Innovation UK > News > Innovation UK Vol6-1 > The University of Sheffield

Research power

In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, 93% of the academic staff at the University of Sheffield submitted were scored as world-leading or internationally-recognised.

Industry-focused

The University of Sheffield offers a vast resource of expertise, facilities and services, with 82 research centres and institutes and 10 specialist advisory services for industry and commerce.

The University of Sheffield has a long history and a solid track record of service to business, industry and the public sector. Our expertise across a broad field of subject areas makes the University of Sheffield an ideal partner, and over the past few years we have collaborated with over 2,000 organisations, from the world's largest corporations to local SMEs, keen to harness our expertise, technology and insight.

Outlined below are just some of the University of Sheffield major industry-focused research strengths:

Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC)

The University of Sheffield AMRC with Boeing is a £100m collaboration between world-leaders in the aerospace supply chain, key government offices and international academic institutions. This world-class facility is dedicated to developing the new, technology-driven solutions for materials-forming, metal-working, and castings that help ensure UK manufacturing remains competitive on the world stage. Since 2001, it has achieved spectacular success, transforming manufacturing practices in international companies such as Rolls-Royce, BAE Systems and Messier Dowty and throughout the UK?s advanced manufacturing sector.

The AMRC?s research agenda is driven by its industrial partners, providing the tools, technologies and techniques in machining, composite manufacturing and automated assembly that enable them to successfully compete in today?s global marketplace. Setting it apart from other research centres, the University of Sheffield AMRC?s equipment is industrial scale and its research is ready for immediate implementation in production. The Centre provides UK companies with access to state-of-the-art facilities, as well as access to the aerospace supply chain, business support and best practice guidelines. It also encourages links between local SMEs and the major aerospace companies investing in the AMRC.

Polymer Centre at the University of Sheffield

Spanning seven departments in three schools at the University of Sheffield, the Polymer Centre brings together the widest range of multidisciplinary polymer expertise available in the UK from one organisation. The University of Sheffield draws on the expertise of 41 academic staff, supervising more than 100 research staff and students, representing a research funding in excess of £12m. The Centre?s work embraces topics at the forefront of polymer science and engineering, and the application of polymers in many new and exciting areas ? from batteries to visual displays, molecular machines to aircraft wings, and genetic engineering to tissue replacement. The Centre conducts polymer research from synthesis through to applications, studied within pure sciences, engineering and medical disciplines. A range of services are offered to businesses and industry, including collaborative research, consultancy, analysis, and short courses in the latest techniques in polymer science and engineering.

North Campus at the University of Sheffield

The University of Sheffield North Campus is one of the UK's largest dedicated multidisciplinary research facilities. Keeping the University of Sheffield at the forefront of research in convergent technologies, the North Campus has two important threads running through its research ? nanotechnology and the convergence of the physical and biological sciences. The North Campus recognises the importance of multidisciplinary research to industrial applications by offering facilities to accommodate hi-tech businesses, and hosts a number of leading-edge research centres:

Kroto Research Institute at the University of Sheffield

The Kroto Research Institute has major research strengths in environmental engineering science, future-generation materials, lensless imaging, nanocharacterisation and nanomanipulation, organic optoelectronics and photonics, tissue engineering and virtual reality.

Sorby Nano

Sorby Nano offers businesses a full range of micro and nano-scale investigation capabilities, backed by leading experts in the materials and sample analysis field. The Centre?s expertise covers a wide range of industrial sectors including manufacturing, engineering, pharmaceutical, electronics, rail, automotive, aerospace and biomedical.

EPSRC National Centre for III-V Technologies

The EPSRC National Centre conducts a range of leading-edge, industry-focused research in the physical, engineering and biomedical sciences. The Centre is internationally known for its work on electronic nanotechnology, nanomagnetics and soft nanotechnology.

The University of Sheffield
Karen Shimwell
Business Engagement Assistant
Tel: 0114 222 1459
E-mail:
Website: www.shef.ac.uk/business