Students studying in the Water-WISER CDT have access to a fantastic network of contacts across three universities and beyond.

1. The student group: 50 CDT students split between Leeds, Loughborough and Cranfield. 10 students each year are recruited and these progress through the CDT programme together.
2. The CDT management team made up of senior academics and a team of administrators at each university dedicated to supporting CDT students.
3. The ‘CDT-aligned’ students – these are PhD students from outside the CDT who join in with CDT activities, for example conferences and team-building events.
4. The alumni community – students who have left the CDT or related research groups who come back to help mentor PhD students, give talks about their career, and who may be involved in setting up new collaborations if they are based at an appropriate ‘impact partner’.
5. The ‘supervisor pool’ – the group of supervisors of CDT projects. These may come from faculties and departments spread right around the host universities. If appropriate, a student may have an informal ‘external supervisor’ based at a different university.
6. The CDT has an ‘Advisory Board’ of senior contacts in government, industry and academia. Other organisations may provide support too, for example supervisors will have their own contacts from previous projects and collaborations, which can be drawn on to support a Water-WISER PhD project.
7. Fieldwork hosts are in-country organisations e.g. NGOs who provide space and supervision for data gathering while CDT students are on placement.
8. Donors may provide cash funding for Water-WISER projects or contribute in-kind (e.g. staff time, access to data, access to sites, specialist equipment)
9. Impact partners are the companies or other organisations that a CDT student will work with to ensure real-world impact for their research. Impact partners may be involved in co-developing the PhD project, co-funding, or providing advice and help.

All of these groups provide a ready-made high-level professional network to increase the impact of Water-WISER PhD projects and the chance of an excellent career destination on graduation. We expect that Water-WISER CDT students will form a peer network who will support each other for many years as all the members progress through their respective careers.