Training Europe’s next generation of young scientists
The Centre for Freshwater and Environmental Studies (CFES) at Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) was recently selected to lead a cross-European Innovative Training Network for the Management of Climatic Extreme Events in Lakes and Reservoirs for the Protection of Ecosystem Services (MANTEL). It brings together expertise in lake physics, biogeochemistry, microbiology, algal biology, and computer modelling to train a cohort of 12 young researchers to investigate the effects of storms on lake and reservoir water quality.
The MANTEL project will be coordinated by DkIT’s Dr Eleanor Jennings who is joined by a consortium of researchers from Ireland, Sweden, Estonia, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom. The MANTEL European Joint Doctorate training network received €3.1M in funding under the EU Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Action call. This is the first Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action European Joint Doctorate programme to be led by an Irish academic institution and it is also the first ITN to be led by an Irish Institute of Technology.
“Extreme weather is now the ‘new normal’, not just for Irish and European weather but globally,” says Dr Eleanor Jennings. “It is of critical importance that we actively scrutinise the effects of these episodic and extreme weather events, which in some cases can contribute to the contamination of our water supplies with harmful substances.
“The MANTEL project will develop new insights and understanding into all aspects of the effects of extreme weather on water quality. It will equip some of Europe’s brightest scientists to inform management strategies that ensure water resources remain at good quality into the future.”
Dr Jennings says within the MANTEL Marie Skłodowska-Curie training network, there is a drive to achieve gender balance. “If the scientist of tomorrow were all male or all female that could actually skew the research that is undertaken and the balance of the research. It can be a struggle for women to go to university and get their PhD and pursue an academic career. From my point of view, girls have a natural interest in science but it’s a question of maintaining and supporting that interest as they get older.”
Head of Research at DkIT, Dr Tim McCormac adds: “MANTEL is a major collaborative research initiative between some of Europe’s leading environmental research institutes, and CFES at DkIT’s leading role in the project will ensure that Ireland remains at the forefront of innovation in this area.”
The MANTEL project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie SkłodowskaCurie grant agreement No 722518.