Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

Short description: British research funding body

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

Abbreviation| EPSRC
Predecessor| Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC)
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

Executive Chair

| Lynn Gladden

Main organ

| EPSRC Council

Parent organisation

* Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
* United Kingdom Research and Innovation

Affiliations| RCUK, AHRC, BBSRC, ESRC, MRC, NERC, STFC, TSB, UKSA

Budget

| £898 million (2015–2016)[1]
Website| {{{1}}}

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, mainly to universities in the United Kingdom. EPSRC research areas include mathematics, physics, chemistry, artificial intelligence and computer science, but exclude particle physics, nuclear physics, space science and astronomy (which fall under the remit of the Science and Technology Facilities Council). Since 2018 it has been part of UK Research and Innovation, which is funded through the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

## Contents

* 1 History
* 2 Key people
* 3 Functions
* 4 RISE
* 5 References
* 6 External links

## History

EPSRC was created in 1994. At first part of the Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC),[citation needed] in 2018 it was one of nine organisations brought together to form UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).[2][3]

Its 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.

## Key people

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, a medical physicist and formerly vice provost at University College London.[4]

He'd been succeeded in April 2014 by Philip Nelson, former University of Southampton pro vice-chancellor for research and enterprise.[5] In April 2016 Professor Tom Rodden was appointed as the Deputy CEO of EPSRC, a new position created to work alongside Philip Nelson while he also acts as Chair of RCUK Strategic Executive. Rodden joins the EPSRC on secondment from the University of Nottingham where he is currently Professor of Computing and Co-Director of Horizon Digital Economy Research.

In October 2018 Nelson was succeeded by Lynn Gladden[6] in the new role of Executive Chair.[7]

## 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.[8]

The EPSRC also funds or joint-funds 'Innovation and Knowledge Centres'. These are university-based business incubators which support commercialisation of emerging technologies. Between 2007 and 2016, the EPSRC funded seven centres:[9]

* 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

Since 2013, the ESPRC has funded i-Sense, an interdisciplinary research collaboration which develops early warning sensing systems for infectious diseases.[10]

In 2020, ESPRC received £22 million from UKRI to be used (alongside money from industry and the universities involved) to fund five "next stage digital economy" centres. Projects will be run by the universities of Bath, Newcastle, Northumbria, Nottingham, Surrey and Lancaster.[11]

## RISE

In 2014 the ESPRC established its RISE awards – Recognising Inspirational Scientists and Engineers. The awards recognise inspirational leaders of innovation as RISE Leaders; those who are fellows of the Royal Society, Royal Academy of Engineering or Academy of Medical Sciences as RISE Fellows; future leaders nominated by RISE Leaders as Rising Stars; and EPSRC-supported researchers with an interest in policy and evidence-based decision making as RISE Connectors.[12] (As of October 2020), those named as RISE leaders are:[12]

* Jim Al-Khalili
* Sadie Creese
* Leroy Cronin
* Stephen Haake
* Jenny Nelson
* Jeremy O'Brien
* Rodrigo Quian Quiroga
* Kevin Shakesheff

## References

1. ↑ Budget and finances, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, https://epsrc.ukri.org/about/facts/budget/, retrieved 2020-08-29
2. ↑ "Our councils" (in en-US). https://www.ukri.org/councils/.
3. ↑ "John Kingman to lead creation of new £6 billion research and innovation body" (in en). Department for Business, Innovation & Skills. 17 May 2016. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/john-kingman-to-lead-creation-of-new-6-billion-research-and-innovation-body.
4. ↑ New Chief Executive for the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, 30 May 2007, http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/0705/07053002
5. ↑ "Professor Philip Nelson announced as next EPSRC CEO - EPSRC". http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/newsevents/news/2014/Pages/newceo.aspx.
6. ↑ Anon (2017). "Gladden, Prof. Lynn Faith". Who's Who (online Oxford University Press ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.4000454. https://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U4000454. (subscription or UK public library membership required) (Subscription content?)
7. ↑ "Professor Lynn Gladden selected as Executive Chair of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council". https://www.gov.uk/government/news/professor-lynn-gladden-selected-as-executive-chair-of-the-engineering-and-physical-sciences-research-council.
8. ↑ New Centres for Doctoral Training – December 2008 , from EPSRC's site
9. ↑ "Innovation and knowledge centres – EPSRC website". https://www.epsrc.ac.uk/innovation/business/opportunities/ikcs/.
10. ↑ "About us". https://www.i-sense.org.uk/about-us.
11. ↑ "UKRI to invest £29m to boost digital revolution and online safety". 29 October 2020. https://www.governmentcomputing.com/funding/cybersecurity/ukri-digital-revolution-online-safety.
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "RISE: Recognising inspiration". EPSRC. https://epsrc.ukri.org/skills/rise/.

## External links

* EPSRC YouTube channel

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