Fusion Power has the potential to solve one of society's greatest challenges: universal access to plentiful, safe & sustainable energy. A person's entire lifetime energy needs can be supplied from fusion energy using the deuterium taken from a domestic bath of water and the tritium that can be bred from the lithium in a single mobile phone battery. Fusion power plants cannot suffer any type of runaway and they do not produce any direct greenhouse gas emissions. However achieving fusion is technically challenging: it requires heating the deuterium & tritium fuel to millions of degrees. At this temperature, the fuel becomes a plasma - a gas of charged particles. The plasma must be confined for sufficient time at sufficient density in order to get more energy out than we put energy in. There are a number of approaches being explored but the most successful are (1) magnetic confinement fusion which holds the fuel by magnetic fields at relatively low density for relatively long times in a chamber called a tokamak, and (2) inertial confinement fusion which holds the fuel for a very short time but at huge densities. The exciting news is that fusion is now entering a golden era. Since 2020, there have been substantial scientific breakthroughs, such as at JET in the UK and at NIF in the US. There has been dramatic expansion into the private sector with over 30 companies globally pursuing a range of approaches and many more establishing the fusion supply chain; governments around the world, but especially in the UK, are investing to accelerate fusion delivery. A remaining critical barrier to making fusion a reality is the shortage of people who understand the inter-related operational constraints for both the plasma fuel and its containment materials, including the breeding of tritium from lithium, all of which must be satisfied simultaneously. The EPSRC CDT in Fusion Power will build on our existing success and international reputation to become the global beacon for training the next generation of fusion leaders. At the core of our CDT is the partnership between six leading research-intensive universities and more than 20 private companies, UK & international labs and government agencies. Our students will benefit from a systems-thinking-based technical training in plasma physics and materials science including tritium breeding & handling. They will benefit from training delivered by non-academic partners in topics such as regulation & licensing, commercialisation & entrepreneurship, sustainability, financing & investment and project management. Through the CDT partners, the students will use internationally leading experimental facilities and high performance supercomputers. Initially through their supervisors and then increasingly independently, students will access international networks of institutions and fusion professionals. During their PhD, students will have the opportunity to build their track record through presenting work at conferences and leading their own "collaboratory" mini project. These scientists and engineers will go on to solve the technical cross-disciplinary challenges, moving fusion forward faster at a rate of more than 20 scientists & engineers per year. We will increase diversity in the fusion community through: positive recruitment & admissions practices; supportive, cohort-based training activities; undergraduate fusion internships for students from under-represented groups; outreach to the public and via sustained relationships with target schools. This supply of the best people will energise the UK fusion industry and enable a global ambition for fusion power plant innovation & development.

Co-created and delivered with industry, REWIRE will accelerate the UK's ambition for net zero by transforming the next generation of high voltage electronic devices using wide/ultra-wide bandgap (WBG/UWBG) compound semiconductors. Our application-driven, collaborative research programme and training will advance the next generation of semiconductor power device technologies to commercialisation and enhance the security of the UK's semiconductor supply-chain. Power devices are at the centre of all power electronic systems. WBG/UWBG compound semiconductor devices pave the way for more efficient and compact power electronic systems, reducing energy loss at the power systems level. The UK National Semiconductor Strategy recognises advances in these technologies and the technical skills required for their development and manufacture as essential to supporting the growing net zero economy. REWIRE's philosophy is centred on cycles of use cases co-created with industry and stakeholders, meeting market needs for devices with increased voltage ranges, maturity and reliability. We will develop multiple technologies in parallel from a range of initial TRL to commercialisation. Initial work will focus on three use cases co-developed with industry, for transformative next generation WBG/UWBG semiconductor power electronic devices: (1) Wind energy, HVDC networks (>10 kV) - increased range high voltage devices as the basis for enabling more efficient power conversion and more compact power converters; (2) High temperature applications, device and packaging - greatly expanded application ranges for power electronics; (3) Tools for design, yield and reliability - improving the efficiency of semiconductor device manufacture. These use cases will: improve higher TRL Silicon Carbide (SiC) 1-2kV technology towards higher voltages; advance low TRL devices such as Gallium Oxide (Ga2O3) and Aluminium Gallium Nitride (AlGaN), diamond and cubic Boron Nitride (c-BN) towards demonstration and ultimately commercialisation; and develop novel heterogenous integration techniques, either within a semiconductor chip or within a package, for enhanced functionality. Use cases will have an academic and industry lead, fostering academia-industry co-development across different work packages. These initial, transformative REWIRE technologies will have wide-ranging applications. They will enhance the efficient conversion of electricity to and from High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) for long-distance transfer, enabling a sustainable national grid with benefits including more reliable and secure communication systems. New technologies will also bring competitive advantage to the UK's strategically important electric vehicle and battery sectors, through optimised efficiency in charging, performance, energy conversion and management. New use cases will be co-developed throughout REWIRE, with our >30 industrial and policy partners who span the full semiconductor device supply chain, to meet stakeholder priorities. Through engagement with suppliers, manufacturers, and policymakers, REWIRE will pioneer advances in semiconductor supply chain management, developing supply chain tools for stakeholders to improve understanding of the dynamics of international trade, potential supply disruptions, and pricing volatilities. These tools and our Supply Chain Resilience Guide will support the commercialisation of technologies from use cases, enabling users to make informed decisions to enhance resilience, sustainability, and inclusion. Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity (EDI) are integral to REWIRE's ambitions. Through extensive collaboration across the academic and industrial partners, we will build the diverse, skilled workforce needed to accelerate innovation in academia and industry, creating resilient UK businesses and supply chains.

The EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Engineering Hydrogen Net Zero will develop the necessary networking, training and skills in future doctoral level leaders to enable rapid growth in hydrogen-related technology to meet the UK government's 2050 net zero targets. This CDT is a partnership of three world class Universities and around 40 Industrial and Civic organisations. The CDT aims to address the challenging aspects of rapid growth in hydrogen production and usage such as cost, supply and waste chain development, scalability, different system configurations, new technology, and social requirements through a blended cohort co-creation approach. The CDT will provide mandatory and optional training in Fundamental Knowledge, Thinking Innovatively, Business Acumen and Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Community (EDIC). A cohort based CDT is most appropriate for embedding skills in Engineering Hydrogen Net Zero due to the breadth of the training needs and the need for co-support and co-learning. In addition to a tailored co-created skills training program, the CDT will engage with partners to address key research priority areas. The CDT research plans are aligned with the EPSRC's "Engineering Net Zero" research priority, aiming to engineer low-cost hydrogen for net zero. Decarbonisation is not just implementation of a single solution fits all but a complex process of design that is dependent on what is being decarbonised e.g. different types of chemical industry to whether or not there is future access to a hydrogen hub. This results in the requirement for many new solutions to ensure affordability, scalability and sustainability. This includes undertaking research on hydrogen into topics such as, design for scalability, hydrogen on demand, new low cost materials, new interfaces, new processes, new storage means, new energy interactions, new waste management, existing infrastructure adaption and lifespan monitoring and management and social acceptance. The CDT will work with industry and civic partners to generate impact through innovation through research. This will include direct financial benefits, improved policy outcomes through engagement with local authorities, government organizations, and standards bodies, enhanced public engagement and acceptance of hydrogen, and create employment opportunities for students with industry-ready skills. The CDT represents an excellent opportunity for students to work together, with industry and with world leading international experts on impactful projects for a common decarbonisation goal with multifunctional stakeholders. This CDT will build upon the experience of the University partners and the lessons learnt from participation in 7 previous CDT's to bring forward best practice (e.g. buddy scheme and childcare funding) and remove roadblocks to opportunities (e.g. timetable clashes). We will co-create a CDT with international reach and access to over £55m worth of hydrogen and wind turbine demonstrator and research facilities. The team has excellent links with Universities and Industry internationally including partners in Europe, Canada, Malawi, China, USA, Brazil and Australia. CDT students will have opportunities to learn from International experts at a summer design and build, link with world leading experts to build international networks of contacts, undertake CPD activities (such as partner site visits), attend national and international conferences & partners secondments, research sandpits and webinars. All activities will be undertaken with due care, diligence & best practice in EDIC. The academic, industrial and civic team has the expertise to deliver the vision of the co-created CDT through the development of a unique research and training program.

Nuclear fusion, Generation IV fission reactors and aerospace gas turbines are critical to our future energy generation and transportation. Their operation at high temperatures necessitates construction from a variety of advanced materials. In order to withstand these extreme environments materials require high melting points, high temperature strength and environmental resistance, and, for nuclear, irradiation resistance. There are strong environmental and economic incentives to yet further increase the temperature capability of the materials used, in order to improve efficiency to reduce fuel use, as well as for improve performance, design life and safety. However, while iterative improvements are being made year on year the temperature gains are becoming ever harder to realise. In this Future Leaders Fellowship a step change in temperature capability is sought by the realisation of a new class of body-centred-cubic (bcc, an atomic crystal structure) superalloys based on (1) Tungsten, (2) Titanium, and (3) Steel, for the extreme environments of nuclear fusion and gen IV fission reactors as well as aerospace gas turbine engines. I have created a close network of industrial, national and international academic partners, that will enable translation of these advanced materials from concept through to scale-up. The collaborations will be split across the bcc-superalloys Work Packages: (WP1) Tungsten, linking in UKAEA, toward nuclear fusion and Gen IV fission; (WP2) Titanium, for aero-engines, working with Rolls Royce and TIMET; (WP3) Steels, part of a collaboration with UKAEA, Bangor University and University of Manchester. Bcc superalloys comprise a metal matrix, where the atoms are arranged in a bcc crystal structure, which are reinforced by forming precipitates of high strength ordered-bcc intermetallic compounds (e.g. TiFe or NiAl). This has parallels to the strategy used in current face-centred-cubic (fcc) nickel-based superalloys. However, changing the base metal's crystal structure, and therefore also the reinforcing intermetallic compound, represents a fundamental redesign and necessitates the development of new understanding. The key advantage of using a bcc refractory-metal-, titanium-, or steel- based superalloy is their increased melting point(s), which give the possibility of increased operating temperatures, as well as greatly reduced cost for the case of steels. However, the change in crystal structure requires a fundamentally new design strategy. While the limited investigations into bcc superalloys have indicated that they have attractive strength, and creep resistance, they have been held back by their low ductility. During this fellowship, I will thoroughly investigate multiple ductilisation strategies on bcc-superalloys to advance their technology readiness level (TRL) and so remove the current barrier to their commercialisation.

The scientific discipline of fluid dynamics is primarily concerned with the measurement, modelling and underlying physics and mathematics of how liquids and gases behave. Almost all natural and manufactured systems involve the flow of fluids, which are often complex. Consequently, an understanding of fluid dynamics is integral to addressing major societal challenges including industrial competitiveness, environmental resilience, the transition to net-zero and improvements to health and healthcare. Fluid dynamics is essential to the transition of the energy sector to a low-carbon future (for example, fluid dynamics simulations coupled with control algorithms can significantly increase wind farm efficiency). It is vital to our understanding and mitigation of climate change, including extreme weather events (for example in designing flood mitigation schemes). It is key to the digitisation of manufacturing through 3d printing/additive manufacturing and development of new greener processing technologies. In healthcare, computational fluid dynamics in combination with MRI scanning provides individualised modelling of the cardio-vascular system enabling implants such as stents to be designed and tested on computers. Fluid dynamics also shows how to design urban environments and ventilate buildings to prevent the build-up of pollutants and the transmission of pathogens. The UK has long been a world-leader in fluid dynamics research. However, the field is now advancing rapidly in response to the demand to address more complex and interwoven problems on ever-faster timescales. Data-driven fluid dynamics is a major area where there are rapid advances, with the increasing application of data-science and machine learning techniques to fluid flow data, as well as the use of Artificial Intelligence to accelerate computational simulations. For the UK to maintain its competitive position requires an investment in training the next generation of research leaders who have experience of developing and applying these new techniques and approaches to fluids problems, along with professional and problem-solving skills to lead the successful adoption of these approaches in industry and research. The University of Leeds is distinctive through the breadth, depth and unified structure of its fluid dynamics research, coordinated through the Leeds Institute for Fluid Dynamics (LIFD), making it an ideal host for this CDT. The CDT in Future Fluid Dynamics (FFD-CDT) will build on the experience of successfully running a CDT in Fluid Dynamics to address these new and exciting needs. Our students will carry out cutting-edge research developing new fluid dynamics approaches and applying them across a diverse range of engineering, physics, computing, environmental and physiological challenges. We will recruit and train cohorts of students with diverse backgrounds, covering engineering, mathematical, physical and environmental sciences, in both the fundamental principles of fluid dynamics and new data-driven methodologies. Alongside this technical training we will provide a team-based, problem-led programme of professional skills training co-developed with industry to equip our graduates with the leadership, team-working and entrepreneurial skills that they need to succeed in their future careers. We will build an inclusive, diverse and welcoming community that supports cross-disciplinary science and effective and productive collaborations and partnerships. Our CDT cohort will be at the heart of growing this capability, integrated with and within the Leeds Institute for Fluid Dynamics to deliver a dynamic and vibrant training and research environment with strong UK and international partnerships in academia, industry, policy and outreach.