The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) has announced that the University will become a member of its strategic partner group of universities, recognising Liverpool’s success in securing funding over the last three years.
The EPSRC launched the concept of the strategic partner group in 2008 to complement its existing arrangements for working with the 12 framework universities holding 50% of their funding.
The EPSRC’s review of institutional performance ranked institutions by the value of new grants awarded between April 2011- March 2014 (including research grants, fellowships and Centres for Doctoral Training), and multiplied this by success rates.
Greater share of funding
The University had a greater share of funding relative to other universities.. Key grants won over this period include the Centre for Doctoral Training on Quantification and Management of Risk and Uncertainty in Complex Systems and Environments; the Centre for Doctoral Training on New and Sustainable Photovoltaics; large grants led by researchers in Physical Sciences; Ageing and Chronic Disease; Environmental Sciences; Psychological Sciences; and Engineering.
The partnership status means that EPSRC will now seek to develop a more strategic dialogue with the University over the next three years.
Liverpool is already a strategic partner with Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), and is able to engage with major funders across the full range of its science and engineering disciplines and influence funder strategy in areas of mutual interest.
Improved performance
This achievement is also mirrored in the outcomes of a recent review of Research Council awards and success rates by the University’s Research Strategy Group. This showed improved performance with funding awards for 2011/12 and 2012/13 increasing by over 50% against 2009/10 and 2010/11, compared to an average of 9% for the Russell Group.
Success rates over the last two years at Liverpool were also higher than the averages for the Russell Group for all of the Research Councils analysed.
Professor Ian Greer, Provost for Research, said “This strong performance shows we are making progress in achieving our research strategy. We are introducing more initiatives that we hope will lead to further success, including funder-specific research intelligence events to share insight and knowledge of funder strategies, and grant writing workshops delivered by successful researchers to their peers”.