Congratulations Dr Bryony Freer!
22nd January 2025
Find out what Bryony is up to since completing her PhD last year!
SENSE Writing Retreat Success
10th January 2025
Find out about our recent writing retreats, including some lovely llamas!
Declassified satellite photos reveal impacts of Vietnam War
16th December 2024
SENSE Student Philipp Barthelme‘s recently presented work at the AGU has now been published in Science magazine.
“Using satellite data to examine the footprints of war is still an emerging field—but could boost public understanding of the breadth and extent of conflict.”
New job, new opportunities
11th November 2024
Congratulations Calum on your new job
New data on Agent Orange use during the US’s secret war in Laos
1st November 2024
Read about SENSE Student Philipp Barthelme‘s recent publication.
Chasing snow patches in the Cairngorms
21st October 2024
Here’s SENSE Student Leam Howe’s blog from a fieldwork trip to the Cairngorms during Scotland’s worst summer since 2015.
SENSE Deputy Director presents at UNGA79 Science Summit
18th September 2024
SENSE CDT Deputy Director Gary Watmough presents at UNGA79 Science Summit on United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Congratulations Dr Lowe
16th September 2024
First SENSE student to be awarded a PhD.
Frosty Flora of Antarctica
13th August 2024
The frosty flora of Antarctica 
read Charlotte Walshaws comment piece on her recent paper
By Charlotte Walshaw
SENSE Students Antarctic-wide survey of plant life to aid conservation efforts
6th August 2024
Find out more about Charlotte Walshaw’s fantastic work!
SENSE UK Space Agency Prizes 2024
12th June 2024
Find out about our SENSE prize winners from cohort 1!
SENSE Spotlight – Charlotte Walshaw
9th May 2024
Find out about Charlotte, her project, her journey with and before joining SENSE!
By Charlotte Walshaw
SENSE Celebration Event 2024
22nd May 2024
As our first cohort approaches the end of their studies the SENSE Centre for Doctoral Training are hosting a special celebration event bring together all our students, supervisors and friends of SENSE.
Invitation to Join Field Skills Course in June 2024
SENSE will be running a field skills course from 3rd – 7th June at the University of Edinburgh outdoor centre at Firbush on Loch Tay. We have a small number of places available on this course for which UK based UKRI PhD students may apply to attend.
SENSE Spotlight – Elle Smith
26th March 2024
Find out about Elle’s project, journey with and before joining SENSE!
By Elle Smith
Investigating UXO in Vietnam
16th January 2024
Find out about Philipp’s trip to South East Asia as part of his research into UXO (Unexploded Ordnance) in the region
Antarctic Adventure
20th December 2023
Find out about Charlotte’s trip to Antarctica and see some amazing photos
SENSE Industry Symposium 2023
1st November 2023
Find out about our industry symposium and why dragons, a bell and a bus stop were involved
Collaboration with Pentland Land Managers Association
4th December 2023
Research Experience Placement – Roy Schumacher
31st October 2023
Find out about Roy’s Research Experience Placement!
By Roy Schumacher
Research Experience Placement – Charlie Alvey
31st October 2023
Find out about Charlie’s Research Experience Placement!
By Charlie Alvey
Research Experience Placement – Stephanie Hodnett
31st October 2023
Find out about Stephanie’s Research Experience Placement!
By Stephanie Hodnett
Special Guests on our Field Skills Training Thanks to NERC
31st July 2023
Thanks to our skills enhancement funding from NERC we were able to invite some special guests along to our field skills training course in June. Find out about their reflections on the training here
Firbush Field Skills
26th June 2023
Find out more about our field skills trip to Loch Tay in June 2023
SENSE go to ESA
30th May 2023
In May 2023 a group of 12 SENSE students travelled to the European Space Agency ESRIN facility in Italy to take part in an Earth System Science Workshop.
Invitation to Join Field Skills Course in June 2023
17th April 2023
SENSE will be running a field skills course from 5th – 9th June at the University of Edinburgh outdoor centre at Firbush on Loch Tay. We have a small number of places available on this course for which UK based UKRI PhD students may apply to attend.
Two Chickpeas in a Podcast, Live at the Natural History Museum
16th February 2023
2nd Year SENSE student Ashar attended an event at the Natural History Museum in January, featuring on a podcast panel discussion on the intersection between racial and environmental justice.
By Ashar Aslam
SENSE Spotlight – Ross Slater
9th February 2023
Find out about Ross, his project and his journey with and before joining SENSE!
By Ross Slater
SENSE Spotlight – Rebecca Wilks
2nd February 2023
Find out about Rebecca, her project and her journey with and before joining SENSE!
By Rebecca Wilks
SENSE Spotlight – Ashar Aslam
25th January 2023
Find out about Ashar, his project, his journey with and before joining SENSE, and his involvement in EDI initiatives!
By Ashar Aslam
SENSE Spotlight – Jess Payne
19th January 2023
Find out about Jess, her project and her journey with and before joining SENSE!
By Jess Payne
SENSE Spotlight – Emily Dowd
12th January 2023
Find out about Emily, her project and her journey with and before joining SENSE!
By Emily Dowd
Demystifying PhD Applications with SENSE CDT
16th December 2022
This is a recording of the SENSE CDT Demystifying PhD applications webinar. Hear from current PhD students on what the application process is like. Get tips on how to find an interesting PhD, write your application, interviews and what it’s really like doing a PhD. For the last 30 minutes, we are joined by SENSE CDT Co-Director Professor Kathy Whaler who answers more technical questions about applications and what interviewers are looking for.
Deadline for applications for 2023 project is Sunday the 15th of January at midnight.
Applying to a PhD? It’s not just about the topic of your project
21st December 2022
Written by Rebecca Wilks and Heather Selley
PhDs are hard. It’s important you know what you’re committing several years of your life to and it’s not just about your research topic.
Charlotte’s Antarctic Adventure
21st December 2022
Find out about SENSE student Charlotte Walshaw’s exciting trip to the Antarctic on the Sir David Attenborough
Am I able enough? My experience as a disabled PhD student
2nd December 2022
By Heather Selley
Hi, I’m Heather I’m working towards my PhD, and I’m disabled. PhDs are hard and I have not always had the easiest ride, but it took embracing my disabilities and working in my own way to find my place. It has opened a whole world of new opportunities and challenged me to learn more about myself than I could ever imagine.
Industry Symposium 2022 Wednesday 16th November
October 2022
Wednesday 16th November 2022
9am – 5pm
Edinburgh Climate Change Institute (ECCI), Edinburgh EH1 1LZ
The SENSE Centre for Doctoral Training would like to invite you to a special event involving students, staff and partners of the centre. During the day we will showcase some of the work that the SENSE students and partners have been doing and hear from organisations about how they are turning EO data into actionable information. In the afternoon we will focus on the future directions that EO will take and consider how industry, the third sector and Universities can collaborate to overcome challenges.
Please use link below for further details, schedule and registration
Information Event – Introduction to ESA Climate Office and Climate Change Initiative Fellowships – Wednesday 23rd November at 2pm
Online event
October 2022
SENSE CDT is hosting an information event with staff from the European Space Agency (ESA) climate office. This will be of interest to researchers who are keen to work with the climate office and PhD students who may be interested in applying for a postdoctoral fellowship with ESA.
Please use link below for further details and registration
REP Showcase Presentations
August 2022
Thank you so much to the students who gave fantastic presentations at the REP showcase on the 2nd of August. Everyone was really impressed with the work the students have completed in a short time. It is clear how much knowledge has been gained!
Slide image – Isabelle Wicks
Please see Internship blog posts from the students in the link below.
Save the Date: Wednesday 16th November 2022
August 2022
SENSE and Space and Satellites @ The University of Edinburgh are planning a special in person event in Edinburgh on Wednesday 16th November 2022. This event will be for our students and academic and industry colleagues.
Polar Impact Polar Portals Outreach Project – Workshop 1 at the Alun Turing Institute
August 2022
On Friday the 29th of July the SENSE EDI Champion Heather Selley led a workshop at the Alun Turing Institute to kick off the project. This workshop focused on automating the process of getting the polar explorer’s geotagged digital diary which can be shown on a map, tools for QR code tracking, and expanding the project’s augmented reality concept.
REP Showcase
August 2022
Today SENSE held a showcase for our Research Experience Placement (REP) students.
SENSE student Emily Dowd presenting at The Living Planet Symposium
May 2022
Emily’s first ever in person conference was at The Living Planet Symposium. Feedback was extremely positive, UKSA highlighted the brilliant quality of presentations, professionalism and confidence of the student.
Investigating the Dry Tropics Brazilian Style
July 2022
Find our more about SENSE student Lucy’s trip to Brazil
SENSE Earth Observation Seminar – July 6th 2pm
To be held online at 2pm on Wednesday July 6th.
The Canadian company, GHGSat, has pioneered world-leading techniques for very high-resolution remote sensing of greenhouse gas emissions, launching a suite of satellites with this capability in recent years.
GHGSat have already contributed to finding and quantifying significant, previously unknown, sources of atmospheric methane around the globe (e.g. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-61811481).
During this seminar, members of the GHGSat team will talk about some of the background, technical details and real-world results from their work.
The talks will be suitable for both specialists and non-experts and will provide an interesting opportunity to connect with a commercial body involved in analysis of greenhouse gas emissions.
If you’d like to attend, please register in advance so we have an idea of numbers.
SatSchool Launches the Classroom into Space
June 2022
On 6th April the SatSchool outreach project was launched at a hybrid meeting, showcasing the results of the team’s hard work over the past six months to put this fantastic program together.
Field Skills Week @ Firbush
May 2022
In May 2022 SENSE cohort 1 and 2 students made their way to Firbush the University of Edinburgh outdoor centre near Killin in Stirlingshire for a week of field skills training.
International Day of Women & Girls in Science
February 2022
SENSE student Charlotte Walshaw will talk about her passion for satellite data and environmental science for International Day of Women & Girls in Science.
Edinburgh training a big success
December 2021
In November 2021 the second cohort of SENSE students had their first block of EO training at the University of Edinburgh
Cohort 1 all together for media training
December 2021
In November 2021 the first cohort of SENSE students met for the first time to undertake some media training with Boffin media
SENSE student leads the way with her work on whales and ocean health
December 2021
SENSE student Penny Clarke has published her work on cetacean strandings and is producing a podcast on ocean health
SENSE students win a NERC grant to develop ‘SatSchool’
December 2021
SatSchool is an outreach project aiming to get secondary school pupils excited about Earth Observation and Satellites
SENSE Students present, ‘takeover’, and win at COP26
November 2021
Find out the SENSE students’ experiences at COP26, including presenting in the blue zone, participating in a ‘Youth Takeover’ and winning the SFN COP26 hackathon
SENSE at COP26
October 2021
Find out the COP26 sessions that SENSE are involved in
Not Another Wellbeing Workshop: Summary and Feedback
October 2021
Read the summary and feedback from the successful wellbeing workshop
SENSE summer intern’s Iceland Experience
October 2021
Hannah Barnett did a Research Experience Placement funded by NERC through SENSE in the summer of 2021, read all about her trip to Iceland to collect data
New publication by SENSE manager
September 2021
SENSE manager Ruth Amey publishes a paper on using high-resolution satellite-derived digital elevation models to improve earthquake hazard and risk models
Focus on REP: Ilaria Stolberg
August 2021
SENSE has been lucky to have 14 amazing undergraduate students working with our supervisors as part of the NERC REP programme. Here we find out more about Ilaria’s project
SENSE’s littlest member starts her scientific journey
July 2021
Huge congratultions to SENSE student Rebecca Kelly on the birth of her little girl!
SENSE has a blast talking about satellites
July 2021
SENSE academics were involved in a whole host of talks, interviews, activities and videos sharing their love of satellites in Leeds’ Be Curious festival.
Not another well-being workshop… for PGRs by PGRs
23rd August 2021, 1pm-3pm
Have you struggled with your wellbeing whilst being a Postgraduate Researcher? Not sure how to help your colleagues who may be struggling? PhD student Heather Selley in collaboration with SENSE brings you ‘Not another wellbeing workshop…’ with the aim of enabling open discussions about wellbeing and mental health in the PGR community.
SENSE student wins Alan Turing Enrichment Scheme
July 2021
SENSE student Nick Homer is successful in his application to the Alan Turing Institute Enrichment Scheme
It’s time to Be Curious about Space
July 2021
SENSE researchers are heavily involved this Leeds’ Be Curious festival
Submit a PhD project proposal to SENSE
We are now calling for PhD project ideas from academics at Leeds, Edinburgh, NOC and BAS for new PhD projects to be advertised in the autumn, for studentships starting in October 2022.
Project submission deadline 19th September.
New publication by SENSE student
June 2021
SENSE student Max Lowe publishes his master’s thesis
SENSE nominated for Leeds Partnership Award
May 2021
SENSE at vEGU 2021
SENSE students Emily Dowd and Max Lowe are attending vEGU this year.
SENSE Industry Symposium 2021
On 20th April SENSE held its first industry symposium, which included many interesting presentations and discussions.
Sign up for SENSE’s Industry symposium
Join us on Tuesday 20th April for SENSE’s first industry symposium
Watch this space – SENSE students finish training
SENSE students complete Earth Observation and machine learning training course. Find out about the exciting work they’ve been doing – including designing their own missions!
Girls just wanna have fun(ding for their scientific research)
Last week was International Day of Women and Girls in Science (11th of February). The SENSE CDT students ran a hugely successful twitter takeover, you can read it in full below.
Alan Turing Institute – SENSE hackathon
February 5th 2020
Opportunity to join a mini-hackathon event, to build and train a model to classify sea, ice and land from satellite images.
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a scientist?
Dec 15th 2020
Early Career Scientists discussing why they enjoy being a scientist, why they wanted to do a PhD and their favourite parts of their PhDs.
Support for applying for a PhD webinar
Nov 25th 2020
If you are thinking of applying, please watch this webinar and read the follow-up material
How can a PhD help me with my career?
Nov 17th 2020
Thinking of applying for a PhD? Would you like more information on the benefit it can have to your career, or support in applying and interviewing?
Apply to do a PhD with SENSE
We are now advertising 37 exciting projects, for studentships starting in 2021!
Application deadline 10th January.
A Tour of Earth from Space
October 10th 2020
SENSE Manager Ruth Amey and British Antarctic Survey scientist Peter Fretwell took the audience on ‘A Tour of Earth from Space’ for #BeCuriousGoesVirtual
SENSE PhD students off to a flying start as Earth Observation training begins
October 1st 2020
SENSE’s first PhD students have started! Welcome everyone, and we’re looking forward to seeing what science you’ll do!
Call for PhD project proposals
August 2020
We are currently calling for PhD project proposals, to be advertised in Autumn for studentships starting in 2021. The deadline is 18th September and full details on how to submit can be found here.
SENSE will be hosting two mixer events for academics and industry professionals to meet and discuss potential SENSE PhD projects. These virtual mixer events will be held on Mon 17th August at 2pm and Tue 25th August at 10am via videoconferencing, please register your interest here.
June 2020
SENSE co-director Anna Hogg talks to Tim Peake about Earth Observation – 1st June 2020
SENSE co-director Ed Mitchard on Anchor FM
March 2020
Leading Scottish university wins funds for space data research
April 2020
SENSE director Ed Mitchard is featured in The Herald
The SENSE CDT launches!
December 2019
The SENSE Earth Obeservation CDT has launched, and will train 50 experts in Earth Observation over 5 years, with £2.2 million investment from NERC and £3.4 million match funding from the University of Leeds and Edinburgh. Read these press releases by University of Leeds, University of Edinburgh and NERC
