A new energy research centre at Imperial College London will study urban energy efficiency with British oil company BP, and nuclear power generation with other UK universities.
The college says its new Energy Futures Lab will begin work on a £4.5 million project with BP, to improve urban planning for energy management and efficiency. At the same time, the lab will be working with a group of other UK universities, under a £6.1 million grant from the research council grant, to improve nuclear-power technology for a possible new generation of reactors. Other universities involved are Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, Bristol, Cardiff and the Open University.
The new lab adds to the college’s energy-related research portfolio of £20 million a year in external funding, involving about 250 staff. For the BP project, the college says it plans to recruit about ten academics, six post-doctoral researchers and seven PhD students from engineering, life science and business disciplines. It also said it plans to create a new master of sciences program in sustainable energy futures, and is exploring various joint educational schemes in energy with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
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