Future Leaders Fellowship appointment welcomed with more than a pinch of salt

02 Oct 2019

The Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences is pleased to announce that Dr Patricia Clay has been appointed a Future Leaders Fellowship (FLF) cohort

The Future Leaders Fellowship (FLF) programme is a new offering from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). Dr Clay’s Fellowship is entitled ‘A pinch of salt: Earth’s halogen distribution and the habitability potential of planets’. By studying the abundancies of volatile elements and their distribution and behaviour in terrestrial and meteoritic materials, much can be learnt about planetary differentiation.

Of particular use as geochemical tracers for investigating volatile evolution in terrestrial environments are the halogens – which will be the main subject of Dr Clay’s research. She refers to the halogens as “unique geochemical fingerprints for large scale planetary processing”.

FLF is a £900 million fund that is helping establish world-leading researchers and innovators in both business and academia.

Speaking at the launch of the FLF, Minister for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation Chris Skidmore said: “These inspirational Future Leaders Fellows will generate the ideas of the future, helping to shape science and research for the 21st century. But to realise the full potential of these discoveries, their ideas need to be taken out of the lab and turned into real products and services, where they can actually change people’s lives for the better.”

Visit the UKRI Website for more information on the Future Leaders Fellowship