We’re sharing in an investment of almost £30m to train the next generation of researchers to tackle the world’s environmental challenges.
The funding comes from an overall £500 million package announced by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), together with partner matched funding, to support the training of doctoral students.
The money will develop students’ skills and experience in areas including biological sciences and natural and environmental sciences.
At Durham this will see students working with our departments across multiple faculties.
The Durham-led Iapetus partnership will receive almost £8m from UKRI’s Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), plus additional partner funding of around £7m. This will fund a minimum of 85 PhD students across five annual cohorts beginning in 2025.
The partnership will deliver high-quality training for future leaders across the environmental sciences, ranging from evolution and ecology to glaciology and atmospheric science.
We’re also part of the NETGAIN partnership, which has been awarded approximately £2.8m by NERC with additional partner funding of £1.5m.
NETGAIN will train multidisciplinary scientist-practitioners to transform how we attribute financial values to nature, providing effective, evidence-based answers to urgent environmental challenges.
This includes the use of biodiversity net gain to offset losses from development, developing technology for semi-automated monitoring, and exploring options for habitat restoration.
A minimum of 36 PhD studentships will be created over three cohorts, beginning in October 2025.
The North East England PhD Studentships in Biosciences (NEEDL) programme has also received around £5M from UKRI’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, matched by the partners.
NEEDL will create 100 doctoral studentships in five cohorts over eight years, with the first cohort of students arriving in October 2025.
The vision is to train the next generation of scientists in technical and professional skills for diverse careers in modern, sustainable, biosciences in areas such as chemical biology, food security and neuroscience and ageing.
Read the full funding announcement from UK Research and Innovation.
Learn more about Iapetus, which is led by Durham and also includes the universities of Glasgow, Heriot Watt, Newcastle, St Andrews and Stirling, along with the British Antarctic Survey, British Geological Survey and UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology.
NETGAIN is led by the University of St Andrews and along with Durham, also includes the universities of Aberdeen and Glasgow.
NEEDL is a partnership of Newcastle, Durham, Northumbria and Teesside universities.
Environmental, social and economic sustainability at Durham University.
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