The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) will support four national networks and nine partnerships connecting research and industry.

The awards form part of the National Materials Innovation Programme (NMIP), funded by UK government and delivered by Innovate UK and EPSRC.

NMIP, part of UK Research and Innovation’s Industrial Strategy 8 Advanced Manufacturing Programme, brings together people, expertise and investment to help UK materials innovation become real-world impact.

From discovery to deployment

The UK has world-class research, internationally recognised expertise, outstanding facilities and ambitious businesses.

However, materials innovation can be slowed by fragmentation, making it harder for organisations to find the right expertise, partners, facilities and opportunities at the right time.

NMIP is helping to address this challenge by connecting the people, expertise, infrastructure and investment needed to move materials innovation from discovery towards deployment.

The latest EPSRC investment supports this approach through two complementary approaches.

National networks

The four Network Pluses will establish national networks to connect research communities and industrial stakeholders, supporting collaboration, knowledge sharing and skills development.

They will build connected communities around areas of strategic importance spanning:

• energy solutions
• healthcare
• advanced surface technologies
• next-generation electronics, telecommunications and sensors

Together, they will help promising ideas move towards application by improving access to partners, facilities and opportunities across the UK’s materials ecosystem.

Research partnerships

Alongside the national networks, nine Materials Innovation Partnerships will support ambitious collaborative research programmes co-created and co-delivered by academic and business partners.

Alongside the grant funding, participating businesses will contribute over £11 million in cash and in-kind support, demonstrating significant industry commitment.

By involving businesses in the design and delivery of the research, the partnerships will help ensure that projects respond to real industrial needs and have clearer routes towards application.

The nine partnerships span the high-growth opportunity themes identified in the National Materials Innovation Strategy, spanning:

• materials for energy harvesting
• metallic materials
• materials for hydrogen transport, storage and use
• materials for low-carbon construction
• materials for sustainable structural systems (composites)
• materials and modelling for surface engineering and tribology
• materials for connectivity and telecommunications and materials for power electronics
• materials for sustainable packaging

Turning innovation into impact

Jane Nicholson, Executive Director for Research at EPSRC said:

The UK has outstanding materials research and ambitious businesses with the potential to turn new discoveries into better products, services and technologies.

This investment will create the connections needed to bring those communities together, helping research address real-world challenges and progress towards economic, societal and environmental benefit.