More UK PhDs

Forty-four training centers are opening this fall at UK universities in a bid to up the number of PhD students in engineering and science. The centers, cross-disciplinary university collaborations with participation from industry, will recruit students with a goal of creating some 2000 PhDs over five years.

The centers will focus on such areas as energy, nanoscience, an aging population, climate change, water management, and high-tech crime. The £250 million ($375 million) for the centers comes from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and will be used to pay lecturers, buy equipment, and support graduate students, among other things.

Paul Drayson (in photo, looking up), the UK state and science minister, says, “Britain faces many challenges in the 21st century and needs scientists and engineers with the right skills to find answers to these challenges, build a strong economy, and keep us globally competitive. EPSRC’s doctoral training centers will provide a new wave of engineers and scientists to do the job.”