A consortium of the Universities of Edinburgh, Exeter, Strathclyde and Swansea supported by the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) will run the Industrial Centre for Doctoral Training for Offshore Renewable Energy (IDCORE). This partnership offers a unique combination of experience in research, development and knowledge-exchange with major industry stakeholders in the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) sector. This is complemented by the extensive experience with ORE projects of both SAMS, in the environmental and societal impacts, and the Fraser of Allander Institute (Strathclyde), in macro- and micro-economics. The large scale deployment of ORE technologies is key to the UK achieving its net-zero carbon energy objectives while, at the same time, delivering secure, reliable and affordable energy. Both of these objectives must be achieved with minimal environmental impact. This requires the continuing development of new techniques and technologies to design, build, install, operate, and maintain energy generating machines in a hostile marine environment. Successful ORE projects must be affordable and minimise their environmental impact. Success will create green jobs at all levels in coastal communities across the UK and generate significant economic impact. The ORE sector, which includes companies ranging from world-leading technology development SMEs (like Orbital Marine Energy and MOcean Energy) through to international energy companies as well as engineering majors, consulting engineers and project developers, is creating a massive demand for highly trained scientists and engineers with a broad skill base. The consortium is ideally-placed to support the industry in meeting these challenges through a conjoined infrastructure, which begins in some of the best academic research centres with leading test facilities and extends through a unique combination of demonstration facilities, ultimately to test and deployment sites. IDCORE will conduct internationally leading research, provide a vibrant training environment and deliver a body of high-quality post-doctoral staff for the sector. This proposal presents a revised training programme in response to changes in the sector (particularly the rapid growth of offshore wind, the commercialisation of tidal stream energy, and the drive to develop floating wind systems for deeper water). It also includes Swansea University for the first time, strengthening our links to developments in the Celtic Sea and bringing significant expertise in computational modelling and aerodynamics. IDCORE provides a solid background in professional, technical and transferable skills to a diverse cohort of students drawn from a wide variety of STEM backgrounds. It is designed to deliver a tightly-knit cohort of highly-skilled graduates, forming a strong foundation for the future development of the sector. Our training is innovative and multi-disciplinary, using a variety of delivery methods and unique facilities, including: the Kelvin hydrodynamics lab, FastBlade, the FloWave Ocean Energy Research Facility, offshore measurement systems (Wave and ADCP measurement array and surveying), the South West Mooring Test Facility, accelerated fatigue testing facilities (DMAC), survey vessels and field study areas. Through established links with partner organisations including the ORE Catapult and the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), students will be placed and, wherever possible, site-trained in large-scale test facilities, prototype demonstration and small-farm demonstration sites. The training will also benefit from the extensive experience of the consortium in advanced engineering analysis and simulation, and access to UK-leading computational facilities. The training package offered by the centre provides our students with unparalleled engineering experience in applied offshore renewable energy R&D.

EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Resilient Decarbonised Fuel Energy Systems Led by the University of Nottingham, with Sheffield and Cardiff SUMMARY This Centre is designed to support the UK energy sector at a time of fundamental change. The UK needs a knowledgeable but flexible workforce to deliver against this uncertain future. Our vision is to develop a world-leading CDT, delivering research leaders with broad economic, societal and contextual awareness, having excellent technical skills and capable of operating in multi-disciplinary teams covering a range of roles. The Centre builds on a heritage of two successful predecessor CDTs but adds significant new capabilities to meet research needs which are now fundamentally different. Over 80% of our graduates to date have entered high-quality jobs in energy-related industry or academe, showing a demand for the highly trained yet flexible graduates we produce. National Need for a Centre The need for a Centre is demonstrated by both industry pull and by government strategic thinking. More than forty industrial and government organisations have been consulted in the shaping and preparation of this proposal. The bid is strongly aligned with EPSRC's Priority Area 5 (Energy Resilience through Security, Integration, Demand Management and Decarbonisation) and government policy. Working with our partners, we have identified the following priority research themes. They have a unifying vision of re-purposing and re-using existing energy infrastructure to deliver rapid and cost-effective decarbonisation. 1. Allowing the re-use and development of existing processes to generate energy and co-products from low-carbon biomass and waste fuels, and to maximise the social, environmental and economic benefits for the UK from this transition 2. Decreasing CO2 emissions from industrial processes by implementation of CCUS, integrating with heat networks where appropriate. 3. Assessing options for the decarbonisation of natural gas users (as fuel or feedstock) in the power generation, industry and domestic heating system through a combination of hydrogen enhancement and/or CO2 capture. Also critical in this theme is the development of technologies that enable the sustainable supply of carbon-lean H2 and the adoption of H2 or H2 enriched fuel/feedstock in various applications. 4. Automating existing electricity, gas and other vector infrastructure (including existing and new methods of energy storage) based on advanced control technologies, data-mining and development of novel instrumentation, ensuring a smarter, more flexible energy system at lower cost. Training Our current Centre operates a training programme branded 'exemplary' by our external examiner and our intention is to use this as solid basis for further improvements which will include a new technical core module, a module on risk management and enhanced training in inclusivity and responsible research. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Our current statistics on gender balance and disability are better than the EPSRC mean. We will seek to further improve this record. We are also keen to demonstrate ED&I within the Centre staff and our team also reflects a diversity in gender, ethnicity and experience. Management and Governance Our PI has joined us after a career conducting and managing energy research for a major energy company and led development of technologies from benchtop to full-scale implementation. He sharpens our industrial focus and enhances an already excellent team with a track record of research delivery. One Co-I chairs the UoN Ethics Committee, ensuring that Responsible Innovation remains a priority. Value for Money Because most of the Centre infrastructure and organisation is already in place, start-up costs for the new centre will be minimal giving the benefit of giving a new, highly refreshed technical capability but with a very low organisational on-cost.