The universities of Cambridge and Manchester, Imperial College London and SETsquared Partnership, a joint venture among four universities in southern England, have won bids to receive a £6 million from a government-funded programme to collaborate with peers in the US and with companies such as Airbus and Boeing.
The UK Department of Trade and Industry has awarded £1.5 million each to three universities and another £1.5 million to SETsquared, Universities of Bristol, Bath, Southampton and Surrey, as part of the UK government’s plan to bolster knowledge-sharing and foster links between research and business, according to a statement.
Under the programme, the University of Manchester will work with University of Washington, the Northwest Aerospace Alliance, Airbus, Boeing and a wide range of businesses in the UK and US on the development of composite materials for use in aircraft design.
Imperial College London will work with University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Centre, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Georgia Institute of Technology on treatments for cancer and energy research.
Cambridge University will continue its collaboration with Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The £1.5 million allocated from this fund will be used to develop innovative and entrepreneurial skills among students.
The SETsquared Partnership will work with the University of California, San Diego and University of California, Irvine on commercialisation and spinning out their research, especially in the areas of wireless technology, life sciences, the environment and advanced materials.