The University of Surrey is now top at EPSRC for the number of New Investigator Awards with 8 awards and an overall value of £2,084,130. Some of the highlights of these awards are:
- Dr Ioana Boureanu, Lecturer in the Department of Computer Science and Surrey Centre for Cyber Security, was awarded £300,000 for the Automatic Verification of Complex Privacy Requirements in Unbounded-Size Secure Systems (AutoPaSS) proje
- Dr Thomas Bond, Lecturer from Surrey’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, was granted over £260,000 to develop his research that will better predict the location of plastic litter in the environment.
- Dr Tan Sui, Lecturer in Materials Engineering from the Department of Mechanical Engineering Sciences, was given just over £250,000 to investigate the next generation of dental materials that could be key to improving oral restorative surgeries.
- Dr Marco Sacchi, Royal Society University Research Fellow, was awarded £230,000 to develop a computational research project that will reduce the cost and increase the efficiency of materials for carbon capture.
Professor David Sampson, Vice-Provost, Research and Innovation, said: “These fantastic projects show that the University of Surrey is generating a wealth of bold, novel and innovative research ideas that have the potential to change everyday lives and the health of the planet. I want to congratulate our up-and-coming academics on their first steps into leading a research project. As a University, we are committed to supporting them and we wish them every success in these first steps towards an independent research career.”
The University has a clear commitment to our ECR community which is highlighted in Professor Sampson’s new Research and Innovation Strategy where support for ECRs is a strategic goal. The strategy states that we will grow our early-career researcher community, as well as support and enrich their experience and preparation for future careers through the Doctoral College. This goal is at the heart of everything the Doctoral College does and even before the launch of the strategy some of the ECRs who went on to gain New Investigator Awards had already been allocated Research England Strategic Priorities Funding to kick start their projects.
The support offered to ECRs is not just financial – our Researcher Development Programme in the Doctoral College is open to ECRs as well as PGRs and provide a suite of tailored training sessions as well as mentoring, one-to-one support, and careers development. The Doctoral College also facilitates an ECR Forum where researchers can give feedback directly to the University.
The University of Surrey is also a proud participant in the HR Excellence in Research initiative and has held this prestigious badge since January 2012. HR Excellence in Research recognises our commitment to the Principles of the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers and the European Charter and Code for Researchers.
We are committed to supporting ECRs with the transition stages of their career, whether that is to another fixed-term contract, a new role at Surrey or in a different Higher Education Institution, or to move to other sectors of employment outside of academia. Read more about the University’s ongoing commitment to the initiative.
