EPSRC fund awards first grants
The University of Manchester is one of the first to benefit from the £2m Collaboration Fund
The UK's University of Manchester is one of the first recipients of funds from a new scheme to develop commercial returns from early-stage scientific research.
The Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) has created a £2m Collaboration Fund in the UK to help university-based projects develop partnerships with private companies. In order to harness expertise in early stage investment, EPSRC has contracted fund management company Finance South East (FSE) to run the two-year pilot.
At the University of Manchester, Professor Wuqiang Yang in collaboration with GEA Pharma Systems has been awarded £100,000 to develop an online system for measuring the moisture in fluidised beds used in the manufacturing of pharmaceutical products. AstraZeneca has already expressed an interest in collaborating on the next stage of development with a view to becoming the first adopter of the technology.
‘This initiative extends our support to projects where close engagement with a commercial partner will significantly enhance the prospects of take-up by industry,’ said EPSRC Head of Knowledge Transfer, Dr John Baird.
Sally Goodsell, ceo of Finance South East, added: ‘The UK is full of scientific innovation and entrepreneurial talent but too often ambitious projects fall by the wayside due to insufficient funding at crucial points in their development. At Finance South East we manage a range of funds to address this gap in early stage finance and we are delighted to have made this investment on behalf of EPSRC.’