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About

The Centre for Postdoctoral Development in Infrastructure, Cities and Energy (C-DICE) was established in 2021, supported by funding from the Research England Development Fund, partner universities and industry. Since its launch it has supported hundreds of researchers, primarily at the postdoctoral level, drawn from over 18 university partners in the UK, as well as engaging internationally. 

C-DICE is at the forefront of innovations in support for postdoctoral development with a particular emphasis on supporting the researcher workforce in driving towards a net zero future.  C-DICE uniquely brings together the technical, professional and career development needs of postdoctoral researchers, their incredible talent as cohort of highly skilled professionals, alongside industry challenges that we face in the pursuit of a decarbonised future.   

Underpinning C-DICE is good practice in equity, diversity and inclusivity, recognising that a diversity of talent is needed for addressing net zero. We reach into a large number of UK research intensive universities, to provide opportunities that will mobilise the talent of our postdoctoral researchers.  We innovate and build the evidence base for the need for high level skills in the pursuit of net zero, and bring together a range of stakeholders from policy makers, large-scale industrial organisations, SMEs, operating at the interfaces of these organisations to leverage new innovations, the development of talented researchers, addressing technical challenges and creating a highly skilled workforce that can actively contribute to achieving net zero.

In numbers, C-DICE has delivered:

  • 10 Research Sandpits 
  • £1.2m in grants to postdocs
  • 4 Fellowships 
  • 4 Dragons’ Den Events
  • Engaged 800 researchers 
  • 4 conferences 
  • 57 published outputs 
  • 100 micro-credentials awarded  
  • 11 funded to attend COP27 and COP28 
  • 54 secondments and placements 
  • 61 networking grants 
  • 90 workshops, webinars and training programmes 

C-DICE is led by Loughborough University, in partnership with the universities of Birmingham and Cranfield. Our wider partners are drawn from the Energy Research Accelerator (ERA) and the UK Collaboratorium for Research in Infrastructure and Cities (UKCRIC).