The Data, Risk and Environmental Analytical Methods Centre for Doctoral Training (DREAM CDT) is a NERC- and ESRC-funded centre for doctoral training. In our increasingly digital world, ‘big data’ is increasingly important to business and society, but the data sets collected are often large and complex and present challenges that necessitate a new generation of analytical tools. Allied to this is the need for a new generation of data scientists and informaticians, who are wholly conversant in theory and practice, and able to seize the opportunities of big data to design and implement effective risk mitigation strategies for academe, industry, NGOs and government across the environmental sciences.

Cranfield is leading DREAM CDT to help bridge this skills gap, developing and shaping industry and policy leaders able to draw effectively on big data to improve operational efficiencies, cost reductions and reduce risk.

The DREAM CDT provides the opportunity for 30 fully-funded PhD studentships in three cohorts to undertake postgraduate research and to apply practical big data analytics. The training will combine excellence in risk mitigation science with cutting-edge big data interpretation across the environmental sciences. The DREAM consortium includes Cranfield University, Newcastle University, the University of Cambridge and the University of Birmingham.