Henry Royce Institute

The Henry Royce Institute (often referred to as ‘Royce’) is the UK’s national institute for advanced materials research and innovation.[1][2][3] Its vision is to identify challenges and to stimulate innovation in advanced materials research to support sustainable growth and development.[4] Royce aims to be a "single front door" to the UK’s materials research community.[5] Its stated mission is to “support world-recognised excellence in UK materials research, accelerating commercial exploitation of innovations, and delivering positive economic and societal impact for the UK.”[4]

Royce
The Sir Henry Royce Institute for Advanced Materials Research and Innovation
Named afterSir Frederick Henry Royce
Formation2015
Founded atUniversity of Manchester
PurposeResearch and Innovation
Membership
Imperial College London, National Nuclear Laboratory, UK Atomic Energy Authority, University of Cambridge, University of Leeds, University of Liverpool, University of Manchester, University of Oxford, University of Sheffield
Key people
Baroness Brown of Cambridge, Professor Dave Knowles, Professor Philip Withers
Parent organization
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
Websitewww.Royce.ac.uk
The Royce Hub Building
The building under construction in 2019
General information
Coordinates53°28′6.42″N 2°13′54.80″W
Construction started2017
Estimated completion2020
Cost£105 million
Height46 metres (151 ft)
Technical details
Floor area16,000 square metres (170,000 sq ft)

Operating with its Hub at the University of Manchester, Royce is a partnership of nine leading UK institutions.[6] It is a hub and spoke collaboration between the University of Manchester (the hub), National Nuclear Laboratory, UK Atomic Energy Authority, Imperial College London, University of Cambridge, University of Leeds, University of Liverpool, University of Oxford and the University of Sheffield.[6]

Aims

Royce aims to fulfil its mission by:

  • Enabling national materials research foresighting, collaboration and strategy
  • Providing access to the latest equipment facilities and capabilities
  • Catalysing industrial collaboration and exploitation of materials research
  • Fostering materials science skills development, innovation training, and outreach.[5]

History

In 2014, Chancellor George Osborne announced the launch of the Henry Royce Institute for advanced materials science in his Autumn Statement in 2014.[7] He pledged "a quarter of a billion" to support his proposals from June 2014 on creating a Northern Powerhouse.[8] Royce was then established through a grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC),[9] which has been used to fund construction and refurbishment of buildings, equipment, and research and technical staff. Royce now coordinates over 900 academics and over £300 million in facilities,[10] "providing a joined-up framework that can deliver beyond the current capabilities of individual partners or research teams.”[10]

Royce is one of the EPSRC's four major research institutes,[11] the other three being: The Alan Turing Institute in data science; the Faraday Institution in battery science and technology; and the Rosalind Franklin Institute, which focuses on transforming life science through interdisciplinary research and technology development.[11] These institutes represent a total financial investment of around £478 million and reflect the EPSRC’s vision and objectives ("to deliver economic impact and social prosperity; to realise the potential of engineering and physical sciences research; and to enable the UK engineering and physical sciences landscape to deliver"[12]).

Name

The Henry Royce Institute is named after Sir Frederick Henry Royce OBE, a British engineer famous for his designs of car and airplane engines. Henry Royce manufactured his first car in Manchester in 1904, and in 1906 co-founded Rolls-Royce.[13]

Research Strategy

Royce strategy currently focuses on research in five areas:[14]

  1. Low carbon power: new modes of energy generation, energy storage, and efficient energy use – from hydrogen to fusion power and energy-efficient devices
  2. Infrastructure and mobility: efficient housing, clean transport, and transforming foundation industries for clean manufacturing
  3. Digital and Communications: low-loss digital processes quantum technologies for computing, sensors, and data storage
  4. Circular economy: rethinking the way we use plastic and engage with waste streams, developing truly degradable materials
  5. Health and wellbeing: reducing carbon emissions and enabling clean water production, delivering personalised medicine, and supporting the ageing population.

In September 2020, Royce published five technology roadmaps to "set out how materials science can be harnessed to deliver net-zero targets".[15] These roadmaps were the product of a collaboration with the Institute of Physics and the Institute for Manufacturing, convening the UK's academic and industrial materials research communities to explore how novel materials and processes can contribute to more sustainable, affordable, and reliable energy production.[16][17] The roadmaps cover photovoltaics, hydrogen, thermoelectrics, calorics, and low-loss electronics.

Structure

Royce operates as a hub-and-spoke model, with the hub at the University of Manchester and spokes at the other founding Partners, comprising the universities of Sheffield, Leeds, Liverpool, Cambridge, Oxford and Imperial College London, as well as UKAEA and NNL.[3][6] The hub and spokes collaborate on research in the following areas:[6]

Location

The Henry Royce Institute’s location in Manchester is in line with the Northern Powerhouse policy,[7][8] and the UK government’s aim to support centres of excellence outside of the "Golden Triangle" of research institutions in London, Cambridge and Oxford.

Outreach

Alongside funding research and facilities, Royce has funded outreach and skills programmes aimed at encouraging children and young people to consider careers in Materials Science and Engineering.[18] Working with the Discover Materials group, they facilitated a virtual open week in July/August 2020 aimed at 16-18 year olds considering university degrees.[19] Royce also has a regular stand at the annual Bluedot festival, engaging children and their families in interactive materials science challenges.[20]

Buildings

New buildings funded or part-funded by the Royce grant include:

Royce Hub Building, Manchester:

The newly-constructed £105m Royce Hub Building draws together research facilities and meeting spaces to drive collaboration and industry engagement.[21] Research undertaken here encompasses biomedical, metals processing, digital fabrication, and sustainable materials themes.

The nine-storey Hub building in the heart of the University of Manchester campus is 46 metres (151 ft) high, making it the second-tallest current building on the campus after the Maths and Social Sciences Building. It has 16,000 square metres (170,000 sq ft) of space. It is located next to the Alan Turing Building, and is close to the National Graphene Institute, the School of Physics and Astronomy, the School of Chemistry, and the Manchester Engineering Campus Development.[22]

The building was due to open in Autumn 2020,[23] but the ceremony was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Planning permission was granted in February 2017 and construction started in December 2017.[24][23] It was originally going to be constructed on the site of the BBC's New Broadcasting House, but the site was changed to the main campus of the university.[24]

Sir Michael Uren Hub, Imperial:

Royce funding was invested in Imperial’s new Sir Michael Uren Hub building, on which Royce occupies the eighth floor.[25] Final works are still ongoing on some floors of the building,[26] which has not yet been officially opened. Royce facilities here focus on the production and characterisation of thin films and devices composed of a broad spectrum of materials.[25]

Bragg Centre for Materials Research, Leeds:

Housed within the new Sir William Henry Bragg Building, the Bragg Centre for Materials Research will become operational in 2021,[27] with a formal opening following in 2022. Royce equipment at the Bragg Centre focusses on enabling the discovery, creation, characterisation, and exploitation of materials engineered at the atomic level.[28]

Royce Discovery Centre, Sheffield:

Located in the new Harry Brearley Building in the centre of Sheffield, construction on the Royce Discovery Centre finished in 2020[29] and it is expected that the building will be fully operational by 2021. Housing equipment worth over £20m, the building features specialist laboratories, workshops and office spaces focussed on early-stage materials discovery and processing.[30]

Materials Innovation Factory, Liverpool:

Royce invested £10.9m in Liverpool’s new Materials Innovation Factory – an £81m facility dedicated to the research and development of advanced materials.[31] Officially opened in 2018, the site includes a Royce Open Access Area which houses one of the highest concentrations of materials science robotics in the world, and also a suite of advanced analytical equipment.[32]

Royce Translational Centre, Sheffield:

Part of the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Park, the Royce Translational Centre officially opened in October 2018 Its purpose is to evolve novel materials and processing techniques developed by research teams, making them accessible for trial by industry collaborators.[33]

Maxwell Centre, Cambridge:

The Royce labs within Cambridge’s contemporary Maxwell Centre were officially opened in October 2018. Spread over four floors, the Royce facilities focus on materials for zero-carbon and future energy applications, and provide office space for over 250 people, laboratories, meeting rooms and communal spaces. Royce’s £10m investment in facilities at the Maxwell Centre address energy generation, energy storage, and efficient energy use, with equipment for fabrication of new battery structures, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray tomography, and electrochemical characterisation.[34]

Collaborations

Royce partners have been instrumental in winning grants from the Faraday Institution to develop new energy storage technologies.[35][36][37] Royce has also collaborated with the Alan Turing Institute on some data-centric engineering challenges,[38] and the Franklin Institute on procuring characterisation capabilities.

Leadership

The Royce leadership team comprises:[39]

Connection to UK Government Policy

Advanced materials innovation is a key focus area for the UK for several reasons. UK businesses that depend on the production/processing of materials represent 15% of UK GDP, have a turnover of approximately £200bn, exports of £50bn and employ over 2.6 million people. Research in advanced materials is an area of national strength as one of the "Eight Great" technologies, and is a major contributor to most of the other seven, with over 150,000 published patent applications between 2004–2013.[40] Of the UK’s sector strategies, advanced materials is the critical component to ensure the full economic benefit for the energy sector, transportation, construction, a growing digital economy, life sciences, and agriculture technology.

References
  1. "Home". Henry Royce Institute. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  2. "First look at new £105 million Henry Royce Institute Hub Building - EPSRC website". epsrc.ukri.org. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  3. "Henry Royce Institute - EPSRC website". epsrc.ukri.org. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  4. "Our Strategy". Henry Royce Institute. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  5. "About". Henry Royce Institute. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  6. "Partners". Henry Royce Institute. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  7. "Chancellor George Osborne's Autumn Statement 2014 speech". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  8. "Chancellor: 'We need a Northern powerhouse'". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  9. "Henry Royce Institute - EPSRC website". epsrc.ukri.org. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  10. "Royce at Imperial". Imperial College London. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  11. "1. Foreword - EPSRC website". epsrc.ukri.org. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  12. "2. Vision and objectives - EPSRC website". epsrc.ukri.org. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  13. "Sir Henry Royce, Baronet | British automobile manufacturer". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  14. "Our Strategy". Henry Royce Institute. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  15. Belfield, Mia (2020-09-30). "Royce launches technology roadmaps to help deliver net-zero targets". Henry Royce Institute. Retrieved 2020-10-08.
  16. Lewis, David. "New materials will help UK achieve net-zero, say researchers". www.leeds.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-10-08.
  17. "How materials science can be harnessed to reach net-zero CO2 emissions targets | Imperial News | Imperial College London". Imperial News. Retrieved 2020-10-08.
  18. "Outreach - Discover Materials". Henry Royce Institute. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  19. Belfield, Mia (2020-09-04). "Marty Jopson proves smash hit at Discover Materials Open Week". Henry Royce Institute. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  20. Belfield, Mia (2019-07-31). "Royce goes intergalactic at Bluedot 2019". Henry Royce Institute. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  21. Shipton, Luke (2020-09-08). "First look inside new £105m Henry Royce Institute Hub Building". Henry Royce Institute. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  22. "First picture of University's Henry Royce Institute building". University of Manchester. 12 December 2016.
  23. "Construction begins on UK centre for advanced materials research and commercialisation in Manchester".
  24. Williams, Jennifer (11 February 2017). "This is how the new £235m national science institute at Manchester university will look". men.
  25. "Royce at Imperial Facilities | Research groups | Imperial College London". www.imperial.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  26. Wilson, Rob (2020-08-03). "Allies and Morrison completes 13-storey research hub for Imperial College at White City". The Architects’ Journal. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  27. "Sir William Henry Bragg Building". Estates and Facilities. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  28. Wilkinson, Peter. "The Henry Royce Institute". www.leeds.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  29. https://www.royce.ac.uk/news/sheffield-discovery-centre-reaches-key-milestone/
  30. "Our facilities | Henry Royce Institute | The University of Sheffield". www.sheffield.ac.uk. 2020-03-24. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  31. "Materials Innovation Factory - University of Liverpool". www.liverpool.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  32. "Materials Innovation Factory (MIF) Archives". Henry Royce Institute. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  33. https://www.royce.ac.uk/equipment-and-facilities/facilities/royce-translational-centre/
  34. Batey, Andy (2019-11-18). "Henry Royce Institute". www.maxwell.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  35. "Sodium Ion Batteries – The Faraday Institution". Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  36. "Better Solid-state Batteries - Faraday Institution SOLBAT project". www.materials.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  37. "Henry Royce Institute equipment facilitating Faraday Institute research projects | Henry Royce Institute | The University of Sheffield". www.sheffield.ac.uk. 2020-03-11. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  38. "Digital fingerprinting of materials microstructure". The Alan Turing Institute. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  39. "People". Henry Royce Institute. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  40. "Eight great technologies". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
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