EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Micro- and NanoMaterials and Technologies

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We live in a world surrounded by man-made materials that have been engineered to fulfill a specific purpose, from the many components of everyday articles such as razors and mobile phones to the high performance armour used to protect military personnel and the coatings applied to aircraft to mitigate the effects of lightning strikes. These achievements have been made possible through a profound understanding of the linkages between how a material is made, what structure it has (over a range of length scales), what properties result and how all of these factors ultimately determine the performance of the material in a specific application, be it for a few minutes or many tens of years. Often selecting the most suitable material, then designing its microstructure and processing it in a cost-effective and sustainable manner such that it is optimised for performance, is crucial to the 'enablement' of a new technology; conversely, failure to understand the vital role of materials can lead to missed business opportunities.Currently, there is a shortage of people with the required level of expertise in materials to meet the needs of UK industry. The Industrial Doctorate Centre in Micro- and NanoMaterials and Technologies (IDC in MiNMaT) aims to meet those needs by providing the UK with materials science and engineering doctoral graduates, with the combination of knowledge, translatable research expertise, interpersonal skills and confidence to enable them to tackle the most challenging materials problems and make a real impact on the performance and international presence of UK industry.This will be achieved by building on a foundation of international excellence in materials science and engineering, world-leading expertise in characterisation and a proven track record in delivering a highly regarded Engineering Doctorate (EngD) programme. This is a four-year research degree comprising a taught element and a research element, although within the MiNMaT IDC they are interwoven to form a coherent programme rather than being distinct parts. The research engineer (as the student is known) is based with their industrial sponsor, working on their research problems at their premises for the whole programme. Their focus is the solution of academically challenging and industrially relevant processing-microstructure-property-performance relationship problems. Taking place over all four years, carefully integrated intensive short courses (normally one week duration, at the University) form the taught component. These courses build on each other and augment the research. By using a core set of courses, graduates from a number of physical science/engineering disciplines can acquire the necessary background in materials. This capacity is essential as demand for materials scientists and engineers cannot be met without adding to the numbers of students who have studied materials at undergraduate level. Thus, the IDC in MiNMaT offers a solution to the UK's need for 'employment-ready', well-rounded graduates with excellent materials science and engineering research credentials.