University project to receive £2.5m in unmanned systems funding

The project, led by Southampton University, will consist of a new doctoral training centre on the south coast called NEXUSS ((NEXt generation Unmanned System Science). Drones and autonomous systems are playing an increasingly important role in environmental science, and the centre will be dedicated to providing specialised training in this area.

Funding for NEXUSS is being provided by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). Academic and research partners include the British Antarctic Survey, Heriot – Watt University, National Oceanography Centre, Scottish Association for Marine Science and University of East Anglia.

“We are delighted to be awarded this funding by NERC and EPSRC,” said NEXUSS director Alberto Naveira Garabato, a professor from Southampton University.

“It is an outstanding opportunity to develop a new generation of environmental scientists that is more aware of the vast possibilities that SAOS approaches offer, and that can take forward the environmental application of these technologies in decades to come.”