The Purpose
DRIVERS (Developing Researchers with an Interdisciplinary Vision for Engineering Reactor Systems) will train the next generation of nuclear engineers and scientists with the advanced technical, interdisciplinary and digital skills needed to support the UK’s civil and defence nuclear programmes. It is a consortium comprising: Imperial College London, Bangor University, University of Bristol, University of Manchester and Swansea University.
The UK’s ambitions for energy security, net zero and national defence all depend on a highly skilled nuclear workforce. From large-scale power stations to emerging small modular and advanced modular reactors, and fleets of nuclear-powered submarines, the design and safe operation of nuclear systems require world-leading expertise across nuclear science and engineering.
DRIVERS will address this national skills need by training doctoral researchers in the integrated design and assessment of nuclear reactor systems. The programme will focus on three critical areas of nuclear engineering — reactor physics, thermal hydraulics and structural integrity — bringing them together through modern digital tools, high-performance computing and data-driven modelling approaches.
The programme
Core Programme (Year 1): Condensed courses on topics delivered across the partners on:
- Introduction to Nuclear
- Safety and regulation
- Nuclear Innovation and Energy Futures
- AI/MLand Data Science in Nuclear Engineering
5. Familiarisation: Students will have bespoke familiarisation modules with their sponsoring partners.
Technical Elective Themes: An 18-month programme (Y2-3) spanning pairs of cohorts to generate specialist technical depth in their focus areas: Reactor Physics, Thermal Hydraulics or Through-life Structural Integrity.
Core capstone: A 2-6 month industry placement with the sponsor, at their nuclear licensed site. It also incorporates cohort visits to large scale nuclear projects, in the the UK and overseas.
Innovation, Dissemination, Research Skills and Research Integrity: Training in research commercialisation and translation; strategic communication training; and outreach/public engagement.