The University of Bristol is launching a four-year engineering doctorate course it says will enable the substantial local high-tech community to benefit from pre-competitive research in areas of specific interest.
The course will be based in a purpose-built centre in the Faculty of Engineering. There is a taught component that covers specialisations, but students will spend three quarters of their time working with the collaborating company.
“For us it’s a really exciting opportunity because we’re sitting at the centre of this community… and we can provide pre-competitive research,” said Dr Kerstin Eder, senior lecturer in computer science.
“My interest is in design verification and I can’t do this unless I work with the companies we have here in Bristol. It also makes the university a platform for the rapid transfer of knowledge,” he said.
So far four electronics projects have been put together. One, from Broadcom, will look at coverage-directed test generation. Infineon is backing two projects: one on advanced verification methodologies centred around a novel processor architecture; and the other on architecture development.
Projects can be put together by companies with a specific staff member in mind for secondment, or formulated and staffed through recruitment advertising.
“We have candidates lined up [for an October start] but the places are still open and we are going to advertise,” said Eder.
Bristol - and the University of Bath, with which it is collaborating - has won funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council to support the centre.