NERC opportunity profile: Provide a complete training experience

There’s less than a month left to submit outline proposals for NERC’s centre for doctoral training on smart and autonomous observation in environmental sciences. Craig Nicholson found out what applicants need to deliver.

According to Katie Tearall, head of skills and careers for studentships and training at the Natural Environment Research Council, the most important thing for CDT applicants to remember is that NERC wants to fund training in all aspects of the science that underlies autonomous environmental observation.

“The call is very much about end-to-end training that allows appreciation of the entire process,” she says. That includes the development of autonomous observation vehicles—which requires knowledge of manufacturing, calibration, navigation, communication and sensing—and the development of an understanding of data collection, analysis and application.