Industry
Effective industrial partnerships are vital to produce the next generation of geospatial engineers and data scientists
In partnership with
INDUSTRY PARTNERS
Diverse Partnerships
Whoever you are we welcome and value your contribution to the CDT.
There are many ways for you to partner with the us. We support you through the partnering process to make sure the engagement meets your needs.
SMEs to multi-nationals, for-profit or non-profit. First time working with a CDT or academia? Financial or time constraints? We have engagement options to suit you.
WHY ENGAGE?
Impacts and Benefits
Unlock the potential of academic engagement, subsequent return on investment and the wider impacts by engaging with us. Partnering with us will allow you to inform, shape and advise the research within the CDT, while providing you with the alternative insight and innovation to address the problems you face in new ways. Wider benefits include integration into our ecosystem of industry partners with shared insights, working closely with and supporting upcoming experts and leaders in the geospatial industry, upskilling your work force through collaboration and the wider benefits to your supply chain.
OUR OPTIONS
Ways to Engage
We offer a sliding-scale of ways in which you can engage with us. Increased engagement allows you to unlock greater benefits of working with us and subsequent return on investment, which typically involves increased staff time and/or financial commitment.
GET IN TOUCH
Begin the Process
- Contact our CDT Manager to arrange an introductory chat
- Complete our expression of interest form:
- Subscribe to our mailing list: Please edit the subject to include your first name and last name
- Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter
Frequently Asked Questions
Some of the most common questions from current and prospective partners
To fully-fund a 4-year studentship in the CDT will be £29k per year, which includes rights to student IP and an additional EPSRC-funded studentship at no extra cost. To part-fund a 4-year studentship in the CDT will be £15k per year.
The in-kind contribution to support a studentship will vary between projects, but we expect allocated supervision time of 1-4 hours per month. Additional in-kind support may include providing access to datasets, equipment, facilities, and training. Industry partners typically host the student for a period during their PhD studies to facilitate a closer working relationship.
We welcome newcomers to the CDT, the best way to engage initially is to complete our expression of interest form and we will set up an intro chat to discuss the best ways for you to engage. Our CDT events – The Annual Assembly and Innovation Festival are free to attend and open to all from industry.
Supporting a studentship will allow you to inform, shape and advise the research within the CDT, while providing you with the alternative insight and innovation to address the problems you face in new ways. Wider benefits include integration into our ecosystem of industry partners with shared insights, working closely with and supporting upcoming experts and leaders in the geospatial industry, upskilling your work force through collaboration and the wider benefits to your supply chain.
Partner onboarding varies by level of engagement. The first step is making contact with our Partnerships Manager, using the expression of interest form. From there an intro meeting will be set up with us to scope-out the mutual interest to collaborate and the most suitable engagement. For in-kind project collaboration we ask for a letter of support / intent, outlining the level of support you will bring to the project. For directly funded studentships a contractual agreement will be put in place.
The first step is making contact with our Partnerships Manager, using the expression of interest form. From there an intro meeting will be set up with a prospective academic team to scope-out the synergies on which to co-create a studentship. From here the academic team will produce a project draft, which you can then amend to ensure it meets your needs while maintaining the innovative value.
Yes, we welcome international and multi-national collaboration. There is no requirement to be UK-based, particularly given the digital component to the core of CDT research and the use of video calls for supervisory meetings and hybrid events.
Our Challenge Week projects are completed within a 5-day working week. Our MRes group project covers a calendar month. Our MRes research projects are 4-month in duration. PhD research is completed within 3 years, with periodic review and insight returned to the industry partner.
Projects are selected for advertisement primarily on their merit to the research themes and application domains of the CDT. Projects supported with a direct contribution from industry are of higher merit as they allow us to allocate our studentship quota from EPSRC to more of the best projects with in-kind support. Projects go live in the CDT following recruitment of a suitable student with the correct background expertise, vision for their time with the CDT and their personal attributes.
Yes, we welcome upskilling of industry-sponsored staff through the programme. The CDT programme is full-time throughout the 4-years and so the project scope and applicant must be carefully matched to ensure suitability for the CDT, industry partner and the student.
All background IP brought to a project is owned by their respective parties. Foreground generated IP is either solely or jointly owned. For in-kind and part-funded studentships arising IP generated by the student remains in their possession. Only in the case of fully-funded studentships is ownership of arising student IP assigned to the industry partner.
Yes, we are happy to put you in touch with our current industry partners, please contact our Partnerships Manager to arrange this. Alternatively, consider attending one of our industry-focussed events to meet our other industry partners.
Our students graduate with a PhD from the CDT each December between 2023-2027. Students are available for employment on submission of their PhD thesis and successful viva review, which due to pauses in studies and extensions can take place at any time throughout the year, but is most likely to be during summer.
Return on Investment – What Our Current Partners Say
I cannot speak highly enough of the professional attitude of the staff and students involved in this project, and the results of their hard work was duly published in a well-received academic paper.
The positive collaboration of being part of the CDT will form one of the foundation stones for the future management of this part of the World Heritage Site.
Dr Andrew Birley, CEO, The Vindolanda Trust
It was fantastic to see the students apply their skills to our optimisation of EV charging locations project. Fresh ideas and data were injected into our project, which we continue to work on as we develop our optimal EV charging location solution.
Dr Andrew Jenkins, CEO and Founder, Kinewell Energy
This project has the potential to improve the way in which Ordnance Survey handle multimodal datasets in the creation of complex 3D models at the national scale.
Dr Stefano Cavazzi, Principal Innovation & Research Scientist, Ordnance Survey
The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) support of the Geospatial Systems Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) is delivering leading and valuable geospatial insights to support Defence science and technology. Our funding of two PhD studentships is advancing Defence ambitions in digital twins and innovative transfer learning over future, smart cities. As a member of the CDT Industrial Board, we enjoy participating in an energetic CDT that is outwards facing and producing the next generation of geospatial analysts. Events such as the CDT Annual Assembly and Innovation Festival attract diverse, industrial suppliers of relevance to Defence, offering direct access to doctoral students and their research. Our participation and support of the Geospatial Systems CDT continues to offer Defence benefits, while mirroring the Dstl values of innovation, collaboration and impact.
DSTL
Blueline’s engaged with the CDT Geospatial team to analyse over 9 million sets of journey records in order to better understand mobility trends in our region, helping the firm and other stakeholders to plan for future transport schemes and green policies. The comprehensive reports and analysis produced by the CDT allowed Blueline to make effective strategic decisions based on novel insights and has informed decision-making and our investment into the region. Hugely valuable.
Blueline Group
