RRUK-A is funded by RSSB and Network Rail A partnership between Britain’s rail industry and UK universities Summary and RRUK-A Plans Professor Simon Iwnicki Manchester Metropolitan University Academic Co-Chair

The UK Research Background [1] The UK spends 4% of the world’s Gross Expenditure on R&D on 6% of the world’s researchers who are authors of 8% of the world’s research articles and reviews. These papers attract 11% of the world’s citations and so create 14% of the world’s highly cited output. They include 17% of the world’s research papers with more than 500 citations and 20% of those with more than 1000 citations. Its average research impact now surpasses that of the USA. [1] Global Research Report UK, Jonathan Adams, Thomson Reuters 2011

But – Impact on industry is not so good. UK research has mixed performance in knowledge transfer [3] UK researchers have a low and declining share of patents compared with other research-intensive nations. The UK’s proportion of articles that are co-authored by researchers in both academic and corporate sectors is relatively low compared to other major countries. Cross-sector co-operation within the UK has been identified as a weakness in the country’s innovation system. [3] International comparative performance of the UK Research Base – 2011, A report prepared for the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills

FP7: Calls Rail Topics [2] [2] Finella McKenzie, Transport Associates, 2011

Technology Readiness Levels [4] [4] Technology and Innovation Centres - Report of 2 nd session House of Commons, February 2011)

Aims of RRUK-A Common understanding of R&D needs Identification of R&D application opportunities Provision of solutions to industry Support rail research in academia ACADEMIA INDUSTRY Bridge

RRUK-A – a partnership Industry Universities

RRUK-A Key activities Pure Research Applied Research (25 years) (5 years) New ways of thinking Problem solving Development of tools Next generation technology Improved methods Specified by academia Specified by industry Supported by industry Funded by industry Funded by research funders

Benefits for Industry – Making the most of research funding A study undertaken for TSB [5] found that projects involving industry and two or more academic partners gave an average return of £9.67 per £1 of government funding compared with £4.22 for projects with no academic partners. [5] Public and corporate economic consultants TSB 29/09/11

Benefits for Universities – Sustainable research infrastructure “Long-term relationships with industry provide support for a research activity in the university, which the industrial partner considers relevant to advancing its technical competence or leadership in technology. The benefits include development and maintenance of high-quality facilities, access to industrial expertise and insights through collaboration, Ph.D. training opportunities and a wider impact upon society.” Professor Paul Shayler Ford Professor of Mechanical Engineering The University of Nottingham

Types of RRUK-A Event “Blue skies” events –University-led, sharing an understanding of the issues, opportunities and state of knowledge on particular subjects Problem-Solving Events –Industry-led, seeking solutions to known problems in the railway domain Networking Events –Bringing industry and academics together for facilitated exploratory discussion

RRUK-A Industry-Academia Workshop on the 24/7 Railway A one-day industry-academia workshop which aims to find creative solutions to the problems of running a “24/7” railway. The workshop is to be held on Tuesday 13th December 2011, 9:30 – 17:00; the venue will be the University of Nottingham. Approximately £100k will be available to fund a number of feasibility-sized projects; Successful feasibility projects may lead in due course to research council responsive mode bids or other larger projects. Academic applicants do not have to be current “railway” researchers, although they should have knowledge and expertise from any discipline that could be applied to the solution of this problem.

Thanks to: Tony Leyland Tanya McCallum Guy Woodroffe Thank you for attending!

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