EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training

In Future Propulsion and Power

Fully-Funded PhD Studentships with Rolls-Royce

The EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Future Propulsion and Power is an exciting partnership that brings together three internationally recognised universities, Loughborough, Cambridge and Oxford and global industry partners to create a unique consortium for turbomachinery training and research. The new Centre builds on the success of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Gas Turbine Aerodynamics. It will provide training in the key skills that future engineers in the field of Propulsion and Power will need to become leaders in research and design.

The two new themes are:

1- Data, Learning and Design

The Centre will provide training to enable engineers to derive learning from the ever-increasing supply of data (from experimental tests, from computations and from real engines in the field) and hence develop improved concepts and technologies.

2 - Systems Integration

As well as delivering training in advanced aero-thermal science, the Centre will expose students to the requirements of Future Propulsion and Power systems, such as: integrated propulsor-airframe concepts; hybrid-electric propulsion; compact and flexible operation power generation.

The CDT in Future Propulsion and Power is a four year programme which comprises of year one study at the University of Cambridge for an MRes in Future Propulsion and Power. The MRes provides a platform to the PhD phase in years 2 to 4, where students undertake an industrially-focused PhD project.

The three-year industrially-focussed PhD project at Loughborough University will be based within the Rolls-Royce Technology Centre (UTC).  In 2017, construction work began on the new National Centre for Combustion and Aerothermal Technology (NCCAT), a multi-million pound development funded through a partnership comprising the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), the Aerospace Technology Institute and Innovate UK, with support from Rolls-Royce and Loughborough University. Opened in 2020, NCCAT now acts as the UK’s primary hub for research focusing on the development of future low emission aerospace combustion systems that will reduce the environmental impact of aircraft, with opportunities for wider exploitation beyond aerospace (e.g. energy).

PhD projects will be developed during the first year which will be relevant to current and future technologies being developed by Rolls-Royce. Loughborough has a specific track record of research excellence in gas turbine aerothermal processes, one of the three major components of turbomachinery (compressor, combustor and turbine). CDT students will hugely benefit from the network of experts and the portfolio of skills that they have built up at the heart of the CDT.

Several four-year studentships are available with UKRI funding covering tuition fees for UK students only (UKRI rate) and an annual tax-exempt stipend of £21,373 (2022/23 rate) including top-up, plus a Research Training and Support Grant (RTSG) that can be used for other training costs, such as attending a conference, for the duration of the 4 year programme. 

The UKRI have confirmed international students (all non-UK) will also be eligible for all Research Council-funded postgraduate studentships from the start of the 2021/22 academic year.  However, UKRI funding will not cover international tuition fees and therefore the fee difference must be met through self-funding or another funding source.

Please refer to CDT Turbo for further information on student eligibility and funding.