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announces Industrial Strategy
investment for UK research and development.
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Funding of £126 million announced for a world class
research centre at the University of Manchester for development
of advanced materials.
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Government confirms investment of £103 million in
Rosalind Franklin Institute (RFI), creating a new national
centre of excellence for life and physical sciences.
Business and Energy Secretary has today (Thursday 23 February
2017) announced £229 million worth of investment in the
development of cutting-edge advanced materials and a new centre
of excellence for the life and physical sciences as part of the
government’s modern Industrial Strategy.
Included in the investment is £126 million in grants for the Sir
Henry Royce Institute for Advanced Materials, supporting the
creation of a world-leading research centre at the University of
Manchester, with satellite centres at the Universities of
Sheffield, Leeds, Liverpool, Cambridge, Oxford and Imperial
College.
As an international beacon for UK expertise, the Royce Institute
will encompass nine key areas of materials research including
graphene and proposed research areas will be grouped into four
themes - energy, engineering, functional and soft materials.
has also announced £103 million
Government investment in a new national centre of excellence for
life and physical sciences, at the Rosalind Franklin Institute
(RFI), located at Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Oxford.
The centre will build on the UK’s world-leading reputation in
these fields and effectively bring together academia and
industry.
Business and Energy Secretary said:
“Research and development has a proven track record of making our
economy more competitive and creating new products, services and
better ways of doing business. For these reasons, we’ve placed
the UK’s strengths in science, research and innovation at the
core of our modern Industrial Strategy.
“Government investment in these two centres for advanced
materials and life and physical sciences will support growth
across a range of sectors, provide the skills and training to
grow our expertise in these cutting-edge fields, and facilitate
positive collaboration between industry, academia and
Government.”
Chief Executive Officer of AstraZeneca Pascal Soriot said:
“As a long-standing investor in UK science and partnerships with
academia, we believe the creation of vibrant geographic areas of
excellence would truly catalyse discovery and innovation.
Supported by transport and housing infrastructure that facilitate
collaboration and attract the best talent, these clusters would
boost the knowledge economy and anchor industrial activity
throughout the UK.”
Building on today’s announcements, Ministers from the Department
for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy will be visiting
businesses and universities across the East of England and
Midlands today to hear and discuss the views of businesses,
workers and academics on the Government’s vision for an
Industrial Strategy.
Climate Change and Industry Minister is going to the Advanced
Propulsion Centre in Coventry while Small Business and Consumer
Minister visits John Lewis and River
Island distribution centres in Milton Keynes.
of Brompton will be
visiting Resonate in Derby to see signalling and traffic
management systems that are delivering capacity increases on
Network Rail routes.
The Business Secretary and Ministers will then be hosting an
evening reception with business leaders, start-ups and local
leaders in Birmingham at the Innovation Birmingham Campus; home
to 170 businesses that employ approximately 1,100 staff in total.
The government published its Industrial Strategy green paper in
January, inviting industries, businesses and consumers to visit
the GOV.UK website and respond to the
consultation.
