Small Items of Research Equipment at Imperial College London

This proposal seeks investment in key items of small research equipment to support early career researchers from across the engineering and physical sciences domains. It is targeted specifically at key research strengths, focussing in particular on equipment supporting strategic priority areas of relevance to the Energy, Manufacturing the Future, Digital Economy and Healthcare Technology themes, and areas highlighted as 'grow' and 'maintain' in the EPSRC portfolio.

Across these priority areas we have identified three overarching requirements for small scale equipment - Measuring (characterisation and imaging), Modelling (mathematical and computational modelling) and Making (the fabrication and manufacture of devices and components). For example, we need imaging and analytical equipment to measure and to characterise, computational hardware (often small scale or purchase of cores on our central computing facilities) to perform modelling, and finally we need equipment to fabricate precursors, intermediates and devices.

Key areas that will benefit from the investments in small scale equipment include:

Characterisation
- Imaging
- Electrical characterisation
- Mechanical testing/ Biomechanical properties / Bio-Tribology
- Fluid Mechanics
- Time-resolved spectroscopy for shock physics

Manufacture and fabrication
- Nanoscale film deposition
- Chemical Synthesis
- Plastic Electronics
- Chemical Biology
- Synthetic Biology.

Modelling and computation across engineering and physical science domains.

The provision of training for ECRs on new equipment and facilities is an important element of this proposal, and this will be undertaken by experienced technical staff and research officers. In addition to ensuring that facilities are used appropriately, the availability of training will widen the pool of ECRs using the equipment.

Our preparation for this proposal has included a survey of early career researchers, which provided a detailed picture of the requirements for small equipment. If successful in this application, the next step will be a light-touch review of requests, followed by allocation and spend of funds within the specified timeline. The upgraded equipment made possible by this award will be made widely available to ECRs and other researchers through our College Facilities Directory.

There are two principal types of impact resulting the requested investment in small scale equipment.

Firstly, PhD students and postdoctoral researchers benefiting from experience of working on facilities at the frontiers of research will be more highly skilled and hence more attractive to potential employers. UK industries will acquire more highly skilled employees who will in turn provide access to leading edge technologies that companies would not otherwise have the wherewithal to use. We will also make use of our award-winning Graduate School programmes, including transferable skills training and cohort based activities, to support the PhD students covered by this proposal, further enhancing their impact on the wider economy.

Secondly, many of the research teams benefiting from the enhanced facilities are already engaging with end-users or they are working on collaborative grants with industrial partners. The impact will therefore occur through day-to-day interactions on these projects, with end-users benefiting from increased quality of outcomes resulting from the enhanced equipment base.

The naturally multidisciplinary nature of research within the College means that ECRs from different disciplines will be brought together when using shared equipment, helping to foster a collaborative approach to their research. The new equipment funded through this award will be added to our institutional Research Facilities Directory - an on line database available to all members of College, which will ensure maximum usage of equipment and reduce duplication.

Deliverables: our plan is to carry out the scoping of the equipment required and the identification of the ECRs before the start of the any award. If successful with the proposal, we anticipate that the coordination team (comprising the PI Professor Donal Bradley, the Co-Is, Professors Neil Alford and Steve Rose and the faculty research strategy managers) will handle the equipment justification review within the first month, prioritise a funding list and cascade to Departmental finance officers shortly thereafter. The intention will be to complete the whole process and to have commissioned all the equipment within the required timeframe. The training will take place immediately the equipment arrives and will continue at the College's expense after the end of the project funding.

Communications: the College provides several avenues for communications and engagement, from talks by ECRs at conferences to specific events for ECRs at Imperial. We run a series of ECR workshop events in order to integrate them into the research community. We also operate research kick-start schemes for ECRs to pump-prime new research projects and collaborations across departments and institutions, further increasing the impact of their research.

Exploitation: IP that may arise through experiments performed on the equipment will be dealt with through the usual channels at Imperial and if any intellectual property requires protection then Imperial innovations will handle the formal patenting activities.