Rapidly training researchers involved in carbon capture and storage (CCS) and advancing fundamental understanding of the entire chain is vital to achieve CCS deployment in a timescale aligned with global emission reduction targets. This paper introduces a number of initiatives that are building UK CCS capacity, focussing on activities involving the academic community such as the UK CCS Research Centre (www.ukccsrc.ac.uk) and a number of postgraduate training programmes. These and other examples illustrate the benefits associated with academic-industry collaboration, as well as providing valuable opportunities to accelerate development of suitably trained people and CCS technology in an academic context.