Early career training with European partners
25th August 2009
PML continues its commitment to early career development and has
become a partner in the EU funded project SENSEnet, a network of young
scientists and engineers that will tackle the technology challenges
of monitoring our rapidly changing marine environment.
There is increasing recognition that in order to understand the
ocean and the response to environmental change, there is a critical
need for in situ sensors that collect a wide range of data in a
variety of marine environments.
The project aims to address this need by bringing together
Europe’s most talented young chemists, physicists, biologists and
engineers from 15 research organisations and 2 industrial partners.
The focus of this Marie Curie Initial Training Network is to
provide young researchers with the expertise and experience from a
broad range of disciplines in addition to their primary study area.
The sensor technology industry partners also provide invaluable
commercial insight and training.
Malcolm Woodward, nutrient chemist at PML and the PML
representative in the network, said: “SENSEnet is a great initiative as
it gives young scientists the opportunity to gain skills in a wide
range of techniques within many scientific disciplines, from
monitoring sensor development to data analysis. This knowledge and
experience is then built upon by offering industry and application
training. I look forward to co-supervising the PhD studentship”
The PhD studentship, hosted by the University of Southampton,
the National Oceanography Centre and PML, is to improve and
miniaturise technologies for detecting and analysing very low
levels of nitrate and phosphate in the ocean. This work will then
be followed by autonomous deployment and testing at the
Western Channel
Observatory.
Fellow UK partners in the SENSEnet project are the
Natural Environment Research Council,
University of Southampton and
Chelsea Technologies Group.