Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

Abbreviation	EPSRC
Formation	1994
Type	Non-Departmental Government Body
Purpose	Funding of science and engineering research
Headquarters	Polaris House, North Star Avenue, Swindon, SN2 1ET
Region served	United Kingdom
Chief Executive	Prof. Philip Nelson
Main organ	EPSRC Council
Parent organization	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills Research Councils UK
Affiliations	RCUK, AHRC, BBSRC, ESRC, MRC, NERC, STFC, TSB, UKSA
Budget	£815 million (2008-2009) ^[1]
Website	Official Website

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is a British Research Council that provides government funding for grants to undertake research and postgraduate degrees in engineering and the physical sciences (including mathematics, artificial intelligence and computer science), mainly to universities in the United Kingdom. The head office is in Swindon, Wiltshire in the same building (Polaris House) that houses the AHRC, BBSRC, ESRC, MRC, Natural Environment Research Council, Science and Technology Facilities Council, TSB, Research Councils UK and the UK Space Agency.

History

EPSRC was created in 1994. It was formerly a part of the Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC).

Structure

Paul Golby, Chair of EngineeringUK, was appointed as the Chairman of the EPSRC from 1 April 2012 for four years. He succeeded Sir John Armitt.

From 2007 to March 2014, the chief executive and deputy chair of EPSRC was David Delpy FRS, a medical physicist and formerly vice provost at University College London.^[2]

He was succeeded in April 2014 by Philip Nelson, former University of Southampton pro vice-chancellor for research and enterprise.^[3]

Functions

In addition to funding academic research projects, the EPSRC also funds Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs). These deliver four-year doctoral training programmes to cohorts of PhD students and EngD research engineers studying within UK universities, and are funded to target specific areas of research for which there is recognised need. In 2008, the EPSRC announced funding for 44 new CDTs spanning its entire remit.^[4]

The EPSRC also funds or joint-funds 'Innovation and Knowledge Centres'. Innovation and Knowledge Centres are university based business incubators established in order to support commercialisation of emerging technologies. Since between 2007 and 2016, the EPSRC has funded 7 Innovation and Knowledge Centres:^[5]

Cambridge Innovation and Knowledge Centre (CIKC): Advanced Manufacturing Technologies for Photonics and Electronics - University of Cambridge
Ultra Precision and Structured Surfaces (UPS2) - Cranfield University
Centre for Secure Information Technologies (CSIT) -Queen's University Belfast
Medical Technologies IKC - University of Leeds
Sustainable Product Engineering Centre for Innovative Functional Industrial Coatings (SPECIFIC) - Swansea University
Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction (CSIC) - University of Cambridge
Synthetic Biology Innovation and Commercialisation Industrial translation Engine (SynbiCITE) - Imperial College London

References

↑ Budget and finances, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, retrieved 2013-04-26
↑ New Chief Executive for the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, 30 May 2007, http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/0705/07053002
↑ http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/newsevents/news/2014/Pages/newceo.aspx
↑ New Centres for Doctoral Training - December 2008, from EPSRC's site
↑ "Innovation and knowledge centres - EPSRC website". www.epsrc.ac.uk. Retrieved 2016-03-03.

External links

Video clips

EPSRC YouTube channel

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

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