NEWS12 August 2020
Businesses on the Park could benefit from the £370k funding from the Research England Development to SEPnet (South East Physics Network) to launch collaborative PhD opportunities with Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The University of Surrey will lead the project over the next three years and is keen to collaborate with any relevant businesses on Surrey Research Park.
For more information or to discuss potential collaborative ideas please contact Veronica Benson at the University of Surrey: v.benson@surrey.ac.uk
The funding will enable a total of 12 PhD studentships to be recruited by SEPnet partner universities over the next three and a half years. Leading the project, Surrey is one of nine universities within SEPnet, a consortium which promotes training and employment opportunities in physics across the South East.
Funding a PhD to work collaboratively with a university can be a highly effective way for companies to conduct research, but the cost of this can be prohibitive for small knowledge-based companies (SMEs). By building collaborative networks with SMEs, SEPnet aims to create a critical mass of research to support both regional activity and national science priorities.
The studentships follow the success of SEPnet’s existing PhD SME Consortium in Radiation Detectors, RADnet. The newly funded studentships will build on the RADnet model to explore projects across physics and engineering, including condensed matter, numerical modelling, simulation and gaming, data science, quantum technologies, medical imagine, photonic materials and sensors.
Under the scheme, SMEs will be able to share the cost of PhD studentships with university partners and benefit from the government funding. They will work with academics to shape projects and have regular contact with academics and the PhD student throughout the programme to ensure the research remains relevant to their business needs.
Professor Paul Smith, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences at Surrey, said: ‘It’s great to see that SEPnet has attracted support from industry partners, government and the participating universities for this scheme.
“Past experience has shown us that when research teams work closely with partners in this way, there are real benefits in terms of generating the high-quality research that you would expect from doctoral study, but with a much-reduced timeline for impact.”
The project is scheduled to start during summer 2020, with the first PhD students due to be recruited in 2021.