Experimental equipment at UCL

This is a UCL-wide bid to invest in a range of equipment items to refresh and upgrade our experimental facilities which will help to maintain a cutting-edge in internationally leading research. Each of the bundles included in this proposal contributes to one or more strategic themes, in which UCL, as well as national and international funders, has invested significantly in recent years: Health technologies, Advanced functional materials, Sustainable built environment and Novel information and communication technologies. UCL has considerable strengths in these areas, and we have experienced significant growth in terms of staff and student numbers, and breadth and impact of research activity. This additional investment will therefore provide an ideal platform to ensure the sustained growth of the highest quality research, as well as supporting the early career researchers.

Each bundle identifies a set of items that underpin a range of research activities, often reaching across department and discipline boundaries, which are of strategic importance for UCL and EPSRC. The specific items identified within the bundles have been selected in close collaboration with senior management and individuals and groups working in the area, to ensure that they are aligned with their current needs and have the greatest potential to support maximum impact of their research activities. Each bundle has been allocated a Lead Investigator who will be responsible for regular reporting to the Vice-Provost for Research on progress against objectives.

The four EPSRC challenge themes addressed by this proposal are: Health technologies [bundles 1, 2, 3, 6]; Advanced functional materials [bundles 1, 3, 4, 5, 6]; Sustainable built environments [bundle 7]; and Novel information and communication technologies [bundles 5, 8].

This proposal aims at acquiring eight bundles of capital equipment items, to upgrade and complement existing experimental resources and facilities within UCL labs, across the Engineering and Physical Sciences Domain. Broadly speaking, we can divide the impact of this proposal into two types: a "direct" impact (on researchers and students, both at UCL and beyond, and on their research) and an "indirect" impact that will be determined by the research enabled by the equipment.

Impact of the first type will be visible on a shorter time-scale, and can be easily measured in terms of improved research capability and performance. In identifying the items requested in this proposal, priority has been given to items supporting areas of high strategic importance for both EPSRC and UCL, in which there is a high level of internationally leading research activity and where UCL hosts a critical mass of researchers at all stages of their career. The benefits will be visible in terms of: training and skills upgrade (PhD students/junior postdocs); supporting the development of independent research careers (senior postdocs/lecturers); and enhanced capability for world-leading, transformative research programmes (established career).

Access to state-of-the-art equipment is also extremely valuable for industry and users, and is often one of the drivers for new collaborations. At UCL we have significant experience in sharing equipment resources with collaborators from both academia and industry, and the bundles included in the proposals will benefit from the presence of all the necessary mechanisms and structures. By upgrading our experimental facilities, therefore, this proposal will enable our research activity to have an impact on UK R&D activity beyond the academic environment.

Impact of the second type will be harder to measure, since it will be both longer term and mediated by the research process itself. Given the timeliness and importance of the challenges we address in the proposal, though, we are confident that there will be a significant benefit to the UK society and economy including (but not limited to) the following:

Developments in health technology [1,2,3,6] have the potential to benefit the UK society and economy (and are in line with the priorities outlined in the EPSRC Healthcare Technologies theme, as well as with the RCUK Lifelong Health and Wellbeing Programme);

Research in advanced functional materials [1,3,4,5,6] has the potential to impact on a variety of sectors, including healthcare (e.g. drug development), energy (e.g. batteries and fuel cells), and ICT (e.g. new devices);

Investigation of novel information and communication technologies [5,8] is crucial to support modern-day society, which relies more and more on high-speed communication and information processing;

Advances in the built environments [7] are crucial in developing a sustainable future, where we are able to balance the requirements of a modern society with the constraints imposed by energy and resource limitations.