New sustainable materials centre latest in £19 million University of Warwick Success

It was announced today, Friday 28th March 2014, that the University of Warwick is to lead a new “EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Sustainable Materials and Manufacturing”. This is the fifth such Doctoral Training Centre (CDTs) to be awarded to University of Warwick leadership by the UK’s research councils. The expected total investment by the research councils for all five CDTS led by Warwick will be around £19 million.

This latest centre is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council EPSRC and it is a partnership between the University of Warwick and Exeter and Cranfield universities.

Dr Kerry Kirwan from WMG at the University of Warwick, who will be the lead Director of the new EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Sustainable Materials and Manufacturing, said:

“The new Centre will produce the next generation of manufacturing business leaders with a high level understanding of interdisciplinary enterprise, the research experience essential to compete in a global low carbon environment, and an international view of Sustainability and the Circular Economy. The Centre will address industry-driven research challenges including: establishing natural or recovered materials as feed-stocks, reducing process inputs and outputs without compromising performance or economic viability, extracting high value materials from waste streams, and ultimately establishing economic and environmental sustainability.”

The Centre will also be supported by a large number of international academic partners including the University of Warwick’s close academic partner Monash Universiity in Australia along with Purdue (USA), Fribourg (Switzerland), Kyoto (Japan), IIT Bangalore (India), Queensland (Australia), British Columbia and McGill (Canada) and Jonköping (Sweden).