University news

The University of Glasgow is set to lead a multidisciplinary new doctoral-level training centre to create the UK’s next generation of nuclear scientists and engineers.
 
The Skills Centre for Advancing Nuclear Systems, or SCANS, is one of seven recipients of new Doctoral Focal Awards from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and the Ministry of Defence announced today (Friday 13 March).
 
The £65.6m Doctoral Focal Awards are match funded by industry and delivered by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). They will deliver up to six new doctoral training programmes and expand the existing SATURN Centre for Doctoral Training.
 
The announcement is a key part of the Nuclear Skills Plan’s recommendation to quadruple the number of nuclear fission doctoral students to address the sector’s shortage of high-level nuclear skills and refresh an aging workforce.
 
The aim is to equip doctoral students with a broad range of advanced technical skills essential for the UK’s current and future civil and defence nuclear programmes, supporting the UK’s economic growth, energy and national security, and net zero objectives.
 
SCANS unites researchers from the University of Glasgow, SUERC: Centre for the Isotope Sciences, the University of Edinburgh, and Heriot-Watt University with 25 partners from industry and national organisations.
 
The Centre will operate across two integrated and interconnected hubs in Glasgow and Edinburgh, drawing on the partners’ combined expertise in chemistry and radiochemistry, physics, engineering, mathematics, environmental and data science.
 
Together, they will support the UK’s plans to expand its civil and defence nuclear capabilities by combining doctoral training with hands‑on experience across the full lifecycle of nuclear technologies, from the development of advanced fuels and reactors to decommissioning, waste management, and environmental stewardship.
 
SCANS will adopt a cohort-based recruitment and training model to enhance postgraduate experience and tailored training to enable student readiness to join the workforce. Each student will join SCANS as part of a community with networks across scientific disciplines, institutions, and industry partners.
 
This approach, already in use in Centres for Doctoral Training like the University of Glasgow-led DiveIn, aims to recruit and support students from diverse backgrounds, including those entering from mid-career.
 
Over the next seven years, more than 120 supervisors from across the partner institutions will work to train more than 60 individuals in four cohorts of doctoral researchers. They will build a shared foundation in nuclear science while developing tailored expertise to deliver challenge-led research projects co-created with industry.
 
Students will have access to leading research facilities, including The National Robotarium, SUERC’s radioisotope laboratories, Heriot-Watt’s Lyell Centre, the University of Edinburgh’s Pyrochemical Research Laboratory – a National Nuclear User Facility, and the University of Glasgow’s wet‑chemistry, nuclear materials and specialist physics laboratories.
 
At the same time, SCANS students will benefit from the backing of industry and national organisations, who are contributing funding, training, placements and specialist expertise to help students develop their skills and deepen their understanding of the sector.
 
Dr Joy Farnaby, of the University of Glasgow’s School of Chemistry, will lead the Skills Centre for Advancing Nuclear Systems. She said: “I’m delighted to be working with my colleagues at partner institutions to launch SCANS, which represents a unique opportunity to support future innovations in UK’s nuclear sector across the full nuclear lifecycle.
 
“By recruiting and training researchers as cohorts, giving them access to exceptional facilities, and working closely with industry to help them create the workforce they need, we will foster a new generation of experts who will advance the sector for decades to come.”
 
Professor Andy Mount of the University of Edinburgh’s School of Chemistry, lead for the Edinburgh SCANS hub, said “This extraordinary collaboration leverages our combined, multi-disciplinary research, facilities and training expertise -  in areas ranging from materials and process development to sensing and robotics – to equip future leaders with the bespoke skills needed to build a thriving and sustainable UK nuclear sector.”

Recruitment for SCANS will begin in 2026, with the first cohorts starting in the 2026/27 academic year.
 
Professor Charlotte Deane, Executive Chair at UKRI’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council said: “The UK's nuclear sector is central to our national security, clean energy ambitions and economic future. Meeting those challenges demands a new generation of researchers and innovators with the technical expertise to make a real difference.
 
“UKRI doctoral focal awards are a proven way to develop that talent. They bring together academic excellence, industry partnerships and cohort-based learning to give doctoral students the skills and experience to make an immediate impact in the nuclear workforce. 
 
“These new nuclear focal awards, developed in partnership with government, will continue building the research base that the UK's national security and clean energy future depends on.”

First published: 13 March 2026