Centre for Doctoral Training in Sustainable Management of UK Marine Resources (CDT SuMMeR)

CDT SuMMeR has been designed to deliver the next generation of innovative transdisciplinary engaged researchers
ocean waves

A warm welcome from the Director, Professor Melanie Austen

Welcome to the Centre for Doctoral Training in Sustainable Management of UK Marine Resources (CDT SuMMeR). We are excited to have the opportunity to train PhD students to be the next generation of innovative, transdisciplinary researchers, solution providers and practitioners needed to support the government and non-government sectors who must deliver sustainable management of our precious marine resources. Students graduating from SuMMeR CDT will be highly employable experts who are part of a career-boosting network of uniquely trained transdisciplinary scientists.

Sustainable management of marine resources is increasingly complex. It requires application and integration of different academic disciplines, in other words interdisciplinary approaches. These should be co-developed with stakeholders including policy makers, regulators, industry, businesses and the public, in other words transdisciplinary approaches. We urgently need to build transdisciplinary research capability to underpin sustainable management of our marine resources.

Our philosophy in SuMMeR is that our students are at the heart and centre of the CDT. They will be supported on their research training by their supervisors and mentors from our academic partners across the UK, but crucially every student will also have one or more stakeholder supervisors in their supervisory team. These stakeholder supervisors come from our multi-sector, UK-wide network of more than 45 Associate Partners from industry, government and third sectors.
Importantly, in CDT SuMMeR we want to play our part to improve equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in the environmental sciences. We are determined to make a difference, so EDI is also at the heart of SuMMeR, for CDT staff and for students, through the whole journey from project development, to recruitment, completion and to exit.
In total, our CDT will take three cohorts of students, with the first intake having started in October 2022. If you are as excited as I am about addressing marine management problems from inter- and transdisciplinary perspectives, want to develop these approaches as the ‘norm’ and apply them in your future career, then do return soon to see the upcoming projects being offered. I look forward to welcoming our incoming CDT SuMMeR students.

CDT SuMMeR is now closed for applications to our PhD studentships

Getty. Brixham. Fishing community, maritime, marine, devon
CDT SuMMer
The CDT SuMMeR PhD studentships are co-funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), UK Research and Innovation

Partners

CDT SuMMeR brings together six hosting partners, including the University of Plymouth as lead, and four collaborative partners who are all world leaders in marine research and postgraduate training. 45 associate partners from multiple sectors will support and provide CASE studentship awards.

Hosting partners

Collaborative partners

Associate partners