Completed Materials & Manufacturing Engineering

Sir Henry Royce Institute - Manchester and NNL Equipment

Funder EPSRC (part of UKRI)
Recipient organisation University of Manchester
Funding £51.0M
Period Mar 2016 — Dec 2023

In plain English

AI plain-English summary

The Sir Henry Royce Institute for Advanced Materials is building a national network of labs and equipment to turn new materials into working products faster and cheaper than the UK currently can. The problem is a gap in the innovation chain. The UK has strong fundamental science—discovering new materials in university labs—but often struggles to scale those discoveries into commercially viable products. This slows down everything from battery technology to medical implants. The Institute aims to close that gap by providing the specialised facilities, testing rigs, and manufacturing know-how needed to iterate designs quickly, so a promising material doesn't languish for years before reaching industry. If it succeeds, the Institute could accelerate the development of lighter aircraft structures, longer-lasting batteries, more efficient electronics, and safer nuclear materials. It also trains the next generation of materials scientists in areas where the UK has a skills shortage. The work spans nine core areas, from 2D materials to energy storage, and emphasises sustainable use of materials throughout the process. This is applied, mission-driven research—not fundamental science—with a direct line to economic and societal benefit.

View original technical description
As a national institute, The Sir Henry Royce Institute (SHRI) for Advanced Materials, will provide the missing 'link' in the UK innovation chain allowing the iterative design of advanced materials for various applications, at speed and reasonable cost, providing a critical component to delivering on the government's economic strategy. The Institute will reduce the time-scales to translate discoveries to applications, provide strategic leadership together with training and career development in areas of particular need. The aim is to establish the Sir Henry Royce Institute for Advanced Materials as an 'An international flagship for the accelerated discovery and development of new materials systems for the economic and societal benefit of the UK.'. The SHRI will cover the invention and manufacture of Soft Materials; Functional Materials; Structural Engineering Materials and Energy Materials along with the necessary facilities to test and characterise them within a framework that emphasises the sustainable use of materials. Initially there will be 9 core material areas led by founding partners: Chemical materials discovery Biomedical materials and devices Materials for energy efficient ICT Atoms to devices 2D Materials systems Advanced Metals Processing Materials systems for demanding environments Energy Storage Nuclear materials

View the original record at the funder ↗

Researchers

Martin Schroder (Principal Investigator)Philip Withers (Co-Investigator)

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Original classification

Research Grant

Plain English summaries and category classifications on this site are generated by AI and may not perfectly reflect the original research.