REVOLUTIONIZING TRAINING IN AEROSOL SCIENCE
Until 2019, researcher training in aerosol science in the UK, and elsewhere, was fragmentary, occurring within the context of individual disciplines (for example inhaled drug delivery, formulation science, emissions, and environmental science). However, in many of the disciplines in which aerosol science is key, the research challenges that must be addressed are, perhaps unsurprisingly, very similar. As examples, the micro-architecture and phase of aerosol particles (e.g. solution, amorphous, crystalline, core-shell)i are crucial to health impacts of aerosol (e.g. viability of bacteria, solubility of drugs on inhalation), the function of manufactured particles (e.g. light interactions with pigments, preservation of biologics in spray-dried pharmaceutical products), the impaction of particles on surfaces (e.g. volcanic ash in jet engines, distribution of agrochemical sprays), and air quality and climate change (e.g. mass concentration of particulate matter in urban environments, ice cloud formation). Similar synergies exist between disciplines in areas of aerosol chemistry, transport, deposition, and optical properties, to name just a few further examples. Exploring such interdisciplinary challenges collaboratively, supported by research in the underlying physical science and the development of new measurement technologies, represents an effi cient path for achieving innovative step-changes in knowledge, productivity, and capability.
The EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Aerosol Science (CAS)ii has addressed the disconnect between typical training paradigms and contemporary research and engineering challenges, and offers an entirely different approach to training the next generation of aerosol scientists. Since autumn 2019, CAS has been busy equipping the fi rst three of fi ve cohorts of doctoral postgraduate researchers (PGRs) with the core competencies required for practitioners in aerosol science, supporting them to develop not only a mastery of fundamental principles, but also an ability to apply their knowledge across disciplinary boundaries and the agility to be at the vanguard of this rapidly-evolving area.
Figure 1 presents the nine PGR competencies which are developed through the CAS training programme. These capture the competencies required by a professional practitioner in aerosol science and were developed through consultation with practicing scientists at a group in-person event in January 2018iii
, an online
survey, and individual telephone interviews with CAS partners. To deliver this training CAS brings together around 80 academic teams at seven UK universities and 60 industrial and public-sector partners based in the UK, Europe and North America and drawn from the areas of healthcare, material science, energy and transport, environment, consumer products and agrochemicals.
CAS emphasizes a cohort-based approach and an interdisciplinary training environment. Our PGRs are drawn from diverse backgrounds spanning the physical, environmental and life sciences and engineering and work together throughout the programme.
1. Apply theoretical knowledge of aerosol science across a range of problems of a chemical, physical, biological or technological nature.
2. Undertake independent design and conduct experiments/models with technical mastery, as well as analyse and interpret data.
3. Identify, formulate, critique and solve reearch problems within their specialised context to advance the understanding of aerosols.
4. Develop or adapt advanced methodological approaches to contemporary problems, recognising the complexity and tolerating the ambiguity that arises in real-world systems.
5. Synthesise new approaches to meet an identifi ed outcome within realistic constraints such as economic, environmental, social, political, ethical, safety, manufacturability, and/or sustainability.
6. Act in congruence with professional and ethical values, and manage ethical dilemmas in formulating scientifi c solutions.
7. Function effectively and confi dently in multidisciplinary teams, acting autonomously and taking responsibility for the scientifi c activity of others.
8. Communicate and share research knowledge to both expert and non-expert audiences, and guide the learning of those from outside their discipline.
9. Manage personal intellectual development as a self-critical, refl ective scientist with the agility to respond to new challenges.
Figure 1. The nine PGR competencies.
IET JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2022
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