Significant boost to instrumentation research and development sector
Three Research Councils and UKAEA have today joined with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to become major
sponsors and partners of the Sensors Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN). The move recognises and cements the strategic
importance of instrumentation to research facilities and the UK economy.
More resources will now be available for the development and use of advanced instrumentation, an integral part of the
sensors supply chain. Researchers and industry will gain unprecedented access to innovative instrumentation technologies and
world leading scientific research facilities.
The partnership gives a key role in the KTN, the UK's largest sensors network, to the Biotechnology & Biological
Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), the Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils (CCLRC), the Particle
Physics & Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) and the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA).
The Sensors KTN is managed on behalf of DTI by Sira and the National Physical Laboratory. The new partnership, brokered by
the Sensors KTN and technology commercialisation specialists Qi3, has the support of the Institution of Electrical Engineers,
Institute of Physics, Gambica and UK Trade & Investment.
One of its first activities will be the creation of a single database of advanced instrumentation suppliers to research
facilities. Special interest groups will be encouraged to focus on the future needs of instrumentation users, and experience
at the top end of the instrumentation market will filter down to sensor developers.
Enhancing a high value sector
The UK instrumentation sector is worth £9 billion in annual sales and underpins £50 billion of activity in other
sectors, including defence and healthcare.
Advanced instrumentation is required by large European and international research facilities like the UK’s new
synchrotron (Diamond Light Source), CERN and ITER.
Dr Peter Fletcher, head of PPARC's Education and Innovation Division and speaking on behalf of Research Councils UK, the
strategic partnership of the Research Councils, said: "There is strong evidence of the past benefits to the instrumentation
industry of technologies developed for research, but this has never been addressed in a structured way."
"We are delighted to be working with the DTI to bring together a consortium of research and facility funders to ensure
that industry gets exposure to the whole range of instrumentation and facilities under development to ensure maximum future
benefit in manufacturing research equipment and wider markets."
"Sectors such as drug discovery and medical imaging depend on innovation in measurement, and rely on physicists and
engineers to develop new instrumentation," notes Dr Simon Aliwell, director of the Sensors KTN. "Our relationship with the
research councils and UKAEA will help to connect academic research and the commercialisation of advanced instruments."
UKAEA Fusion Programme Manager Martin O'Brien said: "A wide range of advanced instruments with exacting requirements are
essential for fusion research facilities such as JET and MAST in the UK and the new international facility ITER to be built
in France. This new network will help to ensure a joined-up approach across science to increasing UK industrial involvement
in big research facilities in instrumentation and other high-tech fields."
Qi3 MD Nathan Hill said: "We will now demonstrate that the major UK and European facilities, in which hundreds of millions
of pounds are invested annually, are a major instrumentation market and a source of new knowledge for industry."
"In a traditionally fragmented market, we have taken a giant leap that will provide new instrumentation for researchers
and industry."
- ends -
Contact
Sensors KTN
Jonathon
Rees
Tel: 020 7101 9132
Mob: 07989 975 077
Research Councils UK
Matt Goode, RCUK Media
Officer
Research Councils UK
Tel: 01793 413299
UKAEA
Martin O'Brien
Tel: 01235
466595
Notes for editors
About
the Sensors Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN)
The Sensors KTN unites the talent and expertise of multiple UK
sensing interests and organisations, including companies, universities and government departments. It embraces all sensing
activity, from fundamental measurement principles to instrumentation, data processing, devices and innovative
applications.
About Knowledge Transfer Networks
Knowledge Transfer Networks (KTNs) are national forums designed to
stimulate innovation in the UK’s key technology sectors by promoting collaboration, best practice and knowledge sharing
between industry and academia. By encouraging partnerships and teamwork, KTNs aim to position the UK as the innovation engine
for Europe. KTNs are a DTI Business Support Solution delivered through the Technology Programme.
About BBSRC
The Biotechnology
& Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) is the UK funding agency for research in the life sciences. Sponsored by
Government, BBSRC annually invests around £336 million in a wide range of research that makes a significant contribution
to the quality of life for UK citizens and supports a number of important industrial stakeholders including the agriculture,
food, chemical, healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors.
About CCLRC
The Council for
the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils (CCLRC) owns and operates the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire,
the Daresbury Laboratory in Cheshire and the Chilbolton Observatory in Hampshire. These world-class institutions support the
research community by providing access to advanced facilities and an extensive scientific and technical expertise.
About PPARC
The Particle
Physics & Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) is the UK’s strategic science investment agency. It funds research,
education and public understanding in four broad areas of science - particle physics, astronomy, cosmology and space science.
PPARC is government funded and provides research grants and studentships to scientists in British universities, gives
researchers access to world-class facilities, and funds the UK membership of international bodies such as the European
Organisation for Nuclear Research, CERN, the European Space Agency and the European Southern Observatory. It also contributes
money for the UK telescopes overseas on La Palma, Hawaii, Australia and in Chile, the UK Astronomy Technology Centre at the
Royal Observatory, Edinburgh and the MERLIN/VLBI National Facility.
About
UKAEA
UKAEA's Culham Division in Oxfordshire is the national centre for fusion research, hosting the European
flagship experiment JET on behalf of partners across Europe and with its own research programme jointly funded by the
Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and EURATOM. The search for commercial fusion power at Culham is
part of a global drive to produce electrical power from the process that powers the sun.
About Qi3
Qi3 is a specialist
service provider that enables high-tech start-ups, technology corporations, universities and government to unite technology
and the marketplace. Its key expertise is in technology commercialisation, business development and knowledge transfer.
Principal activities for the public sector include the delivery of knowledge transfer brokering support; training and
mentoring in technology commercialisation and support for the establishment of technology seed funds. Qi3 also provides
technology market evaluation for corporate venturing organisations and technology companies and hands-on business development
support.