Metal Processing

New Advanced Materials Roadmapping Programme underway

Royce has today launched a second major roadmapping exercise, which targets a number of pressing National Materials Challenges and which is designed to stimulate and drive new advanced materials research in the UK.

The objective is to bring together the UK materials community to discuss, analyse and assimilate opportunities for emerging materials research that will lead to economic and societal benefits. It reflects a growing recognition that highly functional, next generation advanced materials are central to delivering the new technologies needed to meet the challenges we face – from a clean-energy future to health improvements for an aging population.

Royce has been awarded Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) funding to progress a further four roadmapping and landscaping exercises for the following National Materials Challenges:

  • Materials 4.0: Digitally-enabled materials discovery and manufacturing
  • Materials for Fusion Power
  • Materials for End-to-End Hydrogen
  • Degradation in Structural Materials for Net-Zero

Working with the community, we will build roadmaps against these challenges, clarifying the technology gaps and interfaces which need to be addressed. Roadmapping enables connections between materials disciplines, institutes, industry experts and academia. It looks at ways forward, and delivers an evidenced-based position around an issue, which we hope will then act as a springboard to a national approach to the development of a research programme.

Professor David Knowles, Royce CEO

This roadmapping programme will provide an opportunity to further stimulate and focus advanced materials research. Consulting a wide range of stakeholders on the National Materials Challenges will enhance and accelerate knowledge and capability in materials science to tackle global challenges from meeting net zero targets to accelerating the discovery, development and manufacturing of products.

Jane Nicholson, EPSRC Director for Research Base

Last year, working with the Institute of Physics and the Institute for Manufacturing, Royce led a UK-wide consultation process to help define the Materials for the Energy Transition challenge. This led to a position paper and the launch of five new technology roadmaps setting out how materials science can be harnessed to deliver net-zero targets: www.royce.ac.uk/materials-for-the-energy-transition.