Nuclear Future Volume 9 issue 1
The Nuclear Engineering Doctorate: educating the industry leaders of the future
John Roberts on a flagship research programme that helps address the skills gap in the nuclear industry
lmost everyone within the nuclear industry in the UK is aware of the approaching skills gap that will develop over the next few years and decades: the retirement profile of leadership, managerial and technical positions is far worse for nuclear than other comparable engineering and technology sectors in the UK. Alongside the human resources challenges of decommissioning the Magnox and AGR reactors, development of a geological disposal facility and the construction of the new reactors (both pressurised water reactors and the recently announced boiling water reactors), the UK requires an educational programme specifically targeted at the potential industry leaders of the future. A recent Cogent report1
A stated that up to two-thirds of
professional and management/senior management staff in the nuclear industry will have retired by 2025. Due to the high proportion of higher level skills in the nuclear industry the accumulated retirements will have a major impact on the skills gap. Fortunately for the UK, the Engineering and Physical Sciences
Research Council (EPSRC) realised over 20 years ago that there was a need for PhD-level engineers that also had leadership, managerial and commercial skills. EPSRC provided the funding for what has developed into their flagship research programme, the Engineering Doctorate; however, the programme is still largely unknown to the general public and, in particular, the nuclear industry.
The Nuclear Engineering EngD combines a doctoral-level research programme of specific interest to industry with a taught programme that develops technical, management and business skills
Nuclear Engineering EngD The Engineering Doctorate programme was developed by EPSRC in 1992 and is offered by Industrial Doctorate Centres located at either a single university or a consortium. Its core remit is to provide a PhD-level training experience which combines a doctoral-level research programme of specific interest to industry, coupled with a taught programme that develops technical, management and business skills. The Nuclear Engineering EngD started in 2006 and is run by a consortium led by the Dalton Nuclear Institute at the University of Manchester in partnership with Imperial College London and including the universities of
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