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The new investment, administered by the East Midlands Development Agency (emda), will strengthen strategic links with partners in industry, and help to bring new inventions to the marketplace more quickly.
The University already has a portfolio of aerospace research worth £35m, with more than 70 separate projects focused on key challenges in power electronics, electromagnetics, advanced manufacturing, polymer composites, non-destructive evaluation, thermo-fluids and many other areas. This portfolio includes two Rolls-Royce University Technology Centres (UTCs), in gas turbine transmissions and manufacturing, and a strategic partnership with GE on advanced electrical power & actuation systems, co-funded by EPSRC.
All of this is underpinned by five Platform Grants, awarded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council to world-leading research groups — the highest number at any UK university for aerospace technologies.
Nottingham academics work in partnership with most of the world’s leading aerospace companies, including Rolls-Royce, GE, Airbus/EADS, Boeing, BAE Systems, Bombardier, GKN and Goodrich.
Professor Andy Long, Associate Dean for Research in the Faculty of Engineering, said: “This is wonderful news. The new Institute for Aerospace Technology will allow us to develop and deploy new technologies and processes that are crucial to supporting the aerospace sector’s ability to meet stringent environmental targets set by the Advisory Council on Aeronautics Research in Europe (ACARE) and other additional challenges such as decreased waste.
“Research undertaken will also ensure a good supply of highly skilled people with expertise in areas of immediate interest to the sector.”
Aerospace is very important to the UK’s economy — it has the second largest aerospace industry in the world, after the USA. It is equally important at a regional level, with aerospace accounting for around 60 per cent of East Midlands’ employment in transport equipment.
The East Midlands accounts for around 15 per cent of the UK aerospace industry by value and numbers of people employed in the sector — 25,000 people within 250 companies.
Diana Gilhespy, Executive Director of Regeneration at emda, said: “The aerospace sector is of vital economic importance to the region. The new Institute for Aerospace Technology will provide an invaluable resource for businesses in this sector, helping them to develop innovative new ideas, using the expertise of the University.
“I am delighted that through the ERDF we are able to support the creation of this centre of excellence.”
Aerospace is one of The University of Nottingham’s key research areas, in which a concentration of expertise, collaboration and resources create significant critical mass. Other key research areas at Nottingham include energy, drug discovery, food security, biomedical imaging, advanced manufacturing, integrating global society, operations in a digital world, and science, technology & society.
Through these groups, Nottingham researchers aim to make a major impact on global challenges.
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Notes to editors:
The University of Nottingham is ranked in the UK's Top 10 and the World's Top 100 universities by the Shanghai Jiao Tong (SJTU) and the Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings.
More than 90 per cent of research at The University of Nottingham is of international quality, according to RAE 2008, with almost 60 per cent of all research defined as ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’. Research Fortnight analysis of RAE 2008 ranks the University 7th in the UK by research power. In 27 subject areas, the University features in the UK Top Ten, with 14 of those in the Top Five.
The University provides innovative and top quality teaching, undertakes world-changing research, and attracts talented staff and students from 150 nations. Described by The Times as Britain's "only truly global university", it has invested continuously in award-winning campuses in the United Kingdom, China and Malaysia. Twice since 2003 its research and teaching academics have won Nobel Prizes. The University has won the Queen's Award for Enterprise in both 2006 (International Trade) and 2007 (Innovation — School of Pharmacy), and was named ‘Entrepreneurial University of the Year’ at the Times Higher Education Awards 2008.
Nottingham was designated as a Science City in 2005 in recognition of its rich scientific heritage, industrial base and role as a leading research centre. Nottingham has since embarked on a wide range of business, property, knowledge transfer and educational initiatives (
www.science-city.co.uk) in order to build on its growing reputation as an international centre of scientific excellence. The University of Nottingham is a partner in Nottingham: the Science City.
The ERDF Programme aims to strengthen economic and social cohesion in the European Union by supporting regional economic development.
The ERDF objectives for England are:
Promoting innovation and knowledge transfer
Stimulating enterprise and supporting successful business
Ensuring sustainable development, production and consumption
Building sustainable communities
Improving accessibility and connectivity (for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly only — as part of their Convergence Programme).
A Programme Monitoring Committee consisting of regional stakeholders such as Government Offices, RDAs, Regional Assemblies, Local Authorities, Sub-regional Partnerships, Higher Education Institutions, Trade Unions, and the private and voluntary sectors will monitor and oversee programme implementation in each region.
For more information on ERDF funding generally, please visit www.communities.gov.uk/citiesandregions/european or http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/funds/feder/index_en.htm
ERDF in the East Midlands — the East Midlands is eligible for €268.5m (approximately £236m at current exchange rates) between 2007 and 2013, which when combined with match funding, provides a programme value of approximately £472m — a significant investment in the economic development of the region.
The East Midlands qualifies as a competitiveness and employment region under the EU’s Cohesion Policy, which aims to meet the EU Lisbon objective to become ‘the most competitive and dynamic knowledge based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social inclusion.’
East Midlands Development Agency (emda) is responsible for the programme management and delivery of the region’s 2007-13 ERDF Competitiveness Programme. The responsibility for ERDF programme management was transferred from the Government Office for the East Midlands (GOEM) to emda following a decision by the UK Government to seek greater alignment between ERDF and regional strategies and funding streams. The 2007-13 ERDF Programme is therefore set firmly within the framework of the Regional Economic Strategy.
A Programme Monitoring Committee, chaired by the Regional Director of Government Office for the East Midlands (GOEM), guides the strategic direction of the programme and works closely with emda. To find out more about ERDF, the region’s strategy for delivering the funds, how to apply for funding and how the programme is managed, please visit www.eastmidlandserdf.org.uk
East Midlands Development Agency (emda) is one of nine Regional Development Agencies in England, set up in 1999 to bring a regional focus to economic development. Ten years on, independent evaluation shows emda has:
• Had a significant impact on the region’s economy
• Generated economic benefits that substantially outweigh its overall costs
• Put back over £9 of economic output (or GVA) into the regional economy for every £1 it spends
• Produced more than £1 billion in economic benefits per year
• A wider impact on people, places and businesses in the East Midlands that cannot be captured by figures alone.
For more details visit
www.emda.org.uk