From October 2016, an integrated EPSRC-HiPEDS CDT 4-year PhD programme was run jointly with the Departments of Computing and Electrical and Electronic Engineering. The first year allowed students to follow a programme consisting of, in addition to their PhD groundwork, various research training and professional skills:

• Group Project (Autumn term),  an “Outreach” project sponsored by industrial partners, resulting in a poster and presentation;
• Academic reading course (Autumn/Spring terms), to develop skills in critical reading of research papers. with continuous feedback of student reviews and presentations to their peers;
• Research literature survey of the PhD topic area, written in the style of a survey paper with a report and presentation to a supervisor, members of the CDT team and their peers;
• HiPEDS specific component, currently a course in Cyber-Physical Systems;
• Various Professional skills and Cohort activities: for example Presentations, group discussions and seminars, specific HiPEDS seminars and meetings.

Further cohort and leadership building activities, including outreach and public engagement were undertaken during the remaining three years of the PhD programme along with opportunities for industrial internships.

Creativity Sandpits

Annual Creativity Sandpits were held in conjunction with industry.  The Creativity Sandpit brought together PhD students from different CDTs to explore and develop potential solutions to real world challenges from industry. Students worked in small groups to explore the challenges, generate innovative ideas for addressing them, develop potential solutions and pitch their proposals to industry representatives.