Cardiff unlocks £13m for innovative research

Cardiff University has been awarded nearly £13m (€15.8m) to develop research that benefits science and society.

The University has secured funding for 26 projects under the European Commission's Horizon 2020 programme in the first year of its operation. 

The money will help Cardiff develop a range of new technologies and innovations, and support young scientific researchers whose work shows 'great promise.'

The new projects include four awards from the highly prestigious European Research Council (ERC) 'Consolidator Grants' scheme. This marks the first time any Welsh university has received four such grants in one round.

The School of Physics and Astronomy was the University's most successful bidder, securing three of the four ERC Consolidator awards to fund work by young researchers into gravitational waves, cosmic dust and nanodiamonds. Dr Haley Gomez will receive over £1.4m to probe the evolution of dust throughout cosmic time. Dr Oliver Williams, reader in experimental physics, will receive nearly £2.2m to lead research into the superconductivity of diamond films and superconducting quantum devices. And Dr Mark Hannam will receive nearly £1.6m for his team's work on mapping gravitational waves from collisions of black holes. The fourth ERC Consolidator award of £1.5m was won by Professor Chris Chambers in the School of Psychology to research cognitive control training.

Cardiff University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Colin Riordan, said:  "The 26 Cardiff projects are spread across the three pillars of the Horizon 2020 programme: Excellent Science, Industrial Leadership and Societal Challenges, and underpin our mission to tackle major global issues."

"A set of awards of this magnitude for Cardiff University is an outstanding example of impact in action. It not only confirms our reputation as a world leading institution, but underscores the ground-breaking work being done by young researchers to advance our understanding of science and society."

Welsh Government Finance Minister Jane Hutt said: "Horizon 2020 presents Wales with excellent opportunities to build research excellence and enhance Wales' reputation in the world for research and innovation. This complements over £300 million of EU Structural Funds which will also be invested to help build the capacity for research, and put Welsh businesses and universities in a stronger position to compete for Horizon 2020 funds over the coming years.

"Congratulations to Cardiff University for securing nearly £13m to take forward a range of innovative research projects that will bring real benefits to science and society. "

The search for more ground-breaking projects lead by internationally leading researchers is on with the ERC 'Advanced Grants' call, which will be closing in early June, together with over 50 other Horizon 2020 calls for proposals that are currently open.

Horizon 2020 started on 1 January 2014 and will run for seven years. With a budget of just under €80 billion, it is the largest ever research and innovation funding programme in the EU.