The Lloyds Register Foundation International Consortium of Nanotechnologies, based at the University of Southampton, is offering awards to support Doctoral scholars. In our second open competitive call for proposals up to 20 studentships will be funded. Applications, which should be clearly collaborative, should be submitted online by academic supervisors, who if successful will have one year to recruit a student. Applications by potential students will not be considered.

ICoN will fund proposals up to £50,000 (GBP), with the requirement that the successful applications secure matched levels of funding. The Doctoral studentships will be awarded on the basis of excellence, impact and fit to the charitable aims of the Lloyd’s Register Foundation and themes in the Foundation’s Foresight Review of Nanotechnology (2014). Examples include nano coatings, sensors, separation applications, nano-dots for tagging components, Health and Safety aspects and Quality Assurance of nano particles in the supply chain, although broader areas of nanotechnologies will be considered.

ICoN’s approach offers a unique model for creating impact by enabling an efficient and effective knowledge transfer internationally, a step change in interdisciplinary research, beyond geographical, institutional and resource boundaries. Our members will participate in relevant workshops and knowledge-exchange meetings as well as undertaking collaborative activities with complementary international groups. ICoN’s greatest outcome will be this nurturing of a new generation of interdisciplinary engineers, who will undoubtedly be valuable assets for both academia and industry.