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01
December
2025
|
12:06
Europe/London
Researcher to sponsor: how Watercycle is giving back to its research roots
At the 2D Materials of Tomorrow Centre for Doctoral Training (2DMoT CDT), we take great pride in seeing how research nurtured within our community can grow and return in new and inspiring ways.
The origins of Watercycle Technologies trace back to the Graphene NOWNANO Centre for Doctoral Training, our predecessor, where CEO Dr Sebastian Leaper completed his PhD. During that time, Seb immersed himself in a wide range of experimental environments and projects, from quantum technologies and advanced composites to membrane science and battery materials. This broad foundation played a key role in shaping his understanding of the commercial potential of emerging materials.
That potential was recognised early on. With the support of Dr Eli Harari’s £50,000 preseed award, Seb was able to transform his ideas into Watercycle Technologies, setting the company on a path of rapid innovation and growth.
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Fast forward five years and Watercycle has now come back to the CDT ecosystem, this time as a supporter of new doctoral training. We are delighted to be welcoming two new projects funded through Watercycle and the University of Manchester:
- Helena Amos, a physics graduate, will be working with Professor Marcelo LozadaHidalgo to build on landmark discoveries in ion transport through 2D crystals, expanding a field with far reaching technological relevance.
- Heloise Grandjouan joins Professor Sarah Haigh to explore advanced imaging of recycled battery-derived cathode materials, drawing on state-of-the-art liquid-phase TEM techniques.
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Watercycle’s investment in Heloise’s project has been complemented by matched funding from the University to enable Helena’s, an excellent demonstration of how academia and industry can mutually reinforce each other. Research drives innovation; innovation feeds back into research. Community supports community and everyone benefits.
We are excited to see the progress and Helena and Heloise will make and the impact their work will have on both the research landscape and Watercycle’s future technologies.
We look forward to this being the first of many collaborations with Watercycle and other industrial partners in the years ahead.