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Aston University to train the UK’s next generation of decarbonisation experts

Mar 12, 2024

6 min

Patricia Thornley
  • Consortium led by the University is to receive almost £11 million to open doctoral training centre
  • Will focus on use of biomass to replace fossil fuels and removal of CO2
  • “…part of the UK’s biggest-ever investment in engineering and physical sciences doctoral skills”.



Aston University is to train the next generation of scientists tasked to remove greenhouse gases from the environment.

A consortium led by the University is to receive almost £11 million to open a doctoral training centre which will focus on leading the UK towards net zero.


The centre, based at Aston University, will bring together world-leading research expertise and facilities from the University of Nottingham, Queens University Belfast and the University of Warwick and more than 25 industrial partners.


The funding has been announced by the UK science, innovation and technology secretary Michelle Donelan. The centre is to receive almost £8 million of government money while the remainder will be made up through match funding and support from industry and the four universities. The government has described it as part of the UK’s biggest-ever investment in engineering and physical sciences doctoral skills, totalling more than £1 billion.


The Aston University centre will focus on the use of biomass to replace fossil fuels and removal (or capture) of CO2 from the atmosphere, with the potential to create new sources of fuels and chemicals. Integration of these two areas will lead to significant cost and energy savings.


Called NET2Zero, the centre will train PhD students across the full range of engineered greenhouse gas removal techniques including direct air capture, CO2 utilisation (including chemical and material synthesis), biomass to energy with carbon capture and storage, and biochar.


The students will work in the centre’s laboratories exploring the conversion of feedstock into alternative energy, improving conversion processes and measuring how the new technologies will impact the economy.


Supported by a range of relevant industrial, academic and policy partners the centre will equip students to develop the broad range of skills essential for future leaders in decarbonisation.


NET2Zero will be led by Professor Patricia Thornley, director of Aston University’s Energy and Bioproducts Research Institute (EBRI).


She said: “I am delighted that this centre for doctoral training has been funded. The climate emergency is so stark that we can no longer rely on demand reduction and renewables to meet our decarbonisation targets.


“If we are to have greenhouse gas removal options ready in time to be usefully deployed, we need to start now to expand our knowledge and explore the reality of how these can be deployed. This partnership of four leading UK universities with key industrial and policy partners will significantly augment the UK’s ability to deliver on its climate ambitions.”


“We are absolutely delighted to be working with our partners to deliver this unique and exciting programme to train the technology leaders of the future. Our students will deliver research outcomes that are urgently needed and only made possible by combining the expertise and resources of all the centre’s academic and industry partners.”


Science and technology secretary, Michelle Donelan, said: “As innovators across the world break new ground faster than ever, it is vital that government, business and academia invests in ambitious UK talent, giving them the tools to pioneer new discoveries that benefit all our lives while creating new jobs and growing the economy.


“By targeting critical technologies including artificial intelligence and future telecoms, we are supporting world class universities across the UK to build the skills base we need to unleash the potential of future tech and maintain our country’s reputation as a hub of cutting-edge research and development.”


Centres for doctoral training have a significant reputation in training future UK academics, industrialists and innovators who have gone on to develop the latest technologies.


The University of Nottingham’s Dr Eleanor Binner said: “We are absolutely delighted to be working with our partners to deliver this unique and exciting programme to train the technology leaders of the future. Our students will deliver research outcomes that are urgently needed and only made possible by combining the expertise and resources of all the Centre’s academic and industry partners.”


Her colleague Professor Hao Liu added: “We look forward to providing our best support to the NET2Zero CDT, including using our past and existing successful experience in leading other centres, to make this an exemplar.”


Overall, there will be 65 new Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) centres for doctoral training which will support leading research in areas of national importance including the critical technologies AI, quantum technologies, semiconductors, telecoms and engineering biology. The funding is from a combination of £500 million from UK Research and Innovation and the Ministry of Defence, plus a further £590 million from universities and business partners.


Notes to Editors


EPSRC and BBSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Negative Emission Technologies for Net Zero (NET2ZERO) Led by: Professor Patricia Thornley, Aston University


The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is the main funding body for engineering and physical sciences research in the UK. Our portfolio covers a vast range of fields from digital technologies to clean energy, manufacturing to mathematics, advanced materials to chemistry.


EPSRC invests in world-leading research and skills, advancing knowledge and delivering a sustainable, resilient and prosperous UK. We support new ideas and transformative technologies which are the foundations of innovation, improving our economy, environment and society. Working in partnership and co-investing with industry, we deliver against national and global priorities.


The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) invests in world-class bioscience research and training on behalf of the UK public. Our aim is to further scientific knowledge, to promote economic growth, wealth and job creation and to improve quality of life in the UK and beyond.


Funded by government, BBSRC invested £451 million in world-class bioscience in 2019-20. We support research and training in universities and strategically funded institutes. BBSRC research and the people we fund are helping society to meet major challenges, including food security, green energy and healthier, longer lives. Our investments underpin important UK economic sectors, such as farming, food, industrial biotechnology and pharmaceuticals.



About Centres for Doctoral Training

A CDT trains doctoral students with each centre focused on a specific theme or topic. Most CDTs will support five cohorts (a new cohort starting each academic year) with a cohort supporting an average of thirteen students. Fourteen of the centres will have four cohorts rather than five.


EPSRC supports doctoral students through three training routes (Doctoral Training Partnerships, ICASE awards and CDTs), and in the last 30 years has supported over 50,000 doctoral students.


About Aston University

For over a century, Aston University’s enduring purpose has been to make our world a better place through education, research and innovation, by enabling our students to succeed in work and life, and by supporting our communities to thrive economically, socially and culturally.

Aston University’s history has been intertwined with the history of Birmingham, a remarkable city that once was the heartland of the Industrial Revolution and the manufacturing powerhouse of the world.

Born out of the First Industrial Revolution, Aston University has a proud and distinct heritage dating back to our formation as the School of Metallurgy in 1875, the first UK College of Technology in 1951, gaining university status by Royal Charter in 1966, and becoming The Guardian University of the Year in 2020.

Building on our outstanding past, we are now defining our place and role in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (and beyond) within a rapidly changing world.

For media inquiries in relation to this release, contact Nicola Jones, Press and Communications Manager, on (+44) 7825 342091 or email: n.jones6@aston.ac.uk

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Patricia Thornley

Patricia Thornley

Professor and Chief Scientific Adviser

Patricia works in sustainable fuels - improving the environmental impact of transport and energy systems.

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