The goal of IGNITE is to build a large community of digitally astute, research-empowered, and independent thought-leaders from a rich diversity of backgrounds that will engender disruptive innovation and ideas to deliver transformative change. Our postgraduate researchers (PGRs) will be able to combine their leading-edge expertise in environmental sciences with other research and innovation disciplines to tackle urgent environmental challenges, find sustainable solutions and contribute to economic growth, productivity, and prosperity.
The Challenge
A knowledge-based economy can only maintain its position in a global society if it is at the forefront of scientific and technical expertise. Making informed responses and finding solutions to challenges as varied as climate change, natural hazards, biodiversity loss, energy generation and the search for strategic mineral resources relies on developing a supply of highly-qualified and well-educated young scientists and technologists. Simultaneously, new technologies and techniques are driving rapid expansions in environmental data generation. Effective management, processing and synthesis of this information will be both a major challenge and opportunity for 21st century environmental science.
Equipping the next generation of scientific leaders with the skills they will need to tackle these challenges is arguably the most important function of an environmental research organisation.
The IGNITE Doctoral Landscape Award
To meet these challenges, the University of Southampton, the National Oceanography Centre, Natural History Museum, British Antarctic Survey and Marine Biological Association submitted a joint bid to NERC to create an innovative multi-disciplinary DLA: Enabling Next Generation Environmental Research and Innovation.
As announced in November 2024 the IGNITE DLA will receive £8M funding from NERC and, together with co-funding from across the partnership, aims to support a cohort of around 25 over each of the next five years. IGNITE is equipping the next generation of environmental science leaders with the skills and knowledge they need to exploit and develop diverse new technologies (e.g., autonomous platforms, novel sensors, next-generation sequencing) and techniques (e.g., high-level numeracy, Big-Data handling, numerical modelling, crowd sourcing, bioinformatics, machine learning) and effectively apply these tools in tackling the key environmental science challenges of the future.
As part of IGNITE, we offer students a core training provision with elective specialist activities tailored towards the individual needs of the PGR, as well as the opportunity to undertake two funded placements of 1 – 3 months.