EPSRC Research Performance and Economic Impact Report 2013/14

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

Research Performance and Economic Impact Report 2013/14

Contents

Summary: Engineering and physical sciences fuels growth and prosperity

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Promoting world-leading discovery and ensuring research excellence for the UK

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Supporting highly skilled people

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Working in partnership with Innovate UK

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Forming partnerships to maximise impact

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Methodological developments and future challenges

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Metrics

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References

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Summary: Engineering and physical sciences fuels growth and prosperity

EPSRC invests in world-leading discovery, ingenious people and in promoting innovation that all fuel long-term growth through active investment of its £4 billion portfolio of research and training. We maximise the opportunities for impacts to be achieved through partnership working. For example, we have invested £63 million on co-funding projects and schemes with Innovate UK during the Delivery Plan period to-date (2011/12 to 2013/14). At April 2014 we had nearly 2,800 companies and other organisations engaged in our research and training activities; currently 46 per cent of our research portfolio is collaborative with users, with leverage on our current research and training investment as of April 2014 providing an additional £838 million1 from industry, government departments, public sector organisations, independent research organisations and charities.

The UK is in the top five countries in the world for academic collaboration with users.2 We facilitate this through both our strategic partnerships with companies and the flexibility we provide for individuals to form project-specific collaborations.

EPSRC currently has rationalised its strategic partnerships and has around 20 partnerships with organisations from business, government and the charitable sector, including Rolls-Royce, Procter & Gamble, GlaxoSmithKline and the Department for Transport. Total investment in strategic partnership activities is £455 million – £247 million from EPSRC and nearly £208 million from strategic partners.

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In the last three years Dyson has increased fivefold its investment in research programmes with leading British universities and we recently announced plans to double the size of our UK research and development base as part of a £250 million expansion. The EPSRC has been a valued partner every step of the way.3

Sir James Dyson Growing investment in the engineering and physical science research base provides not only the ideas and skills needed for UK industry, but also instils in industry the confidence to invest and take risks that lead to innovative products and services. The government’s own strategies – the Industrial Strategy and the ‘Eight Great Technologies’ – depend upon the engineering and physical sciences research base for their success.

£838m leverage on our research and training investment EPSRC invests in a portfolio of research and training that aligns strongly to eight of the 12 sectors in the Industrial Strategy. We have well-established connections to industry to secure maximum exploitation of research outcomes, a commitment to the long-term, international excellence of research and innovation, and training policies explicitly directed at producing the highly skilled people UK industry needs for growth. We have also strengthened links with UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), partnering on meetings with chief technology officers from global companies to present a coordinated view of the UK innovation system.

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Research Performance and Economic Impact Report 2013-14

Promoting world-leading discovery and ensuring research excellence for the UK

EPSRC is instrumental in shaping the research landscape to play an important role in innovation through the research we fund, the infrastructure we support, the talents we develop and help prosper, as well as the partnerships with business and government that we forge on behalf of UK research. EPSRC delivers impact through continued investment in high quality research. To maintain the UK’s global research standing in light of increasing international competition, and with limited funding available, EPSRC is focusing its investments on excellent research in areas that are of long-term strategic importance to the UK. This will ensure a balanced portfolio which enables ground-breaking transformative research to be fully encouraged and supported.

Research is by its nature a long-term endeavour. EPSRC provides sustained funding to the best researchers and groups to enable them to undertake ambitious programmes

of cutting-edge research, to develop capacity through building teams of leading people and to respond quickly to exciting opportunities as they arise. During 2013/14 we committed more than £942 million in new grants, of which £55 million was awarded to programme grants alone.

EPSRC also plays a key role in delivering the technologies with potential to have a material effect on future growth rates, such as synthetic biology, graphene, quantum technologies, intelligent sensor networks and robotics.

EPSRC supports excellence across its portfolio, with analysis including 2013 data demonstrating that collectively in the research areas that fall within our remit, the UK’s citation impact is continuing to increase and is in a clear leading group of three countries with the USA and Germany.

Relative citation impact of engineering and physical sciences disciplines for the UK and comparator countries.

(Source: Web of Science®, Thomson Reuters. This data is produced under license from Thomson Reuters.)

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GANGES SUPERBUGS LINKED TO PILGRIMAGES Research has shown that the spread of antibioticresistance at sacred sites along the Ganges is linked to annual human pilgrimages. The team from Newcastle University and the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi found that in the pilgrimage season levels of resistance genes that lead to ‘superbugs’ were found to be about 60 times greater than other times of the year. The research is published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology. Preventing the spread of resistance genes that promote life-threatening bacteria could be achieved by improving waste management at key pilgrimage sites. The aim of the research funded by EPSRC was to understand how antibiotic resistance was transmitted due to a specific human activity. Local ‘hot-spots’ of antibiotic resistance exist around the world, particularly densely-populated regions with inconsistent sanitation and poor water quality.

BIRDS IN A FLAP REVEAL V-SHAPE SECRETS Research published in the science journal Nature has solved the mystery of why birds fly in V-formations, by using lightweight sensors fitted to the back of migrating birds. A study of 14 Northern Bald Ibises showed they position themselves and flap their wings precisely to maximise the aerodynamic benefit of ‘upwash’ from the wings of the bird in front, while avoiding ‘downwash’.

These aerodynamic accomplishments were previously not thought possible for birds because of the complex flight dynamics and sensory feedback required. Custom-built EPSRC-funded technology captured the movements of every bird within the flock, recording its position, speed, and wing-flap. The results will prove useful in a variety of fields, for example, in aerodynamics and manufacturing.

The research made headline news internationally, with lead researcher Dr Steve Portugal, from University College London, interviewed on the Chris Evans Show, BBC Radio 2.

LASER TEST FOR MENINGITIS DEVELOPED FROM EPSRC-FUNDED RESEARCH A new test for meningitis, which could help deliver faster and more effective treatments for patients, has been developed through University of Strathclyde-led research funded by EPSRC. The onset of meningitis is often rapid and severe, particularly when a bacterial infection is the cause. This latest research could speed up diagnosis, leading to better outcomes for patients. The researchers believe the new test would be particularly useful where co-infection of multiple species is common and identifying the dominant pathogen present would allow targeted treatment. The study was published in January in the journal Chemical Science and featured on BBC News online and BBC1 Breakfast News.

SYNTHETIC POLYMER RESEARCH FINDINGS PUBLISHED IN NATURE CHEMISTRY

Markus Unsöld, Waldrappteam

EPSRC-funded research has shown that artificial materials based on simple synthetic polymers can disrupt the way in which bacteria communicate with each other.

The findings, published in the journal Nature Chemistry, could further our knowledge on how better to control and exploit bacteria in the future and will have implications for work in the emerging field of synthetic biology. The researchers, based at the Universities of Nottingham, Birmingham and Newcastle, were investigating the development of artificial cells and programmable bacterial coatings when they made the discovery. The finding opens up the possibility to influence microbial behaviour by controlling their ability to form productive communities. This can be exploited to prevent the release of toxins during the spread of infection, or, alternatively, the production of useful molecules which can act as drugs, food source or bio-fuels.

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Research Performance and Economic Impact Report 2013-14

Delivering infrastructure solution As a sponsor of long-term high quality research we understand how important it is for UK researchers to have access to stateof-the-art research equipment and facilities in order to build a world-class research portfolio that will help fuel growth and prosperity. These range from lab-based equipment to international facilities such as the Advanced Research Computing High End Resource (ARCHER), the Research Complex at Harwell and Diamond Light Source.

HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPUTING SERVICE NOW IN OPERATION EPSRC reported in February 2014 that the new national high performance computing service, ARCHER, which had been in full operation for just two months, was already making an impact with users. A number of users across the UK, particularly from high performance computing consortia groups, were invited to test the machine in late 2013.

They reported codes running up to three times faster than

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previously on HECToR. As well as the computer itself, the service offers an extensive file storage system and superfast connectivity to the existing (JANET) academic network.

The machine is located at the University of Edinburgh and operated in partnership with Cray. An official launch of ARCHER at the National Museum of Scotland was held in March 2014, coinciding with HECToR’s retirement.

NEW SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY RESEARCH CENTRES TO BE FUNDED

£13 MILLION FUNDING FOR NATIONAL WIND TUNNEL FACILITY

Three new multidisciplinary research centres in synthetic biology are to be established in Bristol, Nottingham and through a Cambridge/Norwich partnership. The over £40 million investment by EPSRC and BBSRC was announced in January 2014 by the former Minister for Universities and Science David Willetts. The synthetic biology research centres will receive funding over five years to boost the national synthetic biology research capacity and ensure that there is diverse expertise to stimulate the research base. This will include providing essential state-of-the-art equipment, facilities and supporting trained researchers and technical staff to help establish a vibrant culture. This will drive advancement in modern synthetic biology research and develop new technologies. £10 million was allocated to the synthetic biology research centres following the announcement of £600 million capital investment for research councils in the autumn 2012 statement. BBSRC will fund just over 70 per cent of the remaining costs and EPSRC is providing nearly 30 per cent.

A new National Wind Tunnel Facility (NWTF) that will keep the UK at the forefront of aerodynamic and fluid mechanics research was announced by former Minister for Universities and Science David Willetts, as he toured the Honda wind tunnel facilities at Imperial College London in January 2014. The total funding for the facility is £13.3 million, with £10.7 million coming from EPSRC and £2.6 million from the UK Aerodynamics Centre. The National Wind Tunnel Facility will include seven wind tunnels spread across universities throughout the UK. For maximum UK benefit, a balance of academic and industrially-oriented facilities are needed and to meet this need, EPSRC and the UK Aerodynamics Centre are working together to co-fund a portfolio of distributed, but co-ordinated, facilities so their usage can be optimised.

Supporting growth through focus on challenges In addition to supporting excellent research across all areas of its portfolio, EPSRC focuses support on tackling some of the most serious challenges facing the UK, including the need to build a strong economy, produce sustainable low-carbon energy, develop a resilient integrated national infrastructure and a healthy society with personalised healthcare for everyone. Currently we are focusing our resources on supporting four main themes: Manufacturing the Future, Energy (an RCUK cross-council initiative), the Digital Economy (an RCUK cross-council initiative) and Healthcare Technologies. In February 2014 we introduced a new Quantum Technologies theme, reflecting the increased importance in this area of research.

Examples of impact from these themes are below.

Energy The EPSRC-led Research Councils UK Energy Programme aims to position the UK to meet its energy and environmental targets and policy goals through world class research and training. It is sponsoring research and PhD training to secure a low-carbon future, through the creation of reliable, economically-viable energy systems while protecting the natural environment, resources and quality of life. The programme includes over 1,400 collaborators.

FUEL CELL PIONEER Founded in 2001, Intelligent Energy is one of the fastest growing technology companies in Europe with major global partnerships, including the Suzuki Motor Corporation with whom it has formed a joint venture company in Japan. In the largest technology flotation of the past five years (excluding online retailers), Intelligent Energy was admitted on 9 July 2014 to trading on the London Stock Exchange’s main market. The market capitalisation of £639 million on admission took the company directly into the FTSE 250.

NEW SUPERGEN HUB TO SET UK’S ENERGY STORAGE COURSE A new £4 million collaboration between academics and industry that will set the direction and development of research and technologies in energy storage, was unveiled in May 2014 by the Research Councils UK Energy Programme. The SUPERGEN Energy Storage Hub will draw experts together from seven universities and fourteen industrial and governmental partners. They will address the technical and scientific challenges facing the wide variety of energy storage techniques. Led by Professor Peter Bruce based at the University of Oxford, the Hub will develop a shared vision for energy storage in the UK by developing the first integrated national roadmap for energy storage by engaging with the wider community. The Hub will work with its industrial partners to accelerate the pull through of research to scale up, prototyping and commercialisation. Seven universities are involved in the Hub.

Intelligent Energy originated from EPSRC-supported research at Loughborough University. Its R&D-rich background has led to over 550 patents (granted/ pending). The company has its global headquarters on Loughborough University’s Science and Enterprise Park, has a workforce of over 350 and continues to work closely with UK academics across a number of leading universities. Intelligent Energy’s fuel cell technology was behind the first manned flight of a fuel cell-powered aircraft with Boeing, the world’s first purpose built fuel cell motorbike, the first European type approved fuel cell vehicle and a fleet of zero carbon London fuel cell taxis used in the London 2012 Olympics.

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Research Performance and Economic Impact Report 2013-14

Healthcare Technologies During the first half of 2014, the Healthcare Technologies theme worked with its Strategic Advisory Team and its academic and stakeholder community to produce an initial list of 10 Grand Challenges in Healthcare Technologies to which computational, engineering, mathematical and physical sciences can make a significant contribution. The Grand Challenges identified were:

• • • • • • • •

Engineering healthy behaviours Functional enhancement for safe and independent living Infection prevention and control Patient specific treatment Prediction and early diagnosis Smart surgeries and therapies Systems to support and improve healthcare provision Understanding and interventions in neurological function

• Data analytics and digital infrastructure for healthcare • Enabling technologies for regenerative medicine

These Grand Challenges will be used to inform the future strategy and direction of the theme.

Dr Ryan Donnelly, Queen’s University Belfast

PORTABLE, LOW-COST EARLY-WARNING TEST FOR OSTEOPOROSIS

DRUG TESTING WITHOUT THE PAIN Microneedles on a sticking-plaster-like patch may be the painless and safe way doctors will test for drugs and some infections in the future, thanks to work supported by EPSRC. Research at Queen’s University Belfast by Dr Ryan Donnelly is showing that the forest of tiny polymer needles on the underside of the patch, when pressed into the skin, can absorb the fluid in the surface tissue. These microneedles, once they have been used, become softened, so that there’s no danger of dirty needles transferring infection to another patient, or one of the healthcare workers. Two million healthcare workers are infected by needlestick injuries every year.

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“As the population ages and life expectancy rises in the decades ahead, the cost of treating osteoporotic fractures will increase,” says Professor Philipp Thurner of the University of Southampton, who is leading the project. “One in three women aged over 50 is forecast to experience an osteoporotic fracture in her lifetime and, globally, treatment costs are forecast to reach over US$130 billion by 2050. The potential improvement in assessing osteoporosis and future fracture risk offered by this new technology could reduce the burden of broken bones for individuals, healthcare systems and the economy.”

Louise Coutts, University of Southampton

The microneedles are made of polymer gel – similar to the material used in superabsorbent nappies. For their original, injecting function, they are pre-loaded with vaccine or drug compounds that will be released into the skin on contact with the interstitial fluid. But the flow can go both ways. So that for the sampling variants, the backing material can be made chemically attractive to target compounds, encouraging them to diffuse into the gel with interstitial fluid drawn out of the skin and locking them in place for later analysis. The technique is now being developed for monitoring therapeutic drug levels in babies. Premature babies have very limited blood volumes and are prone to bruising and scarring when blood samples are taken. The group is currently in discussions with a major medical manufacturer with a view to producing prototype commercial devices, the first stage ahead of full clinical trials.

A handheld device for diagnosing the early signs of osteoporosis could be available for clinical use within five years. The technology is currently being refined and tested at the University of Southampton with support from EPSRC. The original concept was invented at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Unlike existing methods of assessing bone fragility which measure bone density using X-rays, the device is designed to measure the ability of bone tissue to prevent small cracks growing into full-blown fractures. It does this by pressing a microscopic needle a tiny distance into the top layer of bone. Measured electronically, the amount of penetration indicates how fragile the bone tissue is and therefore the risk of experiencing an osteoporotic fracture later in life.

Manufacturing the Future The Manufacturing the Future theme draws upon capabilities from across the whole engineering and physical sciences research community, to develop a balanced portfolio of longterm, speculative research alongside research where the benefits and manufacturing outcomes are clearly evident.

Research challenges are: • • • •

Innovative production processes Manufacturing informatics Frontier manufacturing Sustainable industrial systems

We are investing over £380 million in cutting-edge manufacturing research with additional funding of over £200 million from 1,300 collaborating companies.

STEM CELL TECHNOLOGY SALES WORTH £20.1 MILLION An automated system which allows the culture of a large number of stem cells has been developed and systems worth £20.1 million sold. The technology is the result of research initially undertaken through an EPSRCfunded Innovative Manufacturing Grand Challenge award and continued at the EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Regenerative Medicine at Loughborough University. Researchers looked at ways to improve the manual stem cell culture processes to enable automated therapeutic stem cell manufacturing which is regulatory compliant and hence commercially viable stem cell products. The product was launched by TAP Biosystems and has a global reach with 40 per cent of the systems sold in Europe and 60 per cent in the USA. Being able to manufacture stem cell based products is one of the key critical translational steps to allow therapies to reach large numbers of patients and the market for successful business investment and sector growth.

EPSRC INNOVATIVE MANUFACTURING RESEARCH CENTRES MAKE AN IMPACT

GREAT TASTING LOW-FAT CHEESES AND CAKES COULD SOON BE ON THE MENU Low-fat cheeses and cakes that are just as tempting as full-fat equivalents could be heading for supermarket shelves, thanks to fresh insights into how proteins can replace fats without affecting foodstuffs' taste and texture. Research sponsored by EPSRC at Heriot-Watt University and the University of Edinburgh has produced modified proteins that easily break down into microparticles and therefore closely mimic the behaviour of fats during food manufacture. The proteins will enable food manufacturers to remove much of the fat used in their products without compromising on product quality.

The proteins could encourage development of a wider choice of low-fat foods, helping consumers to eat more healthily and reducing obesity in the UK and elsewhere (67 per cent of men and 57 per cent of women in the UK are classified as overweight or obese).4 The research will now be taken forward by project partner Nandi Proteins, who will use the findings to extend their range of proteins with a view to food manufacturers incorporating them in new low-fat products that could start reaching the shops within two years. A Knowledge Transfer Partnership funded by EPSRC, Innovate UK and the Scottish Funding Council is enabling the research team to develop a computer model to help food manufacturers pinpoint the optimum level of protein-for-fat replacement for particular products.

1,300: The number of new doctoral level manufacturing engineers thanks to a 10-year EPSRC investment programme in 15 dedicated Innovative Manufacturing Research Centres (IMRCs). As well as helping develop a new generation of talented engineers, the programme has created over 160 new jobs; safeguarded a further 230 jobs and brought 20 new technologies to market. The IMRC initiative paved the way for a host of successful academic/ industrial partnerships through which EPSRC’s total investment of £192 million was supplemented by £207 million in industrial support from over 700 collaborators.

THE CENTRE BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE FOR MANUFACTURING EPSRC-funded researchers are providing a vision for creatively rethinking the future of manufacturing in a changing world. Researchers at the EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Industrial Sustainability are working with multinational businesses, such as Toyota, Unilever and M&S, to develop the knowledge and tools that will help develop new sustainable industrial processes as well as improve the efficiency and environmental performance of current products and processes. With follow-on funding from Innovate UK, a new software tool which integrates the modelling of manufacturing processes within their environment is now available to industry. The team’s research has already helped Toyota to reduce the energy needed to make cars across their European factories by 44 per cent in five years.

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Research Performance and Economic Impact Report 2013-14

Digital Economy

International partnerships

The EPSRC-led Research Councils UK Digital Economy Programme supports research to rapidly realise the transformational impact of digital technologies on aspects of community life, cultural experiences, future society, and the economy across four challenge areas of sustainable society, communities and culture, new economic models and IT as a utility. The programme has leveraged an additional £25 million from more than 600 partners.

Research is international and many challenges that we face are global. As well as maintaining the strength of UK research, we want researchers to be able to collaborate with partners around the world where this adds value to the research that they undertake. Our funding is open to support the UK side of any collaboration with any country; however for proactive activities we focus on key countries such as China, India and Japan, where there is an opportunity for the UK for directed involvement. We also focus on the US, with joint working in energy research for example, and on Europe through encouraging involvement in European programmes such as Horizon 2020. Much of EPSRC international engagement is delivered in partnership with RCUK as well as working closely with other UK organisations involved in international research.

NEW IPAD-BASED ‘EARLY WARNING’ SYSTEM FOR HOSPITAL PATIENT MONITORING An iPad-based early-warning system developed with funding from the EPSRC-led RCUK Digital Economy Programme, is one of the projects funded by the ‘Safer Hospitals, Safer Wards’ £260 million NHS Technology Fund to improve patient safety. The £1.1 million funding will allow the team of biomedical engineers and clinicians from the University of Oxford and the Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) NHS Trust to roll out the system across all adult wards in the Trust’s acute hospitals. The system uses the latest computer tablet technology to record and to evaluate patients’ vital signs and help alert medical staff to patient deterioration more reliably. Researchers in the University of Oxford’s Institute of Biomedical Engineering (IBME) and clinical staff from the OUH Trust, have worked in close collaboration to develop the system. The EPSRC-funded Centre for Doctoral Training at the IBME is also enabling the study of the clinical impact of the new system at first hand across a variety of wards.

In 2013/14 EPSRC has been focusing on consolidating the research partnerships it has built from operating individual joint calls with the National Natural Science Foundation of China. This has cumulated in the signature of an Memorandum of Understanding to cover the next three years of activity identifying shared priority topics in the energy research. EPSRC has also laid the ground work to participate in a joint call with Innovate UK on manufacturing research with China in 2014 and thus continues to expand the links between the UK research base and Chinese research base.

With the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) we have agreed to pilot partnering in the area of physics research in the JSPS Core-to-Core scheme. The scheme aims to link up research laboratories in Japan with collaborators in the UK. With the Department of Science and Technology in India, we have continued to support joint activities in energy research with a focus on solar technology and grid technologies. After several successful joint calls for research proposals, we have started a dialogue to help support longer term engagement from UK groups with Indian counterparts.

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Supporting highly skilled people For the UK to retain its position as a leader in science and technology, we need to invest not only in the future generation of researchers, but also in the highly skilled, numerate workforce which will be needed to drive the economy.

EPSRC trains and supports some of the best scientists and engineers in the world. They all have a positive impact on our world – throughout their careers. They are fuelling industry with new ideas, driving forward some of our most innovative companies and providing answers to some of society’s most important challenges. EPSRC invests in more than 8,500 doctoral students, representing 35 per cent of all engineering and physical sciences PhDs, and 10 per cent of all UK PhDs. 3,000 PhDs graduate each year from EPSRC support, of which 1,200 are collaborative with business.

EPSRC doctoral training – delivering the skills to meet future challenges EPSRC spent more than £177 million on doctoral training during 2013/14. Slightly less than half of this is spent on Centres for Doctoral Training (CDT), with more than 50 per cent of our PhD training investment invested in doctoral training grants and industrial CASE studentships.

As part of our strategic plan to train people with the skills needed for the UK economy, EPSRC completed the process to award 117 high quality Centres for Doctoral Training (CDT) in 33 universities. Total investment in the CDTs is £950 million (£500 million from EPSRC and £450 million leveraged investment from industry, public sector and university partners). There are 1,100 partnering companies.

The centres will equip future research leaders with the knowledge, skills and creative approaches the UK needs for economic growth and social wellbeing.5 Over the next nine years the centres will be supporting over 7,000 students, the first cohorts of which begun their studies in October 2014. In addition to the funding for centres and students, a further investment of £32.8 million of capital equipment has been awarded to 32 universities (across 94 equipment bundles) to help train the students on state-of-the-art equipment.

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Scientists and engineers are vital to our economy and society. It is their talent and imagination, as well as their knowledge and skills that inspire innovation and drive growth across a range of sectors, from manufacturing to financial services.6

CHICKENS TO BENEFIT FROM BIOFUELS BONANZA Chickens could be the unexpected beneficiaries of the growing biofuels industry, feeding on proteins retrieved from the fermenters used to brew bioethanol, thanks to research supported by EPSRC. Collaboration between Nottingham Trent University and AB Agri, the agricultural division of Associated British Foods, has shown that Yeast Protein Concentrate (YPC) may be a cost-competitive substitute for imported soyabased and similar high-value protein feeds currently used in the diets of chickens bred for meat production.

An EPSRC CASE studentship allowed them to develop and analyse the process. Every year, 800 million chickens are reared for meat production in the UK and 48 billion worldwide. As well as helping to feed these birds, YPC could partially replace the fish meal used on commercial fish farms.

Dr Pete Williams of AB Agri, the industrial sponsor of the work, says: “We couldn’t have got this development started without the EPSRC CASE studentship that allowed us to establish the proof of concept, and to confirm the value-creation potential of our innovative separation process. By helping us to move to the next key stage of development, it has brought closer the prospect of full-scale industrial use that could deliver major benefits to the emerging ‘green’ fuel sector.”

Rt Hon David Willetts Former Minister for Universities and Science

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Research Performance and Economic Impact Report 2013-14

Engineering Doctorate The Engineering Doctorate (EngD) programme bridges academia and industry, influencing career choices, encouraging doctoral researchers (research engineers) to work closer to industry, and creating impact to industry and the economy. Currently EPSRC supports EngD through 19 Industrial Doctorate Centres. During 2013/14 Manchester Business School undertook a study to define and understand what is the ‘impact’ of EngDs and identify how it can best be evidenced. The focus of the study was on the impact on industry partners and identifying how the EngD experience shapes the career paths of EngD graduates. Broadly, four routes to the impact from the EngD programme were identified.

• Generation of new knowledge: New knowledge from the EngD projects leads to increased in-house knowledge and research outcomes in the short/mid-term, as well as a long-term approach to technology problem solution and business change. Standard formation and policy change based on knowledge generated from the EngD projects are long-term routes to impacts, leading to sector-wide and/or broad social change.

• Innovation-related routes to impact: Outputs include patents, new technology, new processes from the EngD projects. Outcomes include commercialisation of the EngD outputs via licensing of patents, formation of spinout companies; new product/service development; new market entry; improvements to business processes and accelerating time to market. Innovation related outcomes may lead to cost savings and wider economic impact.

• Knowledge networks and collaboration: Knowledge generated by one firm often diffuses into the industry as a whole through collaborative relationships, through supply chains or through movement of human capital.

• Human capital and skills development: Three forms of impact routes are identified:

i) ii)

iii)

individual RE career paths developments; organisational absorptive capacity development at the industry partner through enhanced skills development; and sector-wide impacts by creating a pool of highly skilled talents and future leaders.

Fellowships In order to deliver the highest quality research to meet UK and global priorities, EPSRC supports the next generation of researchers with the greatest potential across the postdoctoral, early and established career stages to help them become the next world-leading researchers. Currently we support around 300 research fellows at various stages in their careers; increasingly these will be working in areas where growth is required and where they can integrate their work into the wider landscape.

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During 2013/14 we introduced a new fellowships framework to develop the next generation of researchers with the greatest potential across the postdoctoral, early and established career stages. From April 2013, a biannual process has been introduced with guidance in place to publicise the on-going refresh of thematic priority areas. The intention is to maintain the UK’s global research standing in the context of increasing international competition and, with limited funding available to us, focus our support on those individuals who have the most potential to deliver the highest quality research which meets UK and global priorities. The new framework is now established with strong demand in areas such as physical sciences and maths. Our Engineering theme have also launched a specific call for Fellowships for Growth.

Examples of fellowship awards during the year include:

Early Career Fellowships partnership A new collaboration between the Royal Society and the EPSRC to support early career Royal Society research fellows who are working within EPSRC’s priority areas was announced in July 2013. The first seven fellowship awards are spread across six of the UK’s leading universities. This partnership will help us achieve our goals of developing the next generation of leaders in science and engineering, promoting excellent research and driving knowledge forward.

Fellowships building UK leadership in engineering As part of EPSRC’s programme of support for leaders and influencers in engineering, it was announced in November 2013 that up to £9 million would be made available to support between 10 and 15 new fellowships. These early and established career fellowships will be targeted at three of the UK’s great technologies: advanced materials, robotics and autonomous systems, and synthetic biology.

MOLECULAR NANO-SPIES TO MAKE LIGHT WORK OF DISEASE DETECTION EPSRC-funded researchers at the University of Nottingham’s School of Pharmacy have designed and tested large molecular complexes that will reveal their true identity only when they’ve reached their intended target, thereby preventing any biological interaction until it is triggered by a specific biomarker. The complexes could be used in detecting and monitoring diseases, or to deliver potent drugs at particular locations in a patient’s body and an early application could be in testing for specific infections in blood or saliva samples. The key to this breakthrough has been a five-year EPSRC Leadership Fellowship awarded to Professor Cameron Alexander that has provided the stability of funding to recruit and retain an outstanding team and the ability to explore a range of new concepts. In their initial trials, the team has proved the concept works and are now progressing the breakthrough.

New fellowships to boost science innovation A new visiting fellowship scheme, that will strengthen the relationship between academics and the manufacturing sector and accelerate the transition of research from the laboratory to adoption by industry, was launched at the second annual EPSRC Manufacturing the Future conference at Cranfield University in September 2013. The first group of fellows will spend time carrying out research at one or more of the seven

Centres of Excellence that collectively form Innovate UK’s High Value Manufacturing Catapult, to increase academic involvement in the catapult and accelerate the impact of EPSRC-funded research. An initial £1 million EPSRC grant has been awarded to the University of Sheffield to coordinate the scheme through its Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre.

Encouraging entrepreneurial skills DIGITAL ANIMATION SPIN-OUT SOLD FOR £320 MILLION An EPSRC-sponsored PhD student’s digital animation research resulted in the US$527 million (£320 million) sale of Oxford spin-out company NaturalMotion by Social Network Gaming Company Zynga. Torsten Reil founded the company in 2001 to commercialise his PhD work developing computer simulations of nervous systems based on genetic algorithms. His programmes used natural selection to evolve their own means of locomotion, allowing more realistic animations of human and animal movements. The commercial potential of the technology, called Dynamic Motion Synthesis (DMS), was soon proven when it was used in the production process for Hollywood films Troy and Poseidon and a number of video games including Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and Grand Theft Auto IV. The company has gone on to have a string of mobile game hits, including Backbreaker Football, CSR Racing and Clumsy Ninja. Its first ‘free-to-play’ game, My Horse, has been downloaded over 11 million times.

SPIN-OUT FLOATED ON THE ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENT MARKET A company founded to commercialise artificial intelligence technology developed at the University of Aberdeen is the most recent contribution made

by EPSRC-sponsored researchers to the ‘big data’ revolution. Data2Text was formed four years ago by Professor Ehud Reiter and Dr Yaji Sripada to take forward Natural Language Generation (NLG) research.

NLG is a form of artificial intelligence developed to communicate information extracted from complex data sources in natural language, automatically generating written reports which would take expert analysts hours to complete. Professor Reiter says: “The goal is to build ‘articulate machines’ which communicate with people in the same way that other people do.” Data2Text was acquired by software development business Arria in 2013.

The resulting company, Arria NLG, was floated in early December 2013 on the Alternative Investment Market and is currently valued at over £130 million.

GRAVITY-BEATING ULTRASONIC TWEEZERS PROVIDE A SOUND ROUTE TO BIO-ENGINEERING Pioneering ‘tweezers’ that use ultrasound beams to grip and manipulate tiny clusters of cells under electronic, pushbutton control could lead to life-changing medical advances, such as better cartilage implants that reduce the need for knee replacement operations. Using the crafted sound fields, cartilage cells taken from a patient’s knee can be levitated for weeks in a nutrient-rich fluid. This means the nutrients can reach every part of the culture’s surface and, combined with the stimulation provided by the ultrasound, enables the cells to grow and to form better implant tissue than when cultured on a glass petri dish. By holding the cells in the required position firmly, but gently, the tweezers

can also mould the growing tissue into exactly the right form so that the implant is truly fit-for-purpose when inserted into the patient’s knee. Over 75,000 knee replacements are carried out each year in the UK; many could be avoided if cartilage implants could be improved.

This is just one potential application of ultrasonic tweezers developed by a team at four UK universities: Bristol, Dundee, Glasgow and Southampton, as well as a range of industrial partners. The collaboration, which is supported by a four-year EPSRC grant, has established the UK as a world leader in this fast-growing technology.

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Research Performance and Economic Impact Report 2013-14

Working in partnership with Innovate UK Overview of partnership work EPSRC and Innovate UK are distinct but complementary bodies with unique and comprehensive knowledge of the research and innovation landscape. Together they have a strategic relationship that leads to joint programmes and a shared understanding that influences a more joined up approach across a range of sectors that have the potential to drive economic growth and build the UK’s reputation in the global marketplace.

Over this Delivery Plan EPSRC has spent £63 million on co-funding projects and schemes with Innovate UK. £20.2 million of this total was during 2013/14, of which £15.7 million was through grants. The distribution of grant spend (totalling £46.4 million) by theme over the Delivery Plan period is shown in figure 2 below:

Manufacturing the Future Energy Healthcare Technologies Engineering Global Uncertainties Digital Economy Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Physical Sciences Living with Environmental Change

EPSRC spend on grants co-funded with Innovate UK for 2011/12 to 2013/14.

Innovate UK needs the pipeline of research and skills that EPSRC produces. Of Innovate UK’s £200 million anticipated 2014/15 expenditure on its 14 priority areas, £180 million is linked directly to engineering and physical sciences (EPS).7 Eight of the nine existing and planned Catapult Centres will build directly on and continue to benefit from engagement with EPS research.

EPSRC and Innovate UK have recently completed work to present the 25 years of discovery and innovation that has led to a global market for plastic electronics, valued at £1 billion in 2012 and is expected to rise to nearly £25 billion by 2020. This is an industry that emerged from outstanding

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work at the University of Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory where Professor Sir Richard Friend and his research group invented polymer organic light-emitting diodes, with funding from EPSRC. The story since has been one of constant, globally-leading achievement, supported by EPSRC and Innovate UK including the Cambridge Innovation and Knowledge Centre and the EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Large-Area Electronics. Figures gathered by the Plastic Electronics Leadership Group show that in 2013 the UK sector involved 33 universities and 134 companies, 97 of them SMEs. The sector is ranked fifth in the world for the number of patent families (486) filed by inventors from 2009 to 2014.8

Innovation and Knowledge Centres Innovation and Knowledge Centres (IKCs) are a key component of the UK’s approach to the commercialisation of emerging technologies through creating early stage critical mass in an area of disruptive technology. They are able to achieve this through their international quality research capability and access to companion technologies needed to commercialise research.

Based in a university they are led by an expert entrepreneurial team. While continuing to advance the research agenda, they create impact by enhancing wealth generation of the businesses with which they work.

EPSRC has awarded seven IKCs since 2005: • Cambridge IKC on Advanced Manufacturing Technologies for Photonics and Electronics at the University of Cambridge • Ultra Precision and Structured Surfaces at Cranfield University • Centre for Secure Information Technologies at Queen’s University Belfast • Medical Technologies IKC at the University of Leeds • Sustainable Product Engineering Centre for Innovative Functional Industrial Coatings at Swansea University • Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction at the University of Cambridge • Synthetic Biology Innovation and Commercialisation Industrial translation Engine (SynbiCITE) at Imperial College London With the EPSRC as lead sponsor alongside Innovate UK, the seven IKCs have received £40 million from EPSRC, the originator of the IKC concept. Two IKCs have also received joint funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). Since their inception, the IKCs have established a global profile. Pathfinder projects focus on emerging technologies and include developing new coatings and surfaces that can be used to turn buildings into power stations, enhancing jet engine efficiency, tackling medical problems, repairing bridges, and minimising the threat of cyber-attacks and terrorism.

Overall, the seven IKCs have worked with around 340 business collaborators who have invested more than £43 million in research and translation activities. More than 2,200 research publications have been produced, whilst around 60 patents have been filed, 11 spin-out companies created and over 800 new jobs created as a result of the IKCs’ activities. Further information on the IKC’s was presented in a special edition of Pioneer magazine.9

“

As a direct result of the IKC derisking technologies which have been taken up by the sector, industry has invested a further £57 million in their new product development. Based on the standard calculation that every £1 invested in R&D creates £10 in economic value and GDP, this will deliver a significant economic impact in the future.

Professor John Fisher Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Academic Director of the University of Leeds Medical Technologies IKC

MAKING WAVES Researchers at the Centre for Secure Information Technologies (CSIT) IKC at Queen’s University Belfast have launched a spin-out company to bring to market an awardwinning microwave fence for use in critical installations such as airports, powerplants and country borders. The company’s wireless microwave barrier provides reliable and safe intrusion detection for outdoor perimeters.

When in sequence, the fence’s series of nodes emit an electromagnetic beam, using high frequency waves, which passes from a transmitter to a receiver, creating an invisible but sensitive detection curtain around a secure location. A key feature of the MicroSense system is its ability to distinguish between real targets and nuisance environmental disturbances. The high precision sensor technology cuts out the ‘false alarm’ headache common among other systems, providing a highly reliable system which is easy to use and easily maintained even remotely.

The product is being tested in several airports and secure locations around the world, from Northern Ireland to Hong Kong.

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Research Performance and Economic Impact Report 2013-14

FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH LEADS TO COMMERCIAL REALITY University of Leeds spin-out Quantum Imaging Ltd secured a £1.6 million investment, led by IP Group plc, to develop its medical imaging technology for use in a clinical setting.

The portable device developed by Professor Ben Varcoe with EPSRC-funding, will dramatically improve the process of diagnosing heart conditions, saving time for medical staff and patients and ultimately relieving pressure and costs for healthcare providers. Proof of concept investment, aimed at accelerating the fundamental research through to commercial reality, was provided through the Medical Technologies Innovation and Knowledge Centre based at the university and supported by the EPSRC, BBSRC and Innovate UK. The device provides a quick and easy to use, in most healthcare settings, alternative to large scale magnetometers currently on the market. Whilst these have been used in the oil, gas and aerospace industries, their size and cost – along with the specialised skills required to operate them – have effectively prohibited their use in many healthcare settings.

Catapults Eight of the nine existing and planned Catapult Centres build directly on, and continue to benefit from, engagement with engineering and physical research. This includes six of the seven current Catapults, namely High Value Manufacturing, Cell Therapy, Offshore Renewable Energy, Connected Digital Economy, Future Cities and Transport Systems. Also the two Catapults planned to start in 2015, namely Energy Systems and Precision Medicine.

EPSRC has provided significant analysis of relevant strengths within the research base on which the Catapults can draw, and will ensure that our portfolio is engaged with Catapults in the same way as with other key organisations in the innovation system including consideration of how best our capital investments in equipment and facilities might provide enhanced opportunities for Catapults and working to ensure the flow of people and knowledge between organisations.

In addition to facilitating links with investments in research, training and capital, EPSRC has funded fellowships programmes to foster research base engagement with the High Value Manufacturing and Connected Digital Economy Catapult Centres.

Furthermore, in the recent Hauser Review, it was recognised that investments in emerging technologies and industries, including the IKC’s, could become the UK’s approach to identifying future priority programme areas for Innovate UK and a vehicle for incubating new areas for Catapults.10

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HIGH VALUE MANUFACTURING CATAPULT FELLOWSHIPS Successful partnership working on several levels is demonstrated by the launch in September 2013 of a new EPSRC Visiting Fellowship scheme that will strengthen the relationship between academics and the manufacturing sector and accelerate the transition of research from the laboratory to adoption by industry. The EPSRC-supported fellows will spend six months carrying out research at one or more of the seven Centres of Excellence that collectively form Innovate UK’s High Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult. EPSRC’s Chair, Paul Golby, said: “EPSRC and Innovate UK are working together to forge better links between the research base and industry. These Fellowships will allow academics to increase their understanding and knowledge of the timescales, constraints and priorities required to bring research from the lab to the market.”

CALL FOR CONNECTED DIGITAL ECONOMY CATAPULT FELLOWSHIPS In August 2014, a call was launched for an academic partner to establish a new visiting fellowships programme worth £500k over three years to support up to 20 fellowships into the Digital Catapult. The aims of the programme are to strengthen the relationship between the research base and the fast expanding Digital Economy sector via the Digital Catapult; and accelerate the transition of research funded by the Digital Economy theme to adoption by users.

Catalysts EPSRC is currently funding the Energy and Industrial Biotechnology Catalysts. Catalysts are a form of R&D funding which focus on specific priority areas and aim to help take projects from research to commercial viability. Projects are funded at any stage of their development, from evaluating the technical potential of an idea, to technology development, or at a late stage where projects are at prototype pre-commercial stage.

ENERGY CATALYST The Energy Catalyst fund of £25 million from Innovate UK, EPSRC and the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) will provide investment and support UK universities and businesses to advance the best concepts and innovative technologies in the energy sector. The fund, announced in April 2014, will also support business-led projects which develop innovative solutions to the energy trilemma of reduced carbon emissions, security of supply and affordability. Technology innovation will help transform UK energy technology and create global markets for businesses with world-leading solutions.

SMART 3D MODEL TAKES THE GUESS WORK OUT OF INTERNET SHOPPING Founded in 2008, Metail is a British company developing online fitting room technology designed to plug in to clothing retailers’ existing web sites, enabling consumers to create a bespoke 3D model of themselves to ‘try on’ their chosen garments, thus eliminating size, shape and fit uncertainty. Company co-founder Duncan Robertson developed the core research behind the technology whilst completing an EPSRC-funded PhD. Now employing around 40 employees, the company has raised a cumulative total of £20 million in funding and developed commercial partnerships with Tesco, Warehouse, Shop Direct and SingTel. In September 2013, Metail’s involvement with fashion brand Warehouse moved to the next level when its MeModel ‘outfitting’ app was launched on the popular High Street brand’s website. The expected benefits of the software include increased sales through customer confidence in buying and a reduction in the amount of returned garments. Looking to develop the technology further, Metail secured follow-on funding from Innovate UK to develop the software for use during the garment sample process. The new software is expected to increase profitability by £1.8 million per year.

INDUSTRIAL BIOTECHNOLOGY CATALYST

Connections between the EPSRC and Innovate UK portfolios In addition to the partnership work on strategic alignment and joint working, EPSRC and Innovate UK are working together to better understand the connections between our funded portfolios. Three examples are presented below where EPSRC investments have led on to projects that have been supported

by Innovate UK. CROSSRAIL COLLABORATION The Cambridge Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction (CSIC), funded by EPSRC, Innovate UK and industry, has been active on more than 40 construction sites in the UK. Working with the Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) Associates, CSIC has led the development and installation of optical fibre and other monitoring instrumentation on four sites of the Crossrail project and demonstrated the potential economic benefits that could be achieved with refined designs.

University of Sheffield

The Industrial Biotechnology Catalyst, with initial funding of £45 million in 2014-15, will accelerate the commercialisation of industrial biotechnology derived products and processes. It has been set up by Innovate UK, BBSRC and EPSRC to support research and development for the processing and production of materials, chemicals and bioenergy through the sustainable exploitation of biological resources.

WOUND DRESSING PROVIDES EVIDENCE OF INFECTION British soldiers injured in battle and elderly people suffering from chronic ulcers are just some of the patients who could benefit from new wound-healing technology. Fundamental polymer physics research supported by EPSRC and the Ministry of Defence, led to the development of the technology in a collaboration between researchers at the University of Sheffield and medical technology company Smith & Nephew Wound Management.

With follow-on funding from Innovate UK the team are developing wound dressings and devices which will accurately and quickly detect the presence of bacteria in wounds, determine the best method of treatment and help reduce the overuse of antibiotics. In the UK alone there are over 200,000 patients suffering from chronic foot ulcers, with up to 60 per cent of these being infected. By finding a way of detecting and treating these cases earlier, and more effectively, the team are confident their research will improve patient care and reduce the cost burden on the National Health Service.

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Research Performance and Economic Impact Report 2013-14

Other support: Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, Collaborative R&D During 2013/14 EPSRC supported 55 Knowledge Transfer Partnerships with a value of £2.707 million. We also issued 34 grants on Innovate UK Collaborative R&D projects worth £6.4 million (of which £5.3 million was EPSRC funding) and co-funded seven Innovate UK calls.

BEST OF THE BEST AWARDS FOR STAND-OUT KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER PARTNERSHIPS Professor of Advanced Materials Technologies Alma Hodzic and her team from the University of Sheffield won the much coveted Best Partnership Award in the Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) Best of the Best 2014 Awards. The project was with Shaun Chatterton and Dr Andrew Gill from Floreon, a spin-out company based on the biodegradable biopolymer technology developed by the university and CPD Plc in Hull. Professor Hodzic, Director of the EPSRC High Value Manufacturing Catapult Fellowship Centre, says: “The award is a fantastic recognition of the successful research partnership between the University of Sheffield and Floreon Transforming Packaging Ltd. The final product, Floreon, has been developed after four years of research and two KTPs that have both been graded by independent Technology Strategy Board reviewers as ‘Outstanding’.

This experience has shown us that the KTP scheme can effectively accelerate academic know-how into the world of innovative applications, and in this case with significant benefits to the environment.” Floreon is an innovative, environmentally friendly, high performing bioplastic developed from sustainable materials.

This year’s awards celebrated partnerships that have excelled in the areas of engineering excellence, societal impact and business impact, among others, with individual awards being given to Business Leaders of Tomorrow. All the nominees are engaged in fields ranging from pharmaceuticals and healthcare through to highvalue manufacturing and environmental technologies.

The projects offer a compelling demonstration of the breadth and depth of KTPs that combine innovation and the application of new knowledge that allows UK business to compete in an increasingly competitive global market.

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EPSRC FUNDED KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER PARTNERSHIP WINS NATIONAL PRIZE A collaboration between Leeds-based The Phoenix Partnership (TPP) and the University of Leeds won a national UK impact award. The jointly funded EPSRC/ Innovate UK collaboration was a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP), an initiative through which recent graduates are given the opportunity to help businesses access knowledge and expertise in universities. The University of Leeds was awarded the RCUK Knowledge Base Impact Award, which recognises the research council-funded partnership that has delivered the most outstanding academic impact.

The partnership developed ‘ResearchOne’, an electronic health records research database. It includes ethically approved, non-identifiable data from opted-in electronic patient records held in TPP’s ‘SystmOne’, a clinical computer system used by many healthcare professionals across the UK. It has the potential to be one of the largest healthcare databases in the world and contains over 35 million records, drawn from GPs, child health, community units, palliative care, out-of-hours and accident & emergency departments.

Forming partnerships to maximise impact Connecting business to research and skills EPSRC has the greatest alignment of any research council to the government’s Industrial Strategy and Strategies for Growth.

We invest in a portfolio of research and training that aligns strongly to eight of the 12 sectors in the Industrial Strategy. We have well-established connections to industry to secure maximum exploitation of research outcomes, a commitment to the long-term, international excellence of research and innovation, and training policies explicitly directed at producing the highly skilled people UK industry needs for growth. We have also strengthened links with UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), partnering on meetings with chief technology officers from global companies to present a coordinated view of the UK innovation system.

Aerospace – £176 million Automotive – £111 million Construction – £197 million Information Economy – £349 million Life Sciences – £555 million Nuclear Energy – £239 million Wind Energy – £18 million Other – £46 million

EPSRC portfolio of direct relevance to BIS sectors as of 1 April 2014.

Highlight on strategic partnerships EPSRC does not work in isolation: we develop and sustain strategic partnerships with other organisations in the research and innovation ecosystem, building and maintaining relationships not only with universities, but also working closely with the major users of research. This occurs both at the strategic level via formal partnerships and operationally via collaboration on research grants, where 46 per cent of our research grants have user collaborations.

During 2013/14 we rationalised our strategy partnerships, to focus our efforts on around 20 formal strategic partnerships, including new partnerships with BT, Tata Steel and Shell.

SHELL SIGNS A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING WITH EPSRC In February 2014 the multinational oil and gas company Shell signed Memoranda of Understanding with EPSRC and NERC. The five year partnerships will enable Shell to gain greater understanding of the research landscape in which the research councils operates and help EPSRC fulfil part of its strategy to drive UK economic growth.

It aims to identify synergies between Shell and EPSRCfunded research and training activities where they relate to Shell technology strategies as well as help to identify opportunities for joint funding and postgraduate training which align with both partners’ requirements.

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Research Performance and Economic Impact Report 2013-14

In March 2014 Tata Steel, Europe’s second largest steel producer, formed a strategic partnership with EPSRC. The research will include studying the viability of coating steel strips with graphene, which could boost the energy efficiency of solar panels, or make buildings longer-lasting by reducing damage caused by water or even the most corrosive of chemicals. Also among the key research areas will be ways to improve waste recycling processes and the development of new sensor equipment whose ability to operate in very high temperatures or extreme chemical environments could lead to greater understanding of metallurgical and chemical properties and processes. The partners will work together on long-term research, postgraduate training and knowledge exchange in a number of different pre-defined areas.

Spend on knowledge exchange activities EPSRC is committed to maximising the impact of its investments. To help ensure that this occurs, we spend £114 million on knowledge exchange activities – this includes Pathways to Impact spend in research grants, Innovate UKlinked activities, Impact Acceleration Accounts, Strategic Partnerships, Industrial Doctorate Centres, Industrial CASE PhD Studentships, ten per cent of Doctoral Training Grant spend and our contributions to Royal Society Industry Fellowships.

Working with key industry sectors Automotive EPSRC supports a broad portfolio of research relevant to the automotive manufacturing sector – ranging from research to enable more efficient Internal Combustion Engines, robotics and software engineering to improve production efficiency and capabilities, to advances in fuel cells and electric vehicles.

EPSRC is helping to influence this sector: EPSRC’s chief executive is a member of the Automotive Council, whilst we also have director representation on the Council’s Technology Group. This representation gives EPSRC the opportunity to better align research with business needs and facilitate stronger links to the industry base. Priorities for future research include energy storage, electrical motors and drives, advanced materials, robotics, power electronics and intelligent mobility.

EPSRC’s current portfolio (as of 1 April 2014) of direct relevance to the BIS Automotive Sector is £157 million, with over £55 million cash and in-kind support from collaborative partners. EPSRC collaborates with a number of key automotive manufacturers including Jaguar Land Rover and Ford.

Information Economy EPSRC supports a well-developed and extensive portfolio of research and training that underpins those sectors of the economy relevant to the Information Economy strategy. EPSRC worked closely with colleagues in BIS during the drafting of the Information Economy Industrial Strategy, coordinating

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input from academia, industry and other public sector bodies.

As a result, and recognising the important role that future research and skills play in delivering the strategy, EPSRC Council member Dr Dave Watson (IBM) has been nominated as a member of the Information Economy Council. He is supported by EPSRC staff working alongside BIS to coordinate the work and discussions of the Council.

Working alongside NMI, the trade association representing the UK Electronic Systems, Microelectronics and Semiconductor Communities, EPSRC made significant contributions to the ESCO (Electronic Systems: Challenges and Opportunities) Report – highlighting the importance of electronic systems to the current and future prosperity of the UK. EPSRC’s current portfolio (as of 1 April 2014) of direct relevance to the BIS Information Economy sector is £367 million, with more than £128 million cash and in-kind from collaborative partners.

NEW DESIGN FOR MOBILE PHONE MASTS COULD CUT CARBON EMISSIONS A breakthrough in the design of signal amplifiers for mobile phone masts could deliver a massive 200MW cut in the load on UK power stations, reducing CO2 emissions by around 0.5 million tonnes a year. The Universities of Bristol and Cardiff have designed an amplifier that works at 50 per cent efficiency compared with the 30 per cent now typically achieved. If 10,000 base stations in the UK were fitted with the new amplifier, it is estimated that the total saving would amount to half the output of a mid-size, 400MW power station. There are currently around 50,000 phone mast base stations in the UK, so the potential energy and carbon-saving benefits could be even greater.

The team have also succeeded in simplifying the whole amplifier design process, which is of vital importance to encouraging widespread take-up of the project’s findings.

The team are now working with a major electronics company to take some of the project’s key findings towards commercialisation. Follow-up funding has also been secured through an EPSRC Impact Acceleration Award.

Dan Tsantilis

A NEW RESEARCH PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN TATA STEEL AND EPSRC

Life Sciences EPSRC supports a broad portfolio of research relevant to the life sciences sector. EPSRC’s current portfolio (as of 1 April 2014) of direct relevance to the BIS Life Sciences sector is £568 million, with nearly another £234 million in cash and in-kind contributions from collaborative partners. Key research areas include medical imaging, clinical technologies, biomaterials and tissue engineering and assistive technology.

We support training of engineers, physicists, chemists, computer scientists and mathematicians, all of whom play a vital role in Life Sciences, and are essential to economic growth in the sector and wellbeing in the UK. More details of these relationships, including looking ahead 10 to 20 years can be found in the report The importance of engineering and physical sciences to health and life sciences, published in May 2014.11 Uniquely EPSRC supports basic research capabilities essential for new developments and growth, for example: • Creating transformative technologies for healthcare to enable earlier and better diagnosis, treatment and management of health conditions (e.g. medical imaging and data visualisation, drug design, novel drug delivery, tissue engineering, robotics).

• Advancing the engineering and physical sciences knowledge and techniques that are required to enable better understanding of biology and to enable its application through to therapy (e.g. medicinal chemistry, synthetic chemistry, chemical biology, integration of biomarkers and diagnostics, stem-cells scale up, bioprocessing, medical modelling and simulation).

• Enabling future healthcare systems that deliver more efficient personalised and localised healthcare (e.g. information-driven healthcare, digital inclusion, point-ofcare diagnostics and devices, computational statistics, systems engineering).

• Novel chemistry techniques that underpin future drug discovery and production.

• New materials that revolutionise drug delivery, implants and tissue scaffolds.

• Provision of future trained manpower through our centres for doctoral training, addressing sector skills gaps and working with industrial partners.

Construction EPSRC’s portfolio of research relevant to the construction sector ranges from building physics, fundamental materials research into new forms of concrete, models to aid structural design to wellbeing in cities and interdependent infrastructure planning. EPSRC’s Chair, Paul Golby is a member of the Construction Leadership Council. Priorities for future research include sustainable and resilient infrastructure, building physics, water engineering and end use energy demand research applied to the built environment.

EPSRC’s construction portfolio is £215 million, with more than £114 million cash and in-kind contributions from collaborative partners.

RESEARCH IMPROVES PERFORMANCE OF WATER PIPES With buried water pipes costing millions to replace, being able to maintain them is vital. An EPSRC-sponsored research team at the University of Sheffield have been working with water companies to find ways to maximise performance of the UK water system that includes pipes over 100 years old.

Using a purpose built laboratory based temperature control experimental pipe facility – 80mm in diameter and over 600 metres in length – microscopic images and DNA based techniques, the team examined the critical pipe water interface exploring and proving the importance of controlling factors. They found that by manipulating the system and rerouting flows the risk of a build-up of material could be reduced and therefore managed, resulting in a higher quality of drinking water without the need for renewing pipes or expensive and disruptive invasive cleaning. Collaborating water companies are fundamentally changing their approaches and are already reporting improvements in levels of service and millions of pounds savings.

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Research Performance and Economic Impact Report 2013-14

Supporting the impact ecosystem in universities EPSRC facilitates and embeds support impact throughout its portfolio of investments, for example via Pathways to Impact in all its research grants.

One of the cornerstones of EPSRC’s commitment to maximising impact of our investments is our investment in Impact Acceleration Accounts (IAAs). IAAs were introduced in 2012 to provide flexible support for activities we know help to accelerate and widen the delivery of impact from our portfolio.

An initial £60 million three-year investment, distributed to 31 universities, was extended during 2014 with an additional £30 million, extending the IAA portfolio to 33 universities.

These universities cover 95 per cent of the EPSRC portfolio.

The award was by algorithm according to portfolio size, with the smallest awards being for £200,000 per year.

The IAAs build on partnerships developed with universities and the successes we have seen with our previous support through Knowledge Transfer Accounts (KTA) and Knowledge Transfer Secondments (KTS). IAAs are showing some excellent outcomes: in the first year 457 projects, 152 secondments, 385 events, 291 new company partners, more than 150 proof of concept projects, 87 patents filed, 34 licensing agreements and 38 joint publications, with leverage of more than £22 million for the £20 million invested by EPSRC during the year.

Universities value the IAA highly because it: • Enables universities to respond rapidly as exploitation opportunities arise.

• Builds on a portfolio of EPSRC-supported work, rather than an individual research grant.

• Provides flexibility to fit in alongside other funding and be deployed to target the EPSRC portfolio.

• Supports cultural shift actions, such as universities engaging with researchers who do not normally work with industry.

• Supports the preparation of projects (such as developing new business partnerships) as well as post-project work such as proof of concept.

Evaluating the impact of Knowledge Transfer Accounts Over £52 million was invested in KTA and KTS during the period October 2009 to September 2012. Whilst initial feedback on the use of this funding was obtained in 2012, EPSRC has undertaken a more quantitative evaluation to assess the impact of these investments, in both economic terms and more broadly in cultural and societal benefits, during 2013/14.12 KTA projects have worked with businesses large and small, headquartered in the UK and elsewhere via a number of different routes including collaborative R&D programmes, secondments and licencing of later stage

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technology. The KTA and KTS schemes have acted as catalysts for the formation of many new collaborative partnerships, encouraged companies to collaborate who have not previously done so and reinforced existing relationships.

The schemes have inspired collaboration with approximately 700 partners, resulted in 56 patents being applied for, or granted, founded 30 spin-out companies, generated over £21 million in cash and in-kind leveraged to the projects themselves and instigated the subsequent combined funding of £127 million from both the public and private sectors to develop innovations. These impacts were felt in products, services, processes and policymaking and have resulted in a combined economic impact of £2.4 billion and the creation or safeguarding of 600 jobs.

It is therefore evident that KTA/KTS supported projects have delivered significant impact through new and unique products, services and process innovations to grow the UK economy.

Engaging the public EPSRC encourages researchers to consider two-way engagement with the public through interaction and dialogue to inform their research. We are integrating public engagement activities across all of our research and training priorities with the aim of building a high quality portfolio that is more closely linked to the research we fund, encompassing a greater section of the research community and ultimately having the potential for much greater impact than a dedicated funding scheme. Examples of how EPSRC-supported researchers are engaging effectively with research users including the public are provided below.

Responsible innovation In 2009/10 EPSRC and BBSRC jointly commissioned a public dialogue around the emerging area of synthetic biology. One of the main messages coming from that dialogue was that the public not only care about outcomes, but also the process and conduct of research matters too. The public expect to be able to trust funders to ensure that scientists think and act responsibly. As a direct consequence, EPSRC’s 2010 Delivery Plan contained an undertaking to develop and promote approaches to ‘responsible innovation’.

Responsible innovation is a process that seeks to promote creativity and opportunities for science and innovation that are socially desirable and undertaken in the public interest.

It acknowledges that innovation can raise questions and dilemmas, is often ambiguous in terms of purposes and motivations and unpredictable in terms of impacts, beneficial or otherwise. Responsible innovation creates spaces and processes to explore these aspects of innovation in an open, inclusive and timely way. This is a collective responsibility, where funders, researchers, stakeholders and the public all have an important role to play. It includes, but goes beyond, considerations of risk and regulation, important though these are.

In Autumn 2013 EPSRC published an outline framework for responsible innovation which reaffirms our commitment and sets out our expectations for the researchers we fund and their research organisations.

As part of EPSRC’s commitment to responsible innovation, we sponsored a project ‘Framework for Responsible Research and Innovation in ICT’ (FRRIICT), at the University of Oxford and De Montfort University to: • Develop an in-depth understanding of ICT researchers’ ethical issues and dilemmas in conducting ICT research.

• Provide a set of recommendations and good practice to be adopted by EPSRC and the community.

• Create a self-sustaining ‘ICT Observatory’ serving as a community portal and providing access to all outputs of the project.

NEW EASEL REVEALS SECRETS OF OLD MASTERS A state-of-the-art easel is literally shedding new light on the ingenious variety of materials that have been used over the centuries to create artists’ paint pigments.

The micro-positioning easel is giving scientists at The National Gallery, London, the ability to examine great works of art in unprecedented detail and was used to analyse the paintings in a major new exhibition, Making Colour during the summer of 2014. The computer controlled easel is capable of safely holding a very large painting and moving it in minute steps to make the most of the latest digital technology. Identifying the materials used as pigments provides information on aspects such as the age of a picture and the painting technique used.

Infrared imaging, X-ray imaging, electron microscopy and mass spectrometry are all used to discover more about the materials used by artists in the past and how they are likely to change over time.

PROSTHETIC ARM A HIGHLIGHT OF 3D PRINTING EXHIBITION Experts in 3D printing at the EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Additive Manufacturing at the University of Nottingham, helped create a major new exhibition at London’s Science Museum. One of the highlights of the 3D: Printing the Future exhibition is a 3D prosthetic arm, which shows how the technology could be used to print customised prosthetics with electronic moving parts and nerve endings, created by the Nottingham research group.

Among the 600-plus objects on display are a bladder, light aircraft part and 3D-printed pharmaceutical tablets, a collaboration between the centre and the university’s School of Pharmacy. Some of the printed tablets are bilayered, allowing two different drugs to be released at varying speeds according to individual patient need. The centre works closely with business to maximise innovative research in this area. Nottingham has recently been awarded a £2.7 million grant from EPSRC to investigate drug delivery through 3D printing of pharmaceuticals.

DRONE DESIGNED BY EPSRC-FUNDED TEAM APPEARS ON CHANNEL 4 NEWS

The National Gallery, London

A light-weight drone, designed to monitor radiation after a release of radioactive material, could help with the clean-up at the Fukishima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in Japan. Channel 4 News featured the drone in December 2013 on The March of the Machines, taking it out for a test flight. A team at the University of Bristol developed the drone, called the ARM system, in response to the nuclear incident at Fukishima to help detect radiation and prevent crews being exposed to harmful levels. The drone is equipped with thermal cameras, on-board sensors and micro-computers. Jointly funded by EPSRC and Sellafield, a working prototype is close to commercial development.

University of Bristol

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Research Performance and Economic Impact Report 2013-14

Methodological developments and future challenges Understanding the routes to impact We have continued to build our understanding of the ways in which impact can be realised and assessed, as well as undertaking work to better describe and measure our impact.

Research Excellence Framework (REF) impact case studies EPSRC liaised with HEFCE to have access to the REF impact case studies during Autumn 2014. We have undertaken a project to analyse the REF impact case studies to develop a better understanding of impact, for example: • The main routes by which impact has been delivered and EPSRC’s role in the process, including any EPSRC mechanisms that have been successful in accelerating impact.

• The time taken from initial support for research through to delivery of impact.

The findings of this study will be published in early 2015.

The importance of engineering and physical sciences to health and life sciences During 2013/14 EPSRC invited a small expert group to consider the relationships between engineering and physical sciences (EPS) and health and life sciences (HLS). However, what is sometimes less apparent is the significant extent to which HLS research is dependent on advances in EPS, both directly, for example through medical engineering and ‘next-generation healthcare’, and indirectly, such as through development of the technologies, materials, advanced data management, statistical analyses and advanced instrumentation that enable cutting edge breakthroughs. For example, at least one quarter of the EPSRC research portfolio over the past 15 years has been directly relevant to HLS. The expert group’s report was published in May 2014 and is leading to new initiatives.13

Assessing the quality of UK physics The strength of UK physics is highlighted in a new report, The UK’s performance in physics research: National and international perspectives, which examines patterns of performance in physics research in the UK. It was prepared by Science-Metrix for EPSRC, the Institute of Physics (IOP) and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC).14,15

Chemical engineering benchmarking exercise During 2014 EPSRC have been piloting a methodology to enable International Benchmarking of an area. The methodology used an exercise known as ‘Virtual World Congress (VWC)’, which has been shown by the US National

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Research Council to be an effective approach for determining the relative current standing of a nation’s research.16 The VWC process is being complemented by a bibliometric analysis.

The Institute of Chemical Engineers, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society of Chemistry have been involved with the exercise. The exercise is being used to understand the position of UK chemical engineering research within an international context, as well as to consider the extent to which the VWC approach is an effective method that might be applied to other areas of EPSRC business and help inform our future strategy.

Economic benefits of engineering research and associated training A study to quantify the economic benefits of engineering research and postgraduate training was started during 2014

by EPSRC and the Royal Academy of Engineering. Consultants Technopolis are leading on this work, overseen by a steering group of senior academics and industrialists. A stakeholder workshop was run in June 2014 to engage the community.

As part of the evidence-gathering process, more than 500 engineering and engineering-related Research Excellence Framework (REF) impact case studies from over 40 UK universities have been provided to the study team to identify overarching impacts. The report is due to be published in early 2015, with a launch event in March 2015.

Harmonising research outcomes information EPSRC has been working with the other research councils to implement a harmonised outcomes collection service. Existing outcomes data was successfully migrated to the Researchfish system during the summer, and the system went live for submission in October 2014. This move will provide greater uniformity of user experience and improved consistency in analysis and reporting of outcomes data across the research councils.

Metrics

OUTPUT/OUTCOMES DATA 2011/12

2012/13

2013/14

Total funds available (£m)

831

879

971

Budget allocation (£m)

804

849

942

Leverage (£m) 28 30 29

Of which private (£m)

5

4

4

Of which from other research councils (£m)

15

10

11

Of which from other sources (£m)

8

16

14

Of which private

1%

0.5%

0.5%

Of which other research councils

2%

1%

1%

Of which other

1%

2%

1.5%

Total expenditure (£m)

831

879

971

Of which research grants (£m)

536

581

635

Of which postgraduate awards (£m)

241

226

226

Of which other components (£m)

54

72

110

Of which research grants

64%

66%

65%

Of which postgraduate awards

29%

26%

23%

Of which other components

6%

8%

11%

Definition/comments

Funding received directly to EPSRC. Does not include direct or in-kind leverage that EPSRC-funded grants obtain from other organisations.

Human capital Principal investigators 2,826 2,654 2,452

Principal Investigators (PIs) as at 1 April each year. The number of PIs has been decreasing due to fewer, larger grants, however the total number of unique investigators (i.e. principal and co-supported) has increased, from 5,504 on 1/4/12 to 5,777 on 1/4/13 and 5,901 on 1/4/14).

Research fellowships 326 292 309

Total number of research fellowships on 1 April each year (excluding Academic Fellowships which are administered by EPSRC on behalf of RCUK).

Knowledge generation Refereed publications 8,108 8,512 8,801

Number of papers acknowledging EPSRC support published in peer reviewed journals during the calendar year, i.e. 2013 for 2013/14.

(Source: Thompson Reuters Web of Science)

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Research Performance and Economic Impact Report 2013-14

2011/12

2012/13

2013/14

Co-authorship of refereed publications 44% 45% 45% – International

Definition/comments Based on analysis of address data of authors of papers acknowledging EPSRC support (reported above).

(Source: Thompson Reuters Web of Science)

Human capital 1

Number of new doctoral students 2,803 2,339 2,301

Number of new doctoral students supported as at 1 April each year.

Total number of students supported

As at 1 April each year.

10,327

9,644

8,942

Finishing rates 80% 81%

% of doctoral students submitting within six years of commencement of support (recognising that EPSRC financial support is increasingly flexible). The completion rate is based on studentships reported as completed.

Knowledge transfer and exchange Number of new patent families2 38 31 16

The patent families figures are based on an analysis in June 2014 of all known patent applications arising from EPSRC research grants ending after March 2006.The numbers of patent families are shown in the year in which the first related patent application was published. The total number of new patent families since 2005/06 is 580.

Spin-outs/new businesses created 20 15 15

Number of new spin-out companies created during the calendar year, i.e.

2013 for 2013/14 (source: Researchfish).

The total number of new spin-outs created since 2005 is 151.

Human capital Destinations of doctoral graduates 3 Of which university %

41%

37%

36%

Of which wider public sector %

4%

3%

2%

Of which private sector %

35%

36%

37%

Of which unknown or other %

12%

16%

17%

Of which unemployed %

8%

8%

8%

1 The process for identifying the number of doctoral students has been improved since the last Impact Report. Due to a recent reporting system transition we are currently unable to provide 2013/14 finishing rates data.

2 To avoid duplication through multiple patenting in different countries/areas, the term ‘patent families’ is used here, i.e. a set of patent applications and/or publications to protect a single invention by a common inventor(s) in more than one country. The figures therefore more accurately indicate the number of new inventions than a simple count of patents. (Source: www.epo.org/searching/essentials/patent-families.html) 3 First destination data in the 2013/14 are for doctoral students who qualify or complete 1 August 2012 and 31 July 2013.

(Source: Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Collection 2012/13)

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REFERENCES 1

Figure represents total leverage (£222 million cash and £616 million in-kind) on our current portfolio of approximately £3 billion. This is a significant increase on £555 million reported last year, primarily as a result of the new Centres for Doctoral Training.

2

The World Economic Forum Report 2013/14 lists the UK as number five in university/business collaboration, http://reports.weforum.org/the-global-competitiveness-report-2013-2014/#

3

EPSRC Pioneer magazine, ‘From lab bench to product launch’ www.epsrc.ac.uk/newsevents/pubs/pioneer13nov2014/

4

Global Burden of Disease Study 2013, published in The Lancet on 29 May 2014.

5

CDT Infographic, www.epsrc.ac.uk/files/newsevents/news/cdtsinfographic/

6

New CDTs announced, www.epsrc.ac.uk/newsevents/news/phdnewcentres

7

EPSRC Delivery Plan 2015-2016, www.epsrc.ac.uk/newsevents/pubs/delivery-plan-2015-2016/

8

Research lights the way, www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/366667/ T14_033_InnovateUK-EPSRC_221014_V5.pdf

9

EPSRC Pioneer magazine, ‘From lab bench to product launch’ www.epsrc.ac.uk/newsevents/pubs/pioneer13nov2014/

10 Hauser Review, www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/368416/bis-141085-review-of-the-catapult-network.pdf 11 The importance of engineering and physical sciences research to health and life sciences,

www.epsrc.ac.uk/newsevents/pubs/the-importance-of-engineering-and-physical-sciences-research-tohealth-and-life-sciences/ 12 The impact of Knowledge Transfer Account and Knowledge Transfer Secondment funding,

www.epsrc.ac.uk/newsevents/pubs/the-impact-of-knowledge-transfer-account-and-knowledge-transfersecondment-funding/ 13 The importance of engineering and physical sciences research to health and life sciences,

www.epsrc.ac.uk/newsevents/pubs/the-importance-of-engineering-and-physical-sciences-research-tohealth-and-life-sciences/ 14 The UK’s performance in physics research: National and international perspectives,

www.epsrc.ac.uk/newsevents/pubs/ukperformancephysicsresearch/ 15 UK physics research: Driving innovation and economic growth,

www.epsrc.ac.uk/newsevents/pubs/ukphysicsresearchinnovationeconomicgrowth/ 16 International Benchmarking of US Chemical Engineering Research Competitiveness of the US in Chemical Engineering, National Research Council, 2007 (National Academies Press)

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Research Performance and Economic Impact Report 2013-14

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Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council Polaris House North Star Avenue Swindon SN2 1ET www.epsrc.ac.uk

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