| EPSRC Reference: |
EP/Y035674/1 |
| Title: |
EPSRC and MOD Centre for Doctoral Training in Sensing, Processing, and AI for Defence and Security (SPADS) |
| Principal Investigator: |
Hopgood, Professor JR |
| Other Investigators: |
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| Researcher Co-Investigators: |
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| Project Partners: |
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| Department: |
Sch of Engineering |
| Organisation: |
University of Edinburgh |
| Scheme: |
Centre for Doctoral Training |
| Starts: |
01 April 2024 |
Ends: |
30 September 2032 |
Value (£): |
9,106,541
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| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
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| EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications: |
| Aerospace, Defence and Marine |
Information Technologies |
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| Related Grants: |
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| Panel History: |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
Security and defence are fundamental functions of the UK government, enabling a safer society while maintaining a strong national industry. In a globally connected context, where information acquisition and analysis is paramount, it is imperative to maintain a long-term training programme supplying the UK's defence ecosystem with technical experts and highly qualified personnel, equipped to evolve in a rapidly evolving environment.
The task of the user-led EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Sensing, Processing, and AI for Defence and Security (SPADS) is to admit recent university graduates, boost their core engineering skills, equip them with a portfolio of defence-related complementary skills, and allow them to carry out academic research in collaboration with the UK defence community. SPADS will be led by an experienced team of internationally recognised, defence-oriented academics, from the Universities of Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt, and who have long-lasting research collaborations with government institutions and many industrial partners. The CDT will run over 8 years and develop five cohorts of PhD graduates specifically trained to integrate themselves into the UK's defence ecosystem as top-tier talent. The expectation is that upon graduation, SPADS students will fulfil roles such as top-level scientific experts, large-team leaders and high-level executives across defence contractors, government agencies and defence-oriented start-ups, although this list is not exhaustive.
To achieve this, SPADS has identified four core areas of critically important defence-related engineering expertise: hardware design, sensing and data processing, AI and autonomy, and multi-agent systems. Notably these areas span from low-level hardware design, where key challenges relate to system consumption, size and performance, all the way to the top-level where networks of systems/sensors can coordinate their behaviour. These areas are highly interconnected, share common engineering foundations, and require technical personnel with at least one core expertise and sufficiently generally trained to communicate and work within multi-disciplinary environments; precisely the people the SPADS seeks to train. Not only will SPADS train the next-generation workforce that the UK defence organisations critically need, it will also equip them with the tools to pioneer and lead in generation-after-next systems and adapt to new and emerging technologies.
The expected outcomes have key implications for both UK national security and economic prosperity. (1) SPADS will fund an array of scientific/engineering projects, led by industrial applications, contributing very directly to UK technological capability. (2) It will create a pool of top-tier talents for UK defence-related institutions, which will significantly facilitate their currently intense and risky talent-hunt. (3) It will create and a strong network of skilled engineers and researchers and knit together the next generation UK's defence ecosystem.' (5) SPADS' original 8-year span will lay the foundations long-term training of defence-related PhD-level specialists, encouraging private investment in UK defence. (6) The fundamental and underpinning nature of the SPADS projects will ultimately be exploited in the defence sector, but also in the civilian sector such as healthcare, automotive or the gaming industry, much like NASA projects jump-started entire civilian industries and products.
In summary, SPADS will make the UK defence industry and defence-related government institutions capable of hiring expert personnel more easily, develop novel AI technology faster, invest in the UK with increased confidence and work together more tightly than ever before, maintaining the world-leading position of the UK in a rapidly evolving global landscape. The underpinning research and projects will also find applications in other industries, making the UK a safer and more productive nation.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
| Summary |
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| Date Materialised |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.ed.ac.uk |