Southampton and the wider region are set to benefit from major investment in the University announced in the Chancellor’s Budget last week.
The Chancellor, George Osborne, announced a commitment to fund a Southampton centre as part of the £138M UK Collaboration for Research in Infrastructure & Cities network subject to a satisfactory business case and the provision of co-funding. The government hopes that the UKCRIC will be a world-class national infrastructure research capability network with a central hub in London’s Olympic Park and further centres in Birmingham, Newcastle and Sheffield.
Southampton’s funding will go towards its £36M National Infrastructure Laboratory to be constructed at the Boldrewood Innovation Campus. The Laboratory will house state-of-the art equipment for developing new understandings of the behaviour of large structures and structural components, with an emphasis on the infrastructure, rail and maritime sectors.
Rail transport will be a major focus, to meet challenges such as adaptation to the effects of climate change and more intensive use, smart maintenance and upgrade of existing infrastructure, and the cost-effective design and construction of new infrastructure.
Professor William Powrie, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and the Environment, said “This significant funding for the University of Southampton is most welcome. It will enable us to complete the development of our Boldrewood Innovation Campus, and highlights the importance of our research in improving the environmental performance, resilience and cost-effectiveness of rail infrastructure in the UK and around the world. It will also enable us to educate more of the imaginative, high-quality engineers that the country so deserately needs.”