The Cockcroft Institute has recently been awarded funding for a new doctoral training centre from STFC which had its first kick-off meeting on the 8th November. The Accelerators for Security, Healthcare and Environment (ASHE) project has a number of PhD students in 2017 who will undertake research projects on the application of particle accelerators to these three vital areas. The first cohort will look into projects on radiotherapy, X-ray imaging and cargo screening. The project has strong backing from industrial partners and each project is linked to at least one UK company. Each student will take a 3-6 month industrial placement in that company. Industrial partners include Elekta, TMD, Antaya, Adaptix, Rapiscan and the NHS through Christie and Clatterbridge. The students will also receive training in technical skills relevant for industry and industrially relevant skills in innovation, management and business.
The head of the ASHE project Dr Graeme Burt at the Cockcroft and Lancaster University said “The Cockcroft has long had a world leading education programme in the training of PhD student, and this new project aligns this with our strength in accelerators aimed towards the UK’s industrial strategy”.