OXFORDSHIRE has taken the lion's share of £400m Government investment in the science of the future.

The Harwell campus will get £156.5m to build large world-beating research projects to underpin Britain's high-tech discoveries.

The largest grant of £92.5m goes to build ten new beamlines at the Diamond project, a 'supermicroscope' which allows scientists to examine the molecules which contribute to diseases like diabetes, cancer and Aids, and pave the way for the intelligent design of more effective drug, as well looking at new materials for the 21st century.

The announcement comes a week after the Science and Technology Funding Council set its budget to 2011, amidst complaints that the high running cost of Diamond is draining funds from other science.

Jodrell Bank telescope, one of the astronomy centres under threat, announced that it had won a reprieve, but Prof Susan Cooper, of Oxford University, said particle physics research staff faced losing their jobs after the withdrawal of grants which had been promised.

Another loser was Daresbury laboratory in Cheshire, which is closing its synchrotron facility as researchers migrate to Diamond.

However, this week's announcement attempts to damp North-South rivallry by naming both Daresbury and Harwell as joint home of a new £30m detector systems centre, to research, design and produce sensors for medical imaging and security systems; The other Oxfordshire projects receiving new funds are: £25m to complete Isis, the UK's world leading neutron source at Harwell, which is used for research into energy, health and bioscience; and £24m for a new imaging solutions centre at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, using the expertise of Isis and Diamond.

RAL spokesperson Natalie Bealing said the detector and imaging centres would both require new buildings. "A modest increase in staff is a likely outcome longer term," she said.

Ian Pearson, Science and Innovation Minister, said: "Investment in the development of cutting-edge research facilities will help retain existing talent and attract some of the world's best scientists to the UK.

"Once completed, the facilities given the go-ahead today will rival those of our main international competitors such as the United States and Japan."

In addition to the projects announced this week, a further six projects have been identified for future funding. These include a new Institute of Materials Design, to research and develop new materials using innovative techniques.

Harwell is a major contender to host this centre, looking at energy for the future, such as fuel cells, batteries and solar energy.

11:22am Thursday 17th July 2008

Print

Email this