‘Small but outstanding’ English research units get £156 million

More than a dozen small and mid-sized English universities have been awarded £156 million to expand research activity in areas of excellence.

As part of Research England’s Expanding Excellence in England (E3) scheme, a total of 18 higher education institutions will receive grants of between £1.6 million and £14.1 million to support what the funding body called “small but outstanding research units”.

Announcing the five-year awards on 16 January, Steven Hill, Research England’s director of research, said the investment would “diversify the regional spread of research disciplines to support the sustained enhancement of research capacity across England and enhance the skills base, build and diversify talent and bring disciplines together to develop new skillsets and ‘future leaders’ in areas of research excellence where there is untapped potential”.

“Our investment will also help to reinforce the contribution of higher education providers to their region through strategic local partnerships, focusing on sharing resources and infrastructure and generating local impact, backed by robust institutional leadership,” added Dr Hill.

Among those to receive more than £10 million in the second round of E3 funding, which is designed to help small and excellent research units to scale up, develop new generations of talent and build world-class places by placing a greater focus on the regional context, is the University of Leicester, which receives £14.1 million for its Leicester Lifestyle and Health Research Group, focused on helping multi-ethnic populations with or at risk of long-term health conditions.

Lancaster University has also won £12.8 million for its Mathematics for AI in Real-World Systems (Mars) project, a translational research scheme using artificial intelligence technology.

Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) wins £11.3 million for its Centre for Equalities in Uniformed Public Service, which will look into professional cultures within public sector employers, while the University of Lincoln picks up £10.9 million for its Lincoln Institute for Rural and Coastal Health and the University of Hertfordshire, working in collaboration with Cranfield, Manchester and Leeds universities, wins £13.5 million for the Future Biodetection Technologies Hub, which develops novel techniques for sensing and characterising particles and pathogens.

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com