Working with the Dalton Nuclear Institute
We work in close partnership with industry, government and research organisations to address the complex challenges facing the nuclear and wider energy sectors.
Partner with Dalton
Interested in working with us?
- Flexible partnership models
- Access to nuclear skills, research and facilities
- Collaboration across industry, government and academia
We collaborate through a range of flexible relationship models, from PhD sponsorships and fellowships to large‑scale strategic partnerships, centres of excellence and formal agreements, each designed to align academic excellence with real‑world needs.
Whether you are seeking targeted research, long‑term capability development, or access to specialist expertise and facilities, we can work with you to shape a collaboration that is right for you.
Partners choose to work with us because of the extraordinary depth and breadth of our expertise, our strong track record of impactful research, and our established role within the UK and international nuclear communities.
Our academics and researchers work at the cutting edge of nuclear science, engineering, policy and skills development, and are trusted by major organisations, national laboratories, regulators and government bodies. Collaboration with us offers access, not only to leading researchers, but also to highly skilled students, nationally-important facilities, and a culture focused on knowledge exchange and practical impact.
How partners work with us
We offer multiple ways for partners to engage with us. Explore the most common options below.
Through the Nuclear Technology Education Consortium (NTEC), we collaborate with a network of UK universities and industrial partners to deliver postgraduate education aligned with the needs of the nuclear sector. Industry partners help shape curricula, contribute guest lectures, offer student projects and placements and support skills development across the nuclear workforce.
This consortium model ensures that teaching and training remain relevant, responsive and informed by real operational and technological challenges.
NTEC’s industrial and organisational partners include:
- EDF Energy
- Sellafield Ltd
- UKAEA
- UK National Nuclear Laboratory
- UK government bodies.
A PhD sponsorship agreement between the Dalton Nuclear Institute and our partners is a collaborative arrangement in which industry or government organisations help define a research project aligned with both their strategic needs and with our academic expertise, provide full or partial funding, and contribute technical supervision and access to specialist facilities, data or operational environments.
Students are jointly supported by academic and external supervisors, often undertaking placements within the partner organisation, and benefit from regular progress reviews to ensure alignment with both academic excellence and real‑world challenges.
This model strengthens knowledge exchange, delivers research with practical impact, and develops highly skilled graduates who frequently progress into roles within the sponsoring organisation or the wider nuclear and energy sectors.
The extent to which our expertise is valued by industry is illustrated by the calibre of our current and past PhD sponsorship partners who include:
- Sellafield Ltd
- Rolls‑Royce SMR
- EDF Energy
- UK Atomic Energy Authority.
Current examples include the Plutonium Ceramics Academic Hub and our CDTs partnerships, which you can read more about below.
Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs), such as SATURN (Skills and Training Underpinning a Renaissance in Nuclear), represent long‑term, structured collaborations that consolidate academic expertise, national facilities and industrial engagement around critical capability areas.
These centres typically act as hubs for research, training and stakeholder engagement, supporting sustained interaction between our academics, external organisations and policy bodies.
Through SATURN, we work with partners to align research activity with national nuclear priorities, support skills development and accelerate the translation of research into practice.
External organisations engaging through Centres for Doctoral Training (CDT) have included UKAEA, UK National Nuclear Laboratory, Sellafield Ltd, government departments and supply‑chain organisations across the nuclear sector.
Fellowship sponsorships at the Dalton Nuclear Institute enable early‑career or mid‑career researchers to pursue focused programmes of independent or semi‑independent research aligned with both our strategic priorities and the sponsor’s long‑term challenges. External partners typically provide co‑funding, industrial context and access to facilities, data or operational expertise, while the fellow is embedded within the University research environment.
These fellowships strengthen long‑term capability, support talent retention within the UK nuclear and energy sectors and act as a bridge between exploratory academic research and deployable real-world solutions.
Current and previous fellowship sponsors and collaborators have included organisations such as:
- UKRI research councils
- UK National Nuclear Laboratory
- UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA)
- EDF Energy
- Rolls‑Royce.
Prosperity Partnerships are large‑scale, long‑term collaborative research programmes co‑funded by UK Research and Innovation and industry partners to address fundamental industrial challenges.
At the Institute, these partnerships bring together multidisciplinary academic teams and major industrial stakeholders to deliver research that underpins the development of future technologies, commercial competitiveness and national capability.
Partners contribute strategic direction, co‑investment and industrial insight, while benefiting from early access to research outputs, skilled researchers and the opportunity to shape future innovation pathways.
Our researchers have contributed to - or collaborated within - Prosperity Partnerships involving organisations such as:
- Rolls‑Royce
- UKAEA
- EDF Energy
- Sellafield Ltd
- Amentum
and other major energy and technology stakeholders.
An example of a current Prosperity Partnership is the CRADLE Prosperity partnership in advanced robotics and AI tech.
Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) establish a formal framework for collaboration between the Institute and external organisations without committing to specific funded projects at the outset. MoUs define shared strategic intent, priority research areas, and mechanisms for cooperation such as joint funding bids, staff exchanges, co‑supervision of students and shared use of facilities.
These agreements provide a flexible route for developing trusted long‑term relationships that can evolve into funded projects, training programmes or strategic partnerships.
We have MoUs in place, or under development, with many organisations including:
- International universities
- National laboratories
- Regulators
- Utilities
and major industrial partners in the UK and overseas.
Industrial Fellow Positions / Knowledge Exchange Positions at the Institute are often co‑developed with external partners to address specific technical challenges or capability gaps. These roles allow experienced researchers to work at the interface between academic research and industrial application, often embedded within collaborative projects or strategic programmes.
Partners may provide direct funding, in‑kind support or joint supervision, and benefit from dedicated research capacity, accelerated problem‑solving and closer integration with Dalton’s academic expertise.
Organisations that have supported or collaborated on Industrial Fellow Positions / Knowledge Exchange positions include:
- UKAEA
- UK National Nuclear Laboratory
- Energy utilities
and specialist nuclear technology companies.
See collaboration in practice
Explore examples of how Dalton researchers work with partners across industry, government and the wider nuclear sector.