UK wide Metamaterials NetworkPlus launched after securing £2.5 million funding

A new NetworkPlus to help develop the UK’s capabilities in creating novel and innovative metamaterials will be established with £2.5m of funding secured from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation(UKRI). Expanding on the previous UK Metamaterials Network (funded by the EPSRC and Dstl) it will be formally launched at the Metamaterials UK Conference and Forum 19th-23rd May 2024.

I am excited to be part of the NetworkPlus Executive Board and to contribute my own experience in the theory of mechanical metamaterials. Anton Souslov

The UK Metamaterials NetworkPlus will be co-led by Professor Alastair Hibbins (University of Exeter) and Dr Claire Dancer (University of Warwick) alongside a team of co-project leads from across the UK, including Dr Anton Souslov at the University of Cambridge.

Metamaterials have phenomenal potential, these artificial 3D structures are comprised of at least two different materials. This combination and the structure then gives a metamaterial a property beyond those of the materials used to make it. They will transform our economy in a digital age, helping to address society’s challenges. They will contribute to achieving sustainability, advancing health care, communications, providing defence and security capabilities, enhancing computation techniques and benefiting the space and aviation industries.

The NetworkPlus will drive an increase to UK research in this vital technology area. It will bring together experts from academia, industry and government to accelerate progress towards the UK’s technological priorities. It has an essential role to play in maintaining and growing UK leadership in discovery science on the global stage.

The NetworkPlus aims to develop the UK’s potential as a thriving, innovation driven, research and industry base. To do this the NetworkPlus aims to:

• bring together the current and next generation of academic, start-up and industry leaders in the UK, and open the field beyond its traditional boundaries;
• provide a reliable nexus for information, experts and cutting-edge science and technology;
• support pilot and explorative projects to initiate research areas which are new to the UK or strategically important;
• support the development of close links between government, academics and industry, providing a strong advocacy for metamaterials activities;
• work to create a strong regulatory framework and shape international norms and standards;
• showcase metamaterials potential, growing its potential in the UK.

The award will run for four years until September 2028 and will help develop game-changing breakthroughs. It will build the UK’s skills pipeline, driving through generation-after-next technology and high-value products.

Professor Alastair Hibbins said, ‘The scope of metamaterials is huge; metamaterials as a concept provides the opportunities to control information and energy through careful structuring of conventional materials […] For the last few years, Dr Claire Dancer from the WMG at The University of Warwick and I have co-led the Network, and with the funding and support from EPSRC and Dstl, we’ve been working incredibly hard to forge a new UK ecosystem for metamaterials where we work together to support each other, and drive work into areas that require multidisciplinary approaches to solve global challenges.’

Dr Dancer said, ‘We’re incredibly excited by this additional funding from EPSRC. Not only are we now able to continue supporting our community, but we are now going to be able to offer pump-prime funding for a number of priority projects that are strategically important to us.’

Dr Souslov, Associate Professor of Theoretical Statistical Physics at the Cavendish Laboratory said, “I am excited to be part of the NetworkPlus Executive Board, and to help organise future events across the UK metamaterials community. Cambridge and the UK have many researchers working across different sub-areas of metamaterials research. One ambition for the NetworkPlus is to bring these groups together and to find new directions for fundamental metamaterials science. I am also excited to contribute my own experience in the theory of mechanical metamaterials.”

Co-project leads for the award are based at the University of Exeter, the University of Warwick, the University of Cambridge, the University of Sheffield, Manchester Metropolitan University and the University of St Andrews. Members of the leadership team are also based at Sheffield Hallam, Queen Mary University, the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), MBDA Systems, Imperial College London, the University of Nottingham, M. Ventures, QinetiQ, Durham University, and the National Physics Laboratory (NPL).

Image:

A mechanical metamaterial used in Dr Souslov’s research. Credit: Evros Loukaides.