechanisms of support at work

Focus is on desired behaviours

Refresh of the CDT portfolio

Expectations for EPSRC supported

students

Fellowships

Focus on the individuals attributes in

relation to developing leaders and

leadership

A framework rather than a set of rigid

eligibility rules

Extends beyond previous schemes and is

more flexibility

No deadlines but batched and interview

sessions twice a year

Studentships - Philosophy

We support ~10,000 students – the largest

single supporter in the UK (approx. 35% of

all EPS research students and about 10%

all PhDs)

Fulfilling UK skills need

Align with high quality research activity

Integration into research active groups and

departments

Top class supervision

Peer support

Studentships – Balancing Need 1

International students

Aspirations of UK parents

Supporting UK next generation

Attract and retained people we’ve trained.

Most international students leave – but we

have relaxed DTG rules.

Studentships – Balancing Need 2

Level of PhD Support

We need to balance support across the

career stages, whatever the budget

Training grants vs. research grants

Postdocs are being trained too.

Few PhD students become academics –

Employability of PhDs

Flooding the market de-values the

qualification?

Studentships - Routes

3 main channels of support

DTG (£83.5M pa)

CDT (£70M pa)

ICASE (£17M pa)

Much of the need for students in many

areas can and will continue to be met

through the DTG and ICASE

Doctoral Training Grant

Giving priority to PhD quality:

Opened 10% of studentships to the very

best – wherever they are from;

Rolled out EPSRC doctoral prize for the

best students on completion;

Prepared a Statement of Expectations to

form the basis of a strategic dialogue on

training with universities;

10% DTG to ICASE conversion target.

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To fund a balanced portfolio of CDT’s that

are aligned to identified skills needs for the

UK in the EPS, in partnership with others;

To produce highly skilled and talented

researchers, and future leaders, by funding

world leading innovative centres that are

aligned to major research strengths;

To support high quality training

environments led by robust leadership

teams to train internationally competitive

PhD students through a cohort training

approach.

Centres for Doctoral Training 2013 Exercise

Centres for Doctoral Training History

EPSRC established EngD centres in 1992

- focus on collaborative research;

Life Science Interface DTCs in 2002

- focus on interdisciplinary research;

Major investment in 2009 spanning priority

areas such as Energy, Digital economy,

Industrial Doctorate Centres and Securing

the Future;

Subsequent gap filling in areas such as

Mathematics, ICT and Manufacturing.

Insufficient coverage last time led to gaps

We are not tendering for centres

Priorities are high level descriptions of

the skills needs;

Need to realistically be able to have 50

students.

CDTs + DTG + ICASE = broad level of

support across the EPSRC landscape

Centres for Doctoral Training Priority Areas

Priority Areas Mixing priorities

A B

Data to Knowledge

High Performance Embedded and

Distributed Systems

ICT for Manufacturing

Integrative Technologies

Next Generation Interaction Technologies

Underpinning Communication and

Computer Science Training

Power Electronics

Autonomous Systems and Robotics

Digital Healthcare

Digital Identity

Selected Priority Areas

Priority Areas Individual Centre

Centre’s Focus

£350M to address priority areas;

Centres will equip students with the

knowledge, skills and creative approaches

the UK requires;

Priority areas – Nov 2012;

Call launched – Feb 2013;

Closing date – 4th Apr 2012

Full proposal deadline – 18th Jul 2013

Announcement – Nov/Dec 2013

First Cohort – Oct 2014

CDT overview

Dr Christina Turner ICT Portfolio Manager

Tel: 01793 444541

e-mail: christina.turner@epsrc.ac.uk

Thank you for listening!