UK: Boost for OU from global charity

Britain's distance learning pioneer, the Open University, has been awarded £600,000 (US$1.16 million) by a global charity - the Lloyd's Register Educational Trust - to fund a new chair in materials engineering and fabrication.

The university's materials engineering group has an international reputation for its work on the application of neutron and synchrotron X-ray diffraction, used in the aerospace and nuclear industries. This expertise is of such interest to the trust, it was prepared to release significant funding for a chair.

The trust is an independent charity wholly funded by the Lloyd's Register Group, a global independent risk management and safety assurance organisation covering shipping, rail transport, oil and gas, among other industries.

Dr Michael Fitzpatrick, who leads the structural integrity research programme at the OU, said the award would boost their work which was already recognised as world-leading.
"We maintain strong collaborations with a range of industrial sectors, university partners, and national research laboratories worldwide," Fitzpatrick said.

Trust director Michael Franklin said a large part of its work was to support fundamental engineering research to address problems and find solutions for the public benefit: "In the last few years, we have committed around £10 million to support research programmes at a number of universities around the world. The award to the OU brings them into this unique and important group."

The trust, established in 2004, focuses on four categories: it promotes careers in science, engineering and technology at school level; it provides undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships; it supports vocational training and professional development; and it funds research at existing or new centres of excellence at institutes and universities.

diane.spencer@uw-news.com