A new multi-million pound centre to train scientists to
transform our understanding of planet Earth has been announced between Northumbria
University and Newcastle University.
The ONE Planet Doctoral Training Partnership will draw
on the research expertise and specialist facilities of both universities in
Newcastle upon Tyne to provide a world-leading training environment tackling
grand challenges in climate and environmental sciences.
Funding for ONE Planet was announced last night (Wednesday
10 October) by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and comes in the
same week that the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change declared that
limiting global warming to 1.5°C requires rapid, far reaching and unprecedented
changes in all aspects of society.
The universities’ world leading research and expertise in
climate change, Earth systems and the environment were key to the success of
the funding application.
Researchers joining the programme will study a diverse range
of topics including earthquakes and volcanoes, pollution, weather extremes, sea
level change, and frozen environments such as the ice caps and glaciers.
The partnership includes more than 40 local and
national business, government and industry partners including the
Environment Agency, the National Trust, Northumbrian Water Group, and a host of
other engineering, environmental and charitable organisations.
Ulrich Salzmann, Professor of Palaeoecology in Northumbria
University's Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences, said: “Our vision is to provide a training environment for
independent research scientists and future leaders that develops innovative new
ways to analyse and design the sustainable responses needed to address
intensifying global change.
“We are very much looking forward to working together
with Newcastle University on training the next generation of independent
research scientists and future leaders as part of our new One Planet NERC
Doctoral Training Partnership."
Hayley Fowler, Professor of Climate Change Impacts at
Newcastle University, will lead the programme. She said: “To really understand
how our planet is changing we need to work across subject disciplines and
explore the connections between human activity and the Earth's natural systems.
“The period where humanity is now the key agent in planetary-scale
change is termed ‘The Anthropocene’. Our researchers will learn in an
interdisciplinary environment which will give them the skillset required to
analyse and design the responses needed to address intensifying global change.”
“We are going to be working across science, engineering, statistics,
agriculture, history, planning and many other disciplines. Both universities in
the city have established world leading research in many different aspects of
The Anthropocene and by working together we will produce researchers and
leaders who can design the responses we need to the ways in which our planet is
changing.”
Professor George
Marston, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation at Northumbria
University, said: “This award is a major success for environmental science in
Newcastle’s universities and I am delighted that Northumbria and Newcastle
continue to develop such powerful collaborations. The DTP will allow us to make a step change in
training and research in Earth science, which is of fundamental importance
within the context of increased concern around, for example, climate change. For Northumbria University, the award is
further evidence of our burgeoning reputation for research, as recently
illustrated by our dramatic improvement in the THE World University Rankings.”
The training programme will use specialist research
facilities at both universities including Newcastle University’s Blyth Marine
Station and research vessel, Urban Observatory, University Farms, Newcastle Helix, and Northumbria
University’s Cold and Palaeoenvironment laboratories.
There is scope too for researchers to influence governmental
policy and there will also be an annual event that will share progress, results
and debate with the public.
