The funding will be divided among 18 universities across the UK. It includes over £30million of capital funding for 31 sets of new equipment, from ultra-bright lasers, electron microscopes to advanced x-ray imaging.
More than £40 million will be invested in research projects spanning physical sciences, engineering and ICT.
One project is OR-Master. Mathematicians at the Universities of Lancaster and Stirling have been awarded £2.3million to develop advanced modelling techniques that could unlock additional capacity from our existing airports. Current capacity management systems do not capture the entire range of pressures of 'slot allocation'.
By working closely with airlines and airports, this operational research project has the potential to improve the efficiency of airports, reduce passenger delays, accommodate increasing demand for extra capacity, and deliver environmental and financial benefit.
Another project is SeeBiByte. Computer scientists at the University of Oxford aim to use the £4.5million grant to develop the next generation of computer vision methods able to analyse, describe and search image and video content with human-like capabilities and beyond. While our ability to generate and store large volumes of visual data (images and videos) is very good, our ability to efficiently search and analyse this is not as advanced.
Image analytics - the extraction of useful information from vast amounts of image data - is at an early stage of development and could have applications in healthcare, surveillance, and the environmental monitoring of roads, as well as new means of enjoying digital media in the home. The research is partly supported by the RCUK Digital Economy Programme.
