Swansea University recognises Europe Day

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Swansea University acknowledged Europe Day on 9 May and the projects at Swansea brought into being through European collaborations and funding.

The University continues its ambitious campus development programme having already invested £522m in the last several years on building the Bay campus. This was made possible through support from the European Investment Bank and the European Regional Development Fund.

The Engineering Quarter at the University’s new Bay Campus has benefitted from a significant buildings and equipment funding award of €49.4m from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through Welsh Government.  In addition, the University has attracted £60m of European Investment Bank (EIB) funds – the first EIB investment in Wales.

‌‌The ‌new £31million world-class Computational Foundry, to open later this year, is backed by £17m from the European Regional Development Fund and will drive research into computational and mathematical sciences and make Wales a global destination for computational scientists and industrial partners. 

EU Day

Researchers at Swansea University have been highly successful in securing funding for a diverse range of other European Funding programmes, including a number of structural fund projects of significant value to the University and local economy and community.  One of these projects is ASTUTE 2020, a £22.6m all-Wales scheme led by Swansea University, in partnership with Aberystwyth University, Cardiff University, University of South Wales and the University of Wales Trinity Saint David and part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government and the participating Higher Education Institutions.

ASTUTE 2020 is working together with the manufacturing industry across Wales to stimulate transformational & sustainable growth by facilitating and de-risking the development and adoption of advanced technologies, increasing competitiveness and future proofing, and enabling greater levels of business innovation in future manufacturing processes. The project has already been delivering in north and west Wales and the South Wales Valleys since 2015 and has recently benefited from additional EU funding to support businesses across east Wales, including Cardiff, Newport, the Vale of Glamorgan, Monmouthshire, Powys, Flintshire and Wrexham.  

Dr Gareth Stockman is Chief Executive Officer of Marine Power Systems Ltd (MPS), a wave power technology development company based in South Wales.  He said: “We are reaching some exciting milestones in the development of our technology, specifically the deployment of a quarter-scale prototype WaveSub. We are thrilled to be liaising with ASTUTE 2020 for advanced computational modelling of the float. 

With the prestigious skills and facilities available from ASTUTE 2020 at the new Swansea University Bay Campus, as well as its philosophy of innovation and advancement, we have full assurance that the research being produced by ASTUTE 2020 will confirm that our design for a power take off float is fully fit for purpose.”

Other major programmes at Swansea University which have benefited from EU funding include:

  • The BUCANIER (Building Clusters and Networks in Innovation Enterprise and Research) project is a new scheme, backed by €2.9m of EU funds through the Ireland Wales programme to help around 120 small businesses in Wales and Ireland in the food and drink, life sciences and renewable energy sectors. 
  • The CALIN project: a €11.96M EU-funded Ireland-Wales life science network, led by Swansea University’s Medical School.
  • The SPECIFIC Innovation and Knowledge Centre which is funded by the EPSRC, Innovate UK (formerly Technology Strategy Board) and has been part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government, home to SPECIFIC (Sustainable Product Engineering Centre for Innovation in Functional Coatings) an academic and industrial consortium led by Swansea University with BASF, NSG Pilkington, Tata Steel and Cardiff University as strategic partners.
  • The ION Leadership project led by Swansea University in partnership with Bangor University is backed with £2.7m from the European Social Fund and aims to help business owners and managers gain new leadership and management skills and drive forward productivity and turnover in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), as well as in larger organisations.
  • Swansea University’s Materials and Manufacturing Academy is a £14m EU-backed project that will develop the next generation of leaders within Wales’ engineering sector and provide training in specialist technical and management skills key to the advanced engineering and materials sector.
  • Swansea University-led AMBER is a €6.2 million multi-disciplinary collaborative research project that will deliver the first comprehensive Atlas of river barriers across Europe and will apply adaptive barrier management to reconnect Europe’s rivers.

ION Leadership

 

Ceri Jones, Director of Research, Engagement and Innovation Services said: “As we celebrate Europe Day, it is important to recognise the value that EU investment and ongoing EU partnerships bring to Swansea University and our region as a whole. 

International collaboration is at the heart of developing the best research and innovation teams to tackle the most pressing global challenges and Swansea University is committed to continuing to work closely with our European colleagues in to the future.”

 

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