Accelerating world-class engineering and science to solve real-world problems

24 June 2013

Awards totalling over £1.2 million, funded through the University’s EPSRC-funded Impact Acceleration Account, have been made across four of the University's Schools to accelerate the impact of research.

The 21 awards, ranging from £12,000 to £100,000, have been made to academics in the Merchant Venturers School of Engineering, the Queen’s School of Engineering, the School of Chemistry, and the School of Physics. The awards will support diverse knowledge exchange and commercialisation activities over the next two years.

The overall purpose is to build on Bristol’s strengths in working with industry by widening participation in knowledge exchange, enhancing the skills of EPSRC-funded researchers, and accelerating the commercialisation and impact of their research. Projects include knowledge transfer secondments, prototype commercialisation, strategic engagements with industry, collaborations for doctoral students, and new Business Fellowships.

Professor Guy Orpen, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Enterprise and Director of the Bristol IAA, said: "EPSRC's Impact Acceleration Account provides vital support for working with business and other partners who can use the University's research. This type of flexible funding enables us to commercialise academic insights directly and to build long-term partnerships through secondments between the University and its business partners."

A key feature of the Bristol IAA is the secondments, which operate on the principle that the best way to exchange knowledge is through people working together to solve real-life industry problems. Secondments can be into or out of the University, part-time or full-time. Partners may include businesses, public sector bodies or NGOs, in the UK or internationally.

The first IAA secondment awardee is Dr Tom Scott for a project entitled ‘Device development for in situ uranium corrosion monitoring’, a partnership with the National Nuclear Laboratory.

The University’s IAA is distributed by an internal competition and panel review every eight weeks managed by the University’s Research and Enterprise Development Division (RED). If you are a science or engineering researcher at Bristol with an idea or project that would benefit from a secondment or other collaboration, please get in touch with Andrew Wray, Frances Frith or Lucy Stephens in RED's Alliance Development Group.

The full list of IAA projects is available online.