Small items of research equipment at Loughborough University

This research grant is designed to purchase items of research equipment which i) are up to a maximum of £10,000 inclusive of VAT in value; ii) will extend the boundaries of the research of our Early Career Researchers in line with both Institutional and EPSRC goals; iii) enhance not only the applicant's research, but also the core capabilities of our key research areas and iv) will either be new or provide significant enhancements to existing facilities. A Management Team, chaired by an experienced Principle Investigator, will oversee the process of selecting items to purchase, ensuring that they meet all of the rules, and that they are purchased in time for the 5 month duration of the grant.

Each of the individual items of equipment purchased under this Call, which are likely to number around 60, will make a separate, innovative contribution to its field. Some of these have been highlighted in the Case for Support; the final report on this grant will include a brief statement of the expected contribution for every single item purchased.

Intellectual Property: Some of the items purchased will inevitably result in the generation of intellectual property (IP). In anticipation of this occurring, not just as a result of this Call but more generally through their research, the Enterprise Office (EO) offers all academic staff at LU a course on intellectual property covering what it is and how to protect it. Research Fellows, postdoctoral researchers and PhD students are also encouraged to take courses related to IP. The EO also provides experienced staff that will assist in the identification and protection of IP and has an on-line form that can be completed by any researcher that identifies what the novel features of the work are. A member of the EO then works with the researcher and their supervisor, if a PhD student or postdoctoral researcher, to determine whether there is IP that requires protecting and, if so, the best approach to protecting it. If appropriate, the EO can also advise on licensing or creating spin out companies at the relevant point in time.

Beneficiaries: See the section on academic beneficiaries.

Networking and Outreach: An important impact measure for the research undertaken with the equipment purchased will be the development of active, connected academic and industrial communities. All four research themes have established dedicated web sites capable of delivering webinars and other information dissemination, both through the Research Schools and the various Centres that already exist and are described in the introductions to each theme in the Case for Support. Outreach to the wider community will also be assisted by presentation at national and international conferences, publication in scientific or engineering journals and involvement with public engagement to different, but relevant target audiences. The professional communities, e.g. the IMechE, IChemE, IEEE, IOP, RSC, IOM3, ICE, IStructE, etc, will assist with the latter, via the input of the more senior staff where needed, including the Management Team. Where relevant, we will also network directly with agencies such as DSTL and AWE and will encourage applied research through TSB and other forms of collaborative projects.

Training: The provision of training is an essential output; it benefits the 'people pipeline' directly. Some of the ECRs have already attracted promises of PhD student funding if they are able to secure the equipment item under consideration whilst many others will be able to attract increased external funding further down the line as they generate results. LU is committed to providing appropriate training to all PhD students and postdoctoral researchers as well as to all academic staff. Both the Research Schools and Academic Schools at LU have training budgets that can be accessed to fund attendance at courses or conferences, leading to the creation of a well-trained future workforce for both industry and for R&D.
Timeliness and Novelty: It is firmly believed by the Management Team that every single item of equipment proposed will result in research that is both timely and novel. It is clearly difficult to demonstrate this for what will be around 60 separate items of equipment covering a wide range of different fields, but this has been explicitly considered during the selection process for the first round Call and will also be a fundamental issue for the second Call.