UK’s Industrial Doctorate Centre for Offshore Renewable Energy secures $7.5M funding

The Industrial Center for Doctoral Training in Offshore Renewable Energy (IDCORE) has secured £6 million (around $7.5 million) from the UK’s funding body, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), allowing the program to continue delivering education and expanding the partnership for another five years. 

The importance of ORE research and cooperation between academia and industry was fortified following the UK’s investment in centers for doctoral training (CDT). This funding allows CDTs such as the University of Edinburgh’s IDCORE program to continue and expand its reach and impact in ORE.

UK’s Science, Innovation, and Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan recently announced that £1 billion had been allocated to 65 different CDTs, focusing on doctoral training in engineering and physical sciences.

“I am delighted that the new IDCORE program has been funded, and that we will be welcoming Swansea University into the partnership which delivers the UK’s leading Engineering Doctorate training program in Offshore Renewable Energy,” said David Ingram, Academic Director of Edinburgh’s School of Engineering and Director of the IDCORE program.

The increased funding prompts an additional £3 million contribution from industry, alongside £480,000 pooled through collaboration between the University of Edinburgh, the University of Exeter, Strathclyde University, the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS), and Swansea University. This funding is said to be utilized to train 50 students. 

The IDCORE program enables students to apply their training to practical situations and facilitates entry into competitive industries upon completion of their four-year doctoral training. 

The program focuses on multidisciplinary study and provides industry exposure to offshore wind, wave, and tidal technologies.  

Program students collaborate on industry projects to address challenges in the sector. For instance, Dr. Alyona Naberezhnykh partnered with the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) and Orbital Marine Power to study the impact of turbulence on Orbital’s turbine, using data collected from the EMEC test site.

IDCORE underscores the importance of collaboration between academia and industry to create innovative solutions, therefore it facilitates addressing challenges in offshore renewable implementation, fostering cooperation among experts from universities and companies globally, said the University of Edinburgh.

“It is hard to say where future IDCORE projects will go. We have exceptionally strong support from wave, tidal, and floating wind developers, engineering consultants, supply chain companies, energy utilities, and catapults,” added Ingram.  

“Our research project areas are led by industrial need and will continue to support initiatives such as: the installation of new HVDC cables to allow the UK to benefit from its huge marine energy resource; to support technology developers like Mocean energy, Nova Innovations and Orbital Marine Power to develop the next generation of wave and tidal energy machines; to help The Crown Estate identify areas for seabed leasing rounds; and more. All I can say is the projects will be high-impact and very exciting!”  

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