Imperial Cambridge Open Centre for Doctoral Training (ICO CDT)

The Imperial Cambridge Open CDT preceded the NEF CDT. The ICO CDT began in 2014 and will finish in 2022, during which time it will train over 50 students across 5 cohorts to become leaders in the nuclear energy industry.

With projects ranging from improving the efficiency of fuel and reactors to decommissioning and geological disposal, the students have produced high-quality research across a range of areas. The programme started with £4 million in funding from the EPSRC, as well as additional funding from industry sponsors such as Rolls Royce, EDF and Sellafields.

The ICO CDT is still active with several cohorts yet to finish, although it is no longer open to new applicants.

Engineering student in the lab
 

ICO CDT MPhil plus 3-year PhD

Applications are now closed

In this section, you can find out more about the previous CDT, the achievements of its students and the memorable events from the time it ran. We hope this will help give you a better picture about what life in a CDT is like.

  • Long-term nuclear decommissioning InSAR monitoring

    Structural integrity of additively manufactured metallic parts for repair and build of an extra-terrestrial nuclear power plant

    Computational studies of the effect of surface defects on boiling in nuclear reactors

    High Fidelity Multiphysics Fuel Performance and Nuclear Thermal Hydraulics Modelling for LWRs and SMRs

    Modelling of the dissolution of nuclear waste forms

    Atomic-scale dynamics of molten salts in nuclear energy applications

    Retardation of radionuclides and contaminants in weathered chalk

    Advanced Radiation Transport Methods

    Groundwater dissolution of spent nuclear fuel

    Reduced Order Modelling applied hierarchically to Nuclear Reactors

    Modelling Methods for Optimal Functionally Graded Materials by Novel Processing

  • Mechanistic Studies of Uranium Sorption onto Functionalised Magnetic Nanoparticles

    Tribological Response of Bearings for NPPs

    Microstructurally informed structural integrity of austenitic alloys for nuclear power applications

    The Effect of Back-Stress on Creep Fatigue Life Using High-Resolution Digital Image Correlation

    Next generation composite materials for extreme environments in nuclear fusion power reactors

    Safety Analysis of Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactors

    Measurements of boiling heat transfer in nanofluids

    The Development of a Regulatory Framework for the Licensing of a Nuclear Fusion Power Station

    Advanced MAX Phase Materials and their Corrosion Mechanisms for Accident Tolerant Fuels

    The Regulation of a Radioactive Waste Geological Disposal Facility in England and Wales

    Nuclear Energy as a Power Source for Extra-terrestrial construction

    Nuclear Reactor Dynamics and Fuel Performance Studies of Conceptual Space Nuclear Propulsion and Power Systems

    Technology and Economics Assessment of Small-scale Fusion Systems

  • Uncertainty Quantification in Nuclear Reactor Simulation and Analysis

    Reduced Order Models in Nuclear Thermal Hydraulics

    Simulation and Measurement of Creep Cavitation and Creep Strain in 316H SS

    Next Generation Advanced Temperature-Dependent Hard Alloys for Clean Nuclear Energy

    Stronglink Design – Novel Concepts in Nuclear Surety Mechanisms

    The interaction of water with actinide dioxides

  • Atmospheric induced stress corrosion cracking of 304L grade austenitic stainless steels

    Experimental Analysis of Delayed Hydride Cracking

    Peridynamics modelling of nuclear fuel cladding

    The Effect of the Production System Configuration on Small Modular Reactor Economics

    The Irradiation and Characterisation of Zr-based MAX Phases

    Development of layered zirconium carbide materials for accident tolerant nuclear fuels using element specific spectoscopy

    Nuclear space propulsion systems with low enriched uranium

    Chemical and Radiolytic Ageing of Actinide Oxides

    Experimental Set-up of an Irradiation Programme for Reactor Pressure Vessel Steels at ANSTO

    An Investigation of He Mobility and Formation in FCC Metals

    Deformation Rates and Seismicity of the UK from InSAR

    Coupled Transport, Burnup and Thermal Hydraulics

  • Residual stresses in next generation nuclear power plant

    Development of a Multi-objective Optimization Capability for Heterogeneous LWR Fuel Assemblies

    Atomistic Simulation of Fission Products in Zirconia

    Pressurized Water Reactor In-Core Nuclear Fuel Management by Tabu Search

    Managing the UK's Stockpile of Pu through the use of Th-Pu MOX in LWRs

    "A Novel Route to Compact Fusion: Key Issues and the Availability of

    Critical Natural Resources"

    The Effect of Hydrogen in Steel

    On-demand electricity from future fission energy systems