NERC Consultancy Programme

NERC Consultancy Programme

As part of our work with NERC, ECCI delivers the NERC Consultancy Programme. It aims to generate industry and policy engagement, while making the most of innovation opportunities.

Focused engagement with business and policy

E4 students are matched with entrepreneurs and various other research users, including government teams, working in NERC priority areas.

Training and skills in impact and innovation

We give E4 staff and students a good overview of UK innovation systems. We also deliver skills and industry workshops, designed to boost their confidence when engaging with non-academic partners.

Provision of sector knowledge to support impact and end user experience

We help E4 staff and students grasp the big issues as well as research-related/career opportunities in NERC priority areas.

2023/24 programme

A total of 10 internships were successfully delivered in 2023/24, matching PhD candidates with a range of industry partners in NERC priotiy areas.

Feedback was very positive, with all PhD participants confirming that the internship will be useful for their future career and eporting that they learned new skills, which included technical skills like developing code, gaining more insights into their specific field of research as well as transferable skills like communication, project management, networking and stakeholder engagement.

“I had a really positive experience. I was able to apply skills I already had to a policy-oriented environment which I had little experience of before.” - PhD candidate

“The 10-day placement was a really helpful experience, giving me an insight into how the methods and concepts from my PhD can be applied within a commercial setting. Meeting and interacting with people outside of academia is also always refreshing!” - PhD candidate

All the companies agreed that the placements added value to their business and almost all of them are interested in hosting another placement in the future. Placement hosts included:

Carbon Capture Scotland

The company specialises in capturing biogenic CO2 emissions from diverse sources such as distilleries and biogas facilities, using their proprietary and innovative capture technology. The placement output was a lifecycle carbon assessment of their carbon removal value chain, specifically the embedded emissions of their capture units, the emissions incurred during road-haul aggregation (and shipping to a storage location), and embedded emissions in the storage sites.

Pentland Land Managers Association (PLMA)

PLMA is a group of farmers and land managers in the Pentland Hills Regional Park. They collaborate with a range of stakeholders to improve the park experience for everyone who works in, visits, and manages this valuable natural resource. The student crafted a pamphlet for the Pentland Land Managers Association, created for their upcoming website promoting citizen science involvement. It offers a snapshot of the Pentland area, highlights small mammal species, and provides surveying tips with detailed guides.

Planetary AI

Planetary AI seeks to utilise the advances in machine learning and artificial intelligence to better understand the earth’s surface and subsurface geology. We aim to identify new resources of critical metals required for the green energy transition. During the placement, the student used the Tellus SW geological survey data to develop a proofof-concept machine learning model trained to identify areas prospective for Tungsten.

SCCS

SCCS is the largest carbon capture and storage (CCS) research group in the UK, providing a single point of coordination for CCS research, from capture engineering and geoscience to social perceptions and environmental impact through to regulation and economics. The placement was designed to support and coordinate the development of material for a new Continuing Professional Development (CPD) short course "Introduction to Hydrogen for the Public Sector" for the Scottish Government as well as the curation of a selection of case studies showcasing potential applications of clean hydrogen.

2022/23 programme

A total of 13 internships were successfully delivered in 2022/23, matching PhD candidates with a range of industry partners in NERC priotiy areas.

Feedback was very positive, with all PhD participants confirming that the internship will be useful for their future career and eporting that they learned new skills (including report writing, writing case studies, data management, time management, software analysis, organising an event, programming, networking and presenting).

“Taking part in the NERC E4 DTP Consultancy Innovation Programme allowed me to experience an environment where science with a real world impact is created." - PhD candidate

All the host organisations agreed that the placements added value to their business and almost all would host another placement in the future. Placements included:

Craft Prospect

A space technology practice, developing novel spacecraft systems in the areas of artificial intelligence and quantum technology. The aim of the placement was the creation of a framework for developing forecasting models using artificial intelligence, with the focus on forecasting wildfire.

Global Surface Intelligence

GSI provide forest analytics using freely available high-resolution satellite imagery over large spatial scales. The placement investigated the potential of remote sensing to monitor forest plantations less than 15 years old.

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Kew Gardens is a botanic garden in southwest London. Their mission is to understand and protect plants and fungi, for the wellbeing of people and the future of all life on Earth. This placement focussed on researching Malagasy grassland orchids to help understand and conserve Malagasy grassland ecosystems.

Wave Energy Scotland

Wave Energy Scotland is driving the search for innovative solutions to the technical challenges facing the wave energy sector. The placement provided input to WES on how carbon emissions calculations and life cycle analysis can be included in the project assessment process.

“The NERC Innovation Programme provided a way for us as a company to progress some early-stage R&D in an efficient and effective manner. The process was light touch and appropriate for this level of work. Our PhD student was excellent. I would not hesitate to use this programme again.” - Host organisation

What E4 DTP offers

Based at the University of Edinburgh, NERC E4 DTP brings together 28 partners and more than 200 supervisors. Collectively, their research expertise spans the full spectrum of earth and environmental sciences.

The programme is led by the University of Edinburgh’s School of GeoSciences, and offers the following:

• An outstanding research environment with world-leading researchers and research facilities.
• A multidisciplinary and collaborative approach.
• The promotion of transferable skills, with access to internships, facilities and training.
• A concentration of resources in the Edinburgh region.

Studentships

As an E4 DTP student, you can get a fully-funded PhD studentship for a minimum of 3.5 years (42 months). It covers stipend and fees as well as research costs.

“The project has helped me to see the advantages of doctoral training in solving a range of critical problems outside of an academic context.”' Andrew, NERC E3 DTP student

Want to know more?

To find out more about NERC E4 DTP, have a look at the University of Edinburgh website.