University of Liverpool receives £23mln for AI projects
The beneficiaries are the AI Materials Hub for Innovation (AIM-HI) and the National Biofilms Innovation Centre: Liverpool Engine for Antimicrobial Surface Technologies (NBIC-LIVE).
The AIM-HI programme is dedicated to accelerating the application of artificial intelligence in materials chemistry. It has secured £15mln of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Local Innovation Partnership Fund (LIPF). And has private sector investment of more than £30ln to create a high growth economic cluster in the Liverpool City Region.
Critical to the UK’s manufacturing base and accounting for 9% of manufacturing jobs in the North West, the chemical sector faces challenges including translational gaps. AIM-HI will address these, bridging academic work on AI in materials chemistry and industry to try and leverage its full commercial exploitation.
Meanwhile NBIC-LIVE will be focused on AI-enabled innovation of antimicrobial and anti-biofilm surfaces.
Supported by a LIPF award of £8.7mln within a £26mln programme, NBIC-LIVE will tackle these challenges by accelerating the development and commercial uptake of next-generation antimicrobial and antibiofilm surfaces and materials.
The university says the programme introduces high-throughput technology fabrication, multimodal testing, validation and bespoke workflows to create an internationally distinctive open innovation asset.
Professor Sir Ian Chapman, CEO of UKRI says, 'The Local Innovation Partnerships Fund exists to ensure that world-class research gets into the hands of local organisations and businesses to create real economic value in communities across the UK.
'Liverpool City Region is demonstrating exactly how that works: taking deep scientific expertise in areas like AI-enabled chemistry and antimicrobial innovation and connecting it directly to industry and global markets.'
