Multi-million investment for research facilities
18 August 2008
Almost £400 million is being made available through the Government's Large Facilities Capital Fund to provide support for the development of nine multidisciplinary research projects focusing on a variety of areas.
These areas include long-term studies of economic, health and social development; the construction of new neutron beams to test the physical behaviours of structures such as turbine blades or the design of new drugs; and the development of modelling software to simulate future climate scenarios and cell interactions.
The funding will enable the UK's Research Councils to meet the costs needed to build new infrastructure and where necessary redevelop existing research facilities, to provide world-leading research environments.
Ian Pearson, Science and Innovation Minister, said, "Investment in the development of cutting edge research facilities will help retain existing talent and attract some of the world's best scientists to the UK. Once completed, the facilities given the go-ahead today will rival those of our main international competitors such as the United States and Japan.
"Today's £397million in funding represents a fraction of the Government's overall commitment to science and research which totals almost four billion, a figure which has doubled over the last 10 years. The projects approved for funding represent a total commitment of over half a billion pounds of public money.
"By increasing public funding for science, the government is sending a strong message to the research community that it is serious about the long-term future of science research and innovation in this country.
"Investment in our scientific infrastructure will pay dividends in advancing research in key areas, but also allowing research to be commercialised and translated into business ventures."