HEFCE Circular 2/97
Joint Research Equipment Initiative: HEFCE and DENI awards
| To | Heads of HEFCE-funded Institutions Heads of DENI-funded Institutions |
| Of interest to those responsible for | Research Funding; Equipment; Finance |
| Reference | 2/97 |
| Response | No Response Required |
| Publication Date | January 1997 |
| Enquiries to | Jennifer Knox (0117 931 7450 E-mail j.knox@hefce.ac.uk) |
Executive Summary
1. This circular announces the HEFCE and DENI awards for the 1996 Joint Research Equipment Initiative (JREI).
Background
2. Institutions were invited in Circular Letter 9/96 to submit applications to the 1996 JREI, run jointly by HEFCE, SHEFC, DENI and OST/Research Councils.
3. The objectives of the initiative were:
- to enable high-quality research that is relevant to the Technology Foresight Programme (TFP) generic science and technology priorities to be conducted
- to promote partnerships between HEIs and external sponsors of research
- and to contribute generally to the physical research infrastructure in HEIs.
4. Funding was conditional upon the provision of matched funding by an external sponsor.
5. The initiative was run as two competitions:
- Competition A for equipment costing less than £250,000, funded by BBSRC, MRC, EPSRC and NERC.
- Competition B for equipment costing more than £250,000, funded by HEFCE, SHEFC and DENI. (HEFCW made similar provisions through their Technology Foresight Initiative announced in December 1995.)
6. Both competitions were overseen by a joint steering group of the funding bodies and OST whose membership is at Annex A.
7. The guidelines for the JREI set out that, at the discretion of the steering group, applications might be moved between the two competitions so that the best mix of equipment could be funded.
Assessment
8. Applications submitted to both competitions were peer reviewed by the relevant Research Council. Applications were assessed against the objectives of the initiative and judged on their value for money, including the level of matching funding achieved.
Awards
9. The Council originally set aside £11.5 million for the JREI. However, additional funding for the initiative was provided by the DfEE, which has enabled the Council to award a total of £17.18 million. HEFCE and DENI awards are at Annex B.
10. JREI awards from other funding bodies are announced separately by the Research Councils and SHEFC.
Conditions of Grant
11. Detailed conditions of grant and methods of payment have been provided to heads of institutions and successful applicants in individual letters of award. Copies of the conditions can be obtained from Jennifer Knox on 0117 931 7450.
Audit and Evaluation
12. The Council may audit a sample of bids to test that the equipment, as described in the bid, has been purchased and that value for money has been obtained from the funds provided.
13. The Council, with OST and the other funding bodies involved, will evaluate the success of the initiative in the year 2000 to assess the achievements against the objectives of the scheme, including the contribution to research in TFP priority areas.
Further Information
14. Any enquiries should be addressed to Jennifer Knox (0117 931 7450).
Annex A
Membership of the JREI Steering Group
OST Sir John Cadogan
Mr Tony Quigley
Dr Philippa Lloyd (Secretary to Steering Group)
BBSRC Professor Ray Baker
EPSRC Professor Richard Brook
MRC Professor George Radda
NERC Professor John Krebs
PPARC Professor Kenneth Pounds
HEFCE Professor Brian Fender
Ms Alice Frost
Ms Jennifer Knox
DENI Mr Alastair Bradley
SHEFC Professor John Sizer
HEFCW Mr Rowland Wynne
Annex B
Joint Research Equipment Initiative: HEFCE and DENI awards
£ £
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University of Birmingham 868,777
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Centre for nanoscale sensors and devices 399,137
(Physics & Space Research)
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Fundamentals of solid state NMR spectroscopy 175,000
and its applications to probe structure and
dynamics of solids (Chemistry)
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Research and development for a boron cancer 294,640
therapy clinical facility (Institute for Cancer
Studies)
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University of Bradford 284,855
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Computer animation of complex environments for 175,580
exploiting high-resolution, large screen
displays (Electronic & Electrical Engineering)
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Gas-assisted injection moulding: enhanced 109,275
processing of polymeric components (Mechanical
& Manufacturing Engineering)
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University of Bristol 918,435
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Enhancement of a laboratory for research in 133,213
dynamic behaviour of materials (Civil
Engineering)
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Integrated communications and computing 247,776
research (Electrical & Electronic Engineering)
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Media computing laboratory (Computer Science) 150,400
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Superconductors in quantizing magnetic fields 387,046
(Physics)
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University of Cambridge 1,096,261
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Low temperature electron cyclotron resonance 286,300
assisted chemical vapour deposition of
amorphous silicon and diamond-like carbon
materials (Engineering)
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Networked manufacturing facility (Engineering) 123,839
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Parallel processing computational fluid 140,232
dynamics visualisation system (Engineering)
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The origin of structure in our universe 545,890
(Applied Maths & Theoretical Physics)
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Cranfield University 619,475
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High pressure multistage compressor flows 150,520
(Mechanical Engineering)
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Pipeline welding equipment (Welding Engineering 211,630
Group)
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Proposal for the supply of Tetraform 'C' to 257,325
support research in novel ultra precision
machining processes (Industrial & Manufacturing
Science)
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University of Durham 488,942
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Chemistry using high-field NMR (Chemistry) 250,000
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Equipment with industrial funding for 238,942
telecommunications research (Engineering)
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University of Greenwich 124,640
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Computational modelling of engineering 124,640
processes on high performance computers: tools,
techniques, applications (CNMPA)
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University of Hull 190,161
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NMR applications in materials and biological 190,161
chemistry and biochemistry (Chemistry)
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Imperial College of Science, Technology & 3,353,602
Medicine
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A high performance parallel server for 1,650,000
multi-disciplinary activities at Imperial
College (Computing)
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An imaging system for biology (Biology) 175,000
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High-speed DNA sequencing using chip 299,902
micromachining technology (Chemistry)
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Research on the effects of aerosol 178,700
characteristics on health (Environmental
Technology)
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Structure of biological macromolecules by 1,050,000
high-resolution electron microscopy at liquid
helium temperature (Biochemistry)
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University of Kent at Canterbury 842,002
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TOSCA - A world class spectrometer for 842,002
materials science and chemistry (Physics)
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King's College London 150,000
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Development of excited state computation 150,000
methods with applications to organic
photochemistry (Chemistry)
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University of Leeds 351,486
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The modelling and simulation of the fibre to 351,486
yarn production process for predicting yarn
properties in CIM (Textile Industries)
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University of Liverpool 279,583
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Photonic microscopy imaging centre for 179,583
biological research (Biological Sciences)
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Upgrade to the high performance computing 100,000
facility for research (Computing Services)
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Loughborough University 221,018
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Computing equipment for unsteady CFD research 221,018
(Aeronautical & Automotive Engineering)
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University of Manchester 440,634
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Accurate modelling of chemical catalysis 340,000
(Chemistry)
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Transmission electron microscopy of 100,634
nucleo-cytoplasmic communication (Oncology)
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Manchester Metropolitan University 63,720
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Interfacing of capillary electrochromatography 63,720
to mass spectrometry applications (Biological
Sciences)
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University of Newcastle upon Tyne 626,564
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A Goldrush megaserver for research into 500,000
non-numeric parallel computing (Computing
Science)
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High resolution mass spectrometer for chemistry 126,564
analytical services unit (Chemistry)
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University of Nottingham 267,000
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Environmental field emission gun scanning 267,000
electron microscope for biomedical and surgical
materials research (Materials Engineering &
Design)
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University of Oxford 1,223,694
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A new, state-of-the-art solid state NMR 720,000
laboratory for the study of ligands with
membrane receptors and transporters
(Biochemistry)
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Modelling and simulation of the properties and 363,000
processing of materials (Materials)
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Provision of in-house data collection facility 140,694
for very large unit cell protein and virus
crystals (New Chemistry Laboratory)
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Queen Mary & Westfield College 122,000
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Real time confocal laser scanning microscope 122,000
(Biomedical Mathematics)
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The Queen's University of Belfast 200,000
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Joint QUB/TCD high performance computing 200,000
facility (Mathematics & Physics)
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University of Reading 374,737
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High-end visualisation upgrade to the Reading 374,737
HPCC (Computer Science)
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South Bank University 204,804
X-ray machine and raman microscope (EEIE) 204,804
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University of Surrey 118,396
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Acquisition of a mini-supercomputer for 118,396
advanced simulations in process engineering
(Chemical & Process Engineering)
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University of Sussex 398,925
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High power pulsed/CW CO/CO2 laser research 276,125
facility (Engineering)
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Peptide analysis of single neurons by Maldi-Tof 122,800
mass spectroscopy (Sussex Centre for
Neuroscience)
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University of Teesside 362,322
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VR infrastructure for health, concurrent design 362,322
development in construction and process
industries research (Computing & Mathematics)
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University College London £1,117,477
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Application to upgrade two nuclear magnetic 385,000
resonance research systems used for medical
research (Medical Physics & Bioengineering)
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Surface inspection and repair (SIR) equipment 112,270
(Mechanical Engineering)
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The lighting simulator (The Bartlett) 222,090
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The use of the infinite reality engine in per 281,416
operative monitoring (Medical Physics)
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Computational resource for bio-informatics and 116,701
structural biology (Biochemistry)
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University of Warwick £1,828,908
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2K thermoset moulding machine (Warwick 220,000
Manufacturing Group)
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An enhanced multipurpose VSM measurement system 105,057
(Physics)
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Blow moulding equipment for automotive and 200,000
other applications (Warwick Manufacturing
Group)
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High angle bank for MAPS (Physics) 263,200
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High field solid state NMR (Physics) 610,651
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Sand laser sintering equipment for rapid 180,000
product development of castings and engines
(Warwick Manufacturing Group)
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Triple layer injection moulding equipment for 250,000
automotive and other applications (Warwick
Manufacturing Group)
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University of York £247,577
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An environmentally controlled plant growth 122,659
facility (Biology)
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Equipment for purification and characterisation 124,918
of plant proteins (Biology)
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