The funding, from the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC), will be used to create a Knowledge Exploitation Laboratory to accelerate the transfer of research into industry. The aim is to exploit £43 million of EPSRC-funded research at the university in the fields of molecular engineering, advanced manufacturing, and sensors and monitoring.
The Laboratory will enable the university to share research and expertise with industrial and manufacturing partner organisations. The grant will also provide funding for Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, staff training and allow university staff to provide advice and expertise to industrial projects on a flexible and individual basis.
Jon Saunders, Deputy Vice Chancellor, said, “We are delighted to be one of just 12 UK universities to have been awarded this funding.”
The Laboratory will be funded under the EPSRC’s Knowledge Transfer Accounts programme and is expected to be open to industrial collaboration from autumn 2009.