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Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference: EP/I028153/1
Title: Future Communications: People, Power and Performanace
Principal Investigator: Bull, Professor D
Other Investigators:
Beach, Professor M
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Airbus Operations Limited ARM Ltd BT
CSR plc Defence Science & Tech Lab DSTL Digital Communications - KTN
GCHQ General Dynamics UK Ltd His Majesty's Government Communications
ICERA Inc Imagination Technologies Ltd UK MBDA
NEC NMI (National Microelectronics Inst) PicoChip Designs Limited
Plessey Semiconductors Ltd Provision Communications Ltd Renishaw
STFC Laboratories (Grouped) Thales Ltd Toshiba
Department: Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Organisation: University of Bristol
Scheme: Centre for Doctoral Training
Starts: 01 April 2011 Ends: 30 September 2023 Value (£): 2,216,772
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
Digital Signal Processing Networks & Distributed Systems
Optical Communications RF & Microwave Technology
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
Aerospace, Defence and Marine Communications
Electronics
Related Grants:
Panel History:
Panel DatePanel NameOutcome
07 Oct 2010 ICT Centres for Doctoral Training Deferred
12 Nov 2010 ICT Centres for Doctoral Training Comms Interviews Announced
Summary on Grant Application Form
The Communications sector is a vital component within the UK economy, with revenues in this area totalling around 129B. Recognised as a key enabler of telecommunications, broadcasting and ICT, communications is also poised to be a transformational technology in areas such as energy, the environment, health and transport. The UK is well placed to reap the full economic and social benefits enabled by communications and investment in a CDT, embracing the breath and reach of the discipline, will help to facilitate our economic recovery and growth and enhance our global standing.There is a serious and growing concern over the future availability of suitably skilled staff to work in the communications sector in the UK. International competition is fierce, with large investments being made by competitor countries in research and in the training of personnel. IT and telecoms companies in the UK are reporting difficulties in attracting candidates with the right skills. In this context, the National Microelectronics Institute and the IET have warned that the ICT sector is facing a growing recruitment crisis with little confidence that the problem will improve in the short or medium term. Various organisations (eg DC-KTN and Royal Academy of Engineering) with support from industry are addressing this issue but acknowledge that it cannot be achieved without relevant high quality under- and postgraduate degrees through which specialist skills can be obtained.To address this shortage, a new Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in 'Future Communication' is proposed. The University of Bristol has a world leading reputation in this field, focused on its Centre for Communications Research (CCR), but built on close collaboration between colleagues from Mathematics, Computer Science, Safety Systems and industry. Our vision is to establish a world-leading research partnership which is focused on demand and firmly footed in a commercial context, but with freedom to conduct academically lead blue skies research.The Bristol CDT will be focused on people: not just as research providers, but also as technology consumers and, importantly, as solutions to the UK skills shortage. It will develop the skilled entrepreneurial engineers of the future, provide a coherent advanced training network for the communications community that will be recognised internationally and produce innovative solutions to key emerging research challenges. Over the next eight years, the CDT will build on Bristol's core expertise in Efficient Systems and Enabling Technologies to engineer novel solutions, offering enhanced performance, lower cost and reduced environmental impact. The taught component of the Programme will build on our MSc programme in Communication Systems & Signal Processing, acknowledged as leading in the UK, complemented by additional advanced material in statistics, optimisation and Human-Computer Interaction. This approach will leverage existing commitment and teaching expertise. Enterprise will form a core part of the programme, including: Project Management, Entrepreneurship, Public Communication, Marketing and Research Methods. Through its research programme and some 50 new PhD students, the CDT will undertake fundamental work in communication theory, optimisation and reliability. This will be guided by the commercial imperatives from our industry partners, and motivated by application drivers in Smart Grid, transport, healthcare, military/homeland security, safety critical systems and multimedia delivery. While communications technology is the enabler it is humans that are the consumers, users and beneficiaries in terms of its broader applications. In this respect we will focus our research programme on the challenges within and interactions between the key domains of People, Power and Performance.
Key Findings
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Organisation Website: http://www.bris.ac.uk