Cement is the primary binding phase of concrete. It is millennia old and ubiquitous worldwide. As a building material, it is unrivalled in terms of tonnage used, price per tonne, and CO2 production per tonne. Yet its very success means that cement production account for about 5% of global man-made CO2 emissions.The cement industry urgently requires more sustainable cement based products with equal or better “performance” to current materials over the life time of buildings and infra-structure (~100 years). Most of the CO2 associated with cement manufacture comes mainly from the breakdown of limestone into calcium oxide and carbon dioxide. Therefore improvements must come from better materials with different chemistries. If the construction industry is to embrace new materials, then it must trust them.Water transport underpins almost all degradation. Degradation must be understood to ensure durability, which is the major obstacle to the introduction of new, more sustainable cementitious materials. Hence the industry is calling urgently for the researchers with the ability to predict water transport in concretes. Without this, there can be no confidence in the introduction and use of new materials; the status quo based on years of experience but relatively little scientific understanding will prevail for decades to come.Through the TRANSCEND Initial Training Network we will provide the trained personnel who can.(i) Enable the construction industry to predict water transport in cements and concretes and hence design appropriate tests to predict concrete degradation.(ii) Provide a basis for user confidence which enables the cement industry to introduce new more sustainable cements.The network will closely integrate the academic and private sectors. The later will directly employ 4 of the 15 fellows. The formal training programme will provide the basis for a European doctoral school in Cement and Concrete Science and technology.