£1 billion investment for UK Science and Research
Seven new university and business research partnerships in sectors including life sciences, energy efficiency and advanced manufacturing were announced today by David Willetts, Minister for Universities and Science.
1 Nov 2012
The cash boost comes from the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund (UK RPIF), which will deliver over £1 billion to support the development of new facilities and projects in areas including life sciences, energy and advanced manufacturing. The projects announced today are:
- A £48 million partnership between Manchester University, Christie Hospital and Cancer Research UK to develop the Institute for Cancer Research.
- An £85 million partnership between UCL (University College London) and the Great Ormond Street Hospital for The Centre for Children’s Rare Disease Research.
- A £32 million partnership between Queen’s University Belfast, The Atlantic Philanthropies and a Wellcome-Wolfson Capital Award to deliver the next phase of the Institute of Health Sciences.
- A £34 million partnership between the University of Nottingham and GlaxoSmithKline to support the Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Chemistry.
- A £38 million partnership between Swansea University, British Petroleum (BP), and TATA Steel Europe for the development of the Energy Safety Research Institute.
- A £60 million partnership between Brunel University, TWI and other companies to develop a National Research Centre for Structural Integrity.
- A £150 million partnership between Imperial College London and Voreda to contribute to the development of a major new campus adjacent to the White City regeneration area.
This takes the total number of projects supported by the fund to 14.
Universities will shortly be able to bid for the remaining £80 million of public investment from the fund. This must be matched by at least double from private sources.
David Willetts, Minister for Universities and Science, said:
“It is fantastic that our top businesses and top charities are queuing up to collaborate with our world-class universities. They want to work together to deliver innovation, commercialisation and growth, which will help make sure the UK competes and thrives in the global race.
“The winning projects will tackle the key issues we face - like fighting disease, ensuring energy efficiency and improving infrastructure - for the benefit of all.”
UK RPIF was first launched with £100 million of public finance in May 2012 and, in response to the large number of high-quality bids, the Government recently tripled the public support to £300 million. All projects have to include private funding from industry or the charitable sector worth a minimum of double the public contribution - making more than £1 billion of investment in total.
The UKRPIF is managed and allocated by Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), working in collaboration with devolved counterparts. All proposals are assessed by an independent assessment panel.