A £1.9m project aimed at giving SMEs access to scientific equipment at the University of Bradford has been set up.
Project SIBLING – Scientific Instrumentation for Business Leadership in Innovation and Growth – will aid the research and development of SMEs based in West Yorkshire through the use of advanced scientific instrumentation at the University of Bradford.
Firms will be given access to equipment in the University of Bradford’s Centre for Chemical and Biological Analysis and Advanced Manufacturing Laboratories in its Faculties of Life Sciences and Engineering and Digital Technologies.
The SIBLING project is being delivered by the University of Bradford and is part funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. In West Yorkshire, the West Yorkshire Combined Authority leads the implementation of the Fund as part of the Mayor’s ambition to make West Yorkshire the best place to work, learn and live.
SIBLING will deliver 45 fully-funded research and innovation projects between September 2023 and March 2025. It will see SMEs given access to six cutting edge instruments including X-Ray diffraction, metal/composite 3D printing (additive manufacturing) and thermal analysis instrumentation.
Experts at the University of Bradford will offer help to participating SMEs with free research and innovation projects on its new and existing instruments. The services on offer in the project will also be tailored to the individual requirements of the participating firms.
Professor Richard Telford, Director of the Centre for Chemical and Biological Analysis at the University of Bradford, said: “We are targeting under-represented firms in the region, such as female and BAME-led SMEs.
“It is a brilliant opportunity for West Yorkshire SMEs to access equipment and expertise that we have at the University which will allow them to innovate. This in turn will hopefully see their companies develop new products and processes and provide a significant benefit to their operations.”
