The first group of fellows, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), will spend time carrying out research at one or more of the seven Centres of Excellence that collectively form the Technology Strategy Board’s High Value Manufacturing Catapult.

EPSRC’s chair, Paul Golby, said: “EPSRC and TSB are working together to forge better links between the research base and industry. These fellowships will allow academics to immerse themselves in an industry-focused environment where they can increase their understanding and knowledge of the timescales, constraints and priorities required to bring research from the lab to the market.”

 An initial £1 million grant has been awarded to the University of Sheffield to coordinate the scheme through the university’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC). The fellowships will enable academic staff to spend 6-month research visits in one or more of the HVM Catapult centres, these can be spread flexibly between 1-4 years. The projects must be aligned to work previously funded by EPSRC.

Dick Elsy, chief executive of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, said: “We have some of the best technology research in the world, here in the UK, and the job of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult is to help to bring that to commercial fruition. This Fellowship programme extends the links of the HVM Catapult with a much greater pool of research capability to deliver more of this technology to market. This is absolutely the right thing to be doing to support innovation in the UK”

Professor Richard Jones, pro-vice-chancellor for Research and Innovation at the University of Sheffield, said: “The University of Sheffield AMRC with Boeing is a world-class centre for advanced machining and materials research for aerospace and other high value manufacturing sectors. We’re delighted to be working with EPSRC and the High Value Manufacturing Catapult to shorten the time taken for great new British academic research to be translated into new products and processes.”