Speaker
Prof.
Bruce Hanson
(University of Leeds)
Description
The CINCH project aims to coordinate education in nuclear chemistry, both at PhD and undergraduate levels, within the EU and Russia; targeting doctoral, masters’ students and research workers. Including these students into the system should increase attractiveness of the studies of nuclear chemistry and thus enlarge the source of highly qualified professionals for the future employers.
Across the EU and Russia there is a varied level of training available. In the UK, there exists a well established base for nuclear education available from a wide number of universities, at both undergraduate and post graduate level; funded by the RCUK and privately through student fees. On the whole this follows a 4+4 (MSc/MEng + “long” PhD) version of Bologna. Although some institutions still offer the classic 2 year MSc in nuclear related topics. Due to the large number of courses on offer, the provision of nuclear training is market driven, with students choosing on the basis of attractiveness to industry. Industry is supportive of this approach as it means that they do not have to bear the cost of education.
Across the EU we need to move to similar position, so that industry will able to recruit from a large pool of qualified graduates. The issue facing most EU countries is that there are not enough higher educational institutions capable of delivering nuclear education, and in the case of CINCH nuclear and radiochemistry education, to offer the necessary diversity and numbers of students to satisfy demand. The solution is to form a consortium that offers the full range of subjects required and with each member offering courses that match their speciality. This is the model being developed by CINCH for nuclear and radiochemistry.
Primary author
Prof.
Bruce Hanson
(University of Leeds)
