Dr James Wookey, NERC Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Earth Sciences, has been awarded a 1.6 million euro grant from the European Research Council for a project entitled CoMITAC, an integrated study of the thermodynamics and composition of the Earth’s core-mantle boundary, which is thus far an enigmatic but key part of the Earth’s system.

Dr Wookey is a seismologist working in the University’s Centre for Experimental and Theoretical Study of the Earth’s Interior. The grant includes funding for two three-year postdoctoral research associates and two PhD studentships, as well as part-time technical support. It also provides a budget for capital equipment to undertake the project, including seismometers and a computer cluster.