UK and Canadian organisations announce CCS researcher exchange programme

The UK CCS Research Centre (UKCCSRC) and Carbon Management Canada (CMC-NCE) have established an exchange program allowing Early Career Researchers (ECRs) from their respective organisations to collaborate with each other on carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects. Up to £5,000 is available per proposal to fund graduate students and post doctoral researchers.  The exchanges will build new or strengthening existing collaborations between the two countries’ top researchers, share experimental facilities and exchange knowledge. 

Prof. Jon Gibbins, UKCCSRC Director said, “the global scale of climate change demands global efforts in emission reduction research. This programme will allow talented UK researchers to build links with our Canadian colleagues, who are active in CCS.  We anticipate this programme will establish cutting edge research collaborations which will advance CCS R&D and add value to both the UK and Canadian CCS research programmes.”

“We at CMC are really excited about this program. Young researchers will be the ones to deliver breakthrough solutions to today’s carbon management problems – but they won’t do it working in isolation. Collaboration is a critical element in the innovation process and exchange programs like this one help our early career scientists build the relationships necessary for the development of ground-breaking, deployable technologies,” said Dr. Steve Larter, CMC’s Scientific Director. 

This joint programme comes after researchers in both organisations met this summer on a visit to Canada supported by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office.  Results and outcomes from these exchanges will be shared with organisation members. 

It is expected that up to four UK and four Canadian early career researchers will be selected from applications submitted to a joint panel by mid-May, with applications chosen by end-May. The program will fund up to one-month of travel which must occur between July 1, 2013 and June 30, 2014.  In Canada, CMC will fund only those ERCs who are currently working on CMC-funded research projects.  In the UK, ECRs should collaborate with Canadian colleagues involved in CMC-funded projects where applicable.