Research Performance and Economic Impact Report 2014/15 by EPSRC

Research Performance and Economic Impact Report 2014/15

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

Contents

Summary: A strong economy is an engineering and physical sciences economy

Ensuring research excellence for the UK Promoting world leading discovery Maintaining research excellence Understanding our areas of excellence Capital and research infrastructure investments

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Supporting growth and productivity

Maximising impact through partnerships

Supporting growth through focus on current and future challenges Delivering the highly skilled people the UK needs EPSRC studentships â&#x20AC;&#x201C; our national strategic focus on skills Ensuring equality and diversity

13 24 25 26

Methodological developments and future challenges

Metrics

Bibliography/References

Research Performance and Economic Impact Report 2014/15

Summary: A strong economy is an engineering and physical sciences economy A successful nation is a science nation. UK economic growth relies on a strong and vibrant research base, particularly in engineering and physical sciences (EPS). EPSRC plays a key role in maintaining UK strength in these areas. During 2014/15, we announced over £750 million new investments in research grants, fellowships and postgraduate training; responding rapidly to new and emerging opportunities, for example, through investments in major activities such as The Alan Turing Institute and the Quantum Technologies Programme. EPSRC delivers impact right across the spectrum of industrial and societal sectors, from manufacturing to creative media, promoting long-term growth and wellbeing. Our analysis of the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014 impact case studies demonstrates that EPSRC investments have delivered significant value to the UK, including over £16 billion cost savings and 400 new businesses, representing ~50,000 jobs and a contribution of ~£4 billion to the economy.1 The government’s productivity plan2 highlights the importance of expanding opportunities for postgraduate study and research to ensure that the right skills are available to the research base. EPSRC provides excellent training opportunities in a strong research base; producing some 2,500 highly trained doctoral graduates per year with over a third going into the private sector, many of whom will

become future business leaders. A highlight for EPSRC in 2014/15 was the first intake of over 800 students starting in the new Centres for Doctoral Training which bring together diverse areas of expertise, training engineers and scientists to tackle today’s evolving issues and future challenges. An additional highlight is the increase in focus on equality and diversity with research council data being made publicly available; in particular, trend data on grants awarded and success rates by age and gender, comparing large and standard grants, is now available, which EPSRC hopes will encourage more researchers from a diverse population to be attracted into research careers. EPSRC actively works with government departments to realise public sector efficiencies. Building on its existing strong relationships, in 2014/15, EPSRC invested £10 million in research grants with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and £41 million in research grants with the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) as active project partners. EPSRC is also strengthening effective partnership working with other government departments such as the Department of Health (DH), the Department for Transport (DfT) and the Home Office (HO). This report highlights our key research performance and the economic impacts for financial year 2014/15. It summarises how EPSRC supports UK growth and productivity through its investment in excellent EPS research and training.

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The government’s framework for raising productivity is built around two pillars: Encouraging long-term investment in economic capital, including infrastructure, skills and knowledge; promoting a dynamic economy that encourages innovation and helps resources flow to their most productive use. High-quality science and innovation, spreading fast. . . Our science base is a vital national asset, but to stand still in science and innovation is to be left behind; and we need new ideas to spread and be used as widely as possible.

Fixing the foundations: Creating a more prosperous nation, HM Treasury, June 2015

Ensuring research excellence for the UK Promoting world leading discovery Engineering and physical sciences research remains high quality. EPSRC supports excellence across its portfolio, with analysis (up to and including 2014 data) demonstrating that collectively in the research areas within our remit, the UK’s citation impact is continuing to increase. EPS research remains high quality as seen by the relative citation impact for the UK compared to comparator countries (Figure 1).

The UK has been leading with the USA for at least the last decade and continues to remain strong; however this position is not secure as research nations such as China and India are investing heavily in EPS research. EPSRC investments make a major contribution to the strength of the research base: over 10,000 articles acknowledging EPSRC support were published in peerreviewed journals in 2014.

Figure 1. Relative citation impact of EPS disciplines for the UK and comparator countries Source: SciVal, Elsevier. This data is produced under license from Elsevier.

UK’s strong global research excellence in engineering and physical sciences recognised in prestigious award In 2014, Professor Martin Hairer, from the University of Warwick, became the first UK-based mathematician to win the prestigious Fields Medal since 1998. Professor Hairer, who held an EPSRC Advanced Research Fellowship from 2006-2012, was recognised for his ‘outstanding contributions to the theory of stochastic partial differential equations, and in particular for the creation of a theory of regularity structures for such equations’. The Fields Medal, internationally regarded as the world’s most prestigious award in mathematics, is awarded every four years and recognises the outstanding achievements of mathematicians aged under 40.

Research Performance and Economic Impact Report 2014/15

DNA sequencing technology recognised by major award

epo.org

A pioneer in medical device technology won Inventor of the Year in the research category of the European Inventor Awards 2014. Long-term EPSRC-funded Professor Chris Toumazou from Imperial College London was recognised by the European Patent Office for developing a device called the SNP Doctor. The portable, low-power device can analyse data on the spot rather than in a lab environment, making DNA testing more economical than conventional DNA-sequencing machines. The global market for DNA sequencing is expected to be worth US$6.6 billion in 2016 and grow by 17.5 per cent annually. The emergence of breakthrough technologies such as Professor Toumazou’s cost-efficient device could potentially help the UK to be a leader in this field. DNA Electronics, a company established to market the device, has entered into various collaborations with companies including Roche and Pfizer.

UK researchers discover viral Enigma machine EPSRC-funded researchers have cracked a code that governs infections by a major group of viruses including the common cold and polio. Previously scientists had not noticed the code, which had been hidden in the sequence of the ribonucleic acid (RNA) that makes up this type of viral genome. But a paper published in February 2015 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) Early Edition by a research team from the Universities of Leeds and York unlocks its meaning and demonstrates that jamming the code can disrupt virus assembly. Stopping a virus assembling can stop it functioning and therefore prevent disease. The cross-disciplinary research team believes that their combination of single-molecule detection capabilities and their computational models offers a novel route for drug discovery. The research was also funded by the BBSRC, Royal Society and Leverhulme Trust.

Maintaining research excellence EPSRC research delivers maximum benefit to the UK; ensuring the impact of our research can be realised through a long-term approach in sustained portfolio activities. EPSRC is the largest single funder of EPS research in the UK and therefore has a key role to play in maintaining excellence and ensuring that it delivers maximum benefit to the UK. EPSRC funds 44 per cent of the total overall external income to university departments in EPS subjects.3 In 2014/15, EPSRC committed £398 million in research grants,

fellowships and training to our core capability themes: Engineering, Information and Communication Technologies, Mathematical Sciences and Physical Sciences. EPSRC’s analysis of the REF 2014 impact case studies1 reinforces the need for long-term sustained funding in excellent research before the full impact of the research is realised (Figure 2). EPSRC recognises the need for a longterm approach in sustained funding through its portfolio of activities.

Figure 2. First date of EPSRC research funding cited in the REF 2014 impact case studies1

Understanding our areas of excellence EPSRC proactively works with the research community to understand the UK landscape, including strengths. In 2014/15, EPSRC has been working with the research community to develop the EPSRC Knowledge Maps.

Alongside this, EPSRC has been working with BIS and BIS partner organisations to map the UK’s knowledge and research landscape. We are part of a cross council working group to develop a report on landscape mapping to be released early 2016.

Working with universities to map our knowledge Knowledge maps, originally produced in 2011 were a visual representation of EPS research capability in the UK. They were produced using our own data as well as our knowledge of a university’s research expertise and information provided by the university highlighting their capabilities. The suite of knowledge maps identified research expertise based on receipt of EPSRC and other funder support broken down by research themes and institutions. It is important to note that this is just one way of gauging research strengths; however, there are others which could be based on outputs, e.g. bibliometric data.

In 2015, EPSRC is undertaking an exercise to refresh the knowledge maps. Increasing emphasis is being placed upon the need to work with and be informed by knowledge of the whole UK research landscape. EPSRC aims to build up as complete a picture as possible of the funding going into the research environment within EPSRC’s remit, so we can fully understand the impact of our strategies on UK EPS research. The latest knowledge maps are to be published in early 2016.

Research Performance and Economic Impact Report 2014/15

Capital and research infrastructure investments EPSRC recognises the need to invest in equipment, facilities and capital investments in order for world class research to take place and provide underpinning support to UK researchers. Researchers across EPSRC’s remit require access to highquality research equipment and facilities in order to build a world-class research portfolio. This infrastructure ranges from lab-based equipment to international facilities such as the Diamond Synchrotron and Central Laser facility in Harwell. EPSRC focuses on ensuring the right infrastructure is available to EPSRC-sponsored researchers at the right time in the most economical way possible. In 2014/15, EPSRC has invested over £40 million in the UK’s research infrastructure. Here are just some of the many examples of where we have invested in research infrastructure to support our UK researchers.

Multi-user equipment EPSRC has invested in essential equipment which provides the underpinning capacity across the breadth of the EPS research portfolio. Such equipment is essential for training the next generation of scientists and engineers for UK employers. Regular refresh and renewal is required to keep it at the leading-edge. A recent call for such equipment has demonstrated the latent need for this, being over-subscribed by 600 per cent. The proposed annual investment would have a major impact; for instance, our recent £31 million investment will: • Support £548 million of EPSRC grants and £336 million of other research grants (RCUK, EU). • Be accessible by over 3,500 researchers (864 students, 2,358 researchers and 371 academics), including 32 Centres for Doctoral Training, and 465 industrial partners.

Expanding the UK’s national supercomputer In 2014, EPSRC announced the investment of £10 million in an upgrade of the shared RCUK Advanced Research Computing High End Resource (ARCHER) supercomputer in Edinburgh, increasing its computing power by approximately 60 per cent, meaning that it now has a theoretical top speed of over two Petaflops – a massive 2,000,000,000,000,000 operations per second. ARCHER has already helped researchers to understand advanced materials at the nano-scale and modelled how the air flows around Formula 1 racing cars and aircraft, in order to improve fuel efficiency. ARCHER has also allowed unprecedented resolution in a new, UK coupled climate model, together with the ability to look at far longer time periods, helping researchers to understand the interaction of powerful and rare events, such as hurricanes, with the rest of the climate system. Ultimately this will improve quantification of risk for society and, for example, the insurance industry. A recent report published on ARCHER’s now closed predecessor, the High-End Computing Terascale Resource (HECToR), which enabled a broad range of research from weather forecasting to tracking heart rhythms and noise pollution to quantum chemistry, demonstrates how the UK has benefited from research carried out using the supercomputer. Written by independent experts, the report notes that 92 per cent of the 2,500 HECToR users believe access to the facility improved the quality of their research; well over 100 PhD

students were trained in high performance computing through HECToR; and more than 60 innovations have been supported by HECToR, a high proportion of which were considered to be ‘major discoveries and pioneering breakthroughs’. The report concludes that there is no doubt about the importance to the UK of retaining a national HPC facility. The UK’s strength in computational research is an indispensable tool in meeting major economic and societal challenges.

The Alan Turing Institute and data sciences The Alan Turing Institute is a joint venture established in early 2015 between the Universities of Cambridge, Edinburgh, Oxford, Warwick, University College London and EPSRC. The Institute will attract the best data scientists and mathematicians from the UK and across the globe to break new boundaries in how we use big data in a fast moving, competitive world. The Institute is being funded over five years with £42 million from the UK government (administered by EPSRC). Additional investment has been leveraged from five university partners who are contributing £5 million each, totalling £25 million. In addition, the Institute has leveraged £10 million funding from the Lloyds Register Foundation, its first strategic partner. It has also announced strategic partnerships with GCHQ and Intel Corporation, both of which are currently under contractual negotiation. The Institute is headquartered at the British Library. The Alan Turing Institute is fundamental to the growth of the UK and the future of data sciences; bringing together expertise from across the UK that will help secure our place as a world leader in areas such as big data, computer science, advanced mathematics and algorithms for human benefit.

Research Performance and Economic Impact Report 2014/15

Supporting growth and productivity EPSRC supports excellence across all industrial sectors and our research is essential to the UK’s productivity and industrial competitiveness. EPSRC plays a key role in delivering technologies which have a significant effect on UK growth rates. It has helped generate disruptive technologies that can usher step changes in how we do business. For example, EPSRC enables the translation of medical discoveries into real products and services which deliver growth for the UK. EPSRC works with many businesses on strategic programmes that crowd in further public and private sector investments. For example, EPSRC’s £90 million investment in the Centres for Innovative Manufacturing (CIMs) has seen additional investment from Innovate UK at a total value of £6 million, as well as £46 million from business. Work with key partners such as Rolls-Royce, Siemens, Proctor & Gamble, GlaxoSmithKline, Dyson and EDF, together with SMEs, have helped stimulate additional capital investment. Not only has this encouraged further innovation in research and development, it has also attracted inward investment in the UK. For example, EPSRC has been supporting Siemens UK to make a case to their headquarters in Germany to further invest in UK research; resulting in the growing importance of the UK for Siemens globally. Further to this, the strength of our UK research base has encouraged companies such as Proctor and Gamble (whose headquarters are in the US) to invest in research laboratories in North-East England. EPSRC supports new knowledge generation that has an important role in innovation. The case study on the following page highlights some areas that have benefited over the reporting period (often as the result of sustained funding over previous years).

EPSRC Centres for Innovative Manufacturing support growth and productivity EPSRC Centres for Innovative Manufacturing are part of a novel approach to maximise the impact of innovative research for the UK, supporting existing industries, and more importantly, opening up new industries and markets in growth areas. There are 16 centres spread across the UK tasked with enabling the commercial development of key manufacturing research discoveries. They have a close symbiosis, often overlapping, with Innovate UK’s Catapults and between them the centres and catapults cover more than 20 core fields of science, engineering and business including manufacturing, automation, the digital economy, future cities and continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing. Advanced metrology is a key technology which increasingly underpins innovative manufacturing. The £4.7 million EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Advanced Metrology is based at the University of Huddersfield’s Centre for Precision Technology and focuses on developing the UK’s manufacturing metrology capabilities, as well as supporting economic growth and productivity. Working in partnership with the National Physical Laboratory and the Science and Technology Facilities Council, with close links to the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, the centre collaborates with over 100 companies, including partnerships with Rolls-Royce, Renishaw and Cummins Turbo Technologies. Since its creation, over £3.8 million of additional R&D funding has been leveraged. The centre is currently actively engaged in the development of new national and international standards for the technology and 2015 has seen lab technology in nanoscale detection move to the production line.

Our contribution towards innovation can be seen from our significant investments in the Innovation and Knowledge Centres (IKCs). The IKCs (most of which are co-funded by EPSRC and Innovate UK) are a key component of the UK’s approach to commercialise emerging technologies. This is achieved by creating early stage critical mass in an area of disruptive technology. Based in a university, researchers are led by an expert entrepreneurial team and create impact by enhancing wealth generation in the businesses they work with. EPSRC collaboration takes place across all industry sectors. The impact of this is further highlighted in the recent report on EPSRC’s analysis of REF 2014 impact case studies1, which cites that EPS research produces impacts across every area of the economy and society; being key to productivity and growth. The report also cites notably high levels of impact from spin-outs, savings, intellectual property and turnover in healthcare, aerospace and defence, information technologies and manufacturing. This is further supported by our portfolio which shows EPSRC-funded research and training underpins crucial industrial sectors; for example, our portfolio includes £173 million relevant to aerospace, £103 million to automotive and £188 million to construction.

Building smart solutions – the IKC Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction (CSIC) By altering the research process, traditional cycles and interactions of academia and industry can be beneficially disrupted – by design. One of two University of Cambridge-based IKCs, the Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction (CSIC), funded by EPSRC, Innovate UK (with a combined investment of over £9 million) and industry, has created and delivered significant advances in infrastructure technology – on more than 40 construction sites in the UK. Structural monitoring of infrastructure is crucial, but can be valueless unless it is carefully designed and deployed. By creating sensors that can evaluate and report problems in structures such as bridges, tunnels and buildings, ‘smart structures’ can be built. As a result, efficiencies of time and money can be reaped – offering significant cost savings to constructors and operators not just in the build process, but across the whole-life cycle of a structure. Recent examples where CSIC technology has been deployed include: Crossrail; London Underground; Prague Metro. A cost saving of £6 million has been claimed via use of CSIC technology in the Bevis Marks Skanska building project, completed in 2014. Other CSIC works include infrastructure modelling and asset management techniques to develop methods and tools as long-term value for money mechanisms.

Figure 3. Mapping of EPS REF 2014 impact case studies to sectors1

Research Performance and Economic Impact Report 2014/15

Maximising impact through partnerships EPSRC works together with our partners to understand the long-term needs of research users, connect users to the research base and leverage our investments to maximise the impact.

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For sustainable longterm growth, British businesses must focus on developing a pipeline of patentable technology for export. A ready supply of the best problem solvers in the world, supported by robust investment in R&D, will help ensure that we can continue to compete internationally.

Sir James Dyson Partnering with business EPSRC develops and sustains partnerships with other organisations (supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to large businesses) 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 a strategic level via formal partnerships and operationally via collaborations on research grants. EPSRC recognises the importance of SMEs to the growth of the UK economy and in 2014/15, EPSRC-sponsored researchers worked with at least 2,200 organisations of which over 60 per cent are SMEs. The REF 2014 impact case studies cited over £1 billion of EPSRC investments in research; this was matched by £1 billion from other sources, including industry, the EU and government, plus a further £5 billion in industrial funding for next-stage development. These figures reinforce the key role of EPSRC as a major broker of R&D collaborations between academia and the public and private sectors; currently EPSRC leverages over £900 million from industry and other sources. Business repeatedly backs EPSRC through co-investment. In 2014/15, EPSRC had 53 per cent of grants which involved non-academic partners with a leverage of £925 million.

A recent EPSRC programme grant holders workshop report4 shows that EPSRC’s programme grant investments create stronger links between the universities involved and greater visibility at a national and international level. Leading to industry interest beyond the original project partners and greater input from the wider community, including industry, resulting in more external input on the research direction for the area.

Supporting SMEs through Impact Acceleration Accounts (IAA) EPSRC’s IAAs have not just impacted the research landscape, but changed it by making it easier for researchers to develop their ideas via collaborations with SMEs and larger businesses, to deliver science to the marketplace. A £90 million investment over four and half years across 33 universities, IAAs help researchers create, and contribute towards, greater entrepreneurship, successful businesses and the economic returns that benefit the UK. University College London (UCL) is currently using its IAA in a targeted manner to support London’s Tech City – the growing technology hub based around Shoreditch in East London, consisting of over 3,200 firms – and its on-going development as a national public policy objective. UCL is developing a unique service helping local innovative digital SMEs to test their new products and services, by offering access to UCL as the world’s largest ‘living-lab’ for digital and media content. The University of Birmingham has also made business engagement and SME collaboration a key remit of its IAA usage by creating a project to widen R&D engagement with SMEs. The University of Southampton has directly supported SMEs via its IAA too: Covesion is an innovative photonics manufacturing company which successfully spun-out of research from the university’s Optoelectronics Research Centre and attracted more than £1 million in US investment. Today, the company has an estimated global value of US$100 million.

Siemens sign a Memorandum of Understanding with EPSRC 2014/15 saw Siemens, a leading global engineering and technology services company sign a Memorandum of Understanding with EPSRC. The five year partnership will enable Siemens 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 Siemens and EPSRC-funded research and training activities where they relate to Siemens’ strategies as well as help to identify opportunities for joint funding and postgraduate training which align with both partners’ requirements.

Innovate UK partnerships EPSRC works in partnership with Innovate UK to ensure that the pipeline of research and skills supports the growth of the UK economy. Co-funded investment between EPSRC and Innovate UK has been seen to enable initial discoveries which can then be taken forward with support from other funders. 2014/15 has seen EPSRC joint spending with Innovate UK at the value of £19.8 million. EPSRC continues to strengthen the relationship with Innovate UK and ensure a steady flow of research and training into new products and services through schemes such as the Innovation and Knowledge Centres, the Quantum Hubs, Centres for Innovative Manufacturing and engaging with catapults.

Joint Energy Catalyst fund A new Energy Catalyst fund of £25 million provides investment and supports UK universities and businesses to advance the best concepts and innovative technologies in the energy sector. Funded by EPSRC, Innovate UK and the Department of Energy and Climate Change, it supports business-led projects which develop innovative solutions to the energy trilemma of reduced carbon emissions, security of supply and affordability. These challenges are creating major global market opportunities for which the UK can develop and grow innovative businesses to deliver world-leading solutions. Projects supported are based upon innovation that incorporates: new technologies and enhancement of existing technologies; components, sub-systems or systems; integrated whole system approaches; and enabling technologies for the energy system. Technology innovation which will help transform UK energy technology and create global markets for businesses.

Cross council partnerships In 2014/15, EPSRC has continued to show our commitment to support multidisciplinary research and training. Over 55 per cent of our funded research has been multidisciplinary and our direct co-funding which we have invested jointly with other research councils has been over £134 million. We have also invested over £120 million into traditionally non-EPS departments, showing that we value work across disciplines and appreciate the wider impacts towards EPS research.

RCUK research increases efficiency of major UK and international rail networks Researchers based at Heriot-Watt and Edinburgh Universities developed new innovative technologies to resolve long-standing railway track problems through the application of XiTRACK and railway engineering geomechanics. With £1 million funding from EPSRC, NERC and Innovate UK, the team’s XiTRACK technology has led to an increase in productivity by reducing track maintenance by a factor of up to 40, increasing maintenance intervals from three months to ten years, and increasing track speeds up to 125 mph on critical sections of the UK, Italian and Hong Kong rail networks. The technology has been used to maintain and assure track safety of the East London Line which supported the transport of passengers for the London 2012 Olympics and to stabilise the track bed at Clapham Junction – one of the most important and highly used railway junctions in Europe, with over 2,500 trains passing through every day. The team’s work is currently impacting on the development of the UK High Speed 2 line and the technology is being developed further by Balfour Beatty, one of Europe’s largest railway and construction companies. Overall, the financial impact of XiTRACK is estimated to be at least £50 million with benefits to millions of passengers.5

Research Performance and Economic Impact Report 2014/15

Other government departments EPSRC’s analysis of REF 2014 impact case studies1 shows that EPS research contributes across many areas of government activity and offers significant opportunities for government departments to achieve efficiency savings. Of the 1,226 impact case studies within EPSRC’s remit, a total of 198 feature support from other government departments (i.e. other than RCUK/Innovate UK/support via BIS) and of these, 86 per cent (171) are connected to EPSRC research/ researchers. This equates to a £5.9 billion cost saving within the public sector.

Software saves NHS millions Pioneering artificial intelligence techniques developed with £300,000 of EPSRC funding at Goldsmiths, University of London and the University of Reading, have led to ground-breaking software which pinpoints potential savings by combining and mining purchasing data across systems and formats. Highlighted in Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014, the SpendInsight software, developed in partnership with @UK PLC, was used in an analysis for the National Audit Office and showed that the NHS could save over £0.5 billion in consumables expenditure through simple changes to purchasing practice. One Trust has already saved £320,000. The National Audit Office has stated: “If the procurement system were utilised across all NHS Trusts in England they could make overall savings of at least £500 million, around ten per cent of the total NHS consumables expenditure of £4.6 billion.”

Efficiency savings from rail systems research EPSRC-funded researchers from the University of Leeds founded the spin-out company Tracsis to commercialise research and expertise developed in transport scheduling to help maximise the productivity of transport systems. Within nine years, the company reported revenues of £10.8 million and had 200 employees. Tracsis’ products are currently being used by 14 of the 20 UK train operating companies and the company is expanding internationally with clients in Sweden, New Zealand and Australia.

Efficiency savings from road research Mathematical models for optimising traffic flows and signal timings developed at York University with longterm support by EPSRC, delivered efficiencies in public transport and significantly reduced bus journey times between York and Hull. 2014 has seen commercial projects by York firm Cybula, incorporating the patternmatching metric in its Signal Data Explorer software, worth £200,000.

International partnerships 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 another country; however, for proactive activities we focus on key countries such as China, India, the US and the EU, where there is an opportunity for the UK to build collaboration around research excellence. The Newton Fund, a £375 million five year initiative (from April 2014) intends to strengthen research and innovation partnerships between the UK and nations classed by the government as ‘emerging powers’, is an example of EPSRC partnerships with all the research councils and RCUK, together with international partners. Much of EPSRC international engagement is delivered in partnership with RCUK, e.g. through joint support of RCUK offices in Brussels, Beijing, New Delhi and Washington, as well as working closely with other UK organisations involved in international research.

Supporting growth through focus on current and future challenges EPSRC aims to support a strong productive economy by addressing challenges of today and the future. In addition to supporting excellent research across its portfolio, EPSRC focuses support on tackling some of the most serious challenges facing the UK, including the need to build a strong productive economy, remain a well-connected nation, develop a resilient integrated national infrastructure and ensure a healthy nation with personalised healthcare for everyone.

In 2014/15, EPSRC committed £321 million in research grants, fellowships and training to our challenge themes: Digital Economy, Energy, Global Uncertainties, Healthcare Technologies, Living with Environmental Change, Manufacturing the Future and Quantum Technologies. EPSRC’s 2014/15 portfolio is over £3.4 billion towards essential technologies relevant to the government’s productivity plan for UK growth. A breakdown of this figure is shown in the following diagram:

Figure 4. EPSRC portfolio by technologies

In 2014/15, EPSRC-funded researchers continued to contribute to a pipeline of ideas and innovations needed both by business, other government departments and by non-EPS disciplines. These are highlighted in the following challenge theme case studies.

Manufacturing the future EPSRC is pioneering a prosperous future for the UK by creating new industries and jobs through innovative manufacturing businesses. The UK enjoys world leadership in established manufacturing industries such as aerospace

and pharmaceuticals and in emerging fields including electronics design and advanced manufacturing. The vision for the Manufacturing the Future theme is for our research to help solve some of the most serious challenges facing the UK today and in the future. Manufacturing makes a major contribution to the UK economy and EPSRC recognises that investment is required, particularly in highvalue and specialist manufacturing, underpinned by the research base. In 2014/15, over £110 million was leveraged from business and users for the Manufacturing the Future theme.

Research Performance and Economic Impact Report 2014/15

Autonomous Intelligent Systems Partnership – accelerating impact EPSRC sponsors a significant portfolio in Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS), providing support for excellent research and innovation, leadership and training, as well as funding world class equipment and facilities to support and accelerate the delivery of products, applications and services. We work closely with leading stakeholders in shaping the future strategy for RAS and EPSRC is a key member of the Autonomous Intelligent Systems Partnership, a dynamic collaboration between industry, including BAE Systems, Schlumberger, SCISYS and Network Rail, and academia. The partnership has brought together a virtual network for RAS concepts and research, helping build the UK’s RAS industry and reputation for academic excellence and industrial teaming and exploitation in this area. RAS is vital to many major UK companies, emerging industries and SMEs, from advanced manufacturing to oil and gas exploration, nuclear energy to railways and automotive, healthcare to defence.

Innovative testing of composite materials for lightweight transport A novel measurement technique for accurately and reliably testing advanced composite materials for lighter, more fuel efficient transport has been developed at Loughborough University from EPSRCfunded research. Potentially saving £billions, composite materials are used in a wide range of applications, from Formula 1 cars to aeroplanes. Made of carbon, glass, or aramid fibre reinforced plastics, they are three to five times stronger than steel and a fifth of the weight – saving 1 kg of weight per aircraft can reduce CO2 emissions by over 16 tonnes per years. But these lightweight materials need to be able to perform in challenging environments. Current standard tests use small pieces of composites to generate data used to design the full-sized composite components, which inevitably includes a substantial built-in error margin. As a consequence, aeroplane and car components are potentially manufactured heavier than necessary. The new testing technique delivers more precise and reliable results which mean that aircraft and cars could be designed according to the exact properties of the material and without the need to add excess weight, offering significant economic and environmental benefit without compromising safety. In 2014/15 the research moved to a ‘proof of concept’ phase, working closely with industrial partners, including GKN Aerospace, to bring the technology closer to commercialisation.

A notable achievement of the partnership has been the development of autonomous intelligent systems for the next generation of tools, used by Schlumberger to build automated drilling systems for the oil and gas industry. Developed in collaboration with SCISYS with followon funding from Innovate UK, commercial field trials of the systems are scheduled for 2015. The potential economic impact from the application of advanced robotics, resulting from improved health, new products and the transformation of the way in which products are built and services are delivered, is US$1.9 trillion to US$6.4 trillion per year by 2025.6

Centres for Innovative Manufacturing: Keeping the UK among the front runners in global manufacturing A team of researchers at the Loughborough University based Innovative Manufacturing and Construction Research Centre developed an innovative 3D printing technique to create customised panels for large-scale buildings, which led to the development of 3D concrete printers fitted to a gantry and a robotic arm. The printers can make things which cannot be manufactured by conventional processes such as complex structural components, curved cladding panels and other architectural features. In 2014, the team signed a collaboration agreement with Skanska to develop the world’s first commercial concrete printing robot, which could capture a significant share of the US$450 billion global concrete and cement market.7 The agreement puts Skanska in a good position to capitalise on an emerging technology with the potential to revolutionise the design and construction process.

Energy EPSRC leads the Research Councils UK (RCUK) Energy Programme on behalf of five research councils (EPSRC, BBSRC, ESRC, STFC and NERC), bringing strategy to UK energy research in support of government targets. The programme aims to position the UK to meet its energy and environmental targets and policy goals through world-class research and training. EPSRC brings together all the research councils on key energy challenges such as renewable energy sources, smart

grids, energy storage, demand-side technologies and carbon capture and storage. The energy theme actively works together with others in industry and academia towards achieving a low carbon future. This year, we have dealt with the challenges: increasing environmental sustainability, reducing energy costs and enhancing energy security. In 2014/15, over £95 million was leveraged from business and users for the energy theme.

SUPERGEN Hub to set UK’s energy storage course In 2014, a new £4 million collaboration between academics and industry was unveiled by EPSRC, on behalf of the Research Councils UK Energy Programme, that will set the direction and development of research and technologies in energy storage. The SUPERGEN Energy Storage Hub will draw together experts from seven universities and 14 industrial and government partners including Jaguar Land Rover, EDF Energy, Arup, National Grid and Department of Transport. They will address the technical and scientific challenges facing the wide variety of energy storage techniques and 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. Energy storage has a vital role to play in storing electricity from renewable sources and is key to

the electrification of transport. The Hub will work with its industrial partners to accelerate the pull through of research to scale up, prototyping and commercialisation and move the UK closer to where it needs to be for a safer, more sustainable future.

‘Buildings as power stations’ concept creates UK’s first carbon positive energy house Experts from Cardiff University have designed and built the UK’s first purpose-built, low-cost energy smart house, capable of exporting more energy to the national electricity grid than it uses. The house, which was designed and constructed as part of a project supported by EPSRC, Innovate UK and Welsh Government funded SPECIFIC Innovation and Knowledge Centre (£10 million joint EPSRC/Innovate UK, £2 million Welsh Government), has been built as a prototype to meet the new targets for zero carbon housing set by the UK Government. Its unique design combines for the first time reduced energy demand, renewable energy supply and energy storage to create an energy positive house, using the electricity grid to import and export energy. Electrical and thermal storage have been used to allow energy generated at the house to be used directly by the occupiers. The design of the SOLCER house, which

took 16 weeks to construct and was completed in early 2015, follows the ‘Buildings as Power Stations’ concept developed by SPECIFIC and could be a game changer.

Research Performance and Economic Impact Report 2014/15

EPSRC investment in energy research has helped encourage additional growth in the UK economy by stimulating more jobs and increasing efficiency savings. The following case study highlights this.

The digital economy research aims to address four challenge areas: sustainable society, communities and culture, new economic models, information technology as a utility. These challenges are at the heart of digital economy research and provide a focus for managed activities of the theme.

New investment in low cost LEDs will increase productivity

Digital economy research involves researchers working across these challenges and engages users from various domains: creative economy, energy, health and social care, transport, services and government to name a few. Connecting people, things and data together, in safe, smart, secure, trustworthy, productive and efficient ways is fundamental to the DE theme and relies on discovery and innovation in mathematics, computing, engineering and physical sciences. In 2014/15, over £18 million was leveraged from business and users for the DE theme.

University of Cambridge researchers, led by longterm EPSRC-funded Professor Sir Colin Humphreys, developed an innovative technique for the production of low cost LEDs that is paving the way for the UK manufacture of affordable LED light bulbs by UK semiconductor manufacturer Plessey, as well as placing the UK at the forefront of LED research. The technique involves growing gallium nitride crystals on silicon rather than costly sapphire, reducing the cost of making LEDs for lighting offices and homes considerably and having a dramatic impact on carbon emissions. A world-wide switch to LED lighting, which is far more energy-efficient than traditional tungsten filament bulbs, would save the UK over £2 billion per year in electricity costs. In 2015, Plessey secured an external investment of £60 million (£30 million from the Deutsche Bank) to expand their GaN-on-Si LED production activity, based on Professor Humphreys’ research. The investment will enable them to increase production capacity by a factor of 30 and add 400 jobs by 2017, tripling their existing workforce in Plymouth.

Digital economy The Research Councils UK Digital Economy (DE) Programme is led by EPSRC and addresses the challenge of how the novel design and use of digital technologies can contribute to an innovative, healthy economy and inclusive society. The programme brings together the underpinning technologies, with all the elements required to deliver transformation, and is focused on understanding the impacts of the research and what drives users.

Interactive technologies transform theatre, games and television The performing arts are an essential aspect of our cultural and economic life. Highlighted in the REF 2014, researchers funded by EPSRC, AHRC, Innovate UK and the EU, based at the Mixed Reality Laboratory (MRL) at The University of Nottingham, collaborated with artists Blast Theory to explore how interactive technologies could transform the experience of UK theatre, games and television, whilst driving innovation and nurturing creative talent. • Theatre: The collaboration developed ten theatrical productions, touring 40 venues in 18 countries, including the Royal Festival Hall, Tate Britain, Venice Biennale and Sundance Film Festival. They were experienced by over 200,000 people and the productions inspired a new generation of artists to work in Mixed Reality Performance. • Pervasive games: An innovative aspect of the work is the development of a new form of computer games that bridge between online and mobile play, viewed by the games industry as the prototypes of future game formats. Following initial collaboration with Microsoft, Sony and Nokia, the team are continuing to work with technology and games companies to establish a new technology platform for pervasive reality games which will impact on an industry worth £1.72 billion8 to the UK economy. • Television: The research has transformed television by developing new forms of viewer participation including formats that engage online viewers with video streamed from city streets. Results were broadcast on BBC online and YouTube have extended this approach to crowdsource coverage of public events.

Quantum technologies

Healthcare technologies

Many of our existing technologies (including the microprocessor, solid state imaging devices, and the laser) are derived from quantum physics. In 2014, EPSRC built upon previous investments in quantum science and created a Quantum Technologies challenge theme in response to the UK National Quantum Technologies Programme (a £270 million government investment). The programme is being delivered by EPSRC and Innovate UK in partnership with the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), the UK Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) and the National Physical Laboratory (NPL).

Engineering and physical sciences research plays a key role in enabling breakthroughs in healthcare and meeting unmet clinical needs. In 2014/15, the healthcare technologies theme made an overall commitment of £47 million, on top of which an additional £14 million was leveraged from business and users. Our significant investment in EPS research that leads to the development of new healthcare technologies reflects our long-term strategy to fund science for a healthy nation.

In 2014, EPSRC invested £120 million in four Quantum Technology hubs (led by the Universities of Birmingham, Glasgow, Oxford and York) bringing together 17 universities and 132 companies. The hubs are part of the UK National Quantum Technologies Programme and are intended to draw together scientists, engineers and technologists from across the UK to explore how we can exploit the intriguing properties of the quantum realm. In particular, transformative impacts in key areas such as quantum metrology and sensors, quantum enhanced imaging, quantum simulators, quantum computers and quantum secure communications are considered. Impacts from this investment are expected to be seen in EPSRC’s next delivery plan period between 2016-2020; however, an indication of the potential of this area can be seen from the £53 million leveraged from business and users in 2014/15.

The REF 2014 impact case studies show examples of cost savings from EPS research to the healthcare sector, with ~£600 million public sector savings per annum, private sector efficiency savings of over ~£80 million and additional sales of over ~£5 billion from 120 new businesses created. This shows how important EPS research is to the growth of the UK Med Tech sector and the broader economy. The 2014 report The importance of engineering and physical sciences research to health and life sciences9 further emphasises the key role EPS plays in the health and life sciences and in particular the value of interdisciplinary approaches. Examples of this are shown in the following case studies.

SPHERE Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration: Developing technologies for independent living New innovations in electronics and engineering such as sophisticated sensors, wireless networks, monitoring software, video analytics, and data mining, could be harnessed to address some of the challenging health

problems facing us today such as an ageing population, rising obesity and diabetes, growing numbers of people living alone and shrinking healthcare budgets. The EPSRC-funded Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration SPHERE (Sensor Platform for Healthcare in a Residential Environment), a collaboration between Universities of Bristol, Reading and Southampton, brings together engineers, clinicians, designers and social care professionals to develop sensor technologies that can monitor vulnerable people in their homes and detect problems such as falls or strokes and help people to remain healthy and living in their own homes rather than in a hospital or residential care. A key aspect of SPHERE is the engagement of the public in the development process. The team have worked with Bristol-based Aardman Animations on a film which asked members of the public for their views on the technologies being developed by SPHERE and what the outcomes might mean for them. SPHERE was featured at the 2015 launch in London of the IoTUK programme – part of a £40 million government investment in the internet of things.

Research Performance and Economic Impact Report 2014/15

Research underpins new industry sector and improvements in patient health and quality of life

Kidney matching algorithm improves quality of life and makes savings for the NHS

Research at Loughborough University generated innovative methods of automatically and consistently culturing human stem cells. These are key to regenerative therapies for a range of conditions, such as strokes, neurodegenerative diseases, cancer and heart disease. Whilst contributing to patient health and quality of life, regenerative medicine is also creating a new industry sector.

EPSRC-funded research at the University of Glasgow is helping patients who require a kidney transplant and have a willing but incompatible donor, to swap their donor with that of another similar patient, as well as making savings for the NHS. The Glasgow research team are collaborating with NHS Blood and Transplant on their kidney exchange matching scheme, and are using an algorithm, which produces results within one second, to search out options for kidney exchanges from anonymous patient data covering the whole of the UK. In 2014, the scheme had resulted in over 340 transplants that might not otherwise have gone ahead. As well as improving the quality of life for hundreds of kidney transplant patients, the algorithm will afford the NHS a minimum of £16 million of savings over the next ten years.5

With long-term investment from EPSRC, BBSRC, MRC and Innovate UK, the research has led to the development of the CompacT SelecTTM automated cell culture system launched by TAP Biosystems, a leading supplier of innovative cell culture and fermentation systems for life science. By 2014, 47 of the systems worth over £20 million had been sold, 40 per cent in Europe and 60 per cent in the USA.5 More recently, leading stem cell therapy company ReNeuron announced it would be using the CompacT SelecTTM system as part of its production process for clinical and commercial stem cell therapies at a new Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMP) manufacturing facility in Wales.

Engineering and physical sciences is a key enabler of new medical technologies and devices and, to realise their full benefit, these need to be translated into clinical practice. To speed up this pathway EPSRC works in partnership with third sector organisations, such as the Wellcome Trust and Cancer Research UK (CRUK), other research councils, the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and Innovate UK. In 2014/15, EPSRC and the Wellcome Trust announced a £30 million joint investment in three Innovative Engineering for Health awards. We also worked with the NIHR Healthcare Technology Co-operatives (HTCs) to put in place an awards scheme for EPS academics to collaborate directly with them to develop and deliver new concepts for medical devices

The challenge now for the team is to ensure that they can anticipate the future needs of the matching scheme. This includes improving the algorithm so that the running time remains fast even as the input grows larger and delivering a stand-alone software product that NHS Blood and Transplant can use in-house. This will allow ‘chains’ of transplants to be found, involving altruistic (non-directed) donors and couples, each comprising a patient and their willing, but incompatible, donor. The research was included in a recent BBC4 programme, The Secret Rules of Modern Living: Algorithms, which was presented by EPSRC-funded mathematician Professor Marcus du Sautoy.

and healthcare technologies. We invested £1.3 million into these EPSRC-HTC partnership awards, which focus on patients’ healthcare needs that are not being met and where healthcare technologies can make a real difference. Eight partnership awards were awarded focusing on: Mental health, surgery and rehabilitation, incontinence, broken bones that refuse to heal and patient care. EPSRC and CRUK signed a Memorandum of Understanding to jointly fund the CRUK/EPSRC Multidisciplinary Awards Scheme, a five year £37.5 million programme of collaborative research which aims to partner engineers and physical scientists with cancer researchers to generate new approaches to unmet needs in cancer research.

Developing sustainable, resilient and integrated national infrastructure EPSRC is acutely aware that sustainability and resilience is crucial to the growth of the UK. As part of this, EPSRC has been actively encouraging engineering, mathematical sciences, ICT and physical sciences researchers to think innovatively to support the new developments of infrastructure that the UK will need as the 21st century progresses. Over this delivery plan, EPSRC has helped develop the next generation of technologists and innovators; helping to generate new solutions and drive the future enterprise economy. The following case studies highlight this.

World leading technology for low-cost solar power

New coatings improve performance of Rolls-Royce aero-engine New coatings developed at Cranfield University with support from EPSRC, the EU and industry, are being used in the aerospace industry to improve performance and increase cost savings. The innovative advanced thermal barrier coating systems improve the efficiency of large civil aero-gas turbines, whilst reducing fuel consumption by over one per cent with a consequent reduction in CO2 emissions. In terms of fuel costs, the systems save operators £3.8 billion over the 20 year lifetime5 of the engine. The technology is being used on the Airbus 380 and Boeing Dreamliner engines and has allowed Rolls-Royce to not only maintain, but increase its market share for large civil aircraft engines.

Oxford Photovoltaics, a company formed to commercialise research by EPSRC-funded Dr Henry Snaith at the University of Oxford, has pioneered a low-cost, sustainable, transparent solar cell coating, based on perovskites, that can be used on the glass facades of commercial buildings to convert sunlight into electricity. The input of solar energy is enough to fulfil the world’s energy needs efficiently and at a low cost. Silicon panels are the archetype, however they only have an efficiency of between 15-22 per cent, whereas perovskites have the potential to increase the efficiency to over 30 per cent. Dr Snaith has shown that perovskite-based cells have the potential to provide cheap and efficient alternatives to silicon-based cells. The company has received funding from Innovate UK and initially secured £4.2 million from investors including the European Commission. Nature magazine named Henry Snaith as one of ten people who have made the most difference in science during 2013; he was the only UK-based scientist on the list. In 2015, the company raised a further £8 million to help take its solar glass technology towards commercialisation, enabling it to accelerate development of its world leading technology.

Research Performance and Economic Impact Report 2014/15

What’s keeping the UK on the move? The following examples highlight how EPSRC-funded research has a direct impact on UK transportation and have influenced policy and public services for the Department of Transport and the Department for Energy and Climate Change.

Software optimising traffic flows delivers efficiencies in public transport

Airport microwave security fence provides safe intrusion detection

• EPSRC-supported researchers at York University developed software to optimise traffic flows and signal timings. • SATURN (Simulation and Assignment of Traffic in Urban Road Networks) software is routinely used to model network changes in over 100 cities. The software generates an annual income of £500,000. • The research underpins the FREEFLOW project (Intelligent Decision Support for Traffic Management) which has reduced bus journey times between York and Hull. (Project funding was also provided by ESRC, Innovate UK and DfT).

Water leak detection device used in Crossrail project • Syrinix, a University of East Anglia spin-out company, was formed to commercialise EPSRC-funded blue-skies research. The company’s ‘listening’ technology detects and locates the early stages of leaks in water pipes making maintenance more cost effective. • The TrunkMinder devices are being deployed in a major rollout by Thames Water for work on the £15 billion Crossrail project.

• EPSRC-funded researchers at the Centre for Secure Information Technologies at Queen’s University Belfast launched a spin-out company to commercialise a security fence for use at airports and other critical installations. • The MicroSense system is being tested in several airports and secure locations around the world, from Northern Ireland to Hong Kong. • A key feature of the system is its ability to distinguish between real targets and false alarms resulting in a highly reliable system.

A modern transport system with a secure future Vibration energy harvesting sensors monitor wear and tear in trains

System supports cost-effective management of road safety • Met Office and EPSRC-funded researchers at Bath University developed more accurate predictions pivotal for the 24hr OpenRoad forecasting system used by companies and local authorities to help maintain essential road services, including road clearing and gritting when snow or ice are predicted. • The improved forecasting of road temperatures has led to a more cost-effective use of grit supplies (gritting can cost between £10k to £15k per day).

• University of Southampton spin-out company Perpetuum was launched to commercialise a new EPSRC-funded vibration-based energy harvesting technology for powering wireless sensors. • Perpetuum won the contract to equip all 148 of Southeastern Railway’s Electrostar train stock, with sensor systems to monitor the wear of bearings and wheels.

Award-winning airport baggage scanner for detecting explosives Accurate, effective weather forecasting benefits services and industries • EPSRC-funded mathematical modelling research at Exeter University made a key contribution to ENDGame, the new dynamical core of the Met Office weather and climate prediction model, improving accuracy and computational performance. • A wide range of UK services and industries benefit from Met Office forecasts, including aviation and transport. The economic value of the forecasts has been estimated to be in excess of £600 million per year.

• A baggage scanner developed by Rapiscan Systems and the University of Manchester was successfully tested at Manchester Airport. It is faster, more reliable than existing technologies and allows an increase in baggage screening capacity whilst reducing capital and operation costs. • The system, which has its roots in EPSRC-funded research, combines 3D data of a CT image with the high speed of x-ray baggage screening system to detect potential explosives.

“

The connectivity, condition and capacity of a country’s transport network is critical for productivity. Fixing the Foundations: Creating a more prosperous nation, HM Treasury, June 2015

Navigation software enabling vehicles to drive themselves • EPSRC-funded researchers at the University of Oxford’s Mobile Robotics Group have enabled a vehicle to ‘see’ the world around it and to drive itself, using an inbuilt computer to interpret data from cameras, radars and lasers, aerial photos and road plans. • The technology could help cut road accidents and traffic congestion, which costs the UK economy more than £4.3 billion a year. • Working with Nissan, the low cost in-car navigation system has been installed in a Nissan Leaf electric car. • Spin-out company, Oxbotica, commercialises the group’s research and Innovate UK has invested in them to develop a production-feasible prototype of low cost, infrastructure free (without GPS), 3D imaging device.

21st century vehicles

Rapid Transit system link to Heathrow Airport • Fast, reliable and low-cost driverless personal transport developed at the University of Bristol is being used by thousands of passengers every day at Heathrow Terminal 5, removing the queuing and inefficiencies associated with bus transfers (eliminating 50,000 bus journeys a year to Heathrow). • Individual pods are designed to run on a separate guideway, enabling a fully automated system. The underpinning research was funded by EPSRC, Rees Jeffreys Road Fund, NESTA and DETR.

Technology leads to efficiency gains and improved safety for rail networks • XiTRACT technology from EPSRCfunded researchers at HeriotWatt and Edinburgh Universities increased maintenance intervals from three months to ten years and increased track speeds up to 125 mph. • The technology was used to stablise Clapham Junction trackbed (one of the most highly used railway junctions in Europe), and aids the development of the HS2 line. • The impact of XiTrack is estimated to be at least £50 million with benefits to millions of passengers. (Additional funding was by NERC and Innovate UK.)

Advanced robotic and autonomous systems (RAS) for transport • The Edinburgh Centre for Robotics, which includes the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in RAS, will be developing robots which can act independently and could revolutionise society in the next 20 years. • Working in crucial market sectors including oil and gas, transport, automotive, manufacturing and many others, the Edinburgh Centre for Robotics is supported by over 40 industrial partners. • It is estimated that by 2025 there could be an emerging RAS market to the value of US$15.5 billion.

Fuel cells for zero carbon vehicles • A core team of EPSRC-funded researchers from Loughborough University provided the knowledge and expertise in fuel cells which underpins the world’s largest independent fuel cell company and one of the fastest growing companies in Europe. • Spin-out Intelligent Energy is behind the first European approved fuel cell vehicle, zero carbon London taxis and the first manned flight of a fuel cell powered aircraft by Boeing. • Based in the UK with worldwide offices, the company employs over 350 people. • In 2014, they were valued at £639 million in the biggest pure technology flotation on the London Stock Exchange for the last five years.

Research Performance and Economic Impact Report 2014/15

What’s keeping the UK secure? The following examples highlight how EPSRC-funded research has a direct impact on the UK’s national security and have influenced policy and public services for the Home Office, Dstl and the MoD.

Pollen ‘nanotags’ to combat gun crime • EPSRC-funded research at Brunel University devised a new bullet tagging technology invisible to the naked eye, designed to be coated onto gun cartridges. • Some ‘nanotags’ attach themselves to the hands/gloves of those handling the cartridge whilst others remain on the cartridge linking criminals to crimes. • It also collects skin cells, with 53 per cent more DNA harvested than before. • Project partners include BAE Systems and Andura.

Computer-based tool accelerates discovery of security flaws in software • EPSRC-funded University of Kent researcher worked with security firm Portcullis to link their research with real threats and vulnerabilities. • After revealing security weaknesses, the process relies on humans finding the errors; a computer-based tool automates the time-consuming and labourintensive tasks that have to be undertaken when searching for vulnerabilities.

Language analysis software to protect children online • The University of Lancaster Isis project funded by EPSRC, was a project at Swansea and Middlesex Universities using expertise in monitoring, natural language analysis, child protection and ethics to develop a toolkit with 94 per cent accuracy in identifying masquerading adults. • The team has helped law enforcement agencies identify those posing as children or using multiple identities to groom victims.

High performance concrete protection from terrorists attacks • EPSRC-funded Universities of Sheffield and Liverpool researchers, in partnership with the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure, developed Ultra High Performance Fibre Reinforced Concrete (UHPFRC) with needle-thin steel fibres in the concrete mix instead of/in addition to steel reinforcing bars to increase its tensile strength. • The concrete absorbs a thousand times more energy than plain concrete and can be used for bomb-proof litter bins and protection barriers.

‘Electronic sketch artist’ for identifying suspected criminals • EPSRC-funded researchers from the University of Kent created the technology EFIT-V which allows victims and witnesses of crime to construct computer-generated faces employing a holistic (whole face) approach to identifying criminals. • Spin-out VisionMetric Ltd’s EFIT-V and E-FIT are the preferred choice of 90 per cent of British police forces and are used in over 30 countries. • Police forces have reported sustained, correct naming rates up to ten times the average success rate and EFIT-V is credited with helping to solve hundreds of crimes.

Fighting crime Protection from terrorism Cyber security

Research highlights security system’s vulnerability to cyber attacks • An EPSRC-funded project team ‘Lucky Thirteen’ at Royal Holloway, University of London discovered a weakness in encryption software used to safeguard information sent by users to websites. • They disclosed the details to affected companies including Microsoft and Google and have been working with them to put in place measures to prevent attacks.

Magnetic FlakeTM powders for studying fingerprints • Developed through EPSRC-funded research at University of Wales, Swansea, the product allows scene-of-crime officers to study fingerprints without having to brush them with fine powder which can lead to smudging. • Commercialised by spin-out K9 Scene of Crime Equipment Ltd (later Crime Scene Investigation Equipment Ltd), ‘Magneta Flake’ is fast becoming the first choice with many law enforcement agencies.

Mitigating terrorist threats • SECRet is an international Security Science Doctoral Training Centre at UCL. The centre brings together expertise from wider disciplines to mitigate threats from criminals and terrorists to the UK’s physical, communications, energy, health, border, transport, environment and financial instructions. • Funded by partners including EPSRC, 32 collaborators include Home Office, NHS, British Transport Police, BT, HP, BAE, Thales, Logical, KPMG.

Non-invasive drug screening technology • Spin-out Intelligent Fingerprinting Ltd, developed by EPSRC-funded research at the University of East Anglia, launches its innovative non-invasive diagnostic screen technology for fast point of care testing in 2015. • Simple to operate and totally non-invasive, the device is ideal for a variety of applications including drug rehabilitation services, offender management and criminal justice. • The device is able to screen for multiple drugs; providing results in less than ten minutes. The technique has potential for homeland security applications.

Ensuring the future security of the UK

Secure information technologies centre • The Queen’s University Belfast Centre for Secure Information Technologies is funded by EPSRC, Innovate UK, InvestNI and collaborators including BAE Systems, Cisco, Thales, Home Office, GCHQ, CESG, CPNI and Dstl. • It brings together specialists in data encryption, network security systems, wireless enabled security systems and intelligent surveillance technology. • Innovative and novel technologies in information and people security applications including processes for real-time detecting and filtering malware and cyber-attacks.

Protecting online privacy • 30,000 online service users to explore ways of improving online privacy. • Funded by EPSRC and Innovate UK.

Cost-effective, secure cloud computing • EPSRC-funded researchers at the University of Bristol are using their expertise in cryptography to find costeffective, secure ways of accessing data.

Inward investment for grid and cloud computing • EPSRC-led RCUK Social Inclusion through the Digital Economy research hub encouraged Red Hat, a $10 billion US-based world-leader in open source software, to build their second Red Hat research centre at Newcastle University. The US centre is estimated to have contributed $15 million GVA and 75 person-years of high-tech employment. • The presence of Red Hat has strengthened the UK’s links with major global businesses in the field.

Digital security enhancements in an uncertain world – Centre for Secure Information Technologies (CSIT) • Based at Queen’s University Belfast and co-funded by Innovate UK and InvestNI, the EPSR-funded CSIT has developed world-class advances in cyber and cyber-physical security technologies e.g. ten commercially relevant new product concepts, numerous collaborative research projects and three spin-out companies. • CSIT has played a role in supporting UKTI and InvestNI with 850 new inward investment jobs in the area of cybersecurity. A recent example of inward investment due to CSIT’s reputation was the move to Belfast by US company Proofpoint Inc – bringing 94 new jobs in the field. • With over two billion people online and over five billion internetconnected devices, and on-line payments running into many trillions of pounds, cyber security is essential to the growth of the UK’s information economy.

Research Performance and Economic Impact Report 2014/15

Delivering the highly skilled people the UK needs EPSRC delivers highly skilled people across all areas of the UK economy and society. Skilled, numerate people, trained in the EPS are essential, both for the long-term health of the research base and for business growth. EPSRC aims to support the very best researchers throughout their careers and develop the research leaders of tomorrow. We use a variety of approaches to support our researchers to realise their full potential from doctoral studentships, early career support, e.g. fellowships and other targeted activities, through to programme grant leaders and energy consortia leaders.

EPSRC-funded PhD student wins innovation award UtterBerry, a wireless sensor for civil engineering instrumentation and monitoring developed by Heba Bevan, a doctoral student at the EPSRC-supported Cambridge Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction (CSIC), has won a clutch of awards since its launch, including the Technical Excellence and Product Innovation Awards at the 2015 Ground Engineering Awards. Most recently, Heba received the Innovation prize at the Constructing Excellence in London and the South East Awards, where the judges described UtterBerry as a ‘quantum step in measurement sensors’. The sensor has been deployed by Crossrail to measure temperature, humidity and tunnel wall inclination on a London tunnel construction site enabling the condition and structural health of the tunnel to be monitored remotely in a safe and effective manner.

In 2014/15, EPSRC affirmed its commitment to the sponsorship of public engagement. The ResearchFish 2014 submission period data demonstrates EPSRC-funded researchers’ embedded support for public engagement alongside research and training. For example, the EPS community show engagement in a wide variety of knowledge transfer pathways well beyond publications such as communication with practitioners, policymakers and media. EPSRC aims to develop innovation through its community. Acknowledging this, EPSRC invests in people centred activities that allow individuals to develop their expertise such as Industrial Cooperative Awards in Science & Technology (ICASE) and Impact Acceleration Accounts (IAA). (IAAs superseded Knowledge Transfer Accounts (KTA) in January 2015.) In 2014/15, EPSRC invested £17 million in ICASE.

Industrial CASE award leads to increase in electricity production Research by Dr Cynthia Carliell-Marquet, from the University of Birmingham’s School of Civil Engineering, working with Severn Trent Water, led to remarkable findings from an EPSRC-supported project to understand the company’s anaerobic digesters and bioenergy output. Anaerobic digesters play an essential role in wastewater treatment, transforming the sludge produced in other parts of the treatment process into methane that can be used to generate electricity or upgraded and injected directly into the gas grid. When investigating a digestion site performing below its energy target, Dr Carliell-Marquet’s team concluded it was likely to be deficient in valuable trace nutrients. After 50 days of supplementing very small amounts of trace elements, the site’s electricity production rose from 23 per cent below target to 28 per cent above target: the highest electricity output recorded from that site. In 2014, Severn Trent Water injected the largest quantity of green gas produced from around 2.5 million people’s human waste, broken down in anaerobic digesters, into gas pipes servicing homes in the Birmingham area. The underpinning research was carried out as part of an EPSRC Industrial CASE studentship, in partnership with Severn Trent Water to which student Farryad Ishaq was seconded.

World’s largest antibody search engine developed through Knowledge Transfer Account An internet service which allows scientists to find antibodies for use in their research is now the largest antibody search engine in a US$2 billion industry, and ranked number one by Google. CiteAb (www.citeab. com) was founded in 2013 by Dr Andrew Chalmers at the University of Bath following funding from an EPSRC Knowledge Transfer Account. Dr Chalmers said: ‘One of the biggest problems for a researcher is being sure that the antibody they’re about to spend hundreds of pounds on is going to work. They can waste time and money buying the wrong one, CiteAb solves this problem. We rank antibodies by academic citations as these are the best guide to whether an antibody is likely to work in the laboratory – citations are independent and easily verifiable, and no one can pay to be the top hit.’ The team at CiteAb work in collaboration with Bath based Storm Consultancy and are currently exploring ways to use the data CiteAb generates to ensure the long-term success of this research as a commercial enterprise.

EPSRC studentships – our national strategic focus on skills Currently, EPSRC is the single largest funder of EPS PhDs in the UK, supporting about one third of all EPS students. Since 2005, EPSRC has supported just under 30,000 students.

100

EPSRC contributes to a workforce appropriate to the UK’s needs; the destinations of EPSRC students show that EPSRC delivers highly skilled people across all areas of the UK economy and society.

Engaged in PostDoc study

Government and public sector – not research related

80 35%

35%

33%

34%

Higher education – mainly research Higher education – other (eg admin)

60 5%

50 40

Higher education – teaching

Industry and commerce Not employed 32%

32%

35%

30 20 10 0

Government and public sector – research related

Other employment Research and experimental development

2011/12

2012/13

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School (education – other eg admin) School teaching or teacher training Self-employed, voluntary and unpaid work

Figure 5. Destinations of EPSRC students by year3

Research Performance and Economic Impact Report 2014/15

Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Destination of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) 2014/15 data shows how the majority of EPSRC-supported students go into industry or research in higher education. All our routes to supporting studentships have the opportunity to be collaborative with industry. For 2014/15, around 1,000 new CDT students started at more than 35 universities. There are over 1,400 user collaborators linked with CDTs which were current on 1 April 2015. Our Centres for Doctoral Training (CDT) are examples of how we cover a wide spectrum of different collaborations with industry. Over the last year, more than 41 universities had their first intake of new students. The cohort style training of EPSRC CDTs brings together diverse areas of expertise to train engineers and scientists with the skills, knowledge and confidence to tackle today’s evolving issues, and future challenges. They also provide a supportive and exciting environment for students, create new working cultures, build relationships between teams in universities and forge lasting links with industry.

Ensuring equality and diversity The long-term strength of the UK research base depends on harnessing all the available talent. As a funder of research, EPSRC remains committed to attracting the best potential researchers from a diverse population into research careers. In 2013, RCUK published a statement of expectations on equality and diversity10 outlining their commitment with all research councils in ensuring that the best potential researchers from a diverse population are attracted into research careers (this was updated in 2015). Building on this, EPSRC with RCUK has initiated a programme of activities which includes analysing and publishing diversity data to our research communities and public. EPSRC with RCUK is committed to using diversity data to assess how effective our policies and procedures are in promoting equal opportunities. The RCUK data on research grants and fellowships (as separate datasets) covered numbers of applications, awards and success rates across the protected characteristics of gender, age and ethnicity. This has encouraged further transparency and dialogue between EPSRC and the research community. A further equality and diversity action plan has been agreed with EPSRC council in 2015 and it is planned that peer review elements will be updated with further diversity considerations, e.g. unconscious bias training.

EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Digital Entertainment

Women in engineering and physical sciences research

Based at the Universities of Bath and Bournemouth, the £4.5 million EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Digital Entertainment funds doctoral students in digital games, visual effects and animation. Working with a network of SMEs, the students gain exceptional industry experience and companies benefit from access to highly-skilled industry-prepared students.

To specifically promote diversity and equality in research, EPSRC co-funds the Daphne Jackson Trust Fellowships and the Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowships. Dr Jennifer Steeden, who is based at University College London, is using her EPSRC-funded Royal Society – EPSRC Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship, which began in October 2014, to develop a quick cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging examination for use on children. Congenital heart disease affects nine in every 1,000 babies born in the UK and is estimated to cost the country £1.8 billion every year.

One business which has benefited from this relationship is WÖNKY, an award-winning animation studio with clients including the BBC, British Council and UNICEF. Working with a student from the centre, the company has been able to strengthen its positioning in digital environments and has an increased online presence through the digital delivery of short films and social media networks. Another student has helped Aardman Animations to gain an insight into conducting large in-house research projects supporting the development of new research areas. One of Europe’s largest provider of visual effects for the film industry, Double Negative, has benefited from new proven techniques for solving significant problems in the production process.

CMR is a key advance in the diagnosis and monitoring of heart disease, however, the time it takes to perform the scan (about an hour) and the requirement for the patient to hold their breath several times during the procedure, can be challenging for children, making it necessary for general anaesthesia to be used. Dr Steeden is developing new technologies that will allow CMR to be performed quickly (within 20 minutes) and without the need for breath-holds, making it possible to dispense with general anaesthesia and making it both safer and much more available.

Methodological developments and future challenges EPSRC 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 impact. Insights from the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014

and EPSRC. Potential methodological developments which could be considered in the future for this type of study would be to estimate the gross value added arising from the EngD programmes, taking into account number of jobs created, additionality and attribution factors, to assess the overall ‘return on investment’.

EPSRC undertook a project to analyse the REF 2014 impact case studies to develop a better understanding of EPSRC’s impact. The resulting report1 was published in November 2015 and summarises how EPSRC research helps to drive growth, investment, impact, innovation and efficiencies. Particular future challenges for EPSRC considered in this report include: • Significant difficulties in extracting information, particularly quantitative, in a systematic way. EPSRC drew upon other sources, for example EPSRC’s grant management information and contextual data provided by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) to maximise the value of the analysis. This demonstrated the extent to which key funding sources have been under-reported and reinforces the requirement for more structured provision of information in REF impact case studies in future exercises. • EPSRC are aware that a significant number of impacts reported in other subject areas have also benefited from EPSRC support and we intend to explore these in more detail in the future, as well as continuing to focus on further analysis of the EPS case studies.

The impact of Knowledge Transfer Account and Knowledge Transfer Secondment funding

Engineering a successful nation

EPSRC continues to develop its body of impact case studies, ensuring all impact evidence is documented and kept up to date. ResearchFish outcome data is used in our impact case studies.

A recent report Engineering for a successful nation11 assessed the economic return for engineering research and postgraduate training in the UK and what this means to EPSRC. It was published in March 2015 and prepared by Technopolis for the Royal Academy of Engineering and EPSRC. This review undertook a lot of econometric analysis which built upon previous analysis undertaken for other economic impact reviews such as Measuring the Economic Benefits of Mathematical Science Research in the UK12 and The UK’s performance in physics research13.

A pilot study on the impact of EngDs This 2015 study14 aimed to understand the impact of the engineering doctorate (EngD) programmes provided by the Engineering Doctorate (EngD) Centres and the more recently established Industrial Doctorate Centres (IDCs). The report was prepared by the University of Manchester on behalf of the Association of Engineering Doctorates (AEngD)

Published in December 2014, this report15 demonstrates the economic impact of KTA/KTS funding (now superseded by EPSRC’s Impact Acceleration Accounts), as well as social and environmental impacts. Prepared by ResearchInFocus for EPSRC, the report highlights that the KTA/KTS scheme has a high level of value added and the funding has enabled new and unique products, services and businesses to develop within the UK.

Future plans to develop the evidence base Research outcomes reporting In common with all research councils, EPSRC has adopted the ResearchFish system for collecting outcomes information from all its investments. EPSRC has been gathering research outcome data and using it for internal analysis. Feb/March 2016 will see the next round of data collection enabling further analysis of outputs and outcomes to be undertaken.

Case studies and evaluations

EPSRC theme evaluation plans are being developed in line with theme strategies and the overall EPSRC Delivery Plan 2016-2020.

Data tool development EPSRC is continuing to develop new tools to enhance its analytical and visualisation capabilities, to help us to assess the impact of past investments and to set future funding priorities. EPSRC is working with data companies Elsevier and Bureau Van Dijk to enhance our reporting tools. Data tools such as Visualising Our Portfolio (VOP), council/ theme dashboards and knowledge mapping are being developed internally to make our analysis more accessible to the wider EPSRC audience.

Research Performance and Economic Impact Report 2014/15

Cross council developments EPSRC continues to work closely with colleagues in all research councils through RCUK and the associated RCUK Performance Evaluation Network, and Research Outputs Network. The cross council SUDAT project with a focus on data mining continues to be a shared endeavour amongst the research councils with an aim to deliver recommendations to RCUK early 2016. EPSRC is contributing to cross-BIS work on Science and Innovation Landscape mapping to understand the areas of research excellence across the UK.

Metrics 2012/13

2013/14

2014/15

Total funds available (£m)

879

971

983

Budget allocation (£m)

849

942

956

Leverage (£m) 30 29 27 Of which private (£m)

Of which from other research councils (£m)

Of which from other sources (£m)

0.5%

0.3%

Of which other research councils

Of which other

1.5%

0.92%

Total expenditure (£m)

879

971

983

Of which research grants (£m)

581

635

690

Of which postgraduate awards (£m)

226

178

Of which other components (£m)

110

115

Of which research grants

66%

65%

70%

Of which postgraduate awards

26%

23%

18%

Of which other components

11%

12%

Of which private

Definition/comments

Funding received directly to EPSRC. Does not include direct or in-kind leverage that EPSRC-funded grants obtain from other organisations. The leverage (including direct or in-kind) on current grants as at 1 April 2015 was £925 million.

Human capital Principal Investigators 2,654 2,452 2,553

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. (6260 unique investigators as at 1 April 2014.)

Research Fellowships 292 309 312

Total number of Research Fellowships on 1 April each year.

Knowledge generation

2012

2013

2014

Refereed publications 8,512 8,801 10,089

Number of papers acknowledging EPSRC support published in peer reviewed journals during the calendar year.

Co-authorship of refereed publications 45% 45% 52% – International

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

(Source: Thompson Reuters Web of Science*)

Research Performance and Economic Impact Report 2014/15

2012/13

2013/14

2014/15

Definition/comments

Human capital Number of new PhD students 2,339 2,301 2,607 Total number of students supported

9,644

8,942

Number of new PhD students supported each year (including incorporated students**).

8,842

Finishing rates 88% 87% 85%

% of PhD 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. (Due to a transition to a new reporting system these figures have been restated.]

Knowledge transfer and exchange Existing patent families extended

Figures restated. See note below***

New patent families

Figures restated. See note below***

Spin-outs/new businesses created 34 28 21

Figures restated. The number of new spin-out companies created during the calendar year, i.e. 2014 for 2014/15. The total number of new spin- outs created from the beginning of 2005 is 405 of which 75 per cent are currently active. See note below****

Human capital Destinations of doctoral graduates Of which university %

37%

36%

37%

Of which wider public sector %

Of which private sector %

36%

37%

40%

Of which unknown or other %

16%

17%

15%

Of which unemployed %

The current figures are based on a matching algorithm to HESA DLHE. The previous algorithm has been improved in 2014/15. Student destination information correlates to the previous year, e.g. 2013/2014 finishers appear in the 2014/2015 column.

Notes *Knowledge generation data Due to the transition from end-of-grant ‘Final Reports’ to real-time reporting of research outputs we are unable to report the data in this section on the same basis as previous RPEI reports. Data on Refereed Publications and International co-authorship are drawn from Thompson Reuters ‘Web of Science’, which has relatively recently begun to record published funder acknowledgements. The growth in volume of papers acknowledging EPSRC support is more likely to reflect the increasing availability of the data rather than an actual growth in volume. While the actual number of papers arising from EPSRC funding is likely to be higher than stated in all years, we believe the figures provide a reliable indication of proportion of papers with international co-authors. **Incorporated students CDT incorporated students are those that would be considered to be a core part of the CDT cohort, but are primarily supported from non-EPSRC funding (university, industry etc).

*** Patent families A patent family is a set of patent applications/publications in multiple countries to protect a single invention in more than one country. Analysis of patent families is therefore more indicative of the number of new inventions arising from research, than simple counts of patent applications. The Impact Report shows figures re-stated. The EPSRC 2013-14 Impact Report was based on legacy data (patent applications reported to EPSRC through Final Reports and ROS) and counted the first occurrence of a patent family within the dataset of patents reported to EPSRC as a ‘new patent family’. This 2014-15 report is based on analysis of data collected by Researchfish® in October/ November 2014. In this new analysis a ‘new patent family’ is only counted if the application date of a patent reported to EPSRC is the same as the earliest application date in the same patent family; if they are not the same then the application reported to EPSRC is counted as extending an existing patent family. The data analysed covers patent applications and granted patents. (Note: applications may or may not become granted patents, but are indicative of IP considered to have suffient value to warrant protection.) ****Spin-outs Figures restated to take into account recently formed companies, by year of formation, known to be exploiting the outcomes from EPSRC funded research. The data is derived mainly from outcome records submitted via Researchfish and from impact case studies submitted to REF 2014. Year of formation is calendar year, not financial year.

Research Performance and Economic Impact Report 2014/15

Bibliography/References 1 Investing in excellence, delivering impact for the UK, analysis of Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014 impact case studies in EPS, EPSRC (2015) https://www.epsrc.ac.uk/newsevents/news/refreport1/ 2 Fixing the Foundations: Creating a more prosperous nation, HM Treasury (2015) https//www.gov.uk/government/news/productivity-plan-launched 3 Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) https://www.hesa.ac.uk/ 4 Programme Grant Holders Workshop Report, EPSRC (2015) https://www.epsrc.ac.uk/newsevents/pubs/programmegrantworkshopreport/ 5 Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014 impact case studies http://impact.ref.ac.uk/CaseStudies/ 6 Disruptive technologies: Advances that will transform life, business and the global economy, McKinsey Global Institute (2013) http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/business_technology/disruptive_technologies 7 Global Concrete and Cement Market â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Key Trends and Opportunities to 2017, Companies and Markets.Com (2013) 8 A Map of the UK Games Industry, Nesta and Ukie (2014) http://www.thecreativeindustries.co.uk/media/274111/map_uk_games_industry_wv.pdf 9 The importance of engineering and physical sciences research to health and life sciences, EPSRC (2014) https://www.epsrc.ac.uk/newsevents/news/healthandlifesciencesbooklet/ 10 RCUK Equality and Diversity, RCUK (2015) http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/funding/diversity/ 11 Engineering for a successful nation, EPSRC and RAE (2015) https://www.epsrc.ac.uk/newsevents/pubs/engineeringsuccesssummary/ 12 Measuring the Economic Benefits of Mathematical Science Research in the UK, Deloitte (2012) https://www.epsrc.ac.uk/newsevents/pubs/deloitte-measuring-the-economic-benefits-of-mathematical-science-researchin-the-uk/ 13 The UKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s performance in physics research, Science-Metrix (2014) https://www.epsrc.ac.uk/newsevents/pubs/ukperformancephysicsresearch/ 14 Understanding the EngD Impact, A pilot study, EPSRC and AEngD (2015) https://www.epsrc.ac.uk/newsevents/pubs/understanding-the-engd-impact-a-pilot-study/ 15 The impact of Knowledge Transfer Account and Knowledge Transfer Secondment funding, Research in Focus Ltd (2014) https://www.epsrc.ac.uk/newsevents/pubs/the-impact-of-knowledge-transfer-account-and-knowledge-transfersecondment-funding/

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